Color Magick

Mental & Emotional Health Protection Spell Jar

D’you ever get those days where enough is ENOUGH and you just have to spell jar the shit out of a protection spell (shuddup that totally makes sense)? Well, that was how I felt his morning.

This here is actually my first spell jar, one to protect my mental and emotional health.

My method and ingredients are mainly based off this protection spell bottle by @greekwitchchild​ with a couple of minor changes.

I don’t have oak leaves to hand, so I used chamomile flowers in their place for protection, peace and happiness.

Instead of writing my sigil on a piece of paper, I wrote it on the bay leaf I used in the jar. Full disclosure - the leaf was brittle and did crumble a bit as I inserted it. So, on the fly, I added though the sigil be broken, my intent remains whole into my “spell” (saying out loud the purpose of each ingredient as I added it to the jar).

The partially burned candle and jasmine incense stick were left from a circle casting I did while meditating a couple of days of ago. So I used them again to cast my circle and purify my space while I worked.

I shall be carrying this little beauty with me as I visit my boyfriend for the next 7 days or so. Negativity can fuck right off <3

In regard to the relationship..

1. What I want out of this relationship

2. Expectations that aren’t being met

3. Underlying fears

4. Where you don’t see eye to eye

5. What’s not being confronted

6. What you need to let go of

7. What your heart says

8. Part of me that needs time to heal

A Witch’s Ingredients: Sand

Sand is an abundant resource that can be found across the world including along the coasts, through deserts and even in many people’s yards and gardens. Sand is rather easy to obtain and natural making it ideal for witchcraft. Though some types of sand may be harder to obtain, and more costly, than others, let this post be a guide on how to utilize it for its magical properties.

Types of Sand & Their Correspondences

Beach/Coastal Sand: calming, grounding, cleansing, connecting to the sea, self-love, protection and warding, motivation, memory, spiritual clarity, purification of the heart, easing pain, physical and spiritual strength, can represent both the elements of earth and water

Ocean Sand (from the ocean floor/deep sea): primordial energy, banishing negative emotions and energy, grounding, mental clarity, psychic clarity and strengthening, divination, guidance, ancient wisdom and power, connections to the sea and primordial waters, birth, creation, can represent both the elements of earth and water

Desert Sand: curses and removing energy from others, weakening, draining, banishing, grounding, mental clarity, physical health, enduring hardships, “drying up” love and past emotions, healing heartbreak, burying the past, often related to burial ceremonies

Volcanic Sand: destruction, intense energy, strength, death, rebirth, banishing, secrets or hidden messages, warding, baneful magic, offensive magic, often represents both earth and fire at once

River Sand/Silt: fertility, procreation, movement, flowing energy, travels, change

Lake/Pond Sand: the present, calmness, serenity, inner focus, self-reflection and meditation

Swamp/Wetland Sand: mystery, secret keeping, silencing lies and rumors, binding, curses related to becoming lost or emotional heaviness, often represents both water and earth at once, often related to animal magic specifically those that live in swamp land

Unearthed/Buried Sand: grounding, hidden power, addressing past issues and mistakes, overcoming controversy, self-discovery, introspection, emotional healing, moving on from past scars

Biogenic Sand/Bone Sand/Shell Sand: healing, moving on emotionally, remembrance but letting go of the pain and loss, honoring those lost (often at or to the sea), close connections to necromancy

Black Sand: protection, warding, banishing, relates to necromancy and spirit work

Pink Sand: love, beauty, youth, harmony, adjusting to change, remembering the past and lost loved ones, rebirth, emotional and mental healing, forgiveness of self and others

Red Sand: strength, courage, valor, relates to fire rather than earth

Yellow Sand: divination, focus, improving memory and skills, mental health, grounding and centering, represents both earth and air elements sometimes both at once

White Sand: purity, cleansing, protection, wisdom, preparing for change, physical and emotional balance, harmonizes all aspects of oneself

Combinations of Sand and Other Ingredients

Sand and Soil: grounding, balance, cleansing, protection of loved ones and family

Sand and Salt: change, growing power, dreams, purification, warding, protection, longevity

Sand and Ash: remembrance, the past, divination

Sand and Clay: change, mental fortitude

Sand and Kelp/Seaweed: beauty, youth, birth, fertility, the ocean

The History

Not much history on the use of sand in magic from what I can find that is a reliable source, but I was able to find some bits about its use.

Sand has been used in connections to rituals for the dead and in burial practices in many different cultures to a varying degree. In some sand was used for burying the deceased such as very early Ancient Egypt for its mummification properties before better mummification methods were invented and utilized. Placing sand into graves or coffins of the deceased somethings as a means to connect them to their homelands if that person was traveling into foreign lands or countries. Some stories speak about mixing the ashes of the dead with sand to be kept in the home. Other stories tell of people mixes ashes from fires or the hearth with sand and casting it out into the sea for lost sailors who could not be brought home. 

Sand was also used historical in some types of spell jars and vessels. In some places sand was put into jars and bottles and given to sailors to keep them connected to home even when sailing. Others said carrying sand could protect one from being lost at sea or from disaster, likely where the history of sand being used for protection properties came from. It has also been used in witch’s bottles and for burying spells for varying purposes. Some cultures would bury offerings to deities into the sand of beaches or deserts.

Modern Use

Sand is still a common ingredient for many sea witches and worshipers of ocean related deities to utilize in their craft and in their altars. Deities commonly related to sand are Poseidon, Aphrodite, Psamathe, Thalassa, Aegir, Neptune and Veles. Sand is also often used in altars to represent either earth or water when representing the cardinal directions or the 4 elements. Some will use sand to represent both in cases of smaller altars.

Modernly, sand is often used in spell jars and bottles when used in spellwork or as a vessel to charge, cleanse and bury objects or tools such as crystals, poppets, amulets and trinkets. Sea witches or witches with accesses to large amount of sand will often use it for grounding and circle casting. Some will use it for runes and sigils as well.

Storing Sand

For those wishing to store and use collected sand ensure that there is nothing undesirable in it - garbage, sharp bits of glass, decomposing fish or animals, insects etc. Shift it thoroughly to ensure anything that could be potentially dangerous is removed and if needed properly disposed of. Once the sand has been shifted ensure it is dry before you seal it into anything.

Wet sand can house bacteria and mold - which can also smell quite foul when the container is opened again. You can use the sun to dry it or indoor heaters at a safe distance. Spread it out thin and flat to help ensure it is thoroughly dried if it is damp or wet.

Once dried the best way to store sand is inside of glass or ceramic vessels. Jars and bottles are the most ideal. Ensure that they are sealed tightly to ensure no spillage or condensation can get inside.

**this post was personally researched, compiled and directly from my personal grimoire. Please do not repost**

Like my blog and posts? Feel free to support continued content on this blog by donating to my Ko-Fi page! Or ask me for my paypal!

in the name of the raven king

a VIKINGS inspired playlist

[  listen here  ]

POV: you’re going to battle as part of the Heathen Army, shortly after setting sail a storm hits you and makes you question your faith in the gods (also your significant other is probably cheating on you, it’s Vikings after all)

𝕮𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖓𝖘𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖈𝖗𝖞𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖘

🌿𝐒𝐌𝐎𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆. “Smudge” sticks can be made of many different herbs. I recommend using white sage sticks. Light it and wave it gently in the air, encouraging the smoke to spill over the crystals. This action is smoke cleansing, not to be confused with smudging.

🌿𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄. Like with smoke cleansing, the smoke created from lighting the incense is wonderful depending on the scent and infusion of the sticks to spill over crystals. For incense I can recommend frankincense and myrrh, or any cleansing mixes.

🌿𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑. You can use salt water from the ocean or simply put salt in a bowl of water. Hold your crystals so that they are immersed in the water. It’ll cleanse the energy from the stones. Be sure to clean your crystals using clean water afterwards. Some crystals can not be placed in water because they are too soft, or brittle. Water can cause some stones to fracture and break, or even dissolve! Be sure to look up your crystal and what cleansing is best for it.

🌿𝐌𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍. Sit comfortably in a quiet room or a place of your choosing. Hold your crystals in your hand and close your eyes, allowing the silence and serenity to envelope you. Visualise your crystals in front of you. Picture a wave washing all the negative energy trapped inside the crystals away. Do this until you intuitively feel that they have been cleansed.

🌿𝐌𝐎𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓. This is the easiest method of cleansing, and safe for all crystals. Also, The full moon can act as a reminder for you that your crystals need cleansing. Simply wait for the full moon and place your crystals outside so that they are surrounded by the moon’s gentle energy. If you don’t have an outdoor area that is safe for your crystals to be placed, a windowsill will work too. It does not matter if your window does not face the moon. The moon’s energy will still be present. Then bring them back inside in the morning.  

The Witch Ball

This is a rewrite of one of my first posts.

One of my favorite ways of warding the home is with a traditional glass witch ball. There are many kinds of witch balls, but here I am referring to the blown glass variety. Many witches will fill an empty Christmas ornament with herbs or nails or something and use it as a spell. Very crafty. But my preferred variety of witch ball is the blown glass sort with threads of glass in the middle.

These were traditionally made by glassblowers as a way of ending their work day. They were historically made from scraps of glass, which is why so many of them are multicolored. They’re simple blown glass balls with threads of glass in the center, made by sticking metal objects (such as knitting needles) in the still-molten glass ball. The witch ball is placed near a window or a door, usually on a cord made of knotted rope or leather. The wise homemaker cleans her witch ball regularly, as this cleans it of dark spirits.

The witch ball may be descended from glass fishing floats, which are often sold in seaside tourist towns as decorative gifts. The first glass witch balls were most likely developed in England in the 17th or 18th Century and were inspired by these glass buoys.

According to popular belief, the witch ball represents the witch who has been tried and hanged. A witch ball will float in water, like a witch thrown in a body of water during a trial. It was believed that witches were rejected by bodies of water because they were too impure. By this logic, witches, like the glass fishing floats of yore, were unable to sink. Glass fishing floats, and later witch balls, were tied up in nets or left to dangle from ropes, not unlike a witch sentenced to die at the gallows. For these reasons, the witch ball serves as a symbolic warning to all witches who dare enter one’s home.

The ball’s inner threads work by means of fascination. Witches and dark spirits are drawn into the ball because they cannot resist playing with its threads. They are entranced (or “fascinated”) by them. They wind themselves through the ball’s threads until the ball is cleaned by its owner. When the owner cleans it and wipes away the dust, she also wipes it free of evil spirits. Many other spirit traps work by a similar principle - the witch bottle, the dream catcher, even a handful of rice thrown toward a malevolent entity - they all work by fascination.

Many older witch balls have a mirror glaze. Some believe the large gazing balls that decorate gardens throughout the country may have their origin in the smaller, more magical witch ball. The mirror glaze is yet another fascinating thing about the witch ball.

No matter their origin or how they work, the witch ball is at the very least a delightful and rustic objet d’art. I find witch balls to be very effective, however. They can last for generations and are, in my opinion, one of the most aesthetic ways to ward a home.

War Water

So this is one of those things I've kept on hand ever since my days as a baby witch because it's a) easy to make and b) easy to hide if you're still closeted for any reason because it doesn't really smell or anything. I mean yes now I don't have to hide so I keep mine in an old pickle jar, but it can be kept in opaque containers to hide it if necessary.

You really only need 2 things for this - some kind of metal that will rust, and water. You're essentially letting the metal rust and using the rusty water for your craft. Of course this means be very careful, don't touch this with your bare hands/don't get it on your skin (and wash up right away if you do get it on you), and any implements you use to stir it or handle it need to be washed thoroughly when you're done.

Now if you look around some people will tell you that you need very specific metals and/or water - versions where only cut nails will do, or broken pins, or something of the sort and where the water has to be rain water, snow water, set outside in the moonlight, collected only on a certain day, whatever. And I'm not saying those versions are wrong per say, but they are not universal to everyone's practice.

Mine contains any metal I know will rust - bits of jewelry chains that broke, metal rings from pendants I pried off, a few nails from old projects that would have just been tossed out otherwise, ect. And the water? Plain tap water. I haven't had the ability to set up my rain water or snow water collection systems since I moved in with my house mates, so I just use tap water.

As for uses, war water is most often associated with a form of protection. A very aggressive, offensive form of protection that is known to basically cause your enemies to war with one another while also taking those disruptive energies and taking them far away from your life. It can also be used to take a curse and throw it back at the person who sent it at you. It's a great to sprinkle across doorways and window sills outside to protect yourself, and personally I keep a small bottle of it in a woven hang by my bedroom door along with other protective elements :)

******

Want to help fund more posts like this? Feel free to tip me over at my ko-fi page!

Want to request some other kind of witchy thing for me to do? Check out my rules and feel free to send me a request!

Your Hatred Is Your Own (Curse Jar)

A spell jar to isolate the negative energy of a person.

Ingredients – Red pepper – Ginger – Dirt (as dry as possible) – Common rock – Name sigil of the intended victim

Steps 1. Collect your ingredients and prepare your workspace 2. Find or create a name sigil for the intended victim. Write it on a paper. 3. Add the ingredients to the jar. 4. Crumple up the sigil paper or burn it and add the ashes to the jar. 5. Seal with a white candle.

— Quick Card Spread

Past Wounds Spread

A: The thing that still hurts you

B: Advice

Step by Step

shuffle and draw as you usually do

the first card is about your wound. it's something that still hurts you to this day, either consciously or subconsciously. it can have a great impact on your current life or a smaller one, however, aspects of this still linger and influence you.

the second card is a suggestion. something that may help you work through it or slowly come to terms with it. it can be a piece of advice or a thought to remind yourself of, a message about it, or a piece of general advice on how to deal with the influence of this old wound.

personally, I tend to go by suit. with a cup card, my old wound would be related to emotions or relationships, with a sword card, it may have been an argument, my thoughts, someone else's thoughts/opinions, criticism, or problems that left a mark on me.

Example Reading

A: Four of Pentacles

B: Star

Depending on how you usually read the cards, this can have multiple interpretations (read: more than just these two I wrote out here)

Possibility 1)

The way I personally read, I'd say this is about someone who had to be very careful with money in the past, someone who had very little and needed to hold onto their resources tightly all the time. It may prompt them to stick with this behavior, even if their situation might have changed by now. To me, the star signals letting go of this, trusting a bit more that times changed and that they don't need to hold on so tightly anymore, that they can give themselves a nice little thing once in a while.

Possibility 2)

Another way would be to say that the first card is about someone clingy, someone who is afraid to give room to people or things because they might leave then. someone who is afraid to lose something

and with the star there, the message wouldn't change much from the previous one, but perhaps, the focus would be more on "trust it will be alright" because the star is always a positive omen and a signal that hope and faith are needed to overcome something.