Warm Sun Tea:

so excited about the new sinnoh games, so here's a chibi dialga to celebrate!

I had to paint this gorgeous beast! Look how cute! Look how fluffy! Look at that sun devouring lion! ; v ;  * Commissions || Twitter *

Pathworking and Astral Travel

In spirit work, we often connect with the spirits that have crossed over and are present in the physical world. However, there are also ways to cross over into the spirit world and connect with spirits in their home environment.

Pathworking

As I mentioned in a previous post, a pathworking is a specific type of meditation where you go on a psychic journey, but are still anchored to your physical body. It’s sort of like dipping your toes into the spirit world.

There are two important elements to a pathworking: a clear entrance/exit point and a way to retrace your steps. Pathworking journeys are typically cyclical — there is both a journey out and a return where you go back the way you came. This makes it easier to fully return your consciousness to your body, and failing to do so can cause you to feel disoriented upon the return.

Your entry/exit point can be absolutely anything, but common examples include a door, a gateway, a tree (or sometimes The World Tree), a cave/tunnel, or a natural landmark like a beach or mountaintop. What’s important is that it’s recognizable and easy to find your way back to.

If you want to try pathworking, make a rough “road map” of your journey beforehand. This doesn’t have to be super specific, but it should contain the following: a goal for the pathworking (such as to connect with a certain spirit), an entry/exit point, and a general idea for the route you’re going to take. If you’re worried about getting lost, author Thea Sabin recommends using “the Theseus trick.” Like in the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, you can tie a golden thread or rope to your entry point and the other end to your astral body. If you get lost, you can follow the thread back.

Pathworking is fairly beginner friendly, and I highly, highly, highly recommend starting with pathworking and becoming comfortable with this method before trying astral travel. Even for more advanced witches, pathworking is often a better option than astral travel because it’s less involved and requires a little bit less effort. I personally prefer pathworking for most situations.

Performing a Pathworking

Before you begin, establish a clear goal for your pathworking and write out a rough “road map.” At the very least, you should know what your purpose is, where your entry point is, and how to find your way back.

Begin in a dark, quiet room. Cleanse the room by burning incense, diffusing or spraying essential oils, or using a ritual broom to sweep out old energy.

Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down and begin meditating. You may want to play meditation music, practice breathing techniques, or use some other method to help you reach a meditative state.

Once you reach a meditative state (you should know what this feels like if you have experience with meditation), see yourself standing at your entry point. This is your entrance to the astral realm.

Set out on your pathworking.

When you are ready to leave the astral realm, you will need to find your way back to your entry point. Once you reach your entry point, it should be fairly easy to return to your body.

Once you’re fully present in your physical body, use your favorite method to ground yourself.

Write down everything you experienced during your pathworking in a journal.

Astral Travel

If pathworking is dipping your toes into the spirit world, astral travel is diving in the deep end. Also called spirit flight and hedge riding, astral travel includes actually sending your soul/consciousness out of your body and into the spirit world. As you might guess, this is more complicated and requires more effort than pathworking. For this reason, astral travel is not beginner-friendly. If you are completely new to meditation, witchcraft, and spirit work, it’s best to learn to pathwork before you attempt astral travel.

A word of warning: you may want to avoid astral travel at times when you’re in a very vulnerable or volatile emotional state. Some days you just aren’t up for it, and that’s okay. On those days, a pathworking or another form of spirit work may be a better option.

Triggering Spirit Flight

In astral travel, a trigger of some kind is used to help disconnect the soul from the physical body. Common triggers include drumming, special music, shaking a rattle, chanting, and dancing.

You can find shamanic drumming tracks on YouTube that can help you achieve astral travel. If you find that repetitive motion helps you trance out, you may look into getting a small drum or rattle to play.

Animal Guides

In many cultures, those who travel into the spirit world do so with the guidance and protection of an animal spirit. From the Norse fylgja, to the shamanic power animal, to the witch’s familiar, history is full of examples of these types of guides.

Before you begin astral travel, do a pathworking to meet your animal guide. It’s important to note that you aren’t choosing an animal guide — only meeting one that has always been with you. Your guide may be an animal that you like or identify with, or it may not. When I first began experimenting with astral travel, my guide was a coyote — an animal I had never identified with before, but who I learned was deeply connected to my inner self.

It’s important to always have your animal guide with you when going on astral journeys, as they are an important source of protection and power. They may also literally guide you to the things you need to see and the spirits you need to meet.

Flying Ointments

Historical accounts describe witches using “flying ointment” to help them achieve spirit flight. These traditional flying ointments contained toxic and/or hallucinogenic plants like belladonna, datura, henbane, mandrake, and opium poppies. For obvious reasons, most modern witches do not use these herbs.

Please do not try to create your own flying ointment with poisonous plants. If you’re a true traditionalist and feel like you just have to try a historically accurate flying ointment, Bane Folk Apothecary sells several. Bane Folk is run by Sarah Anne Lawless, a kickass witch who knows her stuff and produces safe, medicinal products inspired by traditional flying ointment formulas. I am usually very pro-DIY, especially when it comes to witchcraft, but this is one case where it really is best to defer to a professional.

To create a modern, non-toxic flying ointment: heat eight ounces (or one cup) of poppy seed oil over low heat on the stove. Once the oil is warm, add 2 ounces (or ¼ cup) of beeswax into the oil. (Use carnauba wax for a vegan alternative.) Take the mixture off the heat, and allow it to cool off a bit. Once it has cooled (but before it’s begun to solidify), add nine drops each of mugwort essential oil, star anise essential oil, and peppermint essential oil. Pour the mixture into a mason jar and seal tightly. To extend your ointment’s shelf life, add a few drops of Vitamin E oil and store in the refrigerator. If you don’t have access to essential oils or prefer a more traditional method, you can buy dry herbs and infuse them into your oil instead — to do this, crush up 2.5 ounces (or 1/3 cup) each of dried mugwort, star anise, and peppermint and add them to a mason jar; add enough oil to the jar to cover the herbs completely, with about an inch of oil above them; seal the jar and place it in a sunny window for 2-3 weeks to infuse; and finally, strain the herbs out of the oil with a mesh sieve or a cheesecloth. You can then add your Vitamin E oil and beeswax to create an ointment.

This modern recipe does not contain hallucinogens, but it does contain plants that are commonly used in magic to increase psychic abilities and aid in astral travel. You can say an incantation over this ointment while making it to add some extra magical potency. Applying the flying ointment can also become a sort of ritual that prepares you for spirit flight by helping you slip into a more spiritual head space.

Performing Astral Travel/Spirit Flight

Before you begin, know why you are journeying to the spirit world. You should always have a clear goal for your astral journeys.

Begin in a dark, quiet room. Cleanse the room by burning incense (mugwort incense aids in astral travel), diffusing or spraying essential oils, or using a ritual broom to sweep out old energy.

Use your favorite method to ground yourself.

If you are choosing to use a flying ointment, rub it on your skin now.

Hold a protective item in one of your hands. I like physical items for protection during spirit flight, because they can ground you and help you find your way back to your body. Examples of protective items include a sprig of rue, a piece of iron, or a protective crystal like black tourmaline. If you ever feel scared or uncomfortable during your journey, you can bring this object into the astral realm to protect you. It will also keep your body safe while your consciousness is occupied.

Start up your trigger, whether this is drumming, rattling, dancing, etc.

Allow yourself to drift into a trance state, and then to disconnect from your body.

Call your animal guide to you.

Set out on your journey in the spirit world.

When you are ready, feel yourself returning to your physical body. Allow yourself to come back slowly — don’t rush it.

Ground yourself. One good way to ground after astral travel is by eating a snack.

Write down your experiences in a journal.

Resources:

Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon

Hedge Riding by Harmonia Saille

“How to Make Herb-Infused Oils for Culinary & Body Care Use” and “How to Make Herbal Salves” from the Mountain Rose Herbs blog

☀️💧Ideas for using sun water💧☀️

🌞 drink first thing in the morning, or whenever you’re low on spoons, for an energy boost

🌞consider charging locations, like: sun water charged by/in a courthouse for justice, a playground for energy, a beach for happiness. Etc.

🌞consider charging times, like: sun water charged by the summer solstice for abundance, happiness, and faery magic. Sun water charged by the autumnal equinox for warmth, clarity, prosperity, and peace etc.

🌞 drink when you’re feeling sad for a happiness boost

🌞wash your face with sun water for a confidence glamour, bravery/armor glamour, hapiness boost and to give your skin a glow

🌞drink it before a speech or presentation for confidence and leadership

🌞take your medicine, vitamins, etc, with it, or drink it when you feel sick for a health boost

🌞mix it with lemon juice for a potent cleansing spell

🌞drink before school or studying to help you remember what you learn, stay confident, and protect you

🌞use it as an offering to solar deities

🌞 put some sun water in a spray bottle with a little sunflower oil (or any carrier oil) and some sunny essential oils (citrus, cinnamon, frankincense, etc.) And use it as a room spray/perfume

🌞water your plants with it! Especially cacti/succulents!!

🌞bless your solar magic tools in it

🌞put a few drops in your eye or on your eyelid to enhance clairvoyance

🌞 rub some on your eyes/ears with intent to hear/see the truth

🌞use it for water scrying for a very clear and honest answer

🌞use it for baking or cooking to add a bit of sunshine, happiness, good fortune, and health to your food

Feel free to add more!

Fantasy AU Giratina. One of the oldest of the Ancients, he was imprisoned for corrupting mankind in the early ages. He waits for the day the Griseous Orb is returned to him and his powers restored. 

Sun Tea.

Sun tea is used to connect with the Sun, a Sun deity, or to feel the energy of the Sun within and or around you.

This is my Sun tea recipe:

Bay leaves

Orange peels

Black tea

Lemon juice

Honey

First, you boil the bay leaves and orange peels in a pot of water. I don’t count the minutes, I usually wait until the water is a greenish color. Once that’s done, pour the tea into a cup with some black tea (I usually use 2 packs of black tea to make it strong). Squeeze some lemon juice and use honey as a sweetener. If you don’t have honey, it’s okay to just use sugar and it’s also okay to use store bought lemon juice. 

I usually make my tea pretty strong (I like it that way) and I tend to measure by eyeballing and tasting instead so sorry about there not being a precise measurement for the bay leaves and orange peels to use.

So yeah, that’s my sun tea recipe. Pretty simple and tasty and a good way to connect to the Sun or deity. 

☀️ Sunburst Oil Recipe ☀️

Essential oil free!

sun·burst-

1. A sudden burst of sunlight, as through broken clouds

I just made my batch for this winter and I thought I'd share this recipe with you!

Good for: Physical Healing, Protection, Divination, Happiness, Love, Creativity, Prophesy, Truth, Solar Deities

Medically: cools and softens skin, helps heal small cuts, burns, irritations, SAD, breaking fever, purifying, anti bacterial, helps relieve anxiety and depression

Ingredients:

Grapeseed or sunflower oil

Dried hibiscus

Dried juniper berries

Dried Bay leaves

Dried citrus peel

Dried dandelion root

Rosemary

A cinnamon stick

If you want to add essential oils you can, I didnt for this batch but In the past I've used frankincense, lemon, orange, cinnamon, vetiver, black pepper, sandalwood, and juniper

Best to grind the ingredients before adding them to the oil (except the cinnamon stick)

Makes a great offering for any solar deity like apollo, sol, helios, sekhmet

Let infuse in the sunshine for a few weeks-months depending on how much oil you're making, or if you want it faster & stronger you can heat it up until it turns red from the hibiscus

It smells so good so it's an excellent natural perfume, and it's great for your skin!

I tend to go heavy on the hibiscus and juniper in this but the amounts used are up to you.

Crystal infusions: citrine, garnet, carnelian

Solar Prosperity Jar☀️💵

A solar charged jar to bring prosperity, luck, motivation, and opportunities to you.

Ingredients:

A jar

A spot in direct sunlight

Cinnamon

Star anise

Cloves

Turmeric

Mint

Rosemary

Bay leaves

Chamomile

Dandelion

Pyrite, carnelian, goldstone, and/or garnet

Coins

Combine the ingredients in a jar and let it charge all day in sunlight

Alternative ingredients include: basil, dragons blood, eucalyptus, apple, sunflower seeds, clover, garlic, pine, juniper, nutmeg, marigold, rose, thyme, green tea, bloodstone

You can add or change ingredients to cater to a certain job or career or path

Recharge with sunlight

Solar Prosperity Jar☀️💵

A solar charged jar to bring prosperity, luck, motivation, and opportunities to you.

Ingredients:

A jar

A spot in direct sunlight

Cinnamon

Star anise

Cloves

Turmeric

Mint

Rosemary

Bay leaves

Chamomile

Dandelion

Pyrite, carnelian, goldstone, and/or garnet

Coins

Combine the ingredients in a jar and let it charge all day in sunlight

Alternative ingredients include: basil, dragons blood, eucalyptus, apple, sunflower seeds, clover, garlic, pine, juniper, nutmeg, marigold, rose, thyme, green tea, bloodstone

You can add or change ingredients to cater to a certain job or career or path

Recharge with sunlight