Gregorytheblue - Sagitarian Witch

It’s okay to not “dress like a witch”,  you are a witch, so you are dressed like one!

Sometimes spells don’t work, don’t get flustered, try again!

Not everybody in the community is nice and welcoming, hold your ground.

Find what path suits YOU, not your peers. 

Witchcraft is customisable to fit YOUR needs. 

Cursing is NOT a bad thing! 

Respect closed cultures always. 

You don’t have to be religious.

Witchcraft and Wicca are NOT synonymous! Witchcraft is a secular practice, Wicca is a religion completely unrelated. 

Remember to ground and cleanse every once and a while. 

Thank your tools occasionally. 

Witchcraft is not the solution to all of your problems.

Ingesting herbs can be dangerous at times, be careful. Especially if you take medication! 

You will not be able to control people, read minds, levitate, or use telekinesis. Those are all movie magic. 

Take everything with a large grain of salt. 

Read as much as you can, even the “bad” (cough silver ravenwolf) books, you can learn what not to do that way.

Avoid Silver Ravenwolf unless just reading for the meme.

You don’t have to keep up an edgy “witch” aesthetic, just be you!

There tends to be a lot of drama surrounding the witch community in particular, stay out of it.

STAY AWAY FROM PAGANSUNCENSORED.

You don’t have to do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing. 

Covens are NOT mandatory. 

There is no special ‘initiation’ to become a witch, you want to identify as a witch? You’re a witch! Just like magic.

Be careful of who you trust, just like any other community there are bad eggs who will try to hurt you. 

You don’t have to use divination to be a witch!

You don’t have to tell people you practice until you feel safe doing so, don’t feel rushed. 

RESEARCH, CROSS CHECK, THEN CHECK AGAIN! Never believe one source. 

Shielding and protection are important. 

Casting a circle is not necessary, it is a preference. 

People who have been practicing for longer than you will sometimes try to belittle you, do not believe them. You are just as much a witch as someone who has been practicing 20+ years, you’re just newer. 

DON’T LICK UNKNOWN ROCKS. Seriously, you could die. 

Using a ouija board is not going to summon a demon, but take the same precautions you would with any spirit work. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help, or ask someone to teach you something. 

Remember that you don’t have to be ONE type of witch, you can practice forty different types of witchcraft at one time if you want!

Charging your crystals gives them an extra boost and aids in magic. 

If you don’t want to use the title “witch”, you don’t have to. There are many, MANY other ways to say you like a little magic in your cereal. 

There are many ways to practice in secret, but make sure you’re safe in doing so. 

Burying jars is awful for the environment. Find biodegradable things to use instead!

Be careful if collecting graveyard dirt (or anything from a graveyard) - you can get into some pretty extensive trouble. 

Be cautious about using rusty nails. Always wear gloves.

Basic fire safety goes a LONG way. 

Your own intuition is one of your biggest tools, learn to use it well. 

Learn at your own speed!

Don’t use witchcraft in place of medical/psychiatric professional assistance. 

Working with Fae can be dangerous, make sure you know what you’re doing.

Research before doing something, common sense right? 

Familiars will not always be your pets, unfortunately. 

Working with spirits can be dangerous, take necessary precautions. 

Lemon water is probably the easiest way to cleanse, just be careful around crystals. 

You are valid as a witch, no matter if you’ve been practicing 20 minutes or 20+ years. You are awesome. 

Altars on a budget

Free:

Stones

Leaves or branches

Sigils

Shells

Rain water or natural waters

Handmade items

Soil from different places

Wild flowers

Sand

Print pictures

Poetry or artwork (made by you)

Using what you have:

Jewelery

Spices (keep them in the jar so you can use them later).

Tea or food before you use it for yourself.

Houseplants

A favorite book

Decorations you have lying around.

Under $2:

Votive candles

Placemats for altar cloths

Bandanas for altar cloths

Incense

Sea salt

Glass candle holders

Pillar candles

Crystal chips/beads

Lace/colorful threads

Birthday candles

Postcards

Domestic Garden Witch: When Eggshells Grow

So maybe you’re a college witch with limited space and money, limited to the one window in your dorm. Or, maybe you’re a witch without extensive backyard space who wants to start up a magical garden. Perhaps you’re a kitchen witch who wants the freshest herbs right at her fingertips.

For many witches, having a garden seems to be a bit of a no-brainer. After all, plants and magic go hand-in-hand. Plus, when thinking of a witch, it’s hard not to think of a cottage in the woods with a little vegetable garden out front. Unfortunately for the majority of us, our cottage in the woods is a tiny flat, and our garden out front is a windowsill with limited space.

This is when it comes time to embrace your craftiness and bring your garden indoors! Not only does it place your garden in a convenient location, it also allows you to freshen the air, recycle what would otherwise harm the earth, and embrace your witchy green thumb!

Eggshells for the Garden Witch

The kitchen witch has eggshells piling up on the counter, dried and ready to be ground up for use in protection powders. The garden witch looks at these shells and thinks, “Oh! Fertilizer!”

But if you’re limited in space and have to keep your garden limited to your windowsill, you may find yourself looking at those eggshells and saying “Oh! New pottery!” Not only is creating an eggshell planter a very green practice, but it’s also creative and makes transplanting much easier if you end up having a larger garden later on!

The Container…

Simple enough, you just need mostly intact eggshells. In the picture above, the eggshells are kept in the carton, but I’ve seen eggshells set up decoratively, such as with this picture:

The core of this post is clearly the eggshells, but you can arrange them in whatever way saves space or is aesthetically pleasing!

Carefully fill the emptied eggshell with potting soil. Make an indent in the soil with your finger, and carefully add your seedling before adding a final layer of soil and watering. If you plan on keeping the plants in the eggshells instead of transplanting, you could also carefully poke holes in the bottom of the eggshells so that your plants don’t get over-watered.

How Can I Witch This?

Eggshells alone are extremely protective, and providing your plants with that energy is beneficial. Around Ostara, use died eggshells! Not only will the shells have protective energy, but you’ll be able to use color correspondences and whatever symbols you used for the rite.

Draw symbols or runes of growth, protection, and strength on the shells in order to encourage your plant’s growth!

Bonus points is if you grow protective herbs in the eggshells!

May your harvests always be fruitful! Blessed Be! )O(

New moon in 10 days. 🌖 moonios.com

My precious little helper 🔮 #witchesofinstagram #witches #witch #witchcraft

What’s Wrong with my Circle?, or, Circle Casting Clinic 101

You’ve probably heard of how to cast a circle, and of many methods to do so, a dozen times in the course of studying magic or Witchcraft. But have you ever felt your circle waver, your boundary un-drawn, or your sacred space distinctly not sacred? Here are some common problems with drawing and casting a circle of (most) any type, and some possible solutions.

Cleansing and Prepping: Is the space around you ready for a circle to be cast? Many casters find it helpful to sweep the area with a besom, or broom, beforehand. If you’re not the broom type, you can cleanse an area by walking the circle’s area clockwise sprinkling saltwater. (Don’t use salt outside - or your grass will be sorely upset).

Cleansing and Prepping Yourself: If you’re stressed out, you’re in no shape to cast anything! A ritual bath is the best way to ready yourself for magic, but in a pinch, asperging yourself with incense smoke (best blends for purification include sage, pine, rosemary, and cypress) will do just fine. If smoke is out of the question, a good grounding and centering, imaging the negative energies drawing out through your feet and drawing in the earth’s solid energies, will do the trick. You could also try a ritual tea to get your mind and body in the right mood (try something with rose or calendula), and to flush out previous energies.

Consecrating Yourself within the Circle: Feel like you drew the circle just fine, but you’re not exactly connected within it? Consider consecrating yourself within the circle, if you haven’t done so already. An easy and common means to do this is to dip your finger into the oil you are using for the circle, or, sans oil, the sacred water or regular water, and drawing a sigil representative of your circle on your forehead after your circle is drawn, in order to vow your connection to the circle (if it helps, say “I am now consecrated within this Circle.” as you do so). An all-purpose sigil would be a simple circle, but a cosmic lemniscate, or solar and lunar sigils, may be appropriate, depending on the circle.

Ritual Consciousness: Your circle seems to be drawn right, you feel pretty okay, but why aren’t things “lifting” to that magickal place? If you’re finding it hard to bring your circle to the otherworldly realm, take a second to breathe deeply. This is a broad question with lots of potential solutions: Strewing herbs associated with the moon phase and hour around the circle, matching your incense to the time or deity called, ensuring your lights are turned off, and making sure music doesn’t reach over a threshold where it can steal your attention. There are so many fixes - the main thing is to try and see what works by practicality! A surefire way for me has been to ensure the appropriate scent, whether it be through oils or incenses.

“Is My Circle Working?” and Circle Doubt: This one is an easy fix. Using an athame or other tool (if you drew a circle using natural power, use two fingers set together in an athame point) and cut a doorway in your circle. Step outside your circle, and back in, seeing if you can sense a difference in energy (and what that difference is). If it helps, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths in and out of the circle, feeling the ways of each. If your circle lacks staying power, close your circle and try again, seeing where you went wrong. But remember - the power is in you. There’s no “Wrong” way to cast a circle, but you can trip yourself up sometimes!

Hope that covers some of it - I know there’s endless ways. If I’m missing any major or common problems, let me know and I’d be glad to cover it!

Blessed Be,

Ash

There is power within…