Latest Posts by lunagrimm777 - Page 9

Hello Diana, my magic practice is mostly devoted to healing others and giving them counseling. I use Tarot as one of my divination tools for this purpose, especially if I use distance healing. May I request for your help with possible Tarot cards or combinations that denote whether the client's ailment is caused by mundane, karmic, or magical causes? Thank you kindly.

Tarot and Health

Your practice sounds wonderful. I hope these can be useful.

Tarot Spread to Find Out If You are Cursed

Tarot Combinations for Health Issues

Tarot Combinations for Mental Illness

Tarot Combinations for Physical Death

How Your Health Affects Tarot

Asking Tarot to Predict Your Death

How to Use Tarot to Protect Someone Else

it’s me...I’m the feral goblin 😂

which one are you?

Earth-Friendly Witchcraft

Whatever religious or spiritual tradition they identify with, most witches agree that there is something sacred about the natural world. We draw our power from the earth beneath our feet, the sky over our heads, and the air in our lungs.

And yet, many of us live in societies that are actively contributing to the destruction of the natural world. Most developed nations have a linear economy, which means resources are extracted and then sent on a one-way trip to consumers who will use them and then throw them away. This leads to overflowing landfills, air and water pollution, and quickly disappearing resources. The World Economic Forum predicts that, if our habits don’t change, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. And I dearly hope that by now we’re all familiar with the reality of climate change and its devastating impact on global ecosystems.

I’m not trying to scare you, but I do want to point out the hypocrisy of drawing power from the Earth in our magic while simultaneously contributing to her destruction. If we truly want to consider ourselves spiritual allies of the planet, we need to make an effort to live our lives — and practice our magic — in ways that are less harmful to her.

You don’t have to become an environmentalist or switch to a zero waste lifestyle, but we can all make little changes for a more sustainable life. There’s lots of information out there about how to live a more Earth-friendly lifestyle, so in this post I’ll be focusing on how to apply that same philosophy to your witchcraft.

Steps to a more Earth-Friendly Practice:

Limiting your consumption will automatically lower your negative impact on the planet. Follow my previous guidelines for avoiding consumerism to start shrinking your carbon footprint.

Avoid plastic as much as possible. According to the WEF, 70% of our plastic ends up in a landfill or in the world’s waterways, and according to Julia Watkins, author of Simply Living Well, only 9% of household plastics get recycled. Plastic (unlike glass and metal) cannot be recycled indefinitely — it can only be recycled a handful of times before it becomes too degraded to be repurposed any further. There really is no way to make plastic safer for the planet, so it’s best to just avoid it altogether. Look for tools made of metal, wood, or glass instead of plastics, and try to order things shipped in paper and cardboard when possible.

Create spells that won’t leave leftovers. One of the big contributing factors to our current environmental crisis is that we just produce too much waste. You can avoid this in your magical practice by crafting spells that won’t leave you throwing away a big ball of candle wax, herbs, and paper. Kitchen magic is a no-brainer for this, since kitchen spells are meant to be eaten. If you want to do a candle spell, use small candles that will burn up completely — I find larger candles are more likely to leave leftover wax. Making magical bath salts is another great option for leftover-free spells — just make sure everything you include is safe to go down the drain and won’t contribute to water pollution!

Forage for your own spell materials. One of the best ways to avoid plastic packaging and cut down on emissions from shipping is to use materials from your backyard! Learn about the plants, animals, and minerals native to your area, and take regular nature walks where you can gather what you need. Remember to only take as much as you need and to be careful never to damage the plants you harvest from. Make sure to carefully disinfect any animals bits you pick up — you can do this by burying them in salt for a full moon cycle and/or setting them in the sun/under a UV light for several days. If you find a dead animal and want to strip and clean its bones for use in ritual, this is a much more involved process and will require special research, equipment, and lots of time. And, of course, never eat anything you have foraged unless you happen to have an advanced degree in botany.

Keep a magical garden. Another great way to connect with the planet and shrink your carbon footprint is to grow your own herbs, vegetables, and fruits. You can, of course, grow food for your kitchen if you have space, but even if you live in a tiny apartment you can grow a handful of magical herbs in pots. For a list of common houseplants and their magical associations, check out this post.

Shop for spell materials at a local farmer’s market. Buying local is a great way to avoid the environmental impact of shipping produce, and it allows you to support small farms. Farmer’s markets also typically carry seasonal produce, which can help you align your magical practice with the cycles of nature. Farmer’s markets are a great way to find seasonal fruits and vegetables for kitchen magic, but you can use the produce you find there for other types of spells as well.

Trade paraffin wax candles for beeswax or soy wax. Paraffin, the material used for most cheap candles, is a by-product of crude oil, which is not only highly unsustainable but contains carcinogens (chemicals that may cause cancer). Beeswax is a sustainable alternative, and beeswax candles produce a “clean” burn, meaning it does not negatively affect air quality. Soy wax is a slightly pricier, vegan-friendly sustainable option that also produces a clean burn.

Use undyed, unbleached paper for your written spells. The bleaches and dyes used in most commercially available paper have a toxic effect on the environment. Colored paper cannot be recycled or composted because it will contaminate everything it touches. Use plain, unbleached paper for your written spells, especially if you plan to bury them in the ground or dispose of them outside.

Make sure your essential oils are ethically harvested. Essential oils are tricky — although they are marketed as natural, many of them are produced through unsustainable methods. Because essential oils are concentrated, it may take thousands of pounds of plants to produce a single pound of oil. This can have a devastating impact, especially for endangered plants like white sage or palo santo. Look for ethically-sourced, wild-harvested essential oils — these are oils that are gathered from the wild in ways that don’t hurt the local ecosystem. Mountain Rose Herbs and Eden’s Garden are two brands that are committed to sustainable essential oil production.

Instead of burying a spell in a jar, bury it in a hollowed-out fruit or vegetable. Many traditions call for spells to be buried in the ground. Items like jar spells and witch bottles are traditionally buried on the witch’s property. The problem with this is that plastic and glass bottles do not biodegrade, and will remain in the ground for years. Instead of putting these materials in the ground, bury your spells in a hollowed-out fruit or vegetable. As a bonus, you can choose this item to support your intention. For example, you might use an apple for a love spell or a spicy pepper for protection. Just make sure everything inside the spell is also biodegradable!

Keep a compost pile as an offering to your local land spirits. Compost is an easy way to reduce food waste, and it gives your garden a boost! Even if you don’t have your own garden, you can give your compost to a fiend who does or look into donating it to a community garden. When composting, it’s important to maintain a balance between carbon-rich “brown” ingredients (leaves, undyed paper, cardboard, etc.) and nitrogen-rich “greens” (fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc.) — you want about four times as much brown as green in your compost. Start your compost with a layer of brown — preferably twigs or straw to allow good airflow. Alternate layers of green and brown materials as you add to the pile. Every time you add to your compost, verbally express your gratitude to the land spirits. Your compost should be moist, but not soggy — you’ll know it’s ready when it’s dark and crumbly and smells like soil.

Make your own tea blends with loose herbs and a reusable tea strainer instead of buying teabags. Witches and tea go together like peanut butter and chocolate, but the individual wrappers on teabags create a lot of waste. On top of that, since many of these wrappers are dyed, they may not even be recyclable. Keep your teas earth-friendly by buying dried herbs in bulk and blending your own teas. Making your own blends is not only better for the planet, but also allows you to choose each ingredient for a specific magical intention.

Find ways to use your trash in your craft. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Instead of throwing things away, find ways to use them in your magic! Use food scraps from cooking, like carrot greens and potato peels, in spells. Turn an old shoe box into a travel altar. Add your coffee grounds to spells to ground them and manifest results in the physical world. You get the idea. Be creative!

Research different models for Earth-friendly living, like the zero waste/low waste lifestyle, sustainability, and the solarpunk movement. This will give you more ideas for a sustainable lifestyle, as well as a sustainable magical practice.

The funny thing about Earth-friendly living is that, the more time you spend taking care of the planet, the more connected you feel to it. I encourage you to try some of the ideas on this list — you’ll be amazed by how quickly you develop a deeper relationship with the Earth and all her creatures.

Resources:

Of Blood and Bones by Kate Freuler

Simply Living Well by Julia Watkins

“By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans, study says” from The Washington Post

A Sustainable Mind podcast

Practical(ly) Zero Waste podcast

Info on the Elements 🌍🔥🌬🌊💫

[credit: sarahdawnempey.com via Pintrest]

One day

😂 😂💁🏻‍♀️💁🏻‍♀️💁🏻‍♀️💁🏻‍♀️

being a witch

what people think: scary, hexes, sacrifices, blood rituals

what it’s actually like: it’s the fall equinox and i currently have more apples, candles, & baked goods in my home than i know what to do with, please send help

a lesson in cleansing

this is personally the way i cleanse my house. it’s different for every practicioner, but you need to do it.

how i cleanse:

i love incense. the different smells and the pretty smoke patterns really do it for me. there’s also the added benefit of not culturally appropriating by using white sage.***

i light an incense stick and walk around my space with it, taking deep breaths and imagining all the negative energy in the room leaving the areas i’m holding the stick in. i then let it burn until it’s completely out.

after that, i line my windows and doorways with black salt. if you’re interested in learning how to make this, please let me know.

after that, i put up my protective sigils on my windows, doors, and mirrors (simply to lock the mirrors). if you want to learn how to make a sigil, don’t hesitate to ask!

cleansing physically can help you with your spiritual cleanse as well. clean your room/house/whatever, straighten up your altar, go ham with some pine sol.

i like to do a face mask after my monthly deep-clean of my space. 

when i cleanse: 

i re-ward/deep cleanse my room once a month, but i actually cleanse with incense every time i go to cast a spell. before i cast my circle or even before i get my materials out, i have my incense burning. the amount of times i cast a spell varies from week to week, but it’s always more than once a week. i highly highly highly suggest cleansing every time you go to cast a spell.

i am not the end-all-be-all of witchcraft. you don’t have to cleanse as often as i do, but you at least need to do something. remember, your craft is personal to you, you can only learn from the experiences of older witches and choose whether or not to take our advice. happy crafting!

***if you are not native american and using white sage, please stop. native peoples are running out of sage and need it for their practice. it’s sacred to them.

Day 10 of #octarotober : Who to call in - Death, Reversed

Almost on cue, the Tarot reveals the card that means exactly opposite the last prompt 😅 Death is a card of deep transformation - a rebirth often jarring and filled with hardships and sorrow, but with promises of a brighter beginning.

The last prompt told us to let go of those that are not willing to change and grow, whereas now the message is to call in those that are not afraid of the work that comes with overcoming jarring changes. They are adaptable.

It’s important to remember here that the reversed position indicates that change is a process though. The people who you should invite or keep in your life are those who are willing to traverse the process of change over time as opposed to those who give up or walk away at the tiniest hint of growth. Relationships are an ever-changing path with ups, downs and complete transformations. Be sure your friends and lovers are up for the challenge.

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Physically, I’m trying to do all my reading for class.

Mentally, I’m imagining running across the English countryside.

Harry: but if Voldemort has failed a countless amount of times what chance does the next person have?-

Hermione: for the last time Harry, when someone threatens to kill you, the correct response isn’t ‘Then do it, pussy!’

Mood

Ginny: Do you like my new wand? It’s an 8 inch steel.

Ron: I think your wand is a knife.

Ginny: What are you talking about? It’s my wand.

Ron: What spells can you cast with it?

Ginny: Wingardium Stabiosa.