— Quick Card Spread

Astrology of March and April

I see a lot of stuff online saying the current energy and tension is as a result of Mercury in Pisces (trop), or the fact that Jupiter must be uncomfortable in Pisces (trop) etc.

From a Vedic perspective there is a stellium in Capricorn right now (Venus & Mars in Shravana and Saturn in Dhanista). Saturn and Mars are ENEMIES. While Venus doesn’t consider Saturn or Mars enemies this current configuration is not comforting for Venus. Venus likes diplomacy and would prefer to peacefully talk about matters before waging war.

Right now Mars is travelling to meet Saturn very close to its exact exaltation point in Dhanista, the end of March and early April is when the conjunction will be very tight and this can cause a lot of turbulence. Right now Mars and Venus both being in Shravana is one of the main reasons why people are slow to react and take action regarding many critical matters, Shravana is not a fast paced nakshatra. This lunar mansion is about taking things slow, listening before speaking, contemplating deeply before acting etc. However when both Venus and Mars leave Shravana (March 26th onwards) those things can really start moving quickly. Tip for anyone that finds themselves in a difficult situation towards the end of the month: Either you step you up and take responsibility regarding important issues if not be willing to let it go for good.

Venus leaves Capricorn to move into Aquarius at the beginning of April (1st of April) which could mean Saturn and Mars will really battle it out (because Venus won’t be there to mediate between the two). I predict this entire week is going to very INTENSE FOR EVERYONE.

Around 8th of April Mars will finally leave Capricorn which will break the planetary war with Saturn. Soon after, around the 12th of April Rahu will enter Aries ruled by Mars- the relationship between Mars and Rahu is complicated. They are not fully comfortable with each other.

Rahu’s current position in Taurus is actually considered his exaltation, this move to Aries is going to be very radical for the world. This truly represents a brand new cycle - some of it good and some of it bad. Personally I feel this is going to mark the end of the covid chapter that we have long been facing - it nots going to be a primary concern anymore.

Hopefully Jupiter’s transit to Pisces (around 14-15th April) will bring some much needed healing, wisdom and guidance to us all🤞🏽!

I will be doing a version of this idea

Grief & Trauma - Tarot Spread

Start by doing a grounding and protection ritual if it’s part of your practice.

Disclaimer: If you are going through grief and trauma I recommend seeking out professional help, this spread is just for guidance and is not meant to be used instead of professional help. Contact your health care provider to get the help you need. You don’t have to lay all of the cards if you don’t want/need answers to all of them.

Tarot Spread:

1. Card that represents my inner self. 2. Card that represents the deceased. 3. Card that represents our relation. 4. How is this trauma affecting me? 5. How can I find closure? 6. How will my life be when I have found closure? 7. Message from the deceased.

Source: @thenoaidi​

Al Khazneh, Petra, Jordan

Super aura protection

Rose petals (strengthen the aura, self love)

Lavender buds (restore energy)

Sage (protection)

Pink Himalayan salt (detoxify and restore)

Clear quartz (to amplify)

Rose quartz (repair damage)

Citrine (expand and strengthen the aura)

Amethyst (protection against psychic attack)

Fluorite (free aura from peoples energies)

Red agate (remove negativity)

Bamboo coral (prevents negative energy build up)

Brecciated Jasper (cleans and stabilizes)

Onyx (protection against evil)

Smoky quartz (clean aura and purify energy)

Seal with black wax for extra oomf

All crystals used are crystal chips and literally one of each, please change it up to fit your needs and/or supplies available. I’m an empath so I felt like I needed the extra (super extra 😂) protection, feel free to make the jar as big as you want I made mine so I can wear it out and about to protect myself from energy vampires. Keep your bubble safe my friends ☺️

Imbolc Spread

Here is a simple four card spread that you can do to welcome the changing of seasons!

Imbolc marks the halfway point between winter and summer, and is the perfect time to prepare for the coming spring. Read more about Imbolc here.

Past: What can you learn from the past season? Winter can be rough for some people, maybe you were put through the wringer this past season too. What is something you can glean from this experience so that you can learn from this?

Present: What energy do you need to bring into this next season? It’s important to learn from the past and plan for the future, but make sure you are able to stay present and grounded even as the weather is bleak. So, what energy should you bring with you into this changing of seasons that can help you to learn, prepare, and pursue what you need to?

Prepare: Anything you would need to prepare for this coming season? This is the time of the year that farmers and gardeners start to prep their lands and plant their seeds for the spring; what is something you can prepare for that you will need to grow or nurture in the springtime?

Pursue: What is something you need to pursue during this time? This could be a goal that you set earlier this year but you have yet to follow through on, is this something you could be pursuing now, during this halfway between winter and spring?

I haven't done this exact spread yet, I plan to do it the day of Imbolc. I'll share my experience with it if I feel like it's ok to share :)

Let me know if you try out this spread, I would love to know how you feel about it!!!

Jar Spell: "Stay Off My Turf!"

This jar spell is a ward that will protect your residence, vehicle, or any other physical location/object. It’s a type of aggressive defense that might entail something nasty happening to any would-be intruder or curse-maker, so you should be okay with any ill-wishing intruder getting their comeuppance for attempting to break the ward, as opposed to just being scared off. This spell is for marking your territory and promising harm to anyone who dares step over the line; this is baneful magic.

This spell can potentially involve bodily fluids (not blood) + animal products, but neither of these elements are required. It definitely involves destruction of the jar (glass is preferred for its tendency to shatter under blunt force trauma; safety measures will be discussed further on).

With all of that in mind, let’s get on with the spell!

You will absolutely need:

1 small-ish vessel with a lid, preferably glass

sealing wax (preferably red) or liquid glue

a tool with which to break the vessel, such as a hammer, large wrench, or other heavy object.

A durable bag in which to encase the vessel prior to breaking

For your medley of potential ingredients to go inside the vessel, you will want things that are aggressive, fiery, and martial. You want ingredients that do the symbolic equivalent of spitting in an intruder’s eye and kicking them while they’re down to ensure they stay down. Things that align with the planet Mars, and/or are affiliated with warrior deities whom you work with, and/or are connected to territorial animal spirits whom you feel connected to… they will also do well in this capacity.

Some ingredient suggestions are:

the spiciest pepper you can find, chopped but not seeded

a large helping of cinnamon

red pepper flakes

very hot chili oil

rusty nails and/or fishhooks

iron filings

a small quantity of urine (human or otherwise)

a braided black and white cord/ribbon to represent a skunk

a drawing of a moose’s rack of antlers

a tooth from a carnivorous animal

a sigil involving the symbol or name of a warrior deity/spirit

Directions:

Once your ingredients are assembled and in the jar, put the lid on seal it with the red wax and/or glue. Carve an X onto the wax/glue on the lid and put the entire vessel into a durable bag. Seal the bag, then say something to the effect of, “Fuck off, you bad vibes bastards!”

Once that is done, smash the jar using your smashing tool. (The bag ensures that glass shards don’t go everywhere and from there present a safety hazard). Your ward is now set. Dispose of the bag and its contents without opening the bag (to avoid contact with glass shards).

Warding meditation

This is about a 20-30min meditation.

Start by focusing yourself on your breath for 5 minutes.

Go back to a forest or other outdoor natural setting. Find your sacred space, your personal clearing in the woods that is only yours. It can be a picnic, a tent or a shack. You’ve decorated it yourself with herbs and a circle of flat, white rocks. There are two bushes there, stinging nettle, for protection. Be sure not to touch it. 

Sit here and notice your body, where your feet are, how your ankles and knees are bent, where your arms are. Bring your attention to your skin. We’re going to put a silver metal onto it. Imagine the liquid silver climbing up from your toes, up your legs, across your stomach, and up your back, over your shoulders, and up over your head and face. Let the metal harden like armor, able to move when you move but hard enough to keep out anything. Sit and feel what this changes in yourself and how the outside feels like now.

Now imagine this silver armor expanding like an egg around you and encompassing your aura. It is dark in here, in the silver metal. You can place your palm on the metal surface and feel its smoothness. 

Expand the silver out further until it is as big as your space, enclosing the picnic and even bigger to gather in the entire clearing which is yours. Let it reach into the trees and form a nice, smooth circle along the ground.

You can barely see the trees here. Let’s make the silver translucent. The hard material changes color, turns to glass, but unbreakable. We can see the trees now, the sun shining down, through the dome. Set your intention to your dome:  to be safe, to ward against all influences and spirits not in accordance with your own energy, with peace and quiet.

Lastly. let’s change its material. Let that hard dome shift in an instant to a cloud, airy and still there, still filled with your intent, but we are able to pass through it easily now, able to let our thoughts breathe through it.

Finish by creating a little project here. Gather some twigs or rocks or feathers and flowers and create a symbol or sigil of protection with them.

A pentagram, a spiral going counter-clockwise, circles within squares and squares within circles. As you create, send your intention into your symbols and creation.

Your space is now protected. Sit and feel the difference in its energy. Come back with a big inhalation. Ground afterward with a snack.

strawberry juice 🍓

ingredients:

- 8 frozen strawberries

- 2 tbsp of honey

- 2 tbsp of lemon juice

- 4 cups of water

- mint leaves

- ice

instructions:

boil the water in a medium pot! when the water starts to boil add six of the frozen strawberries

let them boil for about ten minutes, then remove the strawberries with a fork! add honey to the strawberry water and let it sit for about 2 minutes

strain any strawberry bits out of ur juice (that part is completely optional) and then pour it into a cup/jar! add lemon juice and two frozen strawberries and let it chill in the fridge for a few hours

remove the strawberries, replace them with ice, and garnish with lemon slices and fresh or frozen strawberries and mint leaves!

most important step: take pictures and send them to me or reblog them onto this post!!

The Use of Hornets and Wasps in Witchcraft

Image Credit: Alclear Pest Control

I’m sorry for my absence my lovelies! It’s been a difficult few weeks for me recently, because I’ve been trying to cope with exams, then the end of classes, and then constant exposure to an abusive family member, all whilst struggling with significant depression. However, I’m pushing on through, and one of the things that’s getting me through is thinking about new things to post on!

A note about the ethics of animal part usage

Insects parts are a very traditional element of witchcraft, and they are much more ethical than any other animal parts because (like bivalve and gastropod molluscs), arthropods do not have a brain capable of supporting consciousness. Killing hornets for your craft, then, is an ethically safe thing to do. However, killing animals that are capable of consciousness exclusively for the reasons of Craft is disputed by many witches from different traditions and is usually considered to be unacceptable. Please don’t take this post to be in support of killing conscious animals for usage in Craft activities – I am personally strongly against pointless slaughter, including sport-hunting and sport-fishing.

Witchy Uses for Hornets and Wasps

Curses that involve pain and fear – Any curse that has pain or fear as a major component of its magick (either because it’s what you want to cause, or it’s what you want to get justice for) would be greatly enhanced by the addition of dried and crushed wasps or hornets.

Curses that involve falling afoul of spies, infiltrators, or deceivers – Wasps and hornets are most infamous in apiculture (beekeeping) for their tendency to enter into a beehive and kill every single bee inside, completely destroying a colony in a matter of hours or days. They do this by camouflaging their scent, and then sneaking into the hive round a back entrance. Once inside, they will kill everything in their path to achieve their goals. Any spell that involves either retribution for those that have done this, or hope to invite these kinds of people into someone’s life, would do well to have crushed or whole hornet or wasp nest in them.

Curses that involve projects or structures going wrong – Wasps and hornets are also well known for causing colony collapses. Using dried and crushed hornets and wasps in your spellwork can be very effective in causing organisations, projects, or communities to break apart, or again to get retribution against those who performed these actions. Most effective against organisations with power that’s highly consolidated in one person, like in a beehive.

Any spell focused around matriarchal or feminine-specific social structures – Using wasp or hornet nest in your spell can (if you properly cleanse it with salt and smoke to remove negative inclinations) help boost spells that are focused around matriarchal social orders. This is also true with ant nest and honeycomb pieces, though honeycomb is the best of the options.

Any spell focused on people who leech things off of others – Hornets and wasps don’t work for their food like bees or ants do, but prefer to target those who work hard and steal or leech off of them. Any spell that’s aimed at human leeches, mooches and other human parasites can be increase with the addition of crushed wasps and hornets. Parasitic creatures like actual leeches, mosquitoes and ticks are better, but less readily obtainable in some areas.

Spells that involve wasps! – You’d be surprised how non-obvious this is to some people, but yes, if you want your spell to literally involve wasps or hornets, it would be a good idea to include one or two in your spell!

I hope this is of use to all you lovely witches out there!

– Juniper Wildwalk