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SpellCrafting: Money Rice
With the land lush and green in the Northeast, it felt like a good time to make a batch of green money rice. I got the idea from a video posted by Witch the Raven on TikTok and was waiting for the right time. July’s dark moon in Cancer after heavy rains that left the world smelling rich and earthy was that time. To make it, put dry rice in a bowl, add green food coloring and stir to coat. To that, Witch the Raven added salt, basil, cinnamon, and chamomile. After mixing, she added patchouli essential oil and stirred again. When I made mine, I forgot all about the…
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SpellCrafting: Return to Sender Mirror Spell
I was feeling overwhelmed and helpless in the face of the actions of a handful of white men in power who are bringing about death, destruction, pain, fear, and hate. Then I remembered I am a witch with powers I was not using. After considering a number of spells, I settled on a return to sender spell using a mirror. I chose a compact with mirrors on both halves. That the one I found at a dollar store happened to be blue turned was a bonus because blue is associated with West, which I associate with water, cleansing, love, and healing. Blue is also a color associated with Kali Ma,…
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SpellCrafting: Spells for Witches
SpellCrafting: Starting Beltane Fires Merry meet! This issue’s WitchCrafting column has ideas for making fire starters. If you’d like to take it one step further, you can craft them as a spell. Beltane themes such as burning away that which no longer serves your highest good and greatest joy, planting seeds, and nurturing goals can be incorporated when making fire starters. For instance, toilet paper tubes stuffed with dryer lint can be decorated with Beltane colors (green, soft pink, blue, yellow, red, brown), pictures of flowers in bloom, or a sigil made for a specific intention. On it you can write what you are ready to release, what you desire…
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It’s All Rite
Spring is a time of hope, new beginnings, potential, and planting. Air, east, the new moon, the maiden archetype, inspiration, imagination, fresh flowers, nests, eggs, hawks, seeds, chimes, dragonflies, wonder, joy, playfulness, communication, spiders, purification, daffodils, childhood, and adventure are all associated with Ostara. For readers who want to keep it simple, below is a collection of easy yet meaningful activities to celebrate the Spring Equinox. Pick whatever interests you, and continue as long as you wish. Perhaps one of them will become a daily practice. * Put a bowl of candied eggs on a table or counter to bless new beginnings with sweetness and happiness. * Hang wind chimes…
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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
A Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel of the Year 2022! The Witch’s Wheel of the Year In the February Issue we began exploring the Sabbats of the Witch’s Wheel of the Year and beginning a journey of filling our BOS with information about how we celebrated and what we found to be true of our practice. For a review of what the Wheel of the Year is take a look at February’s posting here: Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting A Book of Shadows and Light-February2022 We Continue Our Journey Through the Witch’s Wheel and call to the Light of the Summer Solstice…. THE SUMMER SOLSTICE/LITHA The King…
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Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times
Celebrating The Old Ways in New Times for June/July 2022 Bright Blessings! By the time you read this, you may be saying, “It’s too HOT!!!!!” and are wishing for Fall time again! Think about just weeks ago, wishing Wintertime away because it was SO cold! Well…the weather will get hotter in Summer, and by the time you read this article, you may have your Summer Solstice plans underway! For some, this will be the first Summer in a couple of years they have felt safe to gather for Sabbat. What a wonderful feeling it is again to see soul kin. What better time than on a Solstice in Summer when…
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Notes from the Apothecary
Notes from the Apothecary: The Beech Tree The common beech, or Fagus sylvatica, is a majestically large deciduous tree, native to North America and Europe, and a vital part of the ecosystem thanks to being home and food to many forms of wildlife. There are other beech species, all in the Fagus genus, with some native to Asia, including Fagus japonica, the Japanese blue beech, and Fagus engleriana, the Engler or Chinese beech. In the U.K. where I live, we often see “Copper Beeches”, which have distinct, purple-bronze leaves and look like they’re straight out of a fantasy tale. Interestingly, this isn’t a different species, but a carefully cultivated…
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Peeking in the Shadows: Crafting a Book of Shadows and Light
We begin a journey through the Witch’s Wheel of the Year for 2022! The Witch’s Wheel of the Year What is the Wheel of the Year? The Wheel of the Year marks the Sun’s journey across the sky, the solstices, equinoxes and the Earth’s changing seasons. Each spoke of the wheel marks an important moment of progression and change in the Earth and in accord with that progression a celebratory festival is aligned. These celebrations are called Sabbats. The Wheel of the Year is also a reflection of the recurring cycles of the Natural world. Traditionally, these celebrations were very closely tied to the cycles of…
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SpellCrafting: Spells & Rituals
Easy Imbolc Merry Meet! I celebrate sabbats on the astrological dates. This year, astrological Imbolc falls on Thursday, February 3. Below is a list of easy ideas I’ve collected to help you do something simple yet meaningful for the sabbat. Light a candle at dawn to greet the sun, or at some point during the day, light every candle in the house and offer a short blessing. Gather up all your candles and bless them. Prepare for the coming spring with some house cleaning. Rather than doing the whole house, which is overwhelming, pick one thing: organize a bookcase, clean a cupboard, or strip the bed and wash the linens,…
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Dream Achievement Spell
I have always felt a pull to live off the land, like it’s my life’s purpose to homestead. I’ve always sought a deeper connection with the earth around me and have wanted to be able to have a long term connection with a specific piece of nature with time to nurture and build it. Because of this pull I have fashioned my entire life around this goal, thankfully finding a wonderful partner and friends to do it with. We live out of a skoolie, my friends out of their own, which is almost fully converted specifically to find the place we feel a pull or need to call…
