When Do You Stop Being A BABY-WITCH?

End of the Year Spell

As Yule passes and the new year is beginning, I have a spell I enjoy using this time of year as it brings good things to come whilst helping to remember and learn from the past.

1) Think of what you want to manifest in your life, and the hardships that you have endured to make it as far as you have. Be proud, you’ve made it so far and will go much further.

2) Say the following:

As the sun warms my skin,

May it heal me within.

As the dark slowly leaves,

May I remember the night’s mysteries

As the wheel turns once more,

May happiness find me evermore.

Litha Recipes with Correspondences and Vegan Alternatives

Cinnamon Red Sun Tea

Ingredients:

- 6 cups water

- ¼ cup loose red (rooibos) tea leaves

- 2 Cinnamon Sticks

- Simple syrup or Agave to taste

Directions:

- Place water, tea leaves and cinnamon sticks in large container or pitcher. Stir. Cover with lid or plastic wrap. Let stand in sun for 3 to 5 hours.

- Strain tea, discarding tea leaves and cinnamon sticks. Serve tea over ice or refrigerate until chilled. Sweeten with Simple Syrup, if desired.

Correspondances:

- Tea ~ courage, mental powers, prosperity, restfulness, strength

- Water ~ purification

- Cinnamon ~ healing, love, luck, lust, peace, protection, psychic powers, strength, success

- Sugar ~ love

Peach Earl Grey Fritters

Ingredients:

- 1 ½ cups whole milk (almond or soy for vegan)

- 1/3 cup earl grey tea

- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (coconut oil for vegan)

- 5 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 pinch nutmeg

- 1 pinch cinnamon

- 1 teaspoon salt

- ¼ cup sugar

- 1 tablespoon active dry yeast

- 2 eggs (egg substitute for vegan)

- 6 cups Vegetable oil, for frying (use more if needed)

- 3 large peaches, diced

For Icing:

- 1 cup powdered sugar

- 3 tablespoons honey (agave or maple syrup for vegan)

-  1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

- 2-3 tablespoons milk or cream (almond or soy for vegan)

Directions:

- In a small pot, heat the milk, tea, and butter until the butter has melted and the mixture is warm. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

- Mix the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, sugar, and yeast in the bowl of a mixer (or a large bowl if mixing by hand). Add the warm milk mixture and mix to combine.

- Add the eggs, scraping the bowl well. Turn the mixer up to medium speed, and, using a dough hook, mix until the dough begins to pull away from the edges. If mixing by hand, knead until it easily pulls away from the sides of the bowl as you knead (it will still be quite sticky).

- Transfer the finished dough to a well-oiled container and cover. Allow it to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Alternatively, you can refrigerate the dough overnight so that it’s ready to make in the morning—but you may need to punch the dough down once or twice during that period to prevent it from over-fermenting.

- Roll out the doughnut dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle about ½ inch thick. Size/precision of the rectangle isn’t important—just focus on an even thickness for the dough. 

- Use a knife, pastry scraper, or bench knife to cut the dough into long vertical strips about ½ inch wide. 

- Next, cut the strips horizontally about ½ inch wide—this should make a whole bunch of ½ inch squares. 

- Divide the dough squares into 12 even portions. 

- To shape each doughnut, take about 2/3 of one portion of dough squares and smoosh them gently together. Place about ¼ to 1/3 cup of diced peaches on top of the dough.

- Top with the remaining 1/3 of the portion of dough squares and smoosh the dough gently to adhere to the peaches and other dough. It’s best for each piece of peach to be touching dough in two places (on top and on bottom), otherwise some may fall out when you go to fry them.

- Cover the doughnuts with greased plastic wrap and let them rise for 20 to 30 minutes.

- While the doughnuts rises heat the oil. If you have one, use a deep-fry thermometer to test the oil and help regulate the temperature—around 350° F is best. If you don’t have one, throw a doughnut hole or scrap piece of dough into the oil and see if it sizzles and rises to the surface. When it does, you’re good to go.

- Working in batches, gently drop the doughnuts into the oil, frying until they’re golden brown on both sides, 2-3 minutes per side. It’s helpful to use a spider or slotted spoon to support the fritter for the first 15-30 seconds, until the dough sets.

- Drain the doughnuts on several layers of absorbent paper towels. Let cool for 5-10 minutes. 

-In a small bowl, whisk the powdered sugar, honey, cinnamon, and milk or cream to combine. Add more milk or cream as needed to make drizzly glaze. Drizzle each doughnut into the glaze, and serve immediately.

Correspondances:

- Milk ~ Goddess energy, love, nurturing, spirituality

- Tea ~ courage, mental powers, prosperity, restfulness, strength

- Butter ~ smoothing relationships, spirituality, tenacity

- Flour ~ revealing hidden matters, consistency

- Nutmeg ~ confidence, emotional openness, fidelity, healing, luck, prosperity, social interaction

- Cinnamon ~ healing, love, luck, lust, peace, protection, psychic powers, strength, success

- Salt ~ cleansing & purification, grounding, protection

- Sugar ~ love

- Yeast ~ grounding, purification

- Egg ~ fertility, lust, protection, spirituality, strength

-  Oil ~ spirituality

- Peach ~ happiness, healing, fertility, longevity, love, wisdom

- Honey ~ happiness, healing, love, lust, purification, spirituality, sweet things in life, weight loss, wisdom

- Maple Syrup ~ prosperity, love

Raspberry Banana Bread

Ingredients:

- ¾ cup fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed

- 1 ripe banana

- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

- ½ teaspoon baking soda

- ¼ teaspoon salt

- 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

- 1 cup white sugar

- 2 eggs (egg substitute for vegan)

- ½ cup vegetable oil

- ½ teaspoon lemon extract

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a loaf pan.

-  Mash raspberries in a bowl with a fork. Mash banana in another bowl with a fork.

- Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg in a bowl.

- Beat sugar, eggs, raspberries, banana, and vegetable oil in a bowl with an electric mixer set on low until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.

- Stir flour mixture into raspberry mixture until batter is just moistened; stir in lemon extract. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.

- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to cool completely on a wire rack.

Correspondances: 

-  Bread ~ (in general) kinship, sustenance

- Cake ~ (in general) celebrations, hospitality

- Raspberry ~ happiness, love, protection, stamina, vigor

- Banana ~ fertility, love, luck, potency, prosperity, spirituality

- Flour ~ revealing hidden matters, consistency

- Cinnamon ~ healing, love, luck, lust, peace, protection, psychic powers, strength, success

- Baking soda ~ raising energy or expectations

- Salt ~ cleansing & purification, grounding, protection

- Nutmeg ~ confidence, emotional openness, fidelity, healing, luck, prosperity, social interaction

- Sugar ~ love

- Egg ~ fertility, lust, protection, spirituality, strength

- Oil ~ spirituality

- Lemon ~ faithfulness, friendship, happiness, longevity, love, marriage

The Wheel of The Year

I’ve been meaning to make this post so get your pencil, BoS, and get ready to learn cause this gonna be a long one! This is very important for any beginner witch to learn if you intend to celebrate the holidays Wheel of The Year This is the turning of the seasons based on the sun rather than the moon. There are eight holidays or Sabbats that are traditionally recognized. These sabbats represents birth, death, and rebirth, and are usually associated with The Lord/God but nothing is preventing you from honoring The Lady/Goddess or your own deities as well!

When it comes to celebrating these holidays, there is no set defined way to do it. Do whatever feels natural and fits into your practice best. Here’s some more traditional information though to get you going in a good direction. And when it comes to the decor, decorate however you see fit and don’t feel obligated to use real plants because faux flowers are just a good.

Yule About: Yule lands on the days of 20-21 December, and is traditionally celebrated with fire and family. In some traditions this is the time when the death aspect of The Lord/God is overtaken by by the rebirth aspect (sometimes referred to as the Divine Child.) This is the holiday where many of our christmas traditions come from and are based on, so this is a relatively easy holiday to celebrate! Colors: Red and Green Incense: Frankincense, Myrrh Decor options: Holly, Mistletoe, Ivy, Pine/Pinecones Herbs: Bayberry, Chamomile, Rosemary, Sage Traditions: Yule Log, this is a log to be decorated and burned at the end of the holiday. Instead of cutting down a tree, find an old log that’s been laying in the woods and take it home with you! It doesn’t have to be very big. When the holiday is over, you can dispose of this log however you feel fit, but make sure to keep a piece of the log for the new year as a good luck and protection charm! Yule Tree, essentially just a christmas tree! Traditionally this tree is real, but a faux tree works just as well.

Imbolc/Candlemas About: This is actually a holiday that most seem to ignore or forget about, but it’s just as important as the rest! Celebrated on the days of 1-2 February, this is typically a holiday to celebrate The Lady/Goddess in all her forms, Maiden, Matron, and Crone. This is the holiday to banish the winter season and welcome in spring. Imbolc is a good time to delve into fertility magick if that’s something you’re interesting in. Colors: White, Light Blue, Lavender, Silver Incense: Lavender, Vanilla, and any floral scents. Decor options: Flowers, and Angelica Herbs: Basil, Bay Traditions: Burning Lavender or White candles, and the best way to celebrate this holiday is spring cleaning! Clean the house, rearrange things, make a new altar set up, and take a nice warm bath to cleanse yourself. This is the time for you to be reborn into something new.

Ostara About: Falling on the days of 20-21 March, this is a holiday that represents the warrior aspect of The Lord/God, and it’s also the Spring Equinox. This is a holiday of balance, and fertility. Colors: Any Pastels Incense: Jasmine, Rose Decor Options: Wild Flowers, Acorns, Daffodils, Honeysuckle, Lily Herbs: Jasmine, Rose, Tansy, Violet Traditions: This is the best time to buy (or even make) yourself a new broom, or go out into nature to find a staff. Now is also a really good time to start a garden if that interests you.

Beltane About: This holiday falls on 5 May and is the last of the spring and fertility festivals. This is when The Lord/God and The Lady/Goddess join together to become whole, making this a good time for any workings in love or family. Colors: Dark Green, Light Blue, Lavender, Pink, Yellow, and White Incense: Frankincense Decor Options: Angelica, Bluebells, Daisies, Ivy, Rose Herbs: Almond, Angelica, Rose Traditions: The Maypole, a tall pole decorated with flowers or ribbons that is danced around during the festival. This is a little less likely for people to do (though i have a friend who does), so an easier way to celebrate this holiday is to make your space green, flowery and inviting!

Midsummer Night/Litha About:This is the summer solstice, and is usually celebrated on the days 20-21 of June. This holiday is a very powerful one and represents The Lord/God in his entirety. During this holiday, people celebrate success, drive, and passion. Colors: Dark Blue, Red, Orange, Yellow, Gold Incense: Lavender, Sandalwood Decor Options: Fruits, Pines, Roses (feel free to use a bowl of fake fruit!) Herbs: Chamomile, Lavender, Fennel, Thyme, Hemp Traditions: This is the best time to do magick dealing with business or financial affairs. But being that this is the summer solstice, honestly any spell will be exceptionally powerful so save your big ritual of the year for this day! Lammas/ Lughnassadh About: The first of the harvest holidays, this is usually when the prep for winter begins and the fall seasons really takes off. Colors: Yellow, Cream, Brown Incense: Frankincense, Sandalwood Decor: Grain, Corn, and Fallen Leaves Herbs: Heather, Wheat Traditions: If you have a garden, this is a good day to check and harvest what foods are ready. It’s also tradition to start stocking you magickal pantry for the cold months to come. Stock up while resources are a plenty. And one last tradition is the baking of bread, a good time to have some fun in the kitchen and get crafty.

Mabon About: This is the Autumn Equinox and the time when harvesting really gets going. This holiday is on the days 20-21 of September, meaning if you live in a more rural area you’ll start seeing the farmers out and about and the leaves have really started changing and falling. The year is close to its end! Colors: Red, Orange, Brown Incense: Myrrh, Pine, Sage Decor Options: Fallen Leaves, Vines, Acorns, Corn Herbs: Marigold, Sage, Rose Traditions: Collect, press, and save fallen leaves to use in protection spells!

Samhain About: Ahh, the witches favorite holiday and the holiday that signals a new solar year! This holiday falls on the same day as Halloween, 31 October. This is a time to celebrate, honor, and communicate with passed loved ones. This is another very powerful day in the craft, so save any big spells or rituals for this day! Colors: Orange, Green, Black, Purple Incense: Patchouli, Myrrh Decor Options: Pumpkings/Jack-O-Lanterns, Corn, Gourds, Leaves Herbs: Heather, Sage Traditions: Alot of the tradtions we have with Halloween actually have their origins based in the craft so feel free to celebrate normally! If you’re looking to communicate with the dead, this would be the night to do it (but be careful, spirits have heightened strength and negative entities/energies like to take advantage of those who are inexperienced.) And of course, if you have a big ritual or spell that you want to cast, this is a really good day to do so.

I know this was a long reply, but a really necessary one. Hopefully this helps!

Cleaning and tidying is never a fun activity, but with the use of some domestic magick it can become an enchanting and Cleansing experience!

Here are some tips to make your next housework day magickal!

💧add some peppermint or lavender essential oil into your cleaning wash for peace and extra Cleansing

💧wipe down the walls and surfaces with moon water with added peppermint oil. Your space will smell amazing

💧put on some witchy music or music that corresponds with your intent you want in your space

💧burn some incense or oil in a diffuser to cleanse the air

💧 Sage your living areas

💧when you’re sweeping with a broom, imagine that you’re sweeping negative energy out!

💧put on clean bedding and spray your sheets with a sweet Sleep Mist (recipe is on my blog)

💧sweep your windowsills and place crystals that love the sun on them

💧clean your altar space and redo it

💧find vegetable cuttings and biodegradable leftovers you can mix into compost to nourish your plants

💧when cleaning the floor, pour your cleaning liquid in the shape of a sigil. Wipe and scrub to charge and fire!

💧 draw sigils on your dishes with dishwashing liquid before you wash them

💧wash old jam jars and recycle them to hold moon water or spells

💧visualize negativity leaving your space when you take out the trash

💧If you can put chalk on your floors, draw sigils or write messages under your carpets

💧create or renew any wards you have put up

💧Enchant your mirrors to show your inner beauty

Happy Cleaning!

🦋💧Aphroditiful💧🦋

Uncrossing Powder: •Angelica •Hyssop •Cayenne •Sea Salt •Frankincense •Black Pepper •Garlic •a broken chain Pray to the deity or spirits of your choice that protect from and smite evil to bless the powder. Place in threshold when someone unwanted comes to visit and sweep away when they leave.

Leave in a bowl on your altar or at the entrances of your house.

Place in doorways to ward negative energy from entering.

Sprinkle in rooms with negative energy and vacuum/sweep away to remove.

Leave in an enemy’s shoes (under the insert) to keep them away from you and curse them with bad luck (and stinking feet).

Throw it in the face of someone evil cuz that shit has cayenne and will burn.

MAGICK BUTTER CHICKEN FOR GAINING BALANCE AND CONTROL

I feel like everything that is happening in the world current time, has really thrown everyones energies off balance. Being an empath, this makes it hard for me to ground myself, when overwhelmed by so much draining energy and negativity. In times like this, sometimes, we can’t control everything that is happening around us. With this acceptance, sit back, and cook yourself some butter chicken. Because you ~ really deserve it.

Ingredients:

Fresh Produce:

1 medium-sized onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced 

1 tsp fresh grated ginger 

1 ½ pounds cubed chicken breast

Squeeze of lemon

Dairy:

1 cup half and half

¼ cup plain yogurt 

6 tbsp ghee (Angels tips. Ghee is healthier than butter, reduces heart attack risk, and helps with the absorption of magick herbs!)

Pantry:

2 tsp olive oil 

8 oz can tomato sauce

5 tbsp tomato paste

Pinch of sugar

Magick Spices:

1 ½ tsp chili powder ~ warding, hex breaking, good outcomes, spell booster  

1 tsp paprika ~ healing, increases power, comfort

Pinch of cayenne pepper ~ protection, strength, empowerment 

1 tbsp garam masala ~ healing, protection, strength, comfort

Salt and pepper to taste ~ Warding and protection

Directions

In a large deep pan, heat extra virgin olive oil.  Add in garlic, onions, chicken, and ginger. Mix in with all of your spices.

Now melt in ghee, and cook until it is about ¾ of the way done. Cook on medium heat.

Then pour in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, lemon juice, sugar, yogurt and half and half.  Stir to combine fully.  Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce.

Taste the sauce, and add whatever you feel suits your taste. You can even add more magickal ingredients to this recipe to fit your magick needs!

Serve over white rice, and garlic naan.

Pronunciation Of The Wiccan Holidays

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The names that are generally used to denote the Wiccan sabbats (as well as festivals of many pagan traditions) come from Gaelic (both Scots and Irish), Welsh, Norse, and Anglo-Saxon. There are variations of pronunciations for each one.

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Samhain (31 Oct)

Irish Gaelic for "summer's end." The standard Irish pronunciation is "sow-in" with the "ow" like in "cow." Other pronunciations that follow with the many Gaelic dialects include "sow-een" "shahvin" "sowin" (with "ow" like in "glow").

The Scots Gaelic spelling is "Samhuin" or "Samhuinn." There is no linguistic foundation for saying this word "samhane" the way it might look if it were English. When in doubt, just say "Hallows" or even "Hallowe'en."

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Yule (21 Dec)

Norse for "wheel." It's pretty much pronounced just like it looks, although if you want to make a stab at a Scandinavian sound, it'll be more like "yool" and less like "yewl." This is the winter solstice.

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Imbolg/Imbolc (1 Feb)

Irish Gaelic for "in the belly." Pronounce this one "IM-bullug" or "IM-bulk" with a guttural "k" on the end. Other names include Candlemas; Brighid (pronounced "breed"), who is the Irish goddess whose festival this is; and Oimelc (pronounced EE-mulk), which means "ewe's milk" in Scots Gaelic.

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Ostara (21 Mar)

Saxon name for a maiden goddess of spring, loosely connected to Astarte and Ishtar. This one's easy -- "o-STAHR-uh." Other names include Eostre (say "OHS-truh" or "EST-truh"). This is the spring equinox.

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Beltane/Bealtaine (30 April)

Irish Gaelic for either "fires of Bel" or "bright fires." If you want to try it in Gaelic, you can say "bee-YAWL-tinnuh" or "BELL-tinnuh." Unlike Samhain, this word can within the linguistic structure of its language of origin be pronounced like it looks -- "BELL-tane" -- without totally abandoning its original construction. Other names are Walpurgisnacht (vawl-PUR-gis-nahkt) and May Day.

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Litha (21 Jun)

Norse or Anglo-Saxon for "longest day." You can say this one just like it looks, or you can try for a Scandinavian sound and say "leetha" with the "th" more like a "t." This is the summer solstice.

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Lughnasadh/Lunasa or Lammas (1 Aug)

The first is Irish Gaelic for "festival of Lugh" (a major Irish deity); the second is Anglo-Saxon for "festival of the loaves" ("hlaf-mass"). Don't panic at that spelling; the second (which is modern Irish as opposed to old Irish) tells you all you need to know.

Say "LOO-nah-sah." (Some people maintain that the Scots dialect says it "LOO-nah-soo.") Lammas is just like it looks, "LAH-mus."

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Mabon (21 Sep)

This is believed to be a form of the Welsh word for "son." Therefore, it would probably be pronounced "MA-bon" with the "a" like in "mass." However, most Wiccans and pagans say "MAY-bon." This is the autumn equinox.

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Article Source : https://clubs.ncsu.edu/spm/FAQ/11pronounce.html

Image Source : https://www.instagram.com/p/B4aX5vVHBX_/?igshid=llpzumjzbbcb

I think something people have to realize first in trying to reconstruct historical magical and religious practices is that belief=/=worship. Many traditional witches believe in Christ but don’t worship him because they’re not the same thing. And certain historical pagan religions did believe the gods of their neighbors were… something! But acknowledging something as existing and venerating it are two different things.

Fresh Apple Autumn Cake with Honey-Cinnamon Glaze

It’s fall y’all, and while for some that means pumpkin spice season, but for me it means apple season! This cake is great for a Mabon or Samhain feast, and isn’t too complicated to make. Let’s get to it!

Keep reading

Like everyone else, I experience healthy skepticism relating my religious practice. There is one thing, however, that never ceases to impress me and it’s when personal observations (or even more complex UPG) end up being attested and proven through research. Nothing is more validating than reading an academic essay and recognizing something you have experienced firsthand as a worshipper.