A Bit Bout Yule

Quick spell from my grandma that was passed onto her from her mum and however many generations…

Lost something?

Stick a pin in your sofa and it’ll return to you.

Why does this shit work? No clue, fam. But mum and grandma swear by it and I’ll be damned if it didn’t work for me today

Witchy Lavender Milk Tea

Ingredients:

1/4 Teaspoon Lavender

Freshly Boiled Water

1/2 Cup milk of your choice (cow milk, goat milk, almond milk, whatever)

1/4 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Honey (If you don't have raw honey, purified will be fine)

Instructions:

Pour your boiled water into a mug, leaving plenty of room.

Put the lavender into a tea strainer or tea bag, or leave it loose. Place it in the mug. While this is steeping, pour the half cup of milk into a saucepan/milk steamer/whatever.

Warm it on medium heat until it starts steaming, stirring constantly. While you stir, sing a lullaby of your choice (or use a sleep chant; whichever you prefer). I sing "Lullabye" by Fall Out Boy or "A Twist In My Story" by Secondhand Serenade.

Once your milk is steamed, add the vanilla to it. Remove the lavender from the tea and stir in as much honey as you want. Keep in mind that lavender is very bitter, so you will need at least a tablespoon.

Finally, add the milk. Stir it in and enjoy!

Relationships with the Gods

There are a lot of posts on Tumblr along the lines of ‘How do I know if X god accepts me/my offering etc’. And for someone starting out in worship I suppose that desire to have an instant gratification for your effort/actions is understandable.

But in my experience, it doesn’t work like that. You don’t get a divine voice in your ear, or a symbol magically appearing in front of you. (It can happen, (unpopular opinion >>) I just side eye those things because it sounds a lot like self-fulfilment fantasy.)

More commonly, I would liken the experience to planting a seed. 

You prepare the ground for the seed by tilling and caring for the soil. You water the seed, give it light, perhaps even give it plant food, and then you wait.

And you hope that it grows.

You don’t stop giving these things, because if you do, the plant might wither and even die.

You can talk to your plant, but you don’t expect the plant to talk back to you in human language. But the plant sprouts, and grows, and you feel damn good because you helped nurture this plant. It could have grown fine on its own somewhere in the countryside because in the nature of these things, wild versions of plants don’t need us to flourish.

And then, because of all your devotion and hard work to this plant. It gives you flowers, fruit, vegetables, something that benefits you, and the reciprocity relationship feels good. You got something back for all your hard work. Nature benefited you.

And not to simplify the Gods into one plant metaphor, but rather than our BFFs, they are something vastly greater than ourselves that we nurture a relationship with for our benefit, because without it, life is just that little less nice.

motivational tea potion

🌅☀️🌿💫🕯

this potion is wonderful first thing in the morning before a busy day, right before a work shift or school day, before you have to do a bunch of cleaning, even before spellwork! just all around a great tea to light a fire under you whenever you may need it

[ what you’ll need ]

2 cups sun water

motivation, energy, healing, comfort, focus, communication

2 tsp black tea

grounding, energy, prosperity, motivation

1 stick of cinnamon

comfort, healing, motivation, energy, prosperity, communication, good luck, communication, protection against negativity

1 whole clove

prosperity, grounding, longevity of energy, good luck, communication

2 sprigs of rosemary *

rolls negativity off you, focus, compassion, motivation, energy, good luck, prosperity

1 - 2 black peppercorn

high energy, motivation, grounding, good luck, protection

honey to taste

communication, abundance, gentleness, good luck, energy, motivation, focus, comfort

maybe a tsp or so if you’re using dried, can be subbed out for thyme *

-

this is meant to be a recipe for a drinkable tea but you could also pour this potion into a bath or just bottle it up and keep it on your desk/nightstand, etc! as always feel free to send in any questions, happy witching :)

💛🕯☀️🌿

🍂     SAGE    🍂

Sage is a very versatile plant; it’s not only used for cooking. This kitchen witch likes to make incenses from it or just plant it for decorative reasons in her garden. In my childhood however, I mainly knew the herb as a medical plant. Especially in summer, when I fell asleep with the windows still  open, I often awoke with a sore throat. Of course, my mom and her mother before her had a wonderful recipe for that - didn`t I mention that sage is a great natural remedy for a sore throat? Let’s brew some SAGE TEA! There’s a good reason, why the herb’s name is based on the Latin word “salvare” – healing - after all.

GROWING SAGE  🌱

Sage is a low maintenance, sun loving ancient Mediterranean herb. Basically it can survive mild winters outside and therefore can be harvested all year long. (I’ve had some on my balcony and now in my garden for years and it only happened once, that it didn’t make it through the dark season.) To keep the sage healthy you should cut it from springtime to late summer without removing the wooden stalks. ~~~

STORING SAGE  🌱

Drying the leaves is pretty easy. Harvest the upper parts of the stalks and pluck the leaves off, put them on a flat plate or a piece of baking paper. Don’t expose the sage to direct sunlight! Once the leaves are completely dry, just crumble them and put them into a nice glass jar. Store it at a dark and dry place. The jar above is actually the one I took from my grandmas kitchen after she had passed away. It still got her handwriting on it. ~~~

SAGE TEA  🌱

To brew one cup (1/4l) only one tablespoon of the dried or fresh leaves are required. The tea should then cool down a little before using it for curing a sore throat. From now on you should gargle three times a day (preferably after eating). Other uses for the, in this case still warm tea are to prevent night sweats and stomach ache. ~~~

More on this amazing herb later on  🍃

disclaimer: no household remedy will ever replace a visit to the doctor!

Sage series 1/?

An old woman of ambiguous South Asian heritage went through my check lane a few days ago. One of her items was a red onion, which she’d already skinned inside the produce bag. I mistook it for two different onions; she corrected me, and then explained why she’d already skinned it.

“If you make tea with onion skins,” she said, with the air of an old woman sharing her secrets, “and drink it before bed, it’s good for the bowels. Boil the water and leave the skins in for ten minutes. It will clean you right out.”

I finished scanning her items and she continued to share. “Before you get out of bed in the morning, eat a spoonful of mashed garlic and honey, keep it in your mouth for ten minutes and stay lying down, and you will be awake and healthy.” 

She tapped her nose gently, a conspiratorial smile gracing her lips. “It’s old magic. Natural remedy. Better than any medicine.”

hello my lovelies! long time no post! x

here is my midsummer/summer solstice/litha/etc spread! i recommend for crystal use incorporating rose quartz, citrine, moonstone, carnelian, garnet, tigers eye, or amber into ur practices on this beautiful day. of course, any crystals u can get your hands on will be beneficial if thats what you choose to do, but a little bit of rose quartz did no one any harm ;) 

for candles/incense, i keep my black candles for the later period of the year when im screaming around my house n pretending to not b terrified of LIFE :) right now, i bring in red (love n passion, baby!), oranges (bring in those new beginnings which are always appearing in front of u this time of yr!), and yellows (communication n GOOD HEALTH SO SAY GOODBYE TO UR ALLERGIES - jks, sadly). white is always good - really just the classic warm colours that can be used for either chakra channeling, meditation, spell work, etc. in the incense-sphere, lavender and chamomile are GREAT for this time of year. I also rec dragons blood for any sexy charms/spells/etc u might be doing.

i hope this has helped and that u enjoy using this spread! pls lmk (if u want) if u do use it omfg i LOVE hearing from u guys and learning what worked for u/what didn’t and the results u got! 

happy midsummer/summer solstice/litha to all u magical folk out there - have a fab time of yrrrrr! x

Blót

A friend of mine that is not heathen was having trouble explaining blót to his girlfriend, who is also not heathen.  I liked my answer enough that I wanted to share.

Blót is an Old Norse word that refers to a ritual of sacrifice.   It is the origin of the English words blood and blessing.

A central idea to Norse thought is that a gift demands a gift.  Blót is a ritual in which we give gifts to the gods in thanks for what they have given us.   In pre-Christian times this was done through animal sacrifice, though sacrifice of weapons, armor, or other significant items like jewelry is known to have occurred.

The essence of blot, for me, is that I am giving back to the gods a gift of what they have given me after it has been shaped by my own efforts into something new.  For instance, I will give jewelry I have made, or food I have cooked.

Blót is a ritual of developing  with the gods.   Friendship are formed by giving of yourself to another.   This ritual is about creating and sustaining friendship with the gods. 

✨ Sleep sachet ✨

i have chronic sleep deprivation from insomnia and i tend to have a lot of nightmares and since my last spells have worked, i gave this my energy next

ingredients:

bay leaf - protection, physic powers, wish fullfillment

lemonbalm - divination, promote sleep, relieve stress and anxiety

mugwort - promote sleep and physic powers

nettle - grounding, banishing negativity, cleansing

snail shells - peace, protection, meditation

smokey and clear quarts - increase spell potential, awarness, subconsious, dreamwork

sigil for sleeping well

the piece of quartz i had was actually collected by me and has both clear and smokey parts in it, we have a lot of quarts next to my grandparents' cottage and there's wariety of clear, rose, smokey and milk/white quartz ✨