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🌿Magical herbal salt🎀

Hi!🌹 Today I want to share here one of my magic salt recipes!🔮💜

First at all I took some fresh herbs from my little balcony garden and rock salt.🌱

Salt is a crystalline mineral made of two elements, sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl).Salt magical properties are cleansing, purification, protection.

I used Parsley, Lavender, Basil and Marjoram.

Herbs magical properties are:

Parsley - increase strength, vitality and passion.Parsley is also supposed to protect food from contamination.🌿

Basil - helps steady the mind, brings happiness, love, peace, and money and protects against insanity.🌿

Marjoram - cleansing, purification, and dispelling negativity.🌿

Lavender -love, healing, purification, sleep and beauty.🌿

So that all herbs make my salt more magical and powerful!🌙🔮

I used mortar and pestle to mix that all.🌿After that I added my salt into glass jar and I left in on my altar🔮.

I will add my herbal salt to everything that I cook.

Also I will use it for my protection spells and rituals.🔮

My instagram - crystalia_witch

All pictures are mine.

With love,

Agata🎀

Study tips for herbalists

A lot of people ask me about how to start learning about herbs and which courses are good, so I decided to put this together for you guys!

Resources

Herbmentor.com

Here are a few useful herbs that are good to start out with

Check out my recommended books

Paul Bergner has excellent information and courses available here

The East West School of Planetary Herbology is a great place to take courses

The Lunar Apothecary is a great for leaning about herb magic and lunar herbology

This website will help you to find local plants (USA only)

Bear Medicine Herbals

Herbcraft.org

Herbal Remedies Advice

Tips

Check out local plant societies to see what activities they have planned. Some of them offer free plant walks that will help you to get to know your local plants

Start experimenting with your (safe) local weeds first. For many of you, this means sorrel, dandelion, plantain, violet leaf, and ground ivy.

Get your warnings and safety information from reputable books and herbalists, not social media (tumblr). There are many rumors on this site about what is and isn’t poisonous, please don’t believe everything you read!

Keep a few materia medica books on hand to check for contraindications and safety instead. My go-to books for checking whether an herb is okay with me are located in the recommended books post above

Pick 1 herb a month to really focus on. Keep in mind that you can do a lot with a few herbs, some of them have dozens of uses

Learn about your herbs by tasting and using them, not just reading! Personal experience is more important than book knowledge (except when it comes to safety)

Equipment

JARS (check the thrift store for cheap finds)

Alcohol - I usually use 80 proof vodka for tinctures but you can also use brandy depending on what you’re making

Oils- I like grapeseed oil and coconut oil

Funnels

Cheese cloth for straining herbs

Kitchen scale

French press (easy way to make loose leaf tea)

Idea of what to start making with herbs

Bruise/injury salves

Bug sprays

Calming tinctures/teas

Digestive tinctures/teas

Pain tinctures

Fomentations

Poultices

I probably forgot a lot of stuff so Ill be adding more in the future!

Read this on my website

Italian traditional folk magick

There is a rich history of traditional magic in Italy, some of which dates back centuries.

Here are a few examples:

The Evil Eye: The belief in the evil eye, or "malocchio," is prevalent in Italian culture. It is said to be caused by someone looking at you with envy or ill will, and can bring about bad luck or misfortune. To protect oneself from the evil eye, some Italians wear red coral jewelry or carry a small horn-shaped charm known as a "cornicello."

Tarantism: Tarantism is a traditional healing ritual that originated in Southern Italy. It involves music, dance, and the use of tarantula venom to cure people who have been bitten by the spider or who are suffering from a variety of ailments. The dance is said to release the toxic energy from the body and restore balance.

Stregoneria: Stregoneria is a form of Italian witchcraft that has been practiced for centuries. It involves the use of spells, charms, and divination to influence the natural world and bring about desired outcomes. Stregoneria practitioners are said to have a deep connection with the earth and the spirits that inhabit it.

La Befana: La Befana is a traditional Italian figure who brings gifts to children on the night of Epiphany (January 6th). She is often depicted as an old woman riding a broomstick and carrying a sack of toys. Legend has it that she visited the baby Jesus on his birth and has been giving gifts to children ever since.

Cimaruta: The cimaruta is a traditional Italian charm that is said to provide protection against evil forces. It is shaped like a sprig of rue, a plant that has long been associated with protection and purification. The charm often features symbols of the moon, stars, and other celestial bodies, as well as images of animals and other nature spirits.

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using psalms/tehilim for warding

שמוש תּהילים Shimmush Tehilim [“Use of the Psalms”] is a work attributed originally to האי גאון Hai Gaon in the 10th century. It’s unclear to me at this point what role it played in Jewish life though many contemporary Jewish sources describe it as relatively little-known. As the story goes, a Christian convert named Johannes Gottfried Seelig translated the Shimmush Tehilim into German in the 16th century where it became a mainstay of Pennsylvania Dutch magic. In the 19th century the work was translated from German to English (Secrets of the Psalms by Godfrey Selig) and in the early 20th century became a popular source for rootworkers. [1] It’s been around the block! To me that suggests efficacy and I’ve found quite a bit of success with it myself.

This is a topic rife for study by the Jewish witch, here I’m going to focus of the use of the Psalms for warding a home. 

Here are a few ideas for warding of a space, listed by Tehilim/Psalm number. 

For each of these tehilim, the Shimmush Tehilim recommends reciting them followed by setting your intention with a petitionary prayer. Most of these are designed for personal protection. To adapt them to create a relatively simple ward of a space, I recommend methodically walking through the space while reciting the tehila and setting intention. For something stronger, write a more complex ritual that combines a few of these methods.

61: The quintessential tehilah for warding a home. It is especially strong when placed after the previous tenants have left but before you move in. If that isn’t possible because you’re warding a place you already live in, consider combining this tehilah with one or more tehilim below.

44: Walk through the home, reciting this and set your intention. Reapply often.

59: Recite this from the second verse through the end at solar noon and just before sunset for three days in a row.

91: This tehilah is often called “the anti-demonic psalm” and lives up to its name. The Shimmush Tehilim suggests reciting it 7 times for its basic effects. For stronger protection, consider reciting it 7 times for 7 consecutive days. In particularly challenging cases, recite it 99 times (7 times a day for 2 weeks, then one more time the next day). I think this is overkill for a day-to-day ward (I find that it also keeps benevolent spirits out), but it is helpful for thoroughly cleansing a space.

For creating warding amulets

31: Recite this tehila (again, quietly) over a small dish of oil (pick what feels best to you). This oil can then be used to charge an amulet of your choosing to divert עין הרע ayin ha-ra, the evil eye.

68 + 101: Write both of these on a bit of parchment if you can get it (if you cant, use something more sturdy than paper) to create a protective amulet.

To create a protective anointing oil

20: Mix rose essential oil, olive oil, and salt. Recite this tehila over it, followed by setting your intention (the Shimmush Tehilim stresses that this is done in a quiet voice). The resulting oil can be used to anoint thresholds for warding the home (or on anything else for that matter). The oil will need frequent reapplication.

For a quick, short-term ward

17: Shimmush Tehilim suggests reciting this in the morning after waking, followed by setting clear intention. This one is for short term warding of a person or space. In the most ideal conditions it can last until sunrise the next morning, though in personal practice I only rely on it for a few hours after sundown.

Posts in the home warding series…

Mezuzot: warding a Jewish home

Using Psalms/Tehilim for warding

Using sigils to create amulets

Anchoring and focusing a ward

A glance at my warding procedure

Erosion: physical considerations in warding

Witchy things to do when you’re low on spoons

As a witch with a chronic illness that can leave me extremely low on energy for weeks at a time, I’m always looking for witchy things to do that won’t leave me exhausted. Even simple spells draw from your own energy pool so these are the things I do when my pool is running dry.

Cleansing -  Negative energy always builds up in my space during a bout of sickness, after a good cleansing of my outer I find my inner much more positive also. Here are some easy ways to cleanse

-Light some incense -Fill a spray bottle with water (moon water would be handy for this), herbs of your choice (I usually use sage), and some salt. Then go around to each room and spray some into each corner -Cleanse yourself by taking a bath or shower and using gorgeous smelling products -Open a window and let the fresh air blow positive energy into your house

Sigils -  When I don’t have the energy for full-on spells/rituals I sit down and make some cute sigils. I try to make them specific to my situation, so when I am feeling especially down because of health issues I will make a sigil with the intent “My health does not affect my mental state” or something similar. You can also

 -Put a sigil on your pill bottles for a little boost (although magic is NOT a replacement for medicine and you should never completely rely on it for any health issues) -Put a sigil on your heat bags/hot water bottle -Draw them on your wrist -Draw them at the bottom of your tea mugs with honey

Beauty Products -  Being stuck in bed feeling like death himself can make me feel, well, not awesome appearance wise. I found making myself feel nice on the outside can help my moral SO MUCH. I don’t mean you have to get up and put on a full face of make-up, but these little things can make a big difference

-Rosehip oil spray. It smells amazing, has many magical benefits including health and feeling calm and sensual, and is super refreshing with the added bonus of being rly good for your skin -Scented lip balm for when your lips are feeling dry and sore eg I have pomegranate lip balm for when I want to make an offering to Persephone but have absolutely no energy. They come in sooo many flavors and scents, just pick which ones resonate with what you need! -Perfume/essential oils. Just use a scent that corresponds with what you would like to do, like tea tree oil for health or lavender for relaxation. Also, smell pretty=feel pretty.

Prayers -  It can be hard keeping up appearances to the Gods when you have no energy so every night before bed, or generally whenever I feel like it, I say a little prayer. Of course if you are a secular witch you could just take some time to appreciate the things in nature/your life that makes it magical.

Tea -  It’s so nice having a soothing hot drink when your throat feels like a huge cluster of quartz has gotten stuck in there. There are so many posts out there about magical uses for tea but here is a couple 

-Adding herbs for intent -Leaving a crystal in your mug overnight so your mug and tea is charged with intent -Blowing away the steam and visualize blowing away negative energy

Get to know your crystals - Lets be honest, I have so many crystals I’ve forgotten what half of them are. I like taking them out and surrounding myself with them and then picking them up one by one and focusing on its energy to re-connect. This takes barely any of my energy as I can do it in bed, and makes me feel warm and fuzzy seeing all my pretties in front of me.

Read/Study - This is what I spend the majority of my time doing. There is ALWAYS more to learn about witchcraft and I can do it while lying down. There are so many free witchy book pdfs on tumblr as well, just remember not to believe everything you read.

Witchy Crafts - This one could take a little more spoons than the others, but it’s super gratifying. To find some things to do you can scroll through the tumblr tag “witch diy”. Some things I have done are 

-Sewed cute tarot bags to hold my cards -Used thick cotton to make my own little necklace crystal holder -Bought gemstone beads and made my own jewelry

Visualization - This is in my opinion the foundation of all spells and a lot of the time I don’t even use any other ingredients because that takes too much energy. I just focus on my intent and chant a little bit or sing and let the spell come to light all through visualizing it. I have charmed items, helped my plants grow and a lot more this way. I also like to visualize myself in a beautiful, flower-filled forest and feel the sun/moon pulling dark clouds of negative energy/illness out of my body to help when i’m feeling particularly unwell.

Meditation - My favorite spoonie witchy thing to do. It calms you, cleanses you, broadens your mind and senses and helps me personally deal with any pain caused by my illness. It can be done at any time and you really feel recharged afterwards. You can even light some candles, light some incense, sit outside under the moon, so many things.

So these are all I can think of right now, feel free to add on so we can all help each other out! Much love to every one of you 💕

-Auoria

i’ve written before about how uncomfortable it is being Jewish in most witchcraft/magic/occult spaces, but right now i’m feeling it particularly acutely as i try to navigate this queer & trans witchy renaissance we seem to be having (which is, i think, a direct response to the terror & loss of control we all feel in 2017 - magic has always been about resistance & survival to me & a lot of other people)

i’m tired. i’m scared a lot of the time. i want community & inspiration to help keep me going, so i reach for something like a zine that bills itself as an inclusive mix of queer & trans voices on witchcraft, resistance, activism - because it’s a group of marginalized folks, i (maybe foolishly) have this expectation of seeing myself in it, or of the editors being conscious of the many forms of cultural appropriation that happen in these spaces & working to educate about them

but what i’m finding, over and over, is two things: the first is that despite the fact that we exist in greater numbers than i’d ever have expected, there are no Jewish voices in any of the witchcraft-focused publications (indie or otherwise) i’ve ever encountered. the second thing, that cultural appropriation of Judaism & other forms of pervasive anti-semitism DO exist in these publications, just makes the lack of Jewish perspectives more glaring

so in the interest of being direct, here are a few things the queer & trans witchcraft community (i’d like to ask the ENTIRE witchcraft community, but i am speaking to people with whom i share something right now) can do & think about to help:

include us. if you didn’t think that any Jewish folks were involved in witchy communities, ask yourself why! is it because you thought Judaism was a religion only? or incompatible with ideas about magic? Judaism is an ethnicity & a culture - or more truthfully, a group of ethnicities & cultures - with long & complex histories of magic, mysticism & folklore. some of it is considered traditionally “kosher” & some of it isn’t! our relationships to that are individual, fascinating, & worth being shared!

stop throwing around the words “Abrahamic” & “Judeo-Christian” - especially when you want to talk about cultural values or historical oppression. 9 times out of 10, you just mean Christianity. yes, we share some text, but we have VERY different relationships to it. plus, if you’re talking specifically about the persecution of people believed to be witches, that’s the history of Jews being murdered by Christians. honestly just do us a favor & remove “Judeo-Christian” from your vocabulary, there’s almost no context where it’s an accurate description of anything.

educate yourself about appropriation. i should never have to see someone mention “practicing Kabbalah” in a zine that includes no Jewish people. our mysticism is connected to our culture, our history, our faith - not only do you have no business taking it, what could it possibly mean to you without its context? 

understand that anti-semitism runs deeper than current appropriation - if you engage at all with any Western occultist or “ceremonial magic” literature or practice, you need to learn its history. what does it mean that the 15th century grimoire you’re drawing inspiration from contains Hebrew & calls itself Solomonic, but has no actual connection to Jewish people? what does it mean that the person who created the most iconic image of Baphomet, something beloved by a lot of queer & trans witches for being androgynous, gave himself a fake Hebrew name? i’m not asking you to throw all of these concepts & traditions out entirely - i have something of a love/hate relationship with ceremonial occultism myself, i collect vintage & antique things related to it & some of it is really interesting - but please at the very least educate yourself about it. specifically, educate yourself about how medieval Jews were treated while non-Jewish occultists were incorporating (often misunderstood or mangled) Jewish mysticism, language & folk practices into their frameworks. 

if you’ve stayed with me this far, i appreciate it - i know this post is long & that confronting this stuff can be difficult, but i urge you to do some reading & listening before you push back. i’m writing this because i want to see things change - i want to see communities where people connect meaningfully to their own heritages & participate in actual cultural exchange & learning based in equity & mutual support. 

i’m speaking to my own experience, but all of this goes for ANY marginalized culture/tradition being “drawn from” in witchcraft communities without actually including members of said culture. 

many of us got involved in witchy things because we felt locked out of mainstream religious practice due to a mix of oppressions - let’s not replicate that in our own spaces.

Online Grimoires

A quick list of free grimoires you can use and access online: If you want your grimoire added, message me with a link 

Book of Shadows

Cornell Witchcraft Collection

Dark Books

Exemplore

Free Occult Books

Grandpa’s Learn Stuff

Herbal Grimoire

Hermetics

Luna’s Grimoire

Magickal Connections

Museum of Witchcraft

Pagan Lore

The Book of Shadows

The Magick Cabinet

Sacred-Magick

The Witch’s Master Gimoire

Ultimate Encyclopedia of Spells

Violet Witchcraft

Witchcraft Archive

Witchology

World of Wicca - directed more towards Wicca beliefs but can still be used 

How I do Crystal Grids

So I got an ask a while back about how I do crystal grids and if I could share that information, so here goes!

Let’s start off with some general knowledge of what a grid is, what it can be used for, and what different parts make up the grid. 

What is a crystal grid?

-Simply put, a crystal grid is an arrangement of crystals that helps set, focus, and amplify intentions 

What can a grid be used for?

-There are several things you can use a crystal grid for

1. To increase the power of your crystals

2. To cleanse and/or charge your crystals

3. Create protective boundaries

4. Raise the vibration of your space (good for work flow or meditation) 

5. To bring in luck, happiness, wealth, love etc. (any intention you can put into a spell, you can put into a crystal grid) 

Different Parts of a grid 

The Perimeter

–an optional outer ring of stones that are used to protect your grid. 

The Desire Stones

–Gather the energy of your stones and send it out into your space

The Way Stones

–Organizes and modifies the energy set by the focus stone

The Focus Stone

–Usually the stone in the center of the grid, sets your intentions

Grid Layouts

-There are books that tell you the ‘typical’ layouts but honestly I say do whatever feels right for you and fits your purpose! 

Now that the technical stuff is out of the way, lets move on to how I personally create my crystal grids!

I like to keep my process pretty intuitive. There are lots of resources that will give you specific steps to follow, and even tell you which types of crystals to use in what part of the grid based on the crystal structure or color. I tend to throw all of that out the window. 

Step 1: I pick my intention. This can be anything I would do a spell for, healing, self-love, binding, banishing, bringing in money or luck, and so on. 

Step 2: Pick my crystals. I actually pick the crystals before I pick the layout. Sometimes I select crystals based on which properties match with my intention (rose quartz for self love, aventurine for money). Sometimes I just go through my collection and pick the ones that are calling me. 

Step 3: Pick my layout. I tend to do a traditional bullseye type layout (Focus stone in the very center, way stones as the middle ring, desire stones as the outer ring). Sometimes I use a spiral method. Those are probably my top two layouts. 

Step 4: Place the stones. Again, this is a very intuitive process. I tend to use a point for the focus stone, and then lay way stones in a cross like shape around it (i.e. one directly above, one directly below, one to the right, one to the left) filling in with a few other way stones if I feel like it. I then place the desire stones in a circle around the whole thing, alternating stones (If I have multiple types of stone for the desire stones). If I put up a barrier it also goes in a circle around the whole thing. 

Step 5: In my process, the grid is activated once the stones are all in place. Sometimes I’ll fuss and shift stones around until they make a pleasing design, so once I’m done, the grid is activated. I then leave it up as long as I please!