Combine all ingredients! Use in pumpkin pie; pumpkin breads, cookies, and pastries; pumpkin coffee drinks; et cetera!
Chef’s Note: When it comes to spices (especially aromatic ones such as these), it is always best to use whole spices if you can. Carefully toast them in a dry pan until the aroma is strengthened, allow them to cool, and then grind them. This will enhance the flavor and aroma of the spice, giving you the full impact that it has to offer. I personally prefer to use a mortar and pestle (a kitchen one, separate from the one I use for spellwork), which takes more time, but preserves more flavor than a motorized grinder.
Magical Ingredient!
Now, I’ll be the first to admit that this recipe is magical in and of itself. Just the flavor alone is something that I crave and savor all year long. Many times has my boyfriend teased me about being a “basic white girl,” at which point, I often agree. I am that person who loves pumpkin so much that I’m there the first day those lattes come out at Starbucks. But what so few realize is that this spice blend is incredibly simple to make at home (and often tastes better than packaged pumpkin pie spice).
However, while I could go on all day about the magical uses for this blend, it would get rather redundant given previous articles about cloves, cinnamon, and ginger. So instead, I’m going to look at nutmeg!
Sweet, warm, and aromatic, nutmeg has an interesting history that is linked very strongly to imperialism, spice trade, and European colonization. The spice with which we are most familiar today is the seed of the nutmeg tree (myristica fragrans), but in truth, the whole fruit is edible and used in culinary traditions. The fruit is harvested from the tree and used in Indonesian cuisine as manisan, while the seed is dried until it separates from its outer shell. A bright red membrane which surrounds the nutmeg kernel inside is harvested and dried, developing a yellow-red color. This membrane, called the aril, is then sold either ground or whole as another familiar spice: mace.
The seed itself is the nutmeg spice with which we are most familiar – the kernel isolated from the fruit and aril. Sold either whole or ground, it is used in cuisines throughout the world and has a history of being used in many European meat dishes, as well as in pastries and spice blends.
Initially nutmeg, like many other spices involved in the spice trade, was a “trade secret” regarding its location. It grew naturally on the Banda Islands, and was traded with mainland Asia. Eventually, the commodity reached the port of Basra, where it was traded with Muslim sailors. From there, it was spread to the rest of Europe where it was prized for both its flavor and as a protective ingredient against plague.
Like many spices, it was part of what drove the Age of Exploration. By the 16th century, its production origins were discovered by Portuguese explorers. Banda was conquered and its spices – nutmeg, mace, and cloves – were traded with the sailors until the Dutch East India Company claimed the island in 1621 (this was not a particularly pleasant scenario – the indigenous Bandanese were effectively wiped out by European settlers through warfare, starvation, exile, slave trade, or disease).
British control of other Bandanese islands were conceded to the Dutch in exchange for Manhattan and New Amsterdam in colonial America, giving full monopoly over to the Company through much of the 17th and 18th centuries. During the Napoleonic Wars, however, Britain regained temporary control of the islands, and used the opportunity to transplant nutmeg trees to other colonies, establishing new plantations for the trade.
((Fun fact: Many foods cooked in colonial America involved the use of nutmeg as a primary flavoring agent. Vanilla was significantly harder to produce and obtain, but nutmeg was easy to transport and lasted much longer, making it a popular spice in the Americas!))
Today, nutmeg continues to be produced primarily in Indonesia and Grenada, which control the majority of the production of nutmeg and mace in the world market. It’s used in cuisines throughout the world, a wonderful flavoring agent for both sweet and savory foods.
In terms of medicine, nutmeg has traditionally been used to encourage digestion and relieve bowel cramping. Under Elizabethan rule, it was used to help ward off the plague due to its pleasant and calming scent (it was widely believed at the time that odor could carry disease). In modern medicine, nutmeg’s health benefits beyond nutrition are virtually negligible, but has been discovered to cause hallucinations in large doses. This is inadvisable, however, as nutmeg can be toxic in doses of more than one teaspoon. (Do not despair for the recipe above – it’s extremely unlikely that anyone would consume a whole jar of pumpkin spice in one sitting!)
Magically speaking, nutmeg is often associated with wealth, luck, love, and divination. Carrying the whole seed as a charm can bring luck in games of chance (making it quite popular in gambling spells), and can ensure good luck while traveling.
The seed can be carried in a purple sachet or strung on a purple thread as a charm to help encourage favorable decisions in legal matters.
Ground nutmeg has been used for money, divination, and love spells in several traditions – the powder can be added to money drawing powders and sachets, sprinkled into a lover’s shoes to encourage love, or added to drinks which can be consumed prior to meditation and divination to enhance clairvoyance or to be shared with a lover to strengthen relationships.
The essential oil of nutmeg can also be used in money-drawing oils, or warmed to provide the scent of the spice in order to provide comfort, peaceful sleep, and clarity in divination.
In food, as always, the associations carry over. This spice is very versatile, being used in dishes ranging from savory yellow vegetables to meat dishes such as haggis or roast beef. Pair it up with other spices and herbs with similar purposes, and watch the magic come to life!
So when you’re mixing up that pumpkin spice and adding it to your pie this year, be mindful of the history and uses that nutmeg possesses. It is rich and vibrant, both positive and negative. Like all ingredients in food, it is a living ingredient even when dried and ground. It makes for a wonderful experience in working magic into your meals each day!
Welcome to The Witching Times, where twice a week (Sunday and Thursday) we interview the witches, pagans, and general people of the community! This Sunday we’re sitting down with Tumblr’s @orriculum to learn more about her, her craft, and her emoji’s! So grab your favorite drink, sit back, relax, and have a read!
Ok so, I love the idea of potions, ever since I was a kid. It kind of made sense to me that my coffee pot would be my modern-day witch’s cauldron, you know? So this is something I do almost every day, my coffee potions and rituals.
I’ve moved on to expand to the use of the grounds in spell work, but I also use them in gardening, for all my rose bushes. there are a bunch of rose bushes at my home, so I’m always picking them and drying them, pressing the petals and the stripping the thorns.
I just have a lot of roses around, I end up using them in my craft constantly, but my craft tends to change themes with the seasons, I shift my focus depending on what is at hand, what surrounds me. roses and coffee just tend to be the most constant.
I was a bit younger yeah. It’s a little nebulous because I always wanted to be a witch, and I would do witchy things as a child, like trying to divine from a handful of thrown rocks, grounding with storms,.
However, I pulled away from that when “real life” called.
I focused on the idea and study of witchcraft as more of research for a fantasy novel. Only in the last few years, somewhere between high school and college, did I feel confident labeling myself as a witch.
Only this year have I met some in-real-life witches. My best friend recently started witchcraft, and then she introduced me to two more through a DnD group.
Good ole’ DnD. The perfect place to meet witches, I hear.
So, you post a lot of spells. I mean a ton. Your list is expansive, man. How do you find inspiration to write all these spells? Do you ever get burnt out?
Well, I started out on this blog offering to write spells for people. Sometimes it’s just a mood I get into.
I have something of a formula/method when it comes to my spells, which makes it take less to write a lot.
You find an intent,
You gather ingredients/timings that support the intent.
Figure out some ritual actions that can be used with the ingredients.
All done!
The spells I post are often just the bare bones of a spell. They don’t include the personal rituals or dogma a person might incorporate to draw power for a spell. The more personal rituals I include, the harder those spells are to put into words and put out into the world. Those ones burn me out.
But I can assure you 90% of the time if I’m posting a lot of spells, it’s because I’m procrastinating on something else
Haha, I mean spell writing sounds like a good procrastination, but also very good way to get something else done. Now when you need a spell, you have a ton that’s out there and waiting!
Have you ever found yourself in a spell writing rut?
Sometimes it feels like I’m just writing the same couple spells over and over, sometimes I can’t think of anything. Sometimes I’ll have the file open, just staring at me for a couple hours and I can’t make myself focus on it.
Sometimes I’ll save it for later. Sometimes I just push through and write a half-assed spell. When it’s a more personal spell, I’ll go to my altar and focus less on the research end of it, looking up herb and stone meanings, and reach for what feels natural, let the ritual create itself and run course, instead of me trying to force it.
Of course, sometimes that can change the spell entirely, but I don’t think that’s a terrible thing. Sometimes when you reach for a spell you think you need, if you let it move through you, you end up finding something else which is more what you need.
I know you state on your blog that you don’t answer Witchcraft 101 questions, but if you could give advice to beginner witches, or even older witches, what would it be?
Ah, that’s mostly because I’m tired of people not checking the reference section first.
But I would say, Personal Gnosis is the strongest part of your craft.
You can learn all the terms, celebrate all the Sabbats, or memorize all the stone meanings and herb correspondences, and still have no faith or communion with your craft.
Research is important, and I’ll always stress that, but witchcraft isn’t just about accumulating reference books. It’s not about emulating other’s crafts. Witchcraft is for you and you alone, as you choose what you study, what spells you cast.
So, I have a new thing where I like to ask a series of mundane (okay and maybe some magical) questions. They’re just quick like- favorite food, favorite music, etc. Is that cool?
“To give yourself over to another body. That’s all you want really. To be out of your own and consumed by another. To swim inside the skin of your lover. Not have to breathe. Not have to think. But you can’t live on love. And salt water’s no drink.”
This is honestly one of our most requested posts right now. We’ve got numerous anons in our inbox asking us “what is astral travel, how do you do it, and how is it different than astral projection?”
So first off I’m going to address what the astral is so we’re all on the same page. The astral is, in essence, a variety of different realms/dimensions/spaces that can be accessed and is populated by astral beings. Spirits often live here, various deities and entities, and even human souls who simply exist there or are dead or will exist in the future. (Time is weird in the astral.) It’s basically an Otherworld or perhaps the Otherworld often described in myths and legends. It’s not always safe. Just like you shouldn’t trust every single human you meet here on earth, you shouldn’t trust every single spirit you meet in the astral.
So now on to different ways to access the astral, primarily astral projection and astral travel.
Astral Projection
Personally, I find astral projection a lot harder. It’s essentially a form of self-hypnosis. A quick google search/preliminary research will most likely tell you that astral travel and astral projection are the same thing.
Astral travel and astral projection are not the same thing.
Astral projection typically involves a very deep meditative state. It’s pretty much synonymous with inducing an out of body experience (OBE). Your mind is on the edge of sleep and has to stay there in order to induce the right state for astral projection.
Personally, I find this dangerous. First of all, exploring the astral is not safe. Take a guide with you or make sure that your body/self is personally protected. (Sprinkle some black salt on your forehead, carry a protective charm, make a spell jar that will protect you during astral travel, etc. Doesn’t have to be fancy, just keep yourself protected!) There are potential dangers to astral travel and astral projection.
The biggest concern I have with astral projection is that it can often induce sleep paralysis and other hallucinations that are not necessarily related to the astral realms. People who have experienced sleep paralysis may see shadow people at the edge of their bed, demons attacking them in their sleep, etc. Your body is asleep but your mind is awake. Brains are weird. It can also induce a state of panic because hey, your body isn’t moving but your mind is very awake, sounds like the perfect time to panic and make you believe that you’re being possessed by demons. Which, if you’re already scared of demons or negative/evil entities, your mind will be more likely to create those and some very real spirits like to feed off your fears.
So now that I’ve probably scared most of you out of astral projection, let me talk about the ways that astral projection can be a good and useful way to access the astral.
It’s easy to believe that what you’re experiencing is real. With astral projection, your soul is literally separated from your body, and things are a lot more vivid. When successfully and safely practicing astral projection, there’s a lot less room for doubt over what you’ve experienced because typically it is incredibly sensory. Humans have a tendency to believe what they can see/feel/touch/smell/hear.
It’s also easier to be aware of what you’re doing in the astral. You’re experiencing a very vivid trip to the astral, so it’s easier to know and control what you do. Messages are likely to get through easier. It’s very similar to lucid dreaming in that you’re aware of what’s happening so you can respond appropriately. That’s not to say that you can’t be aware of things during astral travel, it’s just a bit easier with projection.
Unfortunately, it can be very difficult for some to astral project for a variety of reasons. Personally, I have a very difficult time doing astral projection. Your energy might be blocked or your soul may just really wanna stay inside your body. Realizing you have a hard time doing astral projection can be really discouraging if you believe that it’s the only way to get into the astral.
So if you’re discouraged because astral projection seems really hard and unattainable and kinda scary and now you’ll never be able to do the spirit work that you want to, don’t worry. I’m about to talk about astral travel.
Astral Travel
Just like astral projection, there are dangers to astral travel. I don’t want to make this post seem like it’s perfectly safe and harmless to astral travel without concern for your safety. Don’t be afraid, but don’t be stupid.
Have you ever done a guided meditation or visualized what you want? Congrats, you can astral travel! It’s almost difficult for me to describe how you astral travel simply because it’s almost second nature to me now. Unless there’s something blocking or hurting me, I can pretty much access my astral space or explore at any time of the day. (Lol I’ve astral traveled at work before. I don’t recommend that, as astral travel can and does require some concentration.)
When you’re new to astral travel, it might be helpful for you to get into a meditative state. Not a hypnotic state, just a nice and relaxed meditative state. Now visualize somewhere that you like. The ocean, the mountains, a nice field, a city you enjoy. Or, if you have a hard time getting there, picture a door. What does that door look like? Tell the door you want to go to your astral space. Now open that door.
Ward your astral space. Your own personal astral space can be modified and changed within reason. But the big difference between imagination and astral travel is that not everything will respond exactly the way you think or want it to. Your space will grow and change without your attention/care. You can even just practice astral travel by taking care of your astral space.
Do you want to leave your astral space? Get your astral protections ready (please for the love of all that is good in this world WARD YOUR ASTRAL SPACE) and visualize that door again. What does it look like? Does it look different? How do you feel about that? What is your gut telling you about the door and where it leads? Listen to your gut. Ask the door to take you to your astral guide. That’s one way that you can find someone to help you explore the astral safely.
I must put the caveat that not everyone will see things in high definition. In fact, it will mostly be in your mind’s eye, not your physical eyes. That’s part of what tripped me up when I first began exploring the astral. I was expecting to see things with my physical eyes but was ignoring my mind’s eye where things were happening. It is very similar to your imagination and personally, I believe that successful astral travel needs some creativity and imagination. So don’t worry if your astral travel mostly looks like a dark space with a vague feeling of what things are and where they are. Pay attention to other things. What do you hear? What do you sense? What do you just sort of know? What do you smell? What do you taste? Don’t worry if visualization is hard for you. It’s still possible to astral travel. A lot of times it’s very easy to overcomplicate it
So there you have it folks! Astral projection vs astral travel! I hope this helps some of you!
Below is a list of helpful terms to know when working with gems and minerals. It includes terminology on various crystal shapes and forms. Terms specific to mineral shapes have “(form)” next to them for ease of reference.
Abundance (form): An abundance crystal consists of one long quartz crystal with many small crystals clustered around its base. Its function is to attract wealth and abundance.
Adamantine Luster: A particularly brilliant shine as shown by a specimen such as a diamond.
Amorphous (form): Amorphous crystals, such as obsidian, have no particular shape. Energy flows rapidly through and amorphous crystal as it has no rigid internal organization.
Aura: The subtle bio-magnetic sheath that surrounds the physical body, providing a protective zone that extends for about 18 inches to 3 feet from the body and contains information about a person’s physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual state of being.
Aura Crystal: A crystal specimen, usually of the quartz variety, that has been coated with metal (i.e. gold, titanium) in a vacuum chamber resulting in an iridescent sheen.
Ball (form): Balls are usually shaped from a larger piece of crystal and may have planes or flaws within them. They emit energy in all directions equally.
Barnacle (form): A barnacle crystal has many small crystals covering a larger crystal.
Bridge (form): A bridge crystal grows out of another larger crystal. It assists in bridging gaps and bringing things together.
Carat: The standard measure of weight for precious stones and metals. A carat is equal to 0.007 oz (0.2g).
Cathedral Quartz (form): Cathedral quartz may appear to be composed of several convoluted pieces, but these are in fact all part of the main crystal which has multiple terminations with at least one point at the apex.
Channeler (form): A channeling crystal has a 7 sided facet at the front of the termination and a triangular face on the opposite side. It channels healing energy or information from higher sources.
Cleavage: The way a mineral or rock breaks along a certain plane, or in a certain direction.
Cluster (form): A cluster has many points bedded, but not necessarily fixed, into a base. The crystals may be small or large.
Companion (form): A companion crystal has two crystals entwined and partly growing in each other, or a small crystal that grows out of the main crystal.
Cross (form): A cross formation has one crystal at right angles to another, usually larger crystal.
Crystal: A naturally occurring substance whose atoms are arranged in a regular manner.
Crystal System: The systems in which crystals are grouped based on their symmetry. There are 6 crystal systems: cubic, monoclinic, triclinic, trigonal/hexagonal, orthorhombic, and tetragonal.
Diamond Window (form): Flat faces at the top of crystals are called windows. A diamond window is large and connected to the apex and the base.
Double Terminated (form): A crystal with two naturally faceted ends.
Dull Luster: A shine that reflects very little.
Earthy Luster: A non-reflective mineral luster.
Egg (form): A crystal cut in the shape of an egg.
Elestial (form): An elestial has many natural terminations and folds over a multilayered crystal.
Etched (form): An etched crystal that looks as though hieroglyphs or cuneiform writing has been inscribed on its faces.
Faces: The External flat surface that make up a crystal’s shape.
Fault Line: An inner flaw or break in a crystal that refracts light and appears to divide the crystal into sections.
Fluorescence: The optical effect whereby a mineral appears a different color in ultraviolet light than in ordinary daylight.
Fracture: The distinctive way a mineral breaks.
Friable: Minerals that easily crumble are referred to as friable.
Gemstone: A mineral, usually crystal-like, which is valued for its color, rarity, and hardness.
Generator (form): A generator crystal has six facets meeting equally in a sharp point.
Geode (form): A geode is contained within an outer form. When opened, it is hollow with many crystals pointing inward.
Geologist: A scientist who studies the Earth and its structure and composition.
Gridding: The placing of crystals around a building, person, or room for protection or enhancement energies.
Habit: The general shape of a mineral.
Inclusion: Any material that is trapped inside a mineral during its formation, often producing a rainbow.
Iridescence: A play of colors that looks like oil on water that occurs when light reflects off internal elements of a rock or mineral.
Layered (form): Plate-like crystals such as lepidolite are referred to as layered.
Luster: The way in which light reflects of the surface of a mineral.
Manifestation (form): One or more small crystals are totally enclosed by a larger crystal.
Matrix: The bedrock on which crystals are formed.
Metallic Luster: A shine like that of polished metal.
Mineral: A naturally occurring solid with specific characteristics, such as a particular chemical composition and crystal shape.
Mineralogist: A scientist who studies minerals.
Mohs Scale: A scale of hardness used in classifying minerals. It runs from 1 to 10 using a series of reference minerals, and a position on the scale depends on the ability to scratch minerals rated lower.
Occlusion: A mineral deposit within a crystal, which usually shows up as cloudy patches, spots, or a ghostlike image depending on the color of the material.
Opaque: A substance or material that does not let light pass through it.
Ore: A rock or mineral from which metal can be extracted
Phantom (form): A phantom crystal appears ghostlike within the body of a larger crystal.
Pleochroic: In a crystal, appearing to have two or more different colors or shades of color, depending on the angle from which it is viewed.
Point (form): Points may be natural or artificially shaped. A single crystal point has a faceted pointed end and the other end tends to look ragged where it has been separated from a cluster base.
Prism: A solid geometric figure with a set of faces parallel to one another.
Pyramid (form): A crystal with four sides on a base, but the base itself may be squared off if the crystal is natural (i.e. apophyllite) rather than artificially shaped.
Record Keeper (form): A record keeper crystal has clearly etched pyramid shapes on its side or sides.
Resinous Luster: A shine like that of resin.
Scepter Quartz (form): A scepter quartz is a large central rod around one end of which another crystal is formed.
Seer Stone (form): A seer stone is a natural, water polished stone that is cut to reveal an inner world.
Specific Gravity: The ratio of a mineral’s weight compared to the weight of an equal volume of water.
Square (form): A square crystal consolidates energy within its form. It’s useful for anchoring intention and grounding.
Streak: The color of a mineral’s powder. It is less variable than the color of the mineral, so is a more reliable identification tool.
Striation: One of multiple, usually parallel grooves or scratches on a rock surface, produced by abrasion associated with glacial movement, stream flow, a geologic fault, or meteoric impact.
Tabular (form): A tabular crystal has two wide sides resulting in a flat crystal which may be double terminated.
Transmitter (form): A transmitter crystal has two seven-sided facets with two perfect triangles between them.
Tumbled (form): Refers to stones that have been polished in a large drum with grit, resulting in a smooth and often shiny stone.
Vitreous Luster: A shine like that of glass.
Vogal Wand (form): A crystal with specially created, indented facets with specific angles down the sides of a quartz wand.
Wand (form): A crystal in the shape of a wand, either naturally occurring or artificially cut.
All right, so this is essentially the beginning of energy related witchcraft that I’ll be posting about as I try it and learn new things. Feel free to try out some of the stuff I talk about here but please remember that this is your journey and you can and should edit and tweak everything to best fit you.
Types of Energy
Reserved Energy
Reserved Energy floats either just above or below your skin. It should feel like it’s attached to you and resist most attempts to use it. It is minimally pliant, minimally workable, and mostly just exists as a backup or protection.
Latent Energy
Latent Energy is typically a ball of energy that is extremely malleable and easily visualized. This type of energy is more ‘for your use’. It can be visualized anywhere in the body; however, where ever it best seems to fit (i.e. a ball of energy in your stomach, chest, head, etc) is normally where it stays. Latent energy is great to work with to give yourself a better mastery over molding both Reserved and Latent energy.
Neighboring/Immediate Energy
Neighboring (or Immediate) Energy is an amalgamation of your energies and outside forces. It’s best visualized and felt by meditating. If you’ve meditated and felt like you were basically out of your own body and hazy, you’ve felt Neighboring Energy. It’s less you and, as a by product, significantly harder to work with. It’s not as difficult as Reserved Energy since that’s an active rejection to change, and this is simply difficult because you’re reaching beyond yourself.
Visualizing Your Energy
Visualizing energy can be a bit tricky, but seeing your energy, in my opinion, is equally important as feeling it. Being able to see and acknowledge your energy makes feeling and moving it so much simpler. There are a couple of ways to visualize your energy, so we’ll hop into those first:
First Plane Visualization (FPV)
If you close your eyes to visualize your energy and the first thing you see is your body, this is where you’re at. First Plane Visualization essentially means your energy best manifests itself to you as a physical part of you. Personally, I feel this makes it easier to work with Latent and Reserved Energy, but harder to work with Neighboring.
Second Plane Visualization (SPV)
If attempting to visualize your energy brings up empty space with your energy in some form or shape in it, congrats, this is you. This type of visualization makes it significantly easier to work with energy that isn’t yours but more difficult to work with your own as well. Your energy seems to best manifest itself as a construct in your mind, essentially on a different plane than your physical body. To use it, you have to get around your own barrier between it and physicality whereas outside energies that are already on your plane don’t need any extra work for you to work with them.
When you visualize your energy, you’re essentially introducing yourself and greeting it. In the same way you most likely wouldn’t hand a stranger a thousand dollars, your energy isn’t likely to do much for you if you don’t at least know it.
Moving Your Energy
Think of your energy as a muscle, if you never use it, it becomes that much more difficult to begin using and to strengthen it. Please don’t expect to hop in, visualize your energy once, and suddenly have it do everything you want it to.
First try visualizing your energy with your eyes closed. Spend some time with it, don’t demand anything of it. Is your energy naturally calm? Does it spin lazily as you sit with it? Is your energy a spitfire, constantly flinging out strands of itself and wrapping around everything it can without leaving it’s basic shape? Who is your energy? What kind of personality do you get from it?
Try to learn and love your energy every time you visualize it. When you’ve got the image of your energy firmly in your head, preferably to the point where you can almost feel it wherever it’s best visualized, try moving it. Try to get a strand of it to detach from the bulk of your energy and pull it towards you. If that’s difficult, simply work on moving the bulk of your energy towards and away from you (SPV) or around your body (FPV). This should honestly take awhile. Remember that you’re not simply trying to visualize it, but feel it. As it moves, you should feel it. Once you’ve got a mastery of that, try opening your eyes and doing it over again.
When you can move your energy in bulk or pieces with a bit more ease, I recommend pushing it to the surface. The easiest place to feel Latent Energy is between your palms. If trying to move your energy with in yourself simply won’t work for you, try this instead, then move back to that later. To push your energy to your hands for FPV, imagine it wherever it tends to manifest itself. Push it, either in whole or (preferably) in part, down or up your body and into your palms. If you need your eyes closed to direct it, by all means, close them; however, once you’ve got it comfortably in your palms, open your eyes and try to get used to keeping a hold on your energy with your eyes open. Allow it to do as it pleases within the space between your palms. Start out with maybe half a foot between your hands and slowly increase the distance as you grow more confident.
For SPV, visualize your energy and bring it towards you. Bring out either two bits of it, still connected to the whole, or the bulk of it towards yourself until it feels like you’ve stepped inside of it or as though it’s encompassed you. Carefully, without losing that feeling, visualize it (either with your eyes opened or closed depending on what works better for you) sparking its way down your arms and into your hands. If that’s too far to visualize, simply imagine it condensing between or in your palms for the get-go. Because your own image is less involved in your own energy, expect to have a harder time keeping it where you want it to be.
Energy, like most objects, rejects movement without force. When you move it at first, it may feel like it snaps back to where it started no matter what you do. Keep practicing and remember that it hasn’t really moved in years, so it’ll take some work to get it to move now.
Energy Exercises
We’re finally at the end of what I can share for the time being. I only have a couple of practices that I’ve been using lately, only one of which I’ll add here, specifically for Reserved Energy because that’s what I’m practicing working with currently. I will update this as time goes on but I do want to be sure before I give put any exercises. For example, one of them uses hunger as a basis and I don’t know how I feel about giving a purpose to staying hungry, so I’ll wait to add that if at all.
Exercise 1
Find a cold room or area, cold enough to give you goosebumps but not enough to shiver. Furthermore, if it’s outdoors, make sure there’s little to no wind. Wear short or no sleeves. Allow the cold to seep into your skin. Visualize your reserved energy; this may be a thin layer above or below your skin.
If it appears above your skin, give it intent, push it to separate you from the cold. In practice, this literally felt like a wash of lukewarm warmth sliding down from my head. The cold felt like someone holding an ice cube near my skin, but didn’t actually make me cold.
If it appears below your skin, incite it to heat itself. The cold should sink into your skin and meet that barrier of energy and fizzle out. I can’t tell you how it feels in practice because my Reserved Energy appears above the skin. If you try this out and are okay to share, I’d love to know how it differs.
Updates
I’ll either update or make new posts on this as I learn. I love energy based craft and I’ve got a lot more things I’m practicing that I’m not confident enough in quite yet to share…but soon. Here’s a mini-list of what you can expect in the future:
Moving Energy Into Objects
Visualizing Neighboring Energy
Using Neighboring Energy
Taking Energy from an Object
NOTE: All of the names I’ve given energy, energy types, etc were made by me simply to make it easier to refer to and talk about. If you call any of the feelings or activities something else, by all means, continue doing so. This is just what makes it easiest to understand for me.
Whether it is black salt, sea salt, pink salt or just plain old. Salt has a long history of use in rituals, purification, blessings and magical protection. Salt is created and thrives in the Ocean (or the Womb of the Goddess) It is the taste of Earth in the waters of life. salt is a amazing and versatile natural source for cleansing, and is a must have for anyone.
Regular Sea Salt – sea salt is overall very common, easy to obtain and affordable. It can be bought in either course chunks or fine like sand. White salt is associated with purification, purity, protection and blessings.
Used in consecration
Placed in water to cleanse it
Purification, cleansing and removal or negative energies,
Can be placed around areas to protect them
Commonly used in circles
Used in Curses
Can be made into salt scrubs
Celtic Sea Salt– is a “moist” unrefined sea salt that is usually found on the coastal areas of France. It has a gorgeous light grey, almost light purple color; it is harvested from the clay found in salt flats. This salt has similar properties to regular sea salt however because it is a much more natural and pure salt its properties are enhanced especially protective and cleansing. It also tastes amazing and is filled with vital minerals, I also find that since it is moist it clumps together nicely making it easy to work with and shape.
Used in consecration
Purification, cleansing and removal of negative energies,
protective spells
blessings
curses
soothing
great for cooking
medicinal
perfect in bath scrubs
Black Salt- black salt is as the title says black or very dark in color. It is commonly available at magic shops, and is also very easy to make. Not to be confused with black lava salt or kala namak salts used in fine cuisine.RITUAL BLACK SALT IS NOT FOR CONSUMPTION!!!. This salt is easily the most protective of the four as it is great at Nullifying or returning negative energy.
protective
Banishing
fire energy,
can be used for darker earthly Elementals & Deities,
the Crone or Triple Goddesses
working with the dark moon
Warding, uncrossings, and binding work
can be spread around doorways & windows to keep out evil
Himalayan Pink Salt– is a pure, hand mined salt that is from the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. It is harvested from ancient sea salt deposits, it thought to be one of the highest quality and purest salts available. The salt ranges in hues from white to various shades of pink, and even deep reds; this is the result of the salts high iron and mineralcontent. This salt has the most soothing and loving energizes of the salts and can be used for bringing about love.
promoting love and friendship
promoting positive energizes
Healing
cleansing
spell bags
baths or scrubs
If working with salt keep in mind that it is a natural dessicating agent meaning it sucks all the water so if your working with it outside and are sprinkling it on the ground it will kill your grass and destroy the surrounding soil making it inhabitable for plants and such.
Your all-around guide to understanding the wheel of the year! Correspondences, pronunciations, and more.
– What are the sabbats?
The sabbats are eight secular festivals that follow the cycle of the earth’s seasons via the wheel of the year. The festivals are at approx. even intervals throughout the year.
– Who can celebrate them?
As previously mentioned, sabbats are completely secular as well as completely open. Anybody can celebrate them! While the festivals are mainly celebrated by Wiccans and various other branches of Paganism, this does not exclude atheists, Hellenics, Christians, and various other religions from celebrating them.
– What is the wheel of the year?
The wheel shows in what order the sabbats go in, please keep in mind that for the southern hemisphere (we’ll get to that in a second) they are reversed!
The southern hemisphere dwellers can still most certainly celebrate sabbats! Since the seasons are reversed, the wheel looks a little different and the times of celebration are a little wonky.
Meanings: honor, rebirth, transformation, light out of darkness, creative inspiration, the mysteries, new life, regeneration, inner renewal, reflection/introspection(source)
Customs:
lights, gift-exchanging, singing, feasting, resolutions, new fires kindled, strengthening family & friend bonds, generosity, yule log, hanging mistletoe, apple wassailing, burning candles, Yule tree decorating, kissing under mistletoe, bell ringing/sleigh-bells (source)
Incense & Oils: vanilla, black cherry, dragon’s blood.
Crystals & Stones: amethyst, bloodstone, garnet.
Animals: bear, dragon, deer, eagle, robin, sheep.
Decorations: white flowers, marigolds, plum blossoms, daffodils, candles, grain/seed, red candle in a cauldron full of earth, doll, broom, milk, birchwood, snowflakes, snow in a crystal container,evergreens, orange candles.(source)
Meanings: First stirring of Mother Earth, lambing, the middle of winter. (source)
Customs: cleansing, purification, renewal, creative inspiration, purification, initiation, candle work, house & temple blessings, feast of milk & bread, lighting candles, seeking omens of Spring, storytelling, cleaning house, bonfires, indoor planting, stone collecting, candle kept burning dusk till dawn; hearth re-lighting. (source)
Meanings: the beginning of spring, balance, fertility.(source)
Customs:
planting, welcoming spring, coloring eggs, making/wearing new clothing, fertility rites, rituals of balance, herb work – magical, medicinal, cosmetic, culinary and artistic, spells for prosperity/fertility, new beginnings, potential, action.
Element: Air
Food: jelly eggs (jelly beans), chocolates, lamb, eggs, seeds, leafy green vegetables, spiced or flower cupcakes, fruits, hot cross buns, sprouts, honey cakes, unleavened bread.
Colours: red, white, brown, blue, pink, and green.
Plants & Herbs: Lily of the valley, foxglove, rose, broom, Hawthorne, Dittany of Crete, elder, mint, mugwort, thyme, yarrow, almond tree/shrub, clover, ivy, marigold, meadowsweet, rowan, sorrel, and woodruff.
Incense & Oils: frankincense, lilac, rose.
Crystals & Stones: emerald, malachite, amber, orange carnelian, sapphire, and rose quartz.
Animals: swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, and leopards.
Decorations: may pole, fires, fertility, flowers, growing things, ploughs, cauldrons of flowers.
Meanings: beginning of summer, fertility, joy, abundance.
Customs: fertilize, nurture and boost existing goals, games, activities of pleasure, leaping bonfires, making garlands, May Pole dance, planting seeds, walking one’s property, feasting.
flowers and fresh early garden produce, the spear or sword of the sun god and the bountiful cauldron of the goddess ringed in flowers, solar cross or sun symbols, fireworks, sea shells.(source)
Meanings: beginning of the harvest, midsummer.
Customs: Nature spirit/fae communion/communication, planet healing, divination, love & protection magic, wearing flower crowns, bonfires, dancing, singing, divination, processions, all night vigil, feasting, celebrating with others, cutting divining rods, dowsing rods & wands, herb gathering, handfastings, weddings,gathering of mistletoe in oak groves, needfires, leaping between two fires, mistletoe(without berries, use as a protection amulet), enjoying the seasonal fruits & vegetables.
corn, cornucopias, red, yellow flowers, sheaves of grain (wheat, barley, oats), first fruits/vegetables of garden labor, corn dollies, baskets of bread, spear, cauldron, sickle, scythe, threshing tools, sacred loaf of bread, harvested herbs, bonfires, bilberries, God figures made of bread or cookie dough.
Meanings: honouring the first harvest, first harvest festival.
Customs: astrology, prosperity, generosity, continued success, good fortune, abundance, magical picnic, meditate & visualize yourself completing a project you’ve started, games, the traditional riding of poles/staves, country fairs, breaking bread with friends, making corn dollys, harvesting herbs for charms/rituals, Lughnasadh fire with sacred wood & dried herbs, feasting, competitions, lammas towers (fire-building team competitions), spear tossing, gathering flowers for crowns, fencing/swordplay, games of skill, martial sports, chariot races, hand-fastings, trial marriages, dancing ’round a corn mother (doll).
Animals: Dogs, wolves, stag, blackbird, owl, eagle, birds of prey, salmon & goat, Gnomes, Sphinx, Minotaur, Cyclops, Andamans and Gulons.
Decorations:
maize, red fruits, autumn flowers, red poppies, hazelnuts, garlands, grains especially wheat stalks, and colorful, fallen leaves, acorns, pine & cypress cones, oak sprigs, pomegranate, statue/or figure to represent the Mother Goddess, mabon wreath, vine, grapes, gourd, cornucopia/horns of plenty, burial cairns, apples, marigolds, harvested crops, burial cairns, rattles, sun wheel, all harvest symbols.
Meanings: balance of light and dark; increase of darkness, grape harvest, completion of the harvest.
Customs: Offerings to land, preparing for cold weather, bringing in harvest, cutting willow wands, eating seasonal fruit, leaving apples upon burial cairns & graves as a token of honor, walk wild places & forests, gather seed pods & dried plants, fermenting grapes to make wine, picking ripe produce, stalk bundling, fishing on the closest full moon (Harvest Moon), harvesting corps by moonlight, making wine, gathering dried herbs, plants, seeds and seed pods, walking in the woods, scattering offerings in harvested fields, offering libations to trees, adorning burial sites with leaves, acorns, and pine cones to honor those who have passed over, protection, security, and self-confidence. Also those of harmony and balance, prosperity rituals, introspection, past life recall.
Apples, autumn flowers, acorns, bat, black cat, bones, corn stalks, colored leaves, crows, death/dying, divination and the tools associated with it, ghosts, gourds, maize, jack-o-lantern, nuts , oak leaves, pomegranates, pumpkins, scarecrows, scythes, waning moon.
Meanings: Death & transformation, end of summer, honoring, thinning of the veil between worlds, death of the year, time outside of time, begin new projects, end old projects
Customs:
Foreseeing future, honoring/consulting ancestors, releasing the old, power, understanding death and rebirth, entering the underworld, divination, dance of the dead, fire calling, past life recall, ancestor altar, costumes, divination, carving jack-o-lanterns, spirit plate, feasting, paying debts, fairs, drying winter herbs, masks, bonfires, apple games, tricks, washing clothes.
Element: Water
Food: Apples, apple dishes, cider, meat; especially pork, mulled cider with spices, nuts, pomegranates, potatoes, pumpkins, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, roasted pumpkin seeds, roasted pumpkin seeds, squash.
Animism is the belief that everything in nature, and sometimes including inanimate objects have souls. For example, the flower you just smelled has a soul, the lake you just skipped rocks in has a soul, and, if your belief includes inanimate objects, that table you just bumped into has a soul. Most animists believe that the soul survives death and either goes to a place of abundance, or stays in this realm for various reasons. Most animists also believe that it is necessary to give offerings to the various entities in nature and some worship them.
This is, in my opinion, a belief instead of a religion. There are non-pagan religions that incorporate animism into their beliefs, such as Shinto, African religions, and Hindu. You can label yourself as an animist and it isn’t necessarily an indicator towards a specific religion.
Indicators that I, personally, was an animist, even when I was a small child and before I knew paganism was a thing is that I always was super respectful to animals and trees. I would often talk and hug the trees. I would put little beds of leaves and grass and small twigs next to the roots. I was also super friendly with the centipedes. I would put them next to the tree and make them little beds. If you want, share how you grew to be an animist!
Quick note! Someone told me that better vocabulary for this is spirit and not soul. To me, the terms are interchangable but I’m putting this here to prevent possible confustion!
teakepp 