-fae

Edinburgh, Scotland.

pics by pandeyrr, lynne.sword.

Tips for my closeted witches <3

-Pick up gardening or cooking so you have an excuse to buy/grow herbs/plants

-Do your big spells at night, so no one will intrude & the power of the moon will be the highest than too

-For making moon water just stick a glass of water on your window sill for a couple hours, it doesn’t need to be overnight

-Use symbolism & substitution, such as symbols that represent any deities your work with (if you work with them) this way you can represent them subtly

-Wear a black shirt for protection (use color magic for clothes or make up)

-Make paper book covers to cover your witchcraft books, put them behind other books, or place them with your school work

-Take advantage of windy days and use wind to cleanse

-Practice candle magick

-Research energy work

-Practice ring magick

-Work with essential oils

-Use pdf books and change the name of the file

-Start a crystal collection because they’re pretty

-Start a candle collection because they smell nice

-When making sigils, write them in moon water or in invisible ink so your parents won’t see them

-Store pressed dried herbs in books

-If you play an instrument you can turn spells into songs or melodies

-Use regular cards instead of a tarot deck for cartomancy (in the link down below is our discord server where you will be able to find how to use and play cartomancy), you can also make your own tarot!

-Use showers to cleanse yourself with water and visualization

-Create a cleansing spray and disguise it as an air freshener

-Make a travel alter in an altoids can or make an altar on a board/baking tray and store it under your bed

-Turn your room into an altar, a plant could represent earth in the north corner, a fan or incense burner in the east for air, a dragons statue south for fire and a fountain for water in the west (you can choose what represents each element, this is an example)

-You can also make your altar in a shoebox

-make a digital altar (a dedicated tumblr blog, pinterest board, moodboard, a crafted temple in a building game, etc)

-dedicate meals to them before you eat it, art, music, writing, etc

-Say your grimoire/bos is a book of story ideas or info for a game of dnd

-make digital grimoires/bos in notion or google drive

-Art magick!!

-Sigils as fancy doodles or a language for a fantasy setting

-Trace sigils in your food, in the shower, while applying skin care, in your notebooks, digitally on pictures in your phone, draw a sigil on your nails before painting them with nail polish

-Drinking tea and you’re bad at drawing sigils at the bottom with honey? Don’t like the taste of honey but want to incorporate sigils on your tea) use washable markers on your mugs, you can also use color intent

-enchant your jewelry, masks, clothes, etc

-Pass your pendulum as jewelry

-Make your own incense with kitchen spices/herbs

-If you need to get rid of the smell of incense or perfume or burnt herbs, you can make a solution of 50% water and 50% white vinegar in a spray bottle, also keeping a wet wipe or mini towel next to you can absorb some of the odor

-Hide stuff in plain sight and say they’re decorations (crystals, shells, feathers, etc)

-Spend time on nature so you can connect to the Earth

-If you want to have chalices, you can try to find a cup that you can pass off as drinking cup you keep in your room, if this isn’t possible, than even something as small as a thimble can work

-containers you can use, little pots of lip balm when it runs out, container ||sharpeners||, the containers of camera fills, use old makeup containers, sweet containers, lead containers (pencils, compasses, etc.), medicine containers, etc

-take advantage of being home alone!!!!

-candle wax can be replaced with glue (if you want it with color respondence you can put colorant in it) or melted crayons

Join our discord server: All Things Spiritual for more tips!!!!!!

“Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.”

— Anne Carson, from “Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides”

Your craft is more than your tools

I see a lot of posts on #witchblr for baby witches saying you need to collect this and that when you are starting out. (So many lists!) As though you can't make magic without a particular starter kit of cups and cards and crystals. I don't think this kind of materialistic approach is useful.

Now, I'm not saying that it's not nice to have shiny rocks and floral potpourri, but it is not necessary. Tools can help focus and enhance spell work, but the spell comes from within first and foremost.

So my advice to baby witches is to not run around and spend all your coin on the aesthetic, but instead invest your time into research, reflection and meditation.

This will give you a much better idea of the things that will actually help you get the most out of your workings—instead of accumulating seasonings that will rot in your pantry—if you even feel you need anything at all.

Finally, if you research well you will probably find that what you have in your home and/or neighbourhood is all you need (markers, paper, salt, flour, matches, water, cups, books, playing cards, birthday candles, perfume, text articles and PDFs on the internet, rocks, leaves, etc.) in terms of tools.

Tips for when you’re considering Paganism

For my lovely friend @whoooooisthis!! I hope this helps love!

First things first, learn the basics. Cleansing, Warding, Banishing and Protection. 

Cleansing: You should cleanse when you’re having a bad day, are/were sick, after a breakup or loss, after arguments, during a major transition in life (graduation, birth, etc) and when you feel you need to. Cleansing cleans up the energy around you and keeps you safe. You can cleanse by lighting incense and passing the smoke around an object or room, bathing yourself or an object, burying an object, with salt (just don’t put it near dirt and plants!!), setting something in moonlight or sunlight (Make sure you keep track of which moon phase to cleanse on), with sound like bells or singing bowls, clapping, cleaning, burning sage or candles, using holy water or a protection spray, and touching each corner of a room and saying a prayer for each one. 

Warding: Wards are spiritual shields that keep you safe. There’s two types of wards - spacial (for spaces and rooms) and personal (for objects and the self). You will need to maintain wards by charging and clearing them. You can ward by using enchanted jewelry or objects, sigils (magical symbols with purposeful energy), energy shields, magic circles, spells, protective crystals, protection spell bottles, anointing the corners of a room and window and door sills with holy water or another warding substance. I personally like to drill holes in peach pits to wear as necklaces, they work quite well for warding. 

Banishing. There are tons of spells online that will teach you how to banish negative entities. If an entity is fucking with you, bad things keep happening or things just feel off, don’t be afraid to banish. Letting spirits know you’re not to be fucked with is incredibly important.

Protection. Light a black candle. Use salt and pepper for warding. Learn banishing and warding spells. Use protective sigils. Protection is incredibly important when concerning spirits, so educate yourself on this thoroughly. 

Now onto the fun stuff…

- Talk to things! Your house, your trees and plants, your spirit guides. You can do this out loud or in your head. And remember, even if they don’t respond, they’re probably still there. Just trust me on that

- It’s alright to forge your own unique path. I personally am Autistic and have terrible memory, so it’s important for me to forge my own craft. If something doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to change it. Substitutions can always be made.

- Meditate. Everyone says this, but it’s very true. Meditation not only calms the mind and body, but it opens you and your intuition/senses up to new forces

- Don’t ask for things without giving something in return. I lost my pillbox once and couldn’t find it anywhere. I walked out of my room, politely asked for it to be returned, and a few minutes later it was right there on my desk in plain sight. I left a little dish of honey out for whoever (or whatever) returned it. It’s always polite to approach with an offering and give one either before or after asking for something. You can do this with something as simple as picking a flower, always ask permission.

-  Make it an everyday thing. That doesn’t mean you have to do daily rituals or meditation sessions. Simply talking (again, in your head or out loud) to your spirit guides, practicing mindfulness and doing little spiritual things here and there are enough. This could be meditation, interpreting a potential sign you got today, saying good morning to the spirits you work with, leaving an offering (especially if you’re asking for something or something has already been done for you) and plain researching to expand your craft and knowledge. 

- Write it down. In witchcraft/paganism, almost everybody is journaling. It’s the best way to keep track of signs, experiences, feelings, omens, knowledge that may pertain to your craft, dreams, anything that might seem important. Many witches have a grimoire or book of shadows where they keep their witchy knowledge stored. These are often very personal, can be online or written by hand, and are entirely unique to you. You don’t need a 50 dollar designer spellbook. My grimoire is almost entirely online and printed out into a binder. You don’t have to be fancy. - Research!! Keep finding white feathers? Look up what that means! You want to give an offering? Look up what nature spirits and specific deities prefer! Make sure you’re knowledgeable about what you do.

- Incorporate what you know and what you’re used to. I grew up in a Polish family in an Eastern Orthodox church. Many of the practices I learned from my family and culture have carried on into my craft. Such as knocking on wood to prevent jinxes, wearing clothes backwards to see spirits and keep them from messing with you, and little cultural tricks like stepping out of a room and asking for lost items to be returned when you can’t find something. Keep it familiar.

That's really all I can think of for now, love. If you have any more questions, just let me know in a relog!!

a cottage in the forest and zero responsibilities. i’m surrounded by animals. is this too much to ask for

shaking six year old me by the shoulders YOU WERE RIGHT. YOU WERE RIGHT ABOUT LOVE AND ABOUT FAIRNESS AND ABOUT SHARING IS CARING. YOU WERE RIGHT. THE ADULTS DON’T KNOW ANY MORE ABOUT TRUTH THAN YOU DO. KEEP BELIEVING IN THE FAIRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN. NOTHING IS “JUST THE WAY IT IS”. I AM SORRY THEY EVER CONVINCED YOU TO FEEL SHAME. YOU ARE REAL AND A PART OF THIS WORLD. YOU WERE RIGHT.

Let's start a helpful thread:

What do you do to protect yourself and your energies?

I:

Wear protective jewellery such as jewellery incorporating protective crystals

Visualise a white impenetrable light around me

Chants and affirmations

Avoiding situations that I get negative feelings about