Moss-pond - *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Broken Spell Jar

My travel spell jar broke at last. That thing had been sittiing in my car all summer! Honestly I had expected the wax seal to soften before now but hey! What an opportunity, right?

There can be many reasons why a spell jar has broken or become unsealed, and it’s all dependent on what the jar’s intent was. For me, it was protection and reducing inner road-rage when travelling. So perhaps this particular jar has done it’s job and there’s nothing left of it to give. Figure out why this has happened to your jar and then go from there.

So what do you do when the spell jar breaks? Well, again it’s dependent on your situation, but here I’ll show you what I’ve done for this particular spell jar which can be utilized for other spell jars. Feel free to use this method for yourselves and to adjust it according to your needs!

First, empty its content and separate what is salvagable and what is not. Everything to be discarded you can- burn, flush down, throw away, bury, throw outside- whatever is appropriate for the materials you’re getting rid of.

Take what you salvaged and use whatever cleansing method you see fit for your own items. I’ve also salvaged the jar, because I am ALL ABOUT reusing stuff.

So now what? You can take your kept items and use them for other spells or rituals. Charge them, bless them, charm them, whatever! But deep in my heart guts, I feel like these items should immediately be reused for the exact same spell you previously had it in. But that’s just what my heart guts are telling me. If you wanna put them all back in the same jar for the same spell, go ahead! you do you.

Another method would be to just discard the entire spell jar, but I feel like this is such a waste of potential for the spell’s contents. Again, do what you feel is right. And if you have other suggestions on what to do for a broken spell jar, let me know!

🧙🔮🧙Does anyone have any favorite witchy youtube channels? I’ve been poking around a bit, but I’m wondering if you all have any favorites that you’d recommend! 

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. 

It’s possible that another witch has done magic that cancels out or blocks yours. This is not common, and it does NOT mean that someone has cursed you. It could be as simple as two witches unknowingly casting spells with opposite intentions, which end up cancelling each other out. (For example, maybe two different people both cast a spell to get the same job. Obviously, they can’t both get that job.) This is why it’s never a bad idea to incorporate a protective element into your spells to block outside interference.

There is a very, very remote possibility that someone has placed a curse on you specifically to block your magic. However – and I cannot stress this enough – this is VERY uncommon. If you were cursed you would know it, or at least know that something was very wrong in your life. If you feel like you have been cursed or hexed, I recommend looking into uncrossing spells, which are specifically designed to undo negative magic.

It’s also possible that a higher power is intervening. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a deity, although it certainly could be. Most witches believe in some form of fate or destiny, and it’s possible that your spell didn’t work because what you asked for is not in alignment with your destiny. In these situations, really the only thing you can do is surrender to the bigger picture. 

The Boring but Important Basics of Witchcraft

Let me start by saying CLEANSING CLEANSING CLEANSING. It’s the most basic, first thing you learn, exciting and boring part of witchcraft.

Negative energy is a scientific fact based on positive and negative charged ions that make up everything.

Clearing out negative energy and replacing it with positive energy is not something you should only do during spring cleaning. Cleanse after a very stressful or negative experience like a fight or finals. Cleanse if you’re feeling lethargic or upset. Cleansing may not fix everything but it definitely doesn’t hurt.

The best way I’ve found to cleanse it a salt water, sage, pine mix. It’s in a spray bottle and I just spray it around the room. It works best if you’ve cleaned up any clutter that may be lying about. It also helps to declutter your mind. For me that can be hard between my anxiety and depression so it really helps to sit down and work things out in my head.

Another basic is protection and casting circles. When you perform spells or rituals you open yourself up to outside interference. It’s like how your laptop limited to what’s on it by itself. When it connects to the internet it becomes part of all these other devices that are connected and its no longer limited. Without a firewall your computer can get a virus. So casting a circle is like activating a firewall.

You can create a mental circle but it can be hard to keep up if you’re performing an energy costing spell or ritual. Salt is your best friend!

Creating circles and walls from outside energy is essential for most empaths to function some days. It all depends on who you come in contact with. Even if you don’t spend much time with a person you can still pick up on their emotional energy. If you do get interference cleansing can help clean out other people’s emotions.

A lot of witchcraft is visualizing and focusing your will and releasing energy from things like crystals or herbs. Meditation and mental exercises will help you in whatever spells or rituals you want to do.

My last basic isn’t witchcraft but it’s essential for doing spells or rituals. Take care of yourself. If you are too tired and don’t have the energy, for whatever reason, to focus or use energy in a spell, it’s not going to work. So drink water, exercise, sleep, relax. Do what you can to take care of you. Self care isn’t always easy but it’s important in everything you do. I’m a big advocate of those occasional and unavoidable mental health days. Mental sickness will cause your body to become sick.

🌙Make Time For Your Faith🌙

ART BY: @eunnieboo

⭐ If you go to university, study or have a full-time job that requires travel or takes up a lot of your time, it can sometimes be difficult to prioritize your witchy journey. But this  does not mean it is impossible.If you are just starting out in Witchcraft, try to schedule time into every day; even if it’s just half an hour to write in your Book of Shadows or to practice reading your tarots or research a new subject. There’s no need to pressure yourself; it’s not a chore and should be fun!

⭐ If you have been doing witchcraft for a while and suddenly have a change in location- maybe you have begun university, moved home or started a new job- do the same: schedule a time for your practices or even use it to wind down in the evenings before you sleep. This can be a super effective way to enjoy your witchy journey and make the learning element less chore-like - just chill and look forward to it in the evenings. Remember that sometimes you may be so busy that you barely have time to sleep, let alone practice your craft, so don’t punish yourself. Remember that you live and breathe your beliefs, if you miss a full moon or forget a ritual that you had planned, don;t worry about it, it will come around again soon!

⭐ If you have a job that takes up a lot of your time, you can take magic with you, whether it be a book to read in your lunchtime, a form of divination you can do on the train, crystals to use for meditation or even a semi-permanent altar , as small as a match box with a few herbs, a candle and a few other mini items.  Lunchtimes are always great for spell work. Find a quiet spot where you can concentrate; this may take some getting used to but it will become more natural the more that you practice.

⭐ If you share a house with friends or flatmates who take up a lot of your time and personal space, it may be awkward explaining that you need quiet time to concentrate on something that they may not understand. You could lie and say that you need privacy for a phone call or to practice meditation but it’s often better to be honest with people and explain what you are actually doing. That way they won’t think that you just don’t want them around. Again, it’s easier said than done, but if you treat your faith as a completely normal thing to you and don’t make a big deal out of it, it’s usually received in the same way.

🌙 Restrictions By Tenancy Or Household Rules

⭐ If your tenancy agreement doesn’t allow lit candles, this can be incredibly difficult as many spells require them. Even casting circles or divination can sometimes benefit from the use of candles. You need to remember that Witchcraft and magic are all about working with what you’ve got. It’s about using what is at hand and about your intent, not about items that you have purchased. For example, if you feel like you need items that represent fire, incense can often substituted , as can herbs that you can burn and some crystals . If you are not allowed to burn anything indoors, you can always just use visualization and concentration: all you really need for a spell is yourself!

⭐ Also, living in the city, it is unlikely that you will be allowed to or have space to have bonfires for celebrations. A wood burner or a fireplace that you are permitted to use is a good substitute. These can both be used in spells that incorporate burning and for festivities on the Sabbats.

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Source: Wicca By Harmony Nice

For some reason tumblr insists on ruining the quality, but if you click on the image it is fine!

I'm a guy and I had really cystic acne when I was 16 (now 18). I'm on my second treatment of acutane right now. The first was for 8 months and my current treat is on its 5th month. I just feel like shit all the time. I feel bad about myself. I can't look into the mirror and like what I see. I've already seen a therapist about this problem but it didn't really help much. I've learned to deal with it better, but I still struggle. Any advice?

I’m so sorry!! It’s really unfair just how much acne can affect ones self image. I had a really hard time with mine when it was bad, and I don’t think I can say that I know how you feel, but I went through a long period of self hatred just because of my skin. I definitely understand that it can take a toll on you and your happiness. I think the best advice I have is that in the long run, dealing with something like this can make you a much better person. It makes you understanding of others, less judge mental, and more accepting. That’s mostly how I got through dealing with my skin, but I know it’s not as simple as that. Just know that we are all here for you and you are so so so much more than your skin. Don’t forget that you have a personality and all the potential in the world to do what you want. And honestly, when I see someone dealing with acne it makes me relate to them more and have respect for them. When mine was at its worst I really reached to people that had similar problems and t made me feel better to have an unspoken similarity. It helped a lot to not feel judged because who I surrounded myself with understood what was happening. Another thing is that when accutane comes up with people I know, the people can’t seem to remember what my skin used to look like, because when it isn’t your skin it isn’t a big deal. Don’t worry, you’ll get through it and you’ll come out on top. If you ever need anything I’m here, and I’m sure tons of other people apart of this community and your life are there for you too :)

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