A Cottage In The Forest And Zero Responsibilities. I’m Surrounded By Animals. Is This Too Much To Ask

Happy October Meow! 🍁🎃🍂

Basic No-Tools Spell #1

To get rid of a bad habit:

Best performed under waning moon 🌒. Take a piece of paper and write down your name at the top. Write down a list of things you WILL NOT do. For example if you're trying to quit smoking, "I will not smoke when I'm stressed. I will not use smoking as a release from my emotions. I will not smoke than one pack a month..." Take the paper and fold it as many times as you want, leaving a little bit of paper at the top. This will act as a flap of an envelope. Burn a candle🕯️ and tilt it so that it's wax drops on the opening and seals the envelope. Take this envelope out everyday and keep sealing it with a little bit of wax everyday until the New moon.

It is important to start with "I will not" because getting rid of things is best performed during a waning moon.

Witchy Tip!

Are you struggling with some financials right now? Is that making you feel like you aren’t being a “good enough” witch?

Copy all those spells you’ve been saving online into your Grimoire / Book of Shadows

If you have altar, take some time to tidy it up. You’ll appreciate having a clear space the next time that you go to work.

Meditate. It’ll clear things from your mind & give you a chance to feel refreshed.

Go for a walk! Either in nature or in the city to reconnect with your environment’s energy. If you have pets, they’ll love this one.

Reset your crystals with new intentions. This will have them work in a better way for you.

Look up the upcoming moon phase & mark it in your journal / planner. Plan out the ritual & tarot readings for it.

Go through your tarot journal (if you have one) & find any of the cards that keep coming up in your readings. Do a reading to figure out why it keeps popping up in your readings & being a creeper!

Take a bath to cleanse / purify yourself with the water. It helps more than you would think.

Hey, so I understand that your intentions are good, but if we've never really talked, I'd appreciate you not sending me overly familiar asks, such as roleplaying physical affection. I don't know you, and if I ran into you in person I would not want to have physical contact with you.

This isn't directed at any one person -- I've had a few such asks at this point, and at least one fairly unsettling parasocial situation, so I'm asking folks to respect this boundary.

Top 10 Lines in Palmistry.

Palmistry is an art of reading the hands. It is believed that everyone in this world has a destiny, which can be determined by analyzing the lines, rings and mounts on one’s hand. Out of these, lines and rings on the hand of a person are more important in context with palmistry-

1. Life Line Life line is obviously the most important line that can be found on the hand. By analysing it, one can determine how long will the bearer live and the ups and downs that he will face in his life.  It starts below the mount of Jupiter (below index figure) and passes through the mount of Venus.

2. Head Line Brain is considered to be one of the most important organs of the body and line of head could tell how intelligent is the bearer of the line of head is expected to be. A long and straight line reflects a practical man whereas a curvy line of head means that the person is more creative than practical. It starts below mount of Jupiter and passes straight dividing the palm.

3. Heart Line Line of Heart is situated above the Line of Head and it determines the emotional level of a person. A short line indicates possibility of a heart attack and a complete absence of Line of Heart means that the person has no emotions in him and is likely to be of a criminal nature.

4. Fate Line The line of fate determines the fortune of a person. A straight and unbroken line of fate means that the person will be lucky in this life while a broken line of fate means that the person is likely to see lots of misfortunes during his life.

5. Sun Line Line of sun in situated below the ring finger. It determines the amount of success that a person is likely to attain in his life. A strong line of sun is considered a sign of a successful person.

6. Health Line Line of health is situated below the mount of mercury (under the little finger). It can determine the health of a person and generally, it is considered as a good sign, if this line is light or is not present at all; such a person is expected to live a healthy and ailment free life.

7. Marriage Line It is a small line situated just above the line of heart at the corner of the mount of mercury. One can have one of more line of marriage. The stronger lines represent marriage relationship while the lighter ones reflect affairs. An absence of line of marriage would mean that the person will not get married in this life.

8. Ring of Saturn It is in shape of a half moon and it surrounds the middle finger. The person, who has such a ring, is expected to be of a very serious nature and someone who likes to live alone. Generally, it is not considered a good sign to have such a ring on the hand.

9. Ring of Venus This ring starts from the middle of little finger and ring finger and end in the mid of index finger and middle finger. The bearer of such a ring is likely to be extravagant and is expected to lose his fortune due to this habit.

10. Ring of Sun This ring occupies position below the sun finger or the ring finger. Like other rings, ring of sun too is not considered to be a good sign. The bearer of such a ring is expected to be too proud and egoist in nature.

“There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution.”

— Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray (via philosophybits)

growth in witchcraft as shedding of snake-skin

Sort of obvious, but I had to learn it (like everything else) the hard way. And as spooky season approaches and people may be revitalizing their practices after breaks, I want to say something that might end up saving a couple folks from a lot of frustration and heartbreak:

Just because it worked that way for you in the past, doesn't mean that's how it works for you now.

I mean this in a literal, making-stuff-happen with magic and sorcery way.

You guys have heard the adage that some spirit guides are with you for life, some for short periods, some for just one lesson, etc., right?

Well, the same can be said for sorcerous techniques.

I don't know if I just shed techniques like hermit crabs shed shells or what, but this happens to me a lot. Here's the kind of thing I mean:

You used to do readings with a specific little ritual involving a prayer and incense, but now that technique seems to produce incorrect readings. It feels flat and you can tell you're not connecting.

You used to be able to tie intent into knots and carry the thread around with you all day to conjure specific little occurrences, but now it barely seems to work and manifestation is spotty.

You used to be able to converse with spirits by going into a deep meditation, but now when you try you can hardly connect and it's like their messages are getting blotted out.

And I think sometimes when these things happen, people tend to process this with:

self-blame (I'm not a devoted enough witch, I brought this on myself!),

scapegoating spiritual allies (I used to pray to Hekate before divination but now my divination doesn't work, so Hekate must be mad at me), or

developing personal doubt (I used to think magic worked but now I can't replicate my own results).

When the reality is, if you're a magical snickity-snek and you've shed your skin, you might be slithering about in the soil trying to do the little old things that no longer fit the bigger, better you.

Sometimes this "shedding" is very obvious and we can feel and taste it. "Shedding" may come before, during, or after a period of intense personal transformation. It may come in a numinous moment when you hear a single phrase, or view a single image, that makes you become the Hanged Man and see reality in a whole new way.

But it can also happen without us really noticing it. I might put down my tarot cards for a couple months, pick them up again, and suddenly the ways I used to read don't work for me any more.

It's not because I'm a bad reader, or that the spirits have abandoned me, or that magic isn't real.

It's because what used to work for me doesn't any more, and now I just need to find new techniques.

So if you're trying to pick up what used to work and it just doesn't seem to be helping any more, consider that it's just like outgrowing an old set of clothes. Nothing is wrong with you, or the clothes. It just doesn't fit any more.

Since I think it'd be frustrating as hell to read a post like this without some actionable steps, below the cut are some ideas that might help you develop new techniques if your old ones seem to be failing you.

Start with your beliefs

Examine your own rituals and see if what you're doing still matches what you believe. Let's say you used to pray to Hekate and light incense before divination, but now you do that and your divination doesn't work.

Do you believe Hekate is allowing your divination to be possible? Do you believe she's the best goddess to seek aide from at this time?

What role does the incense play? Is it an offering to Hekate? Is it to feed the ancestors who supply you with interpretations? Is it just to set the correct tone and atmosphere?

Maybe you've grown in your relationship with divinity, and you now believe it's more proper to call on gods with formal prayers - but your divination ritual still uses a simple, improvised prayer.

Maybe your understanding of Hekate has changed and it feels more suitable to call on different powers.

Maybe you feel strangely about constantly "paying" gods to help you, when they say they don't need it - and lighting the incense makes you feel awkward.

Change what you're doing to match what you believe. That's always a solid first step.

Examine your own emotions and reactions

Try performing rituals (from the smallest ritual of stirring intent into coffee, to full-blown compass-casting affairs under the full moon) mindfully.

Be aware of what you're doing as you do it, but also try to examine your own reactionary thoughts and feelings.

Suppose my ritual of stirring my coffee seven times clockwise to manifest a desired emotion doesn't work any more. It used to work great, for years, so I do it quickly. But now it doesn't work, so I do it mindfully.

And while I'm stirring, I watch a few thoughts pop up to the surface: why am I doing this seven times? I'm stirring my coffee for too long and staring into it like an idiot, and it's embarrassing. What if someone thinks I'm weird?

If any individual step of a ritual makes you feel embarrassed, stressed, or avoidant, or if you feel relief from not having to do that any more - that technique is probably not serving you very well.

Seek out methods that make you feel excited, hopeful, empowered, or interested. Or, at the very least, ones that don't make you feel bad.

Be open to shifting your paradigm entirely

Going back to the stirring coffee thing, maybe I think stirring seven times is too much. So I try to stir my coffee three times. But that still feels clunky.

Then I get into left-handed vs right-handed stirring, because someone might have said that doing stuff with your right hand is for blessings.

Then I try out a new little inner mantra while I stir X times with Y hand.

But it's just not working. No matter what I try, it feels like walking barefoot on a gravel road.

So maybe I just need to do something entirely different.

Maybe numerology isn't my thing any more. Maybe now, I just need to embrace my inner divine creator.

Maybe I should think about the ultimately powerful creative energy within rich, black soil - and as I pour my coffee, I can imagine that I'm pouring pure creative energy into my divine cauldron. When I sprinkle in a little sugar, I'm seasoning that creative power to my personal tastes - and no matter how many times I stir it, when I drink that creative power, a new reality blossoms from within me.

No numbers. No memorized chants. No left hand/right hand stuff. Just me, imagining myself as a planet, drinking pure creative energy that will bloom out of my aura as wildflowers bloom in the spring.

Ask for help

I'm not called fool for no reason, and after a couple years of being unable to astral travel - after having successfully done so for years - I finally sat down and asked my spirits for help.

The answer was immediate and simple. So simple, in fact, that I was confident it wouldn't work at all.

Well, of course it worked. I spent years trying to figure out the problem on my own, trying time and time again to use an old technique that I was confident would work. It took a goddess like four seconds to tell me the new way it worked for me.

Even if you're not in communication with spiritual allies, you can still perform divination to help troubleshoot your own magical skills. Try asking a series of questions: what doesn't work for you any more, what you should try, and what you should avoid trying.

When divining, consider the different "levels" of application. A reading that means "don't use excessive force" might refer to high-level life stuff, like, you're working too hard on all your responsibilities right now, learn to relax and the magic will come. But, it might also be referring to something very specific, like, you're trying to raise huge amounts of energy in individual rituals, break them up into smaller spells where much less force is required for each one.

“Imagination is a necessary ingredient of perception itself.”

— Immanuel Kant, Critique of Pure Reason