James Longenbach / Wendy Cope / Jon Kabat-zinn

Seattle, Washington

January 2021

I present to you my fellow goblins, fearies, cottagecores and other forest friends...

Decorative Terrariums

Put these things 'round your house. Make it shiny. Make it leafy. Make it full of plants

20 Tips to being a Safe Witch

Altar Safety

When burning anything always keep a glass of water near you, unless you are working with burning oils, then keep a fire extinguisher or baking soda on hand.

When working with essential oils(EO), do not burn them they are highly flammable 

Never leave anything burning unattended, be it a burn bowl, candle, incense. DON’T LEAVE IT!

Please remove anything flammable such as paper or string from the candle, it will ignite and you will be alarmed.

Make sure that what you’re burning your candle in is fire safe, metal and cast iron are good bets. Do NOT burn in a glass, if you have to put it out and dump water on it, it will explode. 

Make sure you tie back loose hair and don’t have any floppy sleeves or necklaces to get in the way. 

When putting out a candle it is best to use a candle snuffer and do not use water. 

Don’t burn kitchen sage, it gives off a toxic smoke. Not something you wanna inhale.

Essential Oil Safety

Please, please dilute them properly. I have a chemical burn scar I can never get rid of due to undiluted cinnamon bark oil. The proper dilution is one drop per teaspoon.

Never ingest EO, there are some that are now generally recognized as safe by the FDA, but the quality of EO are not regulated. Who knows what a bad quality EO could do to your internal organs, not something I wanna test.

Essential Oils are photosensitive, meaning they deteriorate in light store them in a dark area to prevent them from spoiling.

DO NOT put them near on your skin and get in the sun or a tanning bed, especially citrus oils, they will blister.

Water will not dilute essential oils, only other oils(canola, olive, sweet almond, olive will all dilute). If you want to use them in a bath it is one drop per a teaspoon of oil.

Please seek medical attention if anything seems off after using EO, they seem harmless but can be very dangerous

Pets can be very sensitive to essential oils(particularly cats) and it is almost impossible to cover all my bases here. The sources provided below have some great resources.

Always go by the scientific name, German and Roman chamomile are very different products.

Kitchen Magic Safety

Wear shoes if you’re doing anything, I nearly lost a toe the other day cause I dropped a knife. I got lucky I was wearing boots. 

Wear correct clothing, and tie back hair. No matter if you have a gas, electric or induction stove, I’ve caught a lab coat sleeve on fire thanks to a torch while making a creme brulee. 

Use your knives correctly, learn about the pinch grip and use the correct knife for the job. Using a paring knife for chopping potatoes is asking for trouble. There are tons of videos online, I like the ones from Alton Brown and Jamie Oliver.

As a side note use sharp knives, a blunt knife will do more damage than a sharp one.

Don’t leave knives in the sink, someone could begin to wash dishes and cut themselves. 

Watch the steam. Steam can give a worse burn than dry heat, open pot lids away from you and don’t stick your face and phalanges in steam. 

Don’t leave food products unattended. 

Use your damn pot holders, they protect you and your counters. 

Store raw meat on the lowest shelves, and never store cooked meat on the same shelf

Wash your hands before, wash your hands after handling raw meats, wash your hands after. 

Don’t leave food that is meant to be cold or hot out for more than 2 hours, this is to decrease foodborne illness. 

When using the store turn handles in, to keep yourself from bumping them off the stove. 

Cook meats to proper temps(there is a chart in the sources)

If you are using herbs be sure to use kitchen grade herbs, those that are not kitchen grade are not held up to the same purity standards and could have more pesticide residue.

Herbal Safety

Please be aware a lot of herbs can work against prescription medications, or should only be taken in very specific doses( St. John’s Wort I’m looking at you.) Check in with your doctor or a licensed herbalist or naturopath before ingesting herbs.

Crystal Safety

Identify your crystals, some are water solvent some are not and it matters

Some that aren’t safe in water include malachite and selenite. They have copper and if aren’t sealed they can become toxic. There is no way to know for sure if it was sealed or not keep -ite crystals dry as a good rule of thumb. 

Some crystals fade in sunlight like rose quartz, amethyst and citrine, in order to prevent fading try cleansing them with sound, flower petals, moonlight and energy.

VIV Sassmaster, WHC Blog Manager, WHC Moderator @thestudiouswitch

Sources

http://candles.org/fire-safety-candles/

http://www.pixiespocket.com/2016/03/lets-talk-about-candle-safety.html

https://naha.org/explore-aromatherapy/safety/

https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=182.20

https://www.thespruce.com/dangers-of-essential-oils-555089

http://www.thelavendercat.com/images/PDF-TheLavenderCat_temp_use.pdf

http://www.vetstreet.com/our-pet-experts/do-essential-oils-pose-a-risk-to-pets

http://www.usingeossafely.com/is-it-safe-to-use-essential-oils-with-dogs/

https://www.thespruce.com/top-kitchen-safety-tips-481834

http://www.dummies.com/food-drink/cooking/kitchen-safety/basic-rules-of-kitchen-safety/

https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html

http://www.amfed.org/editor/BEAC/Articles/2011/AdultArticlesAdv/16.Minerals%20Safe%20to%20Handle-Some%20Require%20Caution.doc

http://arccitius.tumblr.com/post/149575827181/crystal-safety

Color correspondence lists are only as useful as they resonate with you. If you intensely hate yellow, it is not going to represent happiness effectively in your spellwork. If healing is blue and calm instead of green and lively for you, you're not wrong. These things are not truly universal--they bear cultural and personal meaning.

As I've said before, I use red for boundaries, and it works damned well for me. It might not for you, though. Try to make your own list of color correspondences, instead of assuming one in a book or on someone's blog is perfect for you.

My companions need constant attention wha-

🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌🦌

What Native people say about the use of sage: you can use sage, but you cannot smudge as nothing you are doing (waving sage around) is actually smudging. Smudging is a ceremony and you are, we promise, not smudging. Please buy sage from either us, or someone who sources the sage from us. White sage may not be considered endangered by the US government but corperate sourcing is making it difficult for us to source sage for our own religious purposes. Let alone to sell it.

What white people hear: never use sage ever, don’t ever buy it, don’t own it, don’t even look at it.

Look, y’all. There’s a couple of facets to my talk today.

1) Yes! You can buy sage! You really, truly can! Buy it from either native sellers (go to a powwow! Eat our food, buy our stuff, watch some dancing!) Or buy it from a seller who sources the sage from native people. Pick one. And no, buying it from 5 Below doesn’t count.

2) you CANNOT smudge. This isn’t just you “shouldn’t”— this is a YOU ARE INCAPABLE OF SMUDGING. Waving a sage stick around your doorways IS NOT SMUDGING. It is smoke clensing. Smudging, depending on the tradition and tribe, could easily have dancing and drums involved. You, as a white person, do not have the cultural BACKGROUND to even know how it works. At all. Period.

3) please, for FUCKS SAKE, stop making posts here on tumblr where you tell other white people about cultural appropriation and what they can and cannot do. Please stop, your license has been revoked because none of you bother to get the facts right. We native people are FULLY CAPABLE OF DOING IT OURSELVES. Consider instead: a) reblogging our posts where we talk about it! We’re here! We have made posts!! b) Making a post that states what we said and then LINKS BACK TO US. Screenshot with a link if you must. Stop centering your own voices in these conversations. You are already centered in everything, stop centering yourselves in a native space.

I’m tired of this nonsense, y’all.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk ™

——

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witches ladder

a witches ladder is a knot magick spell. you can make it into a bracelet, put it on your wall, give it to a loved one, etc.

you say/think each phrase while tying a new knot.

you will need:

a piece of string/rope

focus

intention

this spell is pretty flexible and can be used for many things. all you need to do is think about/visualize your goal while tying the knots. you can also write down your intention. make sure to protect yourself before and during the spell.

i would like to note that there are multiple versions of this spell, this is the one that resonates with me.

spell:

by knot of one, the spells begun

by knot of two, the magick comes true

by knot of three, so shall it be

by knot of four, the power is stored

by knot of five, my will shall drive

by knot of six, the spell i fix

by knot of seven, the future i leaven

by knot of eight, by knot of eight, it will be fate

by knot of nine, whats done is mine