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Imbolc Spread

Here is a simple four card spread that you can do to welcome the changing of seasons!

Imbolc marks the halfway point between winter and summer, and is the perfect time to prepare for the coming spring. Read more about Imbolc here.

Past: What can you learn from the past season? Winter can be rough for some people, maybe you were put through the wringer this past season too. What is something you can glean from this experience so that you can learn from this?

Present: What energy do you need to bring into this next season? It’s important to learn from the past and plan for the future, but make sure you are able to stay present and grounded even as the weather is bleak. So, what energy should you bring with you into this changing of seasons that can help you to learn, prepare, and pursue what you need to?

Prepare: Anything you would need to prepare for this coming season? This is the time of the year that farmers and gardeners start to prep their lands and plant their seeds for the spring; what is something you can prepare for that you will need to grow or nurture in the springtime?

Pursue: What is something you need to pursue during this time? This could be a goal that you set earlier this year but you have yet to follow through on, is this something you could be pursuing now, during this halfway between winter and spring?

I haven't done this exact spread yet, I plan to do it the day of Imbolc. I'll share my experience with it if I feel like it's ok to share :)

Let me know if you try out this spread, I would love to know how you feel about it!!!

Flameless Hearths & Devotions

Ideas for Hestia devotees/worshippers who are unable to use a fireplace or flames in their worship. Welcome for all who find this helpful!

Using flames safely and/or discreetly:

(For the occasional need)

Use a tea light or lighter outside; on a fire-safe surface such as concrete or gravel.

Burn objects over your sink or a bowl of water.

Outdoor fire pits or grills. 

Creating your hearth:

Your hearth should feel like a central, focused place that represents your home. Someplace where you feel calm and safe. Traditionally, this was often in the kitchen; but it can be anywhere in your home. It can also be in multiple places, or small and contained. 

My shelf altar. I keep it clean and tidy. It contains items that remind me of home, and offerings to Hestia. It represents hearth and home, and is a space I can visit when I wish to feel connected to her. 

My dedication wall. I used to have a wall with a dried marigold garland, soothing poetry, devotional poetry, artwork and prayers on it. This is an excellent way to have a discreet (if you so choose) dedicated space that doesn’t take up much surface area. 

My stovetop. Each time I put the kettle on for tea, I feel connected to Hestia. I offer the first sip to her. I simmer pots of water with herbs, spices or other scented things (such as orange peels) to spread a beautiful aroma around my home. 

Don’t have a stove? An electric kettle and microwave will do!

My oven. Each time I bake (both the preparation and the baking itself) I feel connected to her and give a portion as an offering.

My woodstove or outdoor firepit. It is worth noting that because I have these things (and use my woodstove as a primary heating source) I do often use these as my hearth and burn offerings here. 

Flame and candle alternatives:

What feels right to you? What matches the energy/warmth of fire and flame?

Electric candles, especially ones that flicker and have warmer colors.

Electric tealights in candle holders. 

Solar charged lanterns

Fairy lights in a jar

Himalayan salt lamp

Wax or oil warmers (with heat bulbs).

Electric fireplace

Flame ambiance videos

Scents:

For me, certain smells embody home. And this is wonderful, because we can control them–even without candles or incense!

Essential oil or reed diffusers 

Wax or oil warmers

Scented electric candles

Potpourri 

Scented sachets

Room/pillow sprays

Pot of water on the stove with scented things

You  may also like:

Resources for Hestia devotees - a masterpost

Hestia small devotional acts

Bedridden devotion to Hestia

♡~easy rain spell i tried today~♡

i love rain. today, I put some dirt from my backyard, some salt (for earth, and protection, so nothing dangerous happens), and some cayenne, ( for passion in the storm) in a jar with water. i also added a little metal thumbtack, ( i have a magnet on my alter, and wanted to attract rain to me.)

i then sat in the shower with it and concentrated on rain. What would my neighborhood look like in rain, etc.

No results yet, but I am seeing some nice dark clouds... 🤞🤞🤞

Favourite Designs: Chotronette ‘Floral Tulle’ Haute Couture Gowns

Super aura protection

Rose petals (strengthen the aura, self love)

Lavender buds (restore energy)

Sage (protection)

Pink Himalayan salt (detoxify and restore)

Clear quartz (to amplify)

Rose quartz (repair damage)

Citrine (expand and strengthen the aura)

Amethyst (protection against psychic attack)

Fluorite (free aura from peoples energies)

Red agate (remove negativity)

Bamboo coral (prevents negative energy build up)

Brecciated Jasper (cleans and stabilizes)

Onyx (protection against evil)

Smoky quartz (clean aura and purify energy)

Seal with black wax for extra oomf

All crystals used are crystal chips and literally one of each, please change it up to fit your needs and/or supplies available. I’m an empath so I felt like I needed the extra (super extra 😂) protection, feel free to make the jar as big as you want I made mine so I can wear it out and about to protect myself from energy vampires. Keep your bubble safe my friends ☺️

Lowering Wards: Steps for new and established spells

"Lowering" a ward means to temporarily pause some or all of its protective effects, usually to make way for other magical actions or divination; "lowering the draw-bridge." Here, a ward is any protective spell.

Although these steps will work for just about any spell. An alternate title for this post is, basic spell administration: managing your spells after they've been cast.

The whole caboodle is deceptively easy. No need to over think it.

Lowering any wards, even for spells not established with convenient lowering in mind

SELECT WHICH EFFECTS SHOULD BE PAUSED. Hypothetically, a ward with multiple effects can have some effects paused, while others are ongoing (*this is highly variable and really depends on how the spell was built).

But technically, if you have a ward that's A) no magic can come into my house, and B) no energies of ill-will can come into my house, you may be able to allow magic to come into your house while a friend sends a positive spell your way, while still filtering out ill-will.

In my experience, protection loopholes are a bit of a beast, and if your magic starts behaving weirdly, or won't work, or friends can't magic on you like they can for others, check out to see if you've sealed yourself in a labyrinth of protective measures.

Sometimes you'll want to pause all effects - that's fine too. Just have in mind what you want to have happen.

IMO, an excellent way to deal with this step is to just state what it is you want the ward to allow for.

"Let this Discord friend do a reading for me."

"Make way for this spirit to leave the house."

Etc.

TAKE ANY BASIC STEP TO MANAGE YOUR MAGIC.

Enter, or at least brush up against, magical mindspace.

Find the spell - this is easier if its attached to a physical object, which just means finding the object.

While in magical mindspace and interacting with the reality that your spell exists, do any of the following:

Just tell it what you'd like it to temporarily do

Put a black cloth over the spell vessel with intent that it be paused

Hide it away in a drawer, or turn it so that it's "facing" a corner

Draw some sort of stopping symbol on top of it (pentagram or an X work well)

Put the ward close to an energy battery and have it take a break and go out for lunch

Any action that, for you, makes sense to represent a "pause, time-out" instruction

WHEN READY, PUT THE WARD BACK UP. Take away the black cloth, put the ward back in its proper position, "wipe away" the blocking symbol. Especially communicate through magical speech, thought, writing, signing, etc., that the ward is to resume its normal mode of behavior.

For those curious about sorcerous theory, reading on a ward before and after you raise and lower it can offer helpful feedback

Of course, that stuff might not work well, so making a ward with an eye for pausing it is a good idea

Spellcrafting can get complex and there could be any number of reasons why a ward created to be a permanent wall doesn't have convenient, easily-workable drawbridges.

Building a ward with drawbridges is easy. First, decide how you want the drawbridge to work.

You can design a ward where one effect ("no ill-energy") is always active, while another is meant to be raised and lowered ("no outside magic.")

You can design a ward with a skeleton key, where all of the doorways are unlocked at once

You can design wards in such a way that outsiders may be able to obtain the key and unlock them (like, a passcode and energy signature you share with others), or you can design them in such a way that only you can unlock them (like, requiring you yourself to draw a symbol over them in the physical realm)

Etc.

One example of an unlocking action is tapping on the spell vessel three times and saying, "stand down until sunset* so [specific thing the ward is blocking] can occur."

*For the forgetful, giving the spell a timeframe is useful.

When casting the spell, whenever the time feels right, go into a portion where you 'teach' the spell how to listen for your instructions to lower defenses, and how it should operate when this occurs. ("Never stay unlocked beyond the next twilight; the guards named No Bane are eternal, but the guards named No Spying sometimes lie down to rest.")

You can always go back and "open up" old spells to modify loopholes and improve unlocking mechanisms

My paradigm allows for certain things:

Most spells are not so much mindless machines but rather are more like garden plots, or animals. They may be bad at performing a certain thing the first time you ask them to, but over multiple lessons, even a very stubborn spell might learn a new trick.

Therefore, it can take time to teach a spell how to do something new that it wasn't designed to do.

Learning can be improved by holding a formal class. This is the equivalent of taking the spell back into spellcasting space and partially re-casting new magic on top of the old base.

The gist of re-forging an old spell is to carefully outline what you want to change, remove, and add. Using your preferred spellcasting or ritual format, connect with the spell and provide new parameters.

I find this process to be different than casting an entirely new spell, so I think it's normal if it all seems a bit different.

Provide the spell with more energy, tie off the ritual as normal, and deploy the spell immediately or give it a little time to firm up, as you prefer.

Old men yaoi palate cleanser😎

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

🍂Autumn is here 🍂 gifs (edits) made by me :)

Wheel of The Year ✧ Yule (December 20th-23rd) ✧ General meanings: winter solstice, new beginnings, rebirth Crystals - Bloodstone, Clear Quartz, Emerald, Ruby, Garnet, Diamond Animals - Bear, Boar, Deer, Eagle, Owl, Tiger, Wren Herbs - Chamomile, Ivy, Mistletoe, Peppermint, Rosemary, Sage, Cedar, Cinnamon, Cloves, Frankincense, Juniper, Myrrh, Orange Deities - Odin, Ra, Isis, Brighid, Demeter, Gaea, Diana, Mithra, Lugh ✧Imbolc (February 2nd✧ General meanings: candlemas, hearth, and home Crystals - Amethyst, Bloodstone, Garnet, Onyx, Ruby, Turquoise Animals - Burrowing Animals, Bear, Deer, Groundhog, Lamb, Sheep Herbs - Acorns, Angelica, Basil, Bay, Blackberry, Chamomile, Crocus, Jasmine, Lavender, Rosemary Colors - Green, Brown, Red, White, Pink, Yellow Deities - Brigid, Triple Goddess, Eros, Osiris, Pan, Herne, Aradia, Athena ✧Ostara (March 20th-23rd)✧ General meanings: spring equinox, renewal and duality Crystals - Amethyst, Aquamarine, Clear Quartz, Agate, Jasper, Moonstone, Rose Quartz Animals - Butterfly, Chick, Rabbit, Lamb, Robin, Worm Herbs - Clover, Daffodil, Honeysuckle, Iris, Jasmine, Lemon Balm, Lilac, Lilies, Mint, Peonies, Tulips, Sandalwood, Tangerine, Ylang-Ylang, Geranium Colors - Pastels, Gold, Light Green, Blue, Pink, Yellow Deities - Eostre, Astarte, Aurora, Kore, Osiris, Dionysus, Ares, Adonis, Venus, Aphrodite, and Narcissus ✧Beltane (May 1st)✧ General meanings: may day, love, and fertility Crystals - Emerald, Garnet, Malachite, Rose Quartz, Tourmaline Animals - Bee, Cat, Cattle, Dove, Frog, Goat, Leopard, Rabbit, Swallow, Swan Herbs - Coriander, Crocus, Curry, Daffodil, Dandelion, Dragon’s Blood, Fern, Flaxseed, Hawthorn, Nettle, Paprika, Primrose, Snapdragon, Peach, Rose, Vanilla Colors - Bright Greens and Blues, Purples, Yellow and Red Deities - Bel, Pan, Maeve, Tanit, Flora, Gaia, Danu, Herne, Aphrodite, Artemis, Brigid, and Diana ✧Litha (20th-23rd)✧ General meanings: summer solstice, warmth, and the sun Crystals - Amber, Carnelian, Citrine, Diamond, Jade, Lapis Lazuli, Tiger’s Eye Animals - Bee, Butterfly, Cattle, Horse, Robin, Sea Creatures, Snake, Bird Herbs - Basil, Calendula, Chamomile, Heather, Heather, Mugwort, Wild Thyme, Peony, Roses, Daisy, Sunflower, St. John’s Wort, Cedar, Clove, Lavender, Mint, Pine, Sage Colors - Blue, Gold, Red, White, Yellow, and Green Deities - Aphrodite, Astarte, Freya, Hathor, Ishtar, Venus, Athena, Artemis, Dana Kali, Isis, Juno, Apollo, Helios, Ra, Sol, Zeus, Prometheus, and Ares ✧Lammas (August 1st)✧ General meanings: first harvest, abundance, and gratefulness Crystals - Citrine, Golden Topaz, Lodestone, Moss Agate, Obsidian, Peridot, Aventurine Animals - Calf, Pig, Rooster, Salmon, Crow Herbs - Apple Leaf, Basil, Clover, Goldenrod, Heather, Ivy, Marigold, Peony, Poppy, Rose, Rosemary, Vervain, Sunflower, Sandalwood, Frankincense Colors - Bronze, Green, Gold, Light Brown, Orange, and Yellow Deities - Lugh, Demeter, Ceres, Corn Mother, and John Barleycorn ✧Mabon (September 20th-23rd)✧ General meanings: autumn equinox, feast, and bounty Crystals - Amber, Citrine, Cat’s Eye, Lapis Lazuli, Sapphire, Yellow Agate Animals - Eagle, Blackbird, Owl, Salmon, Stag, Wild Goose, Wolf Herbs - Bittersweet, Chamomile, Marigold, Rue, Sage, Yarrow, Cinnamon, Myrrh, Frankincense Colors - Brown, Gold, Orange, Red, Yellow, and Green Deities - Mabon, Inanna, Demeter, Persephone, and The Horned God ✧Samhain (October 31st)✧ General meanings: new year, spirit, and potential Crystals - Aquamarine, Bloodstone, Carnelian, Jet, Obsidian, Onyx, Smokey Quartz Animals - Bat, Black Cat, Cat, Owl, Raven, Crow Herbs - Allspice, Calendula, Chrysanthemum, Deadly Nightshade, Mandrake, Mint, Nutmeg, Rosemary, Sage, Thistle, Wormwood, Hazel, Benzoin, Sweetgrass Colors - Black, Gold, Orange, Purple, White, and Silver Deities - Crone Goddesses, Hekate, Hel, Lilith, Kali, Ishtar, Arianrhod, Rhiannon, Persephone, Baba Yaga, and Isis