Jólakötturinn

Unconventional & Affordable Ingredients for Spells

Here is a list of unconventional and affordable ingredients that can be used in spells and witchcraft along with their correspondences; good for witches “in the woods” and witches on a budget. Many of these can be easily found for inexpensive prices or at home.

Acorns/Acorn Caps: security, abundance, longevity, good luck, youth and brings good health

Animal toys/stickers: relates to correspondences of that animal

Artist’s Charcoal: banishing negativity, protection; cursing

Baby Powder: cleansing, beauty, youth

Baking Soda: cleansing, purification, protection

Birthday Candles: wishes, joy; color magic and number magic depending on their color and/or what number they display

Black Tea Bags (used): earth magic, grounding, strength, stability, banishing negativity; ending, death 

Bottle Caps: prosperity, luck, material gain

Bubble Bath: self-love, relaxation, emotional healing, serenity; plus whatever scent the bubble bath is affects correspondences

Bubbles/Bubble Liquid: wishes, joy, whimsy, imagination, fantasy

Buckeye Nuts: luck, sexual energies, warding

Butter: femininity, flattery, friendship, warmth, happiness; good for fae work

Candy Bars: love, romance, happiness, lust, fertility, emotional healing, healing of the heart, forgiveness, friendship

Candy Corn: courage, imagination, endurance, energy, motivation, happiness, celebration

Candy Foil: sweetness, secrets, protecting one’s emotions; color magic

Chocolate Syrup/Milk: happiness, love, lust, romance, sweetening relationships

Cocktail Swords: strength, assertiveness, competition; cursing, revenge; ending rumors

Cotton Balls: beauty, gentleness, warmth, sleep

Cotton Swabs: cleansing, purification

Dice: chance, opportunity, luck; number magic

Dirt: grounding, earth magic, growth, prosperity, patience, home and family; cursing

Dish Soap: cleansing

Duct Tape: binding, storing energy, cursing

Egg Shells: cleansing, protection, warding

Energy Drinks: energy, motivation

Envelopes: messages, communication, protection during travel

Epsom Salts: purification, cleansing, protection, pain relief, serenity, comfort, stress relief

Fake/Play Money: wealth, prosperity

Fish Sauce: prosperity, water magic, curses

Foil: glamour, protection, storing energy, binding

Glue: sealing, immobility, binding, curses

Googley Eyes: vision, divination, scrying, creativity, protection, imagination; curses, paranoia, nightmares

Grass: growth, nature, learning, healing, new beginnings, recovery from loss

Hand Soap: cleansing, curse removal

Hole Punches: good for cursing

Hot Sauce: motivation, lust, confidence; cursing, anger, revenge, emotional pain

Koolaid: youth, sweetness, happiness; color magic, corresponds with flavors as well

Lip Balm: glamour, confidence in speaking, honesty, beauty

Lollipops: sweetness, innocence, ending rumors and lies, lust and sexual energies, love

Lotion: protection, beauty

Laundry Soap: cleansing, purification

Marshmallows: friendliness, comfort, gentleness, fidelity, sleep and dreams

Metal Crafting Wire: binding

Modeling Clay: poppets, earth magic, grounding, balance, stability, creation, change

Mud: grounding, earth magic; curses

Muslin: poppets, change, creativity

Noodles: Longevity, good health

Pompoms (craft): gentleness, comfort, love, sleep, dreams

Paper Clips: balance, focus, organization; curses, binding

Pennies: luck, wealth

Pickle Juice: curses to sour things

Plastic Bags: protection; binding

Plastic Ribbon (wrapping): happiness, glamour, delight; binding; color magic

Plastic Wrap: binding

Popsicle sticks: poppets

Scissors: offensive magic, curses

Seltzer Water: purification, removing negativity; curses

Sewing Needles: curses, pain

Shaving Cream: cleansing, softness, patience, calmness

Stamps: travel, communication

Sour Cream: cursing

Soy Sauce: protection, banishment; cursing

Sticky Notes: communication, memory

Strawberry Milk: love, self-love, beauty, sweetness, friendship

Syrup: joy, sweetening one’s emotions

Taco Sauce: Focus, Energy, motivation

Taffy: joy, flexibility

Thumbtacks: curses

Tissue Paper: softness, serenity; color magic

Toothpaste: cleansing

Toothpicks: curse

Walnut Shells: protection, warding

Wasabi: Energy; curses, anger, envy

Whipped Cream: beauty, light-heartedness

Whistles: communication, attention grabbing, warding

Other Tips:

Recycle bottles, jars and medicine bottles for jar/bottle magic

Reuse tea bags (though not too long after use) in bath magic

If you do wish to use herbs, it is cheaper to order them online in bulk rather than the supermarket. Trust me, supermarkets and grocery stores really over price most herbs. You can get triple the amount for 2 dollars less online

Make up and toiletries are great for glamours

Its fine to use kitchen knives if you can’t afford am athame

Look at the ingredients in food you eat to see what is in it and determine that food’s correspondences, quick and easy kitchen magic

Crayons, colored pencils, markers and pens are good for easy sigil and color magic

Binders are cheaper than blank books and make great grimoires

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kitchen witch smoothie recipe!

i'm eclectic but today i wanted to do some kitchen witchcraft which i actually do pretty often so here's the recipe for the smoothie i made and what the ingredients mean

frozen strawberries- love, good luck

apple- love, good luck

orange juice- good luck, sweetness, positive energies, love

coconut water- protection, strengthens the influences of the other ingredients

almond milk- good luck, positivity, beauty, love

honey- sweetness, positivity, luck

ice- water element

i make smoothies often as a snack and i love how they taste so i wanted to make one that would bring good things to my life, remember to stir clockwise to attract things such as good luck in this case, the potency of your product can be enhanced by actually saying a spell or doing other things that you want to do like lighting candles or drawing sigils on it

i had a lot of fun and i'll be making more things soon, let me know if there's any recipes for certain things that anyone wants! blessed be :)

Just a few of the books my mother brought up with her this weekend. I haven’t gone through the majority of these yet, but I’d love to hear all of y’all s thoughts!

Yule ball

Ingredients:

🌙 salt/sea salt, pine needles, dried rose petals, rosemary, dried orange peel, lavender, star anise, *coffee beans

Process:

🌙 First add the salt, then your herbs. After this you can add *optional items like crystals, ribbons, sigils, ...

As you add your items, state your intent and the purpose of each one.

Now you can decide, were to hang youre Yule ball - I prefer it in the corners of the room or near the window.

Please feel free to put other ingredients in it and hang the ball wherever you like. ❤ Try to collect some ingredients outside. 🌙🌲

Have fun. 🌙

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.:: Defining Traditional Witchcraft ::.

What is Traditional Witchcraft?

According to Michael Howard, Trad Craft refers to “any non-Gardnerian, non-Alexandrian, non-Wiccan or pre-modern form of the Craft, especially if it has been inspired by historical forms of witchcraft and folk magic”.

Traditional Witchcraft, therefore, is not a single monolith. We can, in fact, distinguish between:

Operative Witchcraft or Folk Magic

Ritual(istic) Witchcraft

This first difference is taken from Margaret Murray; she used the first term for indicating the practice of magic, as carried out by cunning folk and folk magicians, and included the non-religious practice of spells, charms, divinations, etc. “whether used by a professed witch or by a professed Christian, whether intended for good or for evil, for killing or for curing. Such charms and spells are common to every nation and country, and are practised by the priests and people of every religion. They are part of the common heritage of the human race and are therefore of no practical value in the study of any one particular cult.” (The Witch-Cult, p. 11.)

The second term (also called “Dianic cult” by Murray) indicates, instead, “the religious beliefs and ritual of the people, known in late mediaeval times as ‘Witches’. The evidence proves that underlying the Christian religion was a cult practised by many classes of the community, chiefly, however, by the more ignorant or those in the less thickly inhabited parts of the country. It can be traced back to pre-Christian times”. Therefore we can say that Ritual Witchcraft is the cult of pre-Christian Deities or Spirits connected to the witches.

While the ideas of Murray about this cult have now been discredited, other scholars have reopened this field as a viable area of study, discovering many ecstatic witch-cults. The most known academics in this field are: Carlo Ginzburg, Éva Pócs, Emma Wilby, Claude Lecouteux, Wolfgang Behringer, Sabina Magliocco, Gábor Klaniczay, Gustav Henningsen and Bengt Ankarloo.

Relying on the work of these scholars, we can say therefore that Ritual Witchcraft was/is the religious system surrounding the Sabbath, the Procession of the Dominae Nocturnae from house to house, the spiritual flight, Elphame, the Wild Hunt, the Night Battles, etc.

As we can understand, even if the majority of the Ritual Witches were/are also Operative Witches (practitioners of Folk Magic), not all the Operative Witches were/are also Ritual Witches. The majority of Folk Magicians/Operative Witches, in fact, didn’t go to the Sabbath, didn’t astrally fly, didn’t astrally go with the Wild Hunt, from house to house with the Domina Nocturna, to Elphame/the Otherworld or to the Night Battles. Ritual Witches did.

We can say, therefore, that Operative Witchcraft is a practice, while Ritual Witchcraft is a religion.

Traditional Witches who are secular are, therefore, usually Operative and not Ritual Witches. While the distinction between Ritual and Operative Witchcraft is an established one in the Witchcraft community, I introduce a new, according to me useful, second distinction, inside Ritual Witchcraft (i.e. Witchcraft as a religion), by borrowing the terms “Revivalism” and “Reconstructionism” from Polytheism, in which it’s an already established terminology:

Hereditary Witchcraft

Revivalist Witchcraft

Reconstructionist Witchcraft

Hereditary Traditional Witchcraft brings together all the traditions that claim a lineage from the Witchcraft of the past.

Revivalist Traditional Witchcraft is inspired by folklore, trials and the figure of the witch without any presumption of hereditarity. Unlike the Reconstructionist one, it leaves ample space for personal initiative and the influence of other traditions, without slavishly following the history in every single detail.

Reconstructionist Traditional Witchcraft, finally, tries to resume, starting from the in-depth study of folklore, historical trials and documents, the exact practices and beliefs of Historical Witchcraft. For example, the pantheon of Spirits, the festivities, the structure of the Sabbath, the structure of the offerings, and so on.

An important aspect for those who practice Reconstructionism is the resumption of the names of the Gods (or it would be more correct to say, of the “Deific Familiar Spirits” or “Major Spirits”) forgotten and remained only in the trials papers and in folklore. The idea is to reopen roads, ways to these Spirits. Reconstructing therefore means paying homage to these Spirits and allowing those interested to re-establish a connection with Them.

We said before that Traditional Witchcraft is not Wicca. What’s the difference?

According to the Traditional Witchcraft author Lee Morgan:

“It could easily be said that one of the major differences between the modern revival referred to as “Traditional Witchcraft” and the other modern revival known as “Wicca”, is that Traditional Witchcraft draws on “folkloric material” and is largely “shamanic” whereas Wicca is more of a fusion of Western Occult ceremonial and natural magic traditions.”

(From: Lee Morgan’s “A Deed Without a Name: Unearthing the Legacy of Traditional Witchcraft”)

Kitchen Witchin’

Kitchen witchery evolved from the ancient concept of the hearth as the sacred center of the home. In the ancient world the hearth, the place where food was prepared and warmth was created, had great importance and was treated with reverence. Humans have always inherently understood that the kitchen is a special place where magic happens.

For modern witches, the kitchen is a great place for everyday magic. Here are a few ways you can infuse some magic into your food.

Magical Cooking Techniques

Begin by taking a moment to clear your mind and focus your energy. Just like any other magical activity, kitchen magic is best performed in a focused, spiritual headspace. This doesn’t have to be anything elaborate (although, if you want to cook with incense and candles burning, more power to you). It can be as simple as taking a moment to close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and focus on your intention.

Set the mood. One of the simplest ways to put magic into your food is to infuse a dish with a certain energy or emotion. Let’s say you want to make a dish infused with the energy of happiness, so that everyone who eats it gets a little bit of those good vibes. The easiest way to do this is by making sure you’re happy when you cook it! Put on music that makes you feel happy, dance around your kitchen, and pour all of that happy energy into the food as you prepare it.

Enchant your ingredients. You may choose to layer ingredients with different magical purposes in order to create a stronger spell. For example, if you’re making a meal infused with protection magic, you might include some ingredients for physical protection, some for strength, and some for mental clarity. You can accomplish this by enchanting each ingredient individually as you add it to the food. Your enchantment can be as simple as thanking the spirit of the item, and asking to help you accomplish [insert intention here] in your spell.

Use numerology. Numerology is the idea that numbers have an inherent spiritual nature. There are many different systems of numerology, so it’s important to use what makes the most sense to you — this includes bringing in your own associations for numbers! You can use numerology in your cooking by adding a certain number of an ingredient based on that number’s magical value. For example, I might add nine shakes of salt to symbolize completion and the granting of wishes, or add three bay leaves to symbolize creativity and collaboration. Just make sure you’re not adding so much of an ingredient that it overpowers the other flavors in the dish!

Stir ingredients clockwise to bring blessings or counterclockwise to send away unwanted energy. This comes from an old Irish tradition that states that moving “sunwise” (clockwise) brings blessings while moving against the sun (counterclockwise) brings curses or banishes something. When you’re mixing your food, stir it clockwise to bring in desired energies, like love, joy, or peace. Stir it counterclockwise to cast out undesired energies, like sickness or stress.

Draw or carve sacred symbols on your food. I talked about runes and sigils at length in my last post so I won’t repeat myself here, but you can also use magical symbols in kitchen magic! You can carve runes or sigils into vegetables and charge them before slicing them up, use your spoon to trace them in the surface of a soup as you stir it, or draw the symbols in the air over your food before you serve it. If you’re drawing a symbol with a name, you should speak the name out loud or in your mind as you draw it. If you’re drawing a sigil, speak the intention behind that sigil out loud or in your mind. These symbols are like batteries for magical power, so they’re a great way to add a boost to your kitchen magic.

Use blessed water. If you make moon water during the full moon, try adding a few drops of it to the next thing you cook and see how much more energized you feel after eating it! Making moon water is an easy way to get blessed water, since all it requires is leaving a jug of water out under the full moon, but there are other kinds of blessed water you can use as well. Some Catholics sprinkle holy water (water that has been blessed by a priest) into their food or drink. You can create your own “holy water” by speaking a blessing over a jug of water — it can be a general blessing for peace and good fortune, or can be more specific based on your intent. You can also use water that has been infused with edible plants based on their magical associations, but this will of course change the flavor of your food.

Speak an incantation. The spoken word is a powerful source of magic. Write an incantation or statement of intention based on what you want to accomplish with this magical food. Speak this incantation aloud at some point during the cooking process — I like to say it when I’m mixing all the ingredients together. This can be as simple as, “May [insert food here] bring me [insert benefit here],” or can be long and elaborate. If there are words from another source, like a poem or song lyrics, that feel like they fit your intention, you should absolutely feel free to use them as your incantation.

Pray over your food. Saying grace before a meal is another way of blessing it. You don’t have to pray to a certain deity or higher power. Instead, you could simply thank the spirits of the plants and animals that died so that you could be fed, or you could thank the planet for providing this nourishment to you. Of course, if you do want to pray to a higher power and thank them for the food, that’s also a great way to bless your meal!

Magical Correspondences for Some Staple Foods

Another way to do kitchen magic is to work with the correspondences of your ingredients. Here’s a quick correspondence guide for some staple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry.

Grains and breads correspond to abundance, health, and security. Historically, these foods were associated with the autumn harvest, and they are still sacred to harvest deities. Bread is a common offering to house spirits and to gods of hearth and home.

Milk, cheese, and dairy correspond to the nurturing aspect of motherhood, love, sustenance, and abundance. Cows are sacred in some cultures, such as in Ancient Ireland, where offering someone milk was a form of blessing.

Eggs correspond to fertility, hidden mysteries, and the feminine principle. In several different folk magic traditions, such as those of Appalachian America and of Italy, eggs are used to detect or remove curses.

Salt corresponds to protection and purity, and can be used for grounding. Salt is useful for banishing unwanted energies, as well as for putting up protective barriers. Blessed salt has many uses in magical rituals and in a magical kitchen.

Rice corresponds to money, good luck, and fertility. You might be familiar with the tradition of throwing rice at weddings — this is a good example of rice’s magic associations. Rice also absorbs negativity and, like salt, it can be used for protection.

Onions corresponds to healing, prosperity, and protection. Onions are said to prevent and dispel illness, and are sometimes associated with love and lust.

Garlic has similar associations to onion, but is also strongly connected with protection, banishing, and curse-breaking. I add garlic to all of my protection and uncrossing spells, and it can also be handy for banishing unwanted spirits.

Sugar corresponds to love, affection, and attraction. Sugar is used in American folk magic to “sweeten” situations, making them more favorable. It can also be used to attract positive energy or positive outcomes.

Honey corresponds to health, happiness, love, wisdom, and stability. Like sugar, honey can be used to sweeten a situation or to attract positive energy. Some witches believe that honey works slower than sugar, but brings longer lasting results.

Vanilla corresponds to love, romance, and sensuality. It’s also a very comforting scent, and I’ve even seen one author claim that the smell repels negative spirits (although I’ve never used it for this purpose). Vanilla is perfect any time you want to conjure love, whether it’s self-love or love between people.

Hopefully, this list gives you some ideas for magical recipes. For example, if you want to conjure luck and abundance, you could make a risotto (a rice dish) with lots of Parmesan cheese, butter, garlic, and basil (not listed in this post, but strongly associated with wealth). If you want to create a stronger sense of self-love, you could make vanilla cookies with sugar and honey. If you need to kick a common cold, a soup with lots of onions and garlic will probably do the trick. You get the idea.

Make sure that the magical food you prepare is actually something you’ll want to eat! Just because an ingredient works with your intention doesn’t mean you should always include it. If you hate vanilla, you shouldn’t add it to your love brownies. Leave things out or make substitutions to ensure that you enjoy eating the finished product.

On a related note, you can substitute vegan products for milk, cheese, eggs, etc. but the magical correspondences won’t be exactly the same. Almond milk, for example, has the magical associations of almonds (prosperity and wisdom). This is similar, but not quite the same, as the correspondences for cow’s milk. Likewise, soy milk, coconut milk, and oat milk all have their own correspondences that will affect the energy of your spell. If you plan to keep your magical kitchen vegan, it’s a good idea to look up the magical uses of the plants your food is made from and use those as a guideline, rather than just substituting coconut milk for cow’s milk and expecting the exact same result.

Resources:

Wicca: Kitchen Witchery by Lisa Chamberlain

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin

Where the Hawthorn Grows, Brigid: Meeting the Celtic Goddess of Poetry, Forge, and Healing Well, and The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens by Morgan Daimler

Utterly Wicked by Dorothy Morrison

🍝 Cooking Magick 🍝

Since I often don't have the energy to do full spells and rituals, I've been trying to incorporate magick into the mundane things in my life, and something I tried tonight was adding a little magick to my cooking

Since I've been having a lot of negative energy within myself, I decided to make my dinner into a little protective spell

It was a little last second so its not very intricate, but it was just enough for me and made me feel super witchy (my boyfriend even called me a little kitchen witch!)

We deemed this little "spell" Magick Spaghetti

Disclaimer: this isn't an actual spell!! Its just a fun way to include your craft in something simple and essential and I really enjoyed doing it so I thought it would be nice to share! Its not to be taken extremely seriously, not all witchcraft has to be totally serious, just have fun! ❤ and remember that even the smallest things can be made magical and meaningful

🍝 Wolf's Magick Spaghetti 🍝

To start, if you add salt to your water when you boil it, something I do, you can tie a correspondence or intention to that

Stirring the spaghetti counterclockwise to banish, repeat something like "I am banishing this negativity and the things that have been hurting me inside"

Stirring the spaghetti clockwise for intention, repeat something like "I am protected from negativity" and/or "I am protected from these negative energies inside me"

Add some sauce! Sauces are full of herbs and veggies that have correspondences, use this to your advantage! My sauce of choice had onion, garlic, and tomato, all of which have protective properties

While eating your Magick Spaghetti, think something like "this is clearing the negativity inside me"

☽ Enjoy! ⛤ Blessed Be ☾

Fighting Consumerism in Magic

aka, little things to distance your craft from capitalism

Let’s all just admit that buying stuff is fun. That said, there’s a big issue of consumerism within the witchy/pagan scene. As magic work and the pagan “aesthetic” becomes more of a commodity in the mainstream, there’s a mounting attitude of needing All The Items in the highest quality (even if we’re not certain we’ll use them,) and big corporations mass-producing cheap stuff to make a buck off of a growing trend. Here’s some things you can do to help detach your practice from that and support other people in the craft:

Go outside. Check your backyard or local park for local plant life, waters, roots, etc. If your work involves things from nature at all, you can probably find a lot of your supplies… in nature. It takes a little more time, but it’s free and then you’ve gathered stuff yourself! 

Make stuff. This one is pretty straightforward. There may be key items to your practice that you can make yourself instead of buying it! That said, I know sometimes spending money is inevitable so I won’t dwell too much on this… let’s talk more about shopping:

Shop mindfully. The price of a lot of items will skyrocket once it has a pentacle or other symbol engraved on it. For example, little mortars and pestles can be very pricey in witchy shops, but you could probably get a bigger one that’s actually food safe for less at a nice grocery store. Antique stores and international markets are now your new best friends.

Support small businesses! Things are cheaper on Amazon, but the extra money goes to support real people, likely other practitioners. If you can, supporting small, local, independent shopkeepers and crafters does a ton of good. It also helps build and sustain a local community. 

Shop based on need. Don’t get something “just in case” (unless it’s banishing or hex breaking stuff; those are decent to have on hand.) It’s tempting to impulse-buy a ton of niche items and ingredients, but unless you have a reasonable idea what you’re going to use them for in the near future, it’ll probably just create clutter for you to deal with later.

Prioritize effectiveness over aesthetic. Ultimately your practice has to work for you, not just look good. I think making your work aesthetically pleasing to yourself can be an important part of really connecting with what you’re doing, but don’t make that desire burn a hole in your wallet and distract you from what brought you to this path in the first place. Altar envy is a real thing. 

Recycle/Upcycle. Use old clothing fabric for an altar cloth. That old trinket dish makes a great offering dish. Enchant jewelry you already own. That jar of strawberry jelly you just finished off will work just fine for that spell. Things can be re-purposed and made into new things.

Analyze your offerings. Special occasion wine isn’t a special occasion if you do it every time. Not every offering needs to be a grand gesture, regular maintenance is more important generally.

Organize trades. Have any pals that also practice? See if you can help each other! You could trade different goods (that old mini cauldron you bought and never used for that abandoned tarot deck, maybe?) but also services. A protection spell for a luck charm. A reading for a reading. You help them with the laundry and they cook you a meal one day. 

As always, the goal is to foster a local community of individuals doing honest work, and shedding the consumerist mindset society taught us to make us spend more money. Take up the idea that you can do magic completely on your own with what you already around you, and if you do want to spend money, see if you can do it in a way that helps the world a tiny bit.  :) 

Green Witch Healing Tea Blends ☕️🌿✨

Migraine Relief Blend 🍵

Holy Basil

Green Tea

Mint

Lemongrass

Ginger Root

Hibiscus Flowers

Anxiety Calming Blend ☺️

Lemon Balm

Chamomile Flowers

Mint

Catnip

Sore Throat Blend 😷

Mint

Sage

Cinnamon

Lemon Balm

Honey

Upset Stomach Relief Tea 🤢

Ginger

Mint

Lemon Balm

Chamomile Flowers

Fresh Lemon Slice

Immune Boosting Tea Blend ☕️

Elderberries

Calendula Flowers

Echinacea

Orange or Lemon Peel

Honey

Menstrual Relief Blend 👩🏽‍🦱

Raspberries

Chamomile Flowers

Lemon Balm

Mint

Winter Cold Relief Tea Blend 🌲

Pine Needles

Cinnamon

Mint

Fennel Seeds

Allergy Relief Tea 😪

Purple Dead Nettle

Peppermint

Cinnamon Bark

Lemon Peel

Ginger

Honey

Full Moon Dreams Blend 🌕

Black Tea

Chamomile Flowers

Lavender

Mint

Peaceful Sleep Tea Blend 😴

Chamomile Flowers

Spearmint

Lavender

Cinnamon

Passion Flowers

Jasmine Buds

Rose Petals

Psychic Protection Tea 🔮

Black Tea

Rosemary

Chamomile Flowers

Rose Petals

Lavender

Happiness Honey Milk Tea 🌞

Sun Water

Milk

Cinnamon

Honey

Autumn Nostalgia Tea Blend 🍂

Black Tea

Cinnamon

Sage

Orange Peel

Fennel Seeds

Forest Dweller’s Comfort Tea 🍄

Cinnamon Bark

Fennel Seeds

Ginger Root

Licorice Root

Orange Peel

Marshmallow Root

White Oak Bark

Add Some Oomph to Your Spells with Magical Timing

Like herbs, oils, and crystals, you don’t need to work with magical timing for your spell to be successful. You can cast a spell at any time, no matter your intention, and get your desired results. However, working with the energy of the sun, moon, and days of the week can add an extra power boost to your magic.

Think of it this way: certain energies are dominant at certain times. Those energies are easier to connect with because they are closer at hand, so to speak, so you can bring them into your life and your spells more easily and in a more powerful way. That doesn’t mean you can’t call on other energies during these times — it just means that you may not connect to them quite so easily.

If you choose to work with magical timing in your spells, there are several yearly, monthly, weekly, and even daily cycles you can align your spells with.

The Cycle of the Sun: Solstices and Equinoxes

These are the turning points that mark the solar year, and are associated with the relationships between day and night, light and dark, summer and winter. Each solstice or equinox marks the end of one season and the beginning for the next. Because they are so rare and so potent, these days are a great time for your “big picture” spells or for spells that need a big power boost.

Winter Solstice. The winter solstice marks the shortest day and longest night of the year, and falls between December 20 and December 23, depending on the year. In some pagan traditions the winter solstice, or Yule, marks the beginning of the new year — you may choose to set intentions for the coming year on this solstice. After the winter solstice, the nights start getting shorter and the days start getting longer — so spells related to healing and bringing things into the light are especially effective at this time of year. The winter solstice marks the end of the “dark half” of the year and beginning of the “light half” of the year; at this point, our focus turns from inward reflection to outward manifestation. You may choose to think of the time between the winter solstice and spring equinox as a “planning phase,” where you examine yourself and your desires, decide what you want to work on in the next year, and make plans for manifesting what you want.

Spring Equinox. An equinox occurs when the day and the night are exactly the same length, representing a perfect balance between light and dark. The spring equinox marks the beginning of spring and occurs between March 19 and March 22. The Christian holiday of Easter and the pagan holiday of Ostara are both related to the energy of this equinox. At this time of year, the natural world is coming back to life as winter begins to fade. Plants are beginning to grow, and baby animals are being born. This is a powerful time of year for fertility magic and any magic related to new beginnings. You may choose to think of the time between the spring equinox and the summer solstice as a “planting phase,” where you “plant the seed” of the things you want to manifest and begin doing the work to make it happen.

Summer Solstice. This solstice marks the longest day and shortest night of the year. It occurs between June 19 and June 23. As I am writing this post, we are coming up on the summer solstice (June 20, 2020). Life, fertility, and growth are at their peak during this time of year, which makes this solstice a perfect time for big manifestation spells. At the same time, this marks the end of the “light half” and beginning of the “dark half” of the year, so after the summer solstice our energy shifts from outward manifestation to inward contemplation. You may choose to think of the time between the summer solstice and fall equinox as the “harvest phase,” where you reap the results of your hard work and manifest your desires in the physical world.

Autumn Equinox. This is the other time of year when the day and night are perfectly balanced. The autumn equinox occurs between September 19 and September 23 and marks the beginning of autumn. This is traditionally the time of year when crops are harvested, and many pagan groups celebrate harvest festivals around this time. Nature is beginning to die or go into hibernation in preparation for the coming winter. This is an especially powerful time of year for shadow work or for magic related to endings and transitions. You may choose to think of the time between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice as the “reflection phase,” when you retreat from the outside world to rest, focus on yourself, and do your inner work and self-healing.

Important Note: This post lists dates for the solstices and equinoxes in the Northern hemisphere. In the Southern hemisphere, the seasons are reversed. If you live in the Southern hemisphere, you would observe the winter solstice in June, the spring equinox in September, the summer solstice in December, and the fall equinox in March.

The Cycle of the Moon: Lunar Phases

If you don’t have time to wait for the appropriate solstice or equinox, you can still connect with the cosmos in your magic. One of the biggest pros of the lunar cycle is that it happens roughly every month — so you never have to wait very long for the next full moon. The moon is also associated with magic and spirituality in several traditions, which makes it an especially powerful astral ally for witches.

New Moon. The new moon is when the moon is completely invisible in the night sky, and is the phase opposite the full moon. The new moon is a powerful time for shadow work (because it deals with things that are hidden) and for magic related to new beginnings.

Waxing Moon. The moon is waxing when it appears to be growing in the night sky; this is the phase between the new moon and full moon. This is a powerful time for any magic that deals with drawing something in, building something up, or strengthening something that already exists.

Full Moon. Many witches believe that the full moon is the most powerful time of month for any kind of magic. This is a good time to cast any spell that needs a serious power boost. The full moon is also an especially powerful time to release what no longer serves you or to work healing magic.

Waning Moon. The moon is waning when it appears to be shrinking in the night sky; this is the phase between the full moon and new moon. This is a powerful time for any magic that deals with sending something away, banishing negative energy, or bringing something to an end.

Dark Moon. The dark moon is the three day period immediately before the new moon. In some traditions, it is believed to be bad luck to cast spells during the dark moon. Other traditions hold that the dark moon is the best point in the lunar cycle for destructive magic, such as curses and hexes. Many modern witches don’t recognize the dark moon as a separate moon phase at all. I personally like to use the dark moon as a time for self reflection, and may focus on shadow work during this time.

Magical Correspondences for the Days of the Week

The days of the week also have their own unique magical energies, and each day is linked to a certain planet and to certain deities.

Sunday. Sunday is, of course, connected to the Sun and solar deities. Sunday is the best day of the week for any manifestation magic that needs an extra boost. Its energy is also associated with healing, personal growth, power, and success.

Monday. Monday is associated with the Moon and lunar deities. Monday is a quiet, introspective day, and can feel very ethereal. It’s the best day for magic related to intuition, nurturing, and shadow work.

Tuesday. Tuesday is associated with Mars and with gods and goddesses of war and action. (It is named for the Norse/Germanic god Tyr/Tiw.) Tuesday is a very “active” day, and is good for magic related to action, activism, victory, or finding courage.

Wednesday. Wednesday is associated with Mercury and with gods and goddesses of wisdom, learning, and communication. (It is named for the Norse/Germanic god Odin/Wodan.) Wednesday is all about mental activity. It’s the best day of the week for magic related to thought, travel, communication (written, spoken, or digital), and learning/study.

Thursday. Thursday is associated with Jupiter and with gods and goddesses of prosperity, wealth, and protection. (It is named after the Norse/Germanic god Thor.) Thursday, like Jupiter in astrology, is all about outward expansion. It’s the best day of the week for magic related to career, prosperity, and wealth.

Friday. Friday is associated with Venus and with gods and goddesses of love, fertility, and sensuality. (It is named after the Norse goddess Freyja, or perhaps the goddess Frigg.) The energy of Friday is fun, lighthearted, and sexy. It’s the best day of the week for magic related to love, beauty, and sex/sexuality.

Saturday. Saturday is associated with Saturn and with time and wisdom. (The day and the planet are both named after the Roman god Saturn.) Saturday is practical and wise, but it does have a little bit of a dark side. It’s the best day of the week for magic related to banishing and protection.

Magical Times of Day

Okay, so you’d like to start working with magical timing, but what about emergency magic and last-minute spells? What if you don’t have time to wait for the next full moon, or even the next Sunday? You can still align your spell with magical timing! There are several moments of power each day, and each has its own magical associations.

Sunrise. Sunrise is, of course, the birth of the new day. This makes it the perfect time for spells related to new beginnings or expanded possibilities.

Noon. This is the peak or high point of the day. This is a powerful time for healing magic.

Sunset. Sunset is the end of the day, and forms a gateway between light and dark. This is a great time for spells related to accepting endings, releasing that which does not serve, and moving on from the past.

Midnight. If noon is the peak of the day, then midnight is the peak of the night. Midnight has a very ethereal, transformational energy. Like with the full moon, some witches believe that any spell will be more powerful if cast at midnight. This is a powerful time for both banishing and attraction magic.

Resources:

You Are Magical by Tess Whitehurst

Green Witchcraft by Paige Vanderbeck

Wicca for Beginners by Thea Sabin [specifically the chapter on the sabbats]

Qabalah Made Easy by David Wells [Note: Qabalah is based on an appropriation of Jewish mysticism, and I am NOT endorsing its practice. However, much of the magical timing associations used in modern witchcraft is shared with Qabalah and other forms of ceremonial magic, which is why it’s referenced here.]