US Helplines:

Some herbs and their magical properties from Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs 🌿

Solar Charged Heat Ward

an old spell of mine i had posted on an old side account before deleting the blog, but i’m reposting it here on my new witchcraft side blog. a jar spell that charges in the sun to keep your space protected. this ward is strongest in late spring and summer.

☀️ gather: jar, black tea leaves, green tea leaves, cayenne pepper, apple seed, black candle

☀️ light your black candle

☀️ layer the ingredients one by one into your jar. black tea grounds to expel negative energy and entities, green tea leaves to amplify energy and behave as a catalyst, cayenne pepper for offensive magic/quick results/heat, then one by one place a desired amount of apple seed*

☀️ as you drop your apple seed, affirm “for every attack on this ward, it is reflected to the attacker ten times the amount for every apple seed in this jar”

☀️ spit inside the jar and seal with candle wax

☀️ place in a section of your home where it can be in direct sunlight and recharge (or reheat) as needed.

*while apple seed may be used as a love spell ingredient, due to the resin properties within it can also be used for curses*

Take a deep breath. Exhale. Relax your muscles. Breathe.

Astrology of March and April

I see a lot of stuff online saying the current energy and tension is as a result of Mercury in Pisces (trop), or the fact that Jupiter must be uncomfortable in Pisces (trop) etc.

From a Vedic perspective there is a stellium in Capricorn right now (Venus & Mars in Shravana and Saturn in Dhanista). Saturn and Mars are ENEMIES. While Venus doesn’t consider Saturn or Mars enemies this current configuration is not comforting for Venus. Venus likes diplomacy and would prefer to peacefully talk about matters before waging war.

Right now Mars is travelling to meet Saturn very close to its exact exaltation point in Dhanista, the end of March and early April is when the conjunction will be very tight and this can cause a lot of turbulence. Right now Mars and Venus both being in Shravana is one of the main reasons why people are slow to react and take action regarding many critical matters, Shravana is not a fast paced nakshatra. This lunar mansion is about taking things slow, listening before speaking, contemplating deeply before acting etc. However when both Venus and Mars leave Shravana (March 26th onwards) those things can really start moving quickly. Tip for anyone that finds themselves in a difficult situation towards the end of the month: Either you step you up and take responsibility regarding important issues if not be willing to let it go for good.

Venus leaves Capricorn to move into Aquarius at the beginning of April (1st of April) which could mean Saturn and Mars will really battle it out (because Venus won’t be there to mediate between the two). I predict this entire week is going to very INTENSE FOR EVERYONE.

Around 8th of April Mars will finally leave Capricorn which will break the planetary war with Saturn. Soon after, around the 12th of April Rahu will enter Aries ruled by Mars- the relationship between Mars and Rahu is complicated. They are not fully comfortable with each other.

Rahu’s current position in Taurus is actually considered his exaltation, this move to Aries is going to be very radical for the world. This truly represents a brand new cycle - some of it good and some of it bad. Personally I feel this is going to mark the end of the covid chapter that we have long been facing - it nots going to be a primary concern anymore.

Hopefully Jupiter’s transit to Pisces (around 14-15th April) will bring some much needed healing, wisdom and guidance to us all🤞🏽!

Here is a little graphic I did to get people in the mood for Imbolc!

Not normally what I'd post, but let's just say every witch needs to know fire safety and effective methods.

🌲❄️winter feels❄️🌲

(recipes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

❄️ Bath Spell ❄️

For purity and cleansing.

This was very impromptu but I tried it out and I like it!

Ingredients:

Snow Water

Vinegar

Witch Hazel

Egg Shell

Ice Cube

Bay leaf

Black Salt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Collect snow water! I left a cup outside while it was snowing for about ten minutes just to let it collect at the bottom.

Bring the cup inside and add a little vinegar. Snow water is great for purification and the vinegar adds a cleansing value to it.

Add Witch Hazel to your mixture. Witch Hazel is great for your skin IF it is alcohol-free. It has many purification values.

For the egg shells, I saved some over from when I had breakfast. I boil mine but how you clean yours is up to you. I actually think Less is More when it comes to egg shells because they’re hard to clean up sometimes.

While you fill up your bath, I would add the ice cube. The act of melting ice represents cleansing and purification.

Add your mixture in a circular motion.

Add the black salt in a circular motion.

Add the egg shells.

Add your bay leave(s). I like to bless my Bay Leaves with a kiss before adding them to anything.

Extras:

I light white candles and use clear quarts and smokey quartz to line the bath. I also use aromatherapy but it didn’t correspond to the meaning so I didn’t add it in the ingredients list.

I also lit a pink candle for Venus and gave her a seashell offering so she can enjoy the bath as well.

City Magic: Painted Rock Wards

This post was released a week early over on my Patreon! You can subscribe for free to be notified of important projects announcements, or subscribe for as little as $2 a month to gain early access to my content, exclusive access to research/reading notes, and free digital goodies! Your support means the world to me and helps me to continue doing what I love.

We’ve all seen those pretty painted rocks over on Pinterest, right? These bad boys? Or perhaps you’ve even seen them around your neighborhood/public parks.

Traditionally, these are meant to be painted (sometimes with words of encouragement) and left in public spaces for people to take home, as an act of kindness. Some others paint them for their garden, either to deter pests with vibrant colors, or they’re used to label whatever’s in their garden.

Now, if you live in a big city, you probably have felt a disconnect from your craft or your practice. It’s difficult to connect with a nature-oriented spirituality, such as witchcraft, when you live in a concrete jungle! But there are many, many ways to feel connected to your craft, even if you don’t live in the middle of the woods or have a lot of nature around you. One of these ways is to connect with your neighborhood.

Your neighborhood has mass significance to your life, whether you realize it or not: this is where you live, where you work, where you breathe, where you practice your craft – you must make yourself known, and make the neighborhood known to yourself as well. One of the best ways to do this is to take walks!

Whenever you’re ready, take a walk through your neighborhood and bring a map, notebook, and a pen. As you walk, observe the behaviors of the residents around you. Do they seem to be struggling with anything? What kind of people are they like? Write these characteristics down. If you notice any parts of your neighborhood that evoke any specific emotions (such as unease, happiness, peace, or anxiety), mark them on your map. You might also notice some “problem areas” – perhaps some patches of the road or sidewalk are horribly paved and need to be repaired, or there’s a lot of loud dogs constantly barking at the end of your block. Mark these areas on your map as well, and report back to your home when you are ready.

Picking Your Purpose

Now that we’ve identified a few “problems” and made observations within your neighborhood, we can decide what we want to do. Do you want to protect against thieves? Ward against illness for one of your elderly neighbors? This is the time to select the primary purpose for your ward.

Picking The Area

Take the map that you marked up during your walk. Connect any common points you see (for example, connect up the "peaceful" areas you marked on your map, or connect any points that have a common theme). What kind of shape does it have? Does it remind you of any popular symbols? Can you use the general shape of the area to generate a sigil or symbol that represents the area? What area(s) would most benefit from your rock wards?

Here is an example of how I created a sigil from a fictional city map I found! Obviously, play around with this idea until it makes sense to you. You can connect up different routes, or perhaps create a border around the areas that feel safest to you.

Now is the time you also want to pick where you want to place your wards - you can use your neighborhood sigil to influence where you place them, or, place them based on intuition or based on need. For example, placing a rock ward at the end of the noisiest block, or in the middle of the block that has the most number of children in the area.

Creating and Using Your Sigils/Symbols

Now, you want to develop symbols or sigils for your purpose. You can use any method you’d like! You may wish to incorporate your neighborhood sigil into each one you create, but ultimately the design is up to you. This is also the point where you would “charge” your sigil, with whatever method you see fit - as long as the design, intention, and charging method makes sense to you, that’s all that matters!

Painting Your Rocks

Finally, onto the fun part!

Now, you could simply paint your sigils on your rock and call it a day. Or, you could paint your sigil, and layer a more “mundane” piece of artwork on top of the sigil, leaving the sigil hidden underneath. This technique works best if the “mundane” artwork connects with the ward’s purpose in some way (for example, if your ward is for protection against nosy neighbors, you could paint eyes; or if your ward is for health, you could paint green colors, or even a red cross). I definitely recommend this “layering” method of painting your rocks so no one in your neighborhood ends up reporting any “suspicious looking rocks” with “satanic symbols” on them to your local Facebook groups!

Materials

acrylic paint

rocks

paint brushes

toothpicks (optional)

paint markers

outdoor/water-proof sealant such as Mod Podge: Outdoor

Instructions

Lay out your rocks and other materials

Seal your rocks with a coat or two of your sealant before you begin painting. This is an important step, since rocks are porous and will suck up any paint you try to apply!

Paint your rocks to your heart's content! If you are layering paint on your rocks, please make sure each layer is dry before painting the next.

Once your rocks are completely dry, seal them up with your outdoor/water-proof sealant so they don't get damaged in the elements.

Lastly, take another trip through your neighborhood to place your rocks. Converse with the neighbors if you feel inclined, and make double-sure of the locations you chose for your wards. I recommend taking regular walks throughout your neighborhood to check on these wards, and make sure they’re doing their job. You may wish to refresh the wards with a new coat of paint, or replace them with something new if the situations within the neighborhood change.

Ultimately, magic is what you make it, especially when you live in a big city. Warding your neighborhood and showing care for the people that live there is one of the many ways you can connect to your neighborhood on a deeper level and feel more connected to your practice locally.

Recommended further reading: Urban Magick by Diana Rajchel