Midsummer

The oldest worship of the world was of the sun and moon, of trees, wells, and the serpent that gave wisdom. Trees were the symbol of knowledge, and the dance round the May-bush is part of the ancient ophite ritual. The Baila also, or waltz, is associated with Baal worship, where the two circling motions are combined; the revolution of the planet on its own axis, and also round the Sun.

Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde (via worldofcelts)

♡ Sunflowers ♡

Scientific Name: Helianthus

Worship for deities related to the sun, good for Litha.

Sunflower seeds assist in magick relating to fertility, and pregnancy

Cut a sunflower at sunset while making a wish, it will come true by the next sunset as long as it not too grand

Sleep with a sunflower under your bed allows you to find out the truth

Sunflowers are good luck for green witches and gardeners

Plant sunflowers outside your house to bring positive energy into the home

Posted: July 21, 2019

♡

• As Above, So Below •

September seasonal produce 🍎

Creating A Morning Ritual 🧘🏾‍♀️☀️

The Summer Solstice has finally come! We are officially halfway through the year. This energy is great for manifesting, expressing gratitude, and making changes in your life for the next few months. Now is the best time to create new morning rituals, to not only enhance your living but to enhance your magic as well! ✨

What is a Morning Ritual?

A morning ritual is anything you do to get your day started. In the witchy world, a morning ritual combines mundane tasks with everyday magic practice.

Sometimes the morning is the only time we get to practice magic, with our lives being so hectic and busy. 

How Long Should it Be?

Your morning ritual can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour or more.

First figure out how much time you have to spare in the mornings. Do you have 9am classes or work really early in the morning? Set your alarm for 10-20min before you have to leave, and do your morning ritual then. Work overnight and only get the mornings to sleep? Set an alarm for early afternoon, the exact time doesn’t matter. Mornings completely free? Set up I comfortable time to rise and you use as much time as you’d like.

The ritual should last as long as your activities do. If it takes you 20 minutes to do yoga and you’d like to include it in your routine, try to allot time for that. Which brings us to the next point:

What Practices Should I Include?

Anything that you want to become habitual and/or anything you’re trying to improve at.

It takes 21+ days to create a habit, and 1,000 hours minimum to get good at something, so including these things in your morning ritual will help speed up that process.

A normal morning ritual consists of regular activities like: making tea/coffee, stretching, taking a shower etc. When you’re coming up with your list, make sure to include these tasks that you’re already used to doing. (this will be helpful in figuring out how much time you need, as well)

To spice up your morning ritual, try to turn those mundane tasks into something more magical. Then, consider which of your witchy practices require little energy and can start you up for the day.

Some examples of ritual activities include:

Pulling tarot/oracle cards for the day

Showers/baths for cleansing 🚿

Smoke cleansing 💨

Making tea/coffee with herbs corresponding to your intentions for the day (ie. rosemary before going to any classes/lectures) 🍵☕️

Doing chakra meditation focused on a specific chakra ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🧘🏾‍♀️

Sun Salutation Yoga ☀️

Creating a quick crystal grid

Going outside and walking barefoot, for grounding 🌱🌿

Burn incense with scents/herbs corresponding to the day’s intentions

Write out affirmations/intentions for the day in a notebook/journal

Dream journaling! ✨

Working on a page in your grimoire 📕

Playing music and dancing around the house to stir up energy 💃🏽🎶

Lighting a candle on your altar or around your sacred space (bonus points for color based on intention) 🕯

Quick self-love/glamour magic 💎

Etc. etc. etc.

Your list could include one, a few, all, or none of these things. It’s all about what feels right for your individual practice. If you don’t already know what you want to do, look into what other witches or spirituals in your belief do on a daily basis. For example, practitioner of Norse Mythology often work with runes, you could definitely include that in your morning ritual.

But most importantly your morning routine is your own. Make it what you want it to be. It can be as long or as short as you’d like, and as eccentric as you please. The most important part is that you enjoy what you’re doing, and you feel energized doing it.

matterzcollective.com <3

NO-KNEAD CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD

One of my most reader-tested and approved recipes! This crusty, fluffy artisan bread needs only 4 ingredients and 5 minutes to come together… you won’t believe how easy and delicious it is!

The beautiful, crusty and fluffy bread that results from just four ingredients will knock your socks off! All it takes is flour, salt, yeast and water, all mixed up in a bowl and set to rest for 8-24 hours.

Just make sure your flour is fresh and yeast isn’t expired. I’ve used both active dry yeast and highly active dry yeast with great results!

NO-KNEAD CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD YIELD: Makes 1 loaf INGREDIENTS: 3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt (not table salt)

½ teaspoon dry yeast (active dry or highly active dry work best)

1 ½ cups lukewarm water

Special cookware needed: Dutch oven or any large oven-safe dish/bowl and lid*

DIRECTIONS: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast. Stir in water using a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a shaggy but cohesive dough. Do not over-work the dough. The less you “work” it, the more soft, fluffy air pockets will form.

Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough sit at room temperature for 8-24 hours*. Dough will bubble up and rise.

After dough is ready, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place your Dutch oven, uncovered, into the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While your Dutch oven preheats, turn dough onto a well-floured surface. With floured hands, form the dough into a ball. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest.

After the 30 minutes are up, carefully remove Dutch oven. With floured hands, place the bread dough into it. (You can put a piece of parchment under the dough if your Dutch oven isn’t enamel coated.)

Replace cover and bake for 30 minutes covered. Carefully remove cover and bake for 7-15 minutes* more, uncovered.

Carefully remove bread to a cutting board and slice with a bread knife.

Enjoy!

NOTES

Uncovered baking time depends on your oven. In my oven, the bread only needs 7 minutes uncovered until crusty and golden brown, but this can vary. Just keep an eye on it!

Preheating your Dutch oven to 450 degrees F will not damage it, or the knob on top.

I’ve let this dough rise anywhere between 8-24 hours and it has baked up beautifully. Just make sure it has risen and appears to “bubble” to the surface.

There’s no need to grease the Dutch oven/baking dish/pot. My bread has never stuck to the pot. If you are concerned though, put a piece of parchment paper under your dough before placing into your pot.

I do not recommend using whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour in this recipe. The resulting bread will be very dense, and not as fluffy and delicious.

I used a 5.5 quart enameled cast iron Le Creuset pot, but you can use any large oven-safe dish and cover. All of these also work: a baking dish covered with aluminum foil, crockpot insert, stainless steel pot with a lid, pizza stone with an oven-safe bowl to cover the bread, and old cast iron Dutch oven.

Add any mix-ins you like - herbs, spices, dried fruit, chopped nuts and cheese all work well. I recommend adding them into the initial flour-yeast mixture to avoid over-working the mix-ins into the dough. The less you “work” it, the more you’re encouraging soft, fluffy air pockets to form!

I'm not sure who needs to hear this at the moment but if you have any kind of animistic slant to your practice and enjoy plants you absolutely should be reading Daniel Schulke's Viridarium Umbris. PDFs are extraordinarily easy to find, the information and tech is phenomenal, and it is easy to pick and find what you want to work on at any given time. I started getting my teeth into it for the first time last year and I'm only sorry I hadn't picked it up sooner. It should be required reading.

The Light.

a tarot spread for litha.

1. The Heart.

The heart of the sun is your center. This is where you hold all your truths. Do not live in fear any longer. Let this card be your constant reminder that the time has come to be the person you truly are.

2. The Air.

The rays of the sun can be felt all around you within the warm summer air. Let this card be your constant reminder that you have been reborn as a being of strength and unwavering positivity. When you feel the warmth of summer, remember you are a new creation.

3. The Light.

Let the light of this new day chase the shadows of doubt far away. Know that there is nothing you cannot obtain. Let this card be your constant reminder that you have the ability to achieve your goals.

Whenever I feel in a witchy rut, like I don’t know what to do next, or simply stalled in my practice, I go back and re-read the Witches Sequence of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett.

Nothing will teach you more about witchcraft than Granny Weatherwax.