aidyns-path

[aidyns-path]

May the 10 of Pentacles bless your account with more money than you can spend. 💵✨

[aidyns-path]

Tips for the Dark Half of the Year

Winter is coming quickly. A lot of people see this time of year as bleak, depressing, or just boring. Here are some tips to stay attuned to nature during these months.

❄️ Go outside. Even if it’s cold, the trees are bare, and the only colors are muted and dull. We often think that summer is the only time to enjoy the outdoors—the only time to hike, meditate outside, etc. In winter, there are no lush green trees or balmy days filled with sunshine and the smell of flowers. While summer is intoxicating, winter is a time to contemplate and reflect. Go outside. Feel the cold. Feel the mud and the dead grass and the chilly wind. Listen to how quiet it is. Understand that the dark half of the year is a time of silence, stillness, and death. It’s natural to have an aversion to these things, but take some time to sit down and just listen. Breathe. Feel the reality of silence and death around you. It’s a sobering experience, but also a very insightful one. If you have any fear of death or quiet, now is the time to go sit with those things as they appear in nature and just meditate with them.

❄️ Eat cozy foods. It’s cold outside—warm up with hearty soups, stews, homemade bread, and root veggies. Warm spices and hot drinks will keep you feeling grounded. This is a wonderful time of year to practice kitchen witchcraft—focus on coziness, family, protection, and rest.

❄️ Study magic! The Dark Half of the year is devoted to self-reflection, rest, and contemplation. Snuggle up indoors with a fluffy blanket and devote some time to studying magic and witchcraft with a hot cup of magically-brewed tea.

❄️ Think spirits are sleeping along with all the greenery? Think again! The Dark Half of the year, in many cultures and spiritual traditions, is considered extremely spiritually active. Deities like Odin, Berchta, Hekate, and spirits such as elves and ghosts are very active this time of year. You can choose to honor them if you want, or practice various spirit-working techniques. If you’re into necromancy or divination, this is a wonderful time of year for those things.

❄️ Be kind to local wildlife by installing things like bird feeders outside your home. We modern humans may have an easy time of it in winter, but animals struggle to survive during these months. Any bit of kindness will be much appreciated.

❄️ Nurture your fire energy. During winter, it’s easy to internalize the cold and take on its characteristics—sluggishness, sleepiness, a foggy-headed feeling. Some crystals that are great for winter include golden rutilated quartz (aka Venus hair), citrine, carnelian, obsidian, and garnet. All of these crystals contain a strong fire element as well as offer grounding qualities, mental clarity, and protection.

❄️ Go out and forage for magical ingredients! Melted snow is extremely purifying and can be incorporated into spells for purification and cleansing. Icicles can serve as temporary wands, especially in spells that require a strong water element. The ash from bonfires (or hearth fires) can be used to make black salt. Fallen branches can be crafted into wands. There may be nothing growing this time of year, but you can get creative and still find magical ingredients in unexpected places. Just be respectful and don’t collect from places where it’s illegal!

This is by no means a comprehensive list—these are just some ways I’ve celebrated the colder months. I hope they’re helpful in any way!

[aidyns-path]

Hidden Witchery: Witch’s Ladder Necklace

One of the hardest, but possibly most fun, ways of being a Surreptitious Solitary is trying to find ways to practice out in the open without anyone knowing. I’ve been wanting to do a witch’s ladder (sometimes called pagan prayer beads, witches rosaries, etc.) for some time. If you don’t know what a Witch’s Ladder is, there are a few articles out there, but the summary is: it’s knot and nature magic mostly intended for protection.

Generally, they’re made of string of different colors corresponding with protection (or whatever you’re making the ladder for), and natural items like feathers, sea glass, shells, stones, etc. Sometimes charms or taglocks can be incorporated. If you look on Etsy there are some really pretty ones out there.

As I researched them, I wondered how I could incorporate this crafty craft into my daily life. And I kind of came to the conclusion that I don’t have to have a big rope of feathers and rocks hanging outside my door to do it: I can make something to wear that would protect me wherever I go!

I debated for some time whether to make a bracelet or necklace, but I liked how the numbers and measurements worked out on a necklace.

If you want to make one, you’ll need:

About 6 feet of beading string in an appropriately corresponding color to your needs (I went with purple for spirituality and power)

Forty beads (6mm for the sizing to come out like mine; larger or smaller will affect it; I picked hematite mostly for the look, but also to keep me grounded)

Nine feather charms

One end charm (serves as your closeure; something with dimension will work better than the flat disc I chose which likes to slip out now and then)

To make your ladder necklace, you’ll have to tie a loop in it in a place so that you have one short strand about two feet long and one long strand of the remainder. The loop will be part of your closeure. Basically, fold your string so one part hangs two feet, and the remainder hangs on the other side. Tie a simple knot in the folded string so you have a loop that’s just big enough for your end charm to slip through with little/no excess.

Find something to affix this to for knotting (I slipped the loop through some tweezers which I then clamped into my clipboard).

Now get to knotting, just like middle school friendship bracelets. As you know, remember to set your intent for the ladder into each knot. Also remember to keep the short strand stationary: use the long strand to make a basic forward knot around the short strand.

Make four knots to establish (4K)

Thread a bead (B), make four knots (4K). This is your basic pattern.

For my ladder, I established a pattern of four beads to each side of each feather charm (F). The pattern runs like so from start to finish: [4K, (B, 4K)x4, F]x9, (4K, B)x4, 4K.

In other words, with four knots between each item, string beads and feather charms in a four-one pattern with nine repeats, then end with an additional four beads.

At the end, tie on your final charm using both strands (I used a clinch knot), and trim off the excess string.

Done! Hang it up or wear it for protection. No one needs to know you’re carrying a loaded charm. 😉

Blessed be!

[aidyns-path]

Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder, Blazing Saddles (1974)

[aidyns-path]

I had a dream where I was walking through a dying forest. Fallen twigs and dead leaves crunched under my feet. No bird sounds. No insects. No animals of any kind.

Ahead, there was a small clearing. Barely living grass swirled underfoot. A man stood with his back to me. As I drew closer, he turned. The figure of Obama stared just past my head and spoke softly.

“They say the old gods are dead. We are not dead. Not yet. We have adapted over the eons, changing our faces and customs and rituals as the world changes around us. But we are dying, slowly dying.”

He turned away, sadness in his voice. “The old gods are dying. Who will take our place when we are gone?”

Then I woke up.

[aidyns-path]

L I F E S A V E R

Hey Tarot Peeps!

I’m watching Wynonna Earp and in Season 3 the character Contessa has a gorgeous gorgeous tarot deck and I neeed it

Help me find it?

[aidyns-path]

if you’re reading this

a lump sum of money is on the way to you

[aidyns-path]

see, the thing is that you can be edgy and dramatic and an absolutely dark macabre-loving bones-hoarding bastard and not be an asshole

nothing’s stopping you from being all that and a caring person overflowing with love

people who think that you have to apathetic and cynical and downward fucking mean to fit the aesthetic are just boring

[aidyns-path]

what ever happened to personality!!! i want decorative towels that arent boring!!! i want NOVELTY!! i want people to come over to my house and look at my trinkets and immediately think this lady is a wacko and also her stuff is haunted

[aidyns-path]

Hey Tarot Peeps!

I’m watching Wynonna Earp and in Season 3 the character Contessa has a gorgeous gorgeous tarot deck and I neeed it

Help me find it?

[aidyns-path]

Good morning, dearest freaky darlings.

💐🍃🌼Happy and blessed Litha/Summer Solstice to my friends and followers in the Northern Hemisphere!🍃🌼🍃💐

❄⛄Happy and blessed Yule to my friends and followers in the Southern Hemisphere!⛄❄

[aidyns-path]

don’t feel guilty for not being able to handle everything, for needing a break. you need to look after yourself, too. self care is not selfish.

[aidyns-path]

Crystal Moon Hair Clips

Beees Beads on Etsy

See our #Etsy or #Hair Accessories tags

[aidyns-path]

Mabon (Autumn Equinox) Treats and Craft Ideas  Celebrate this Mabon with those closest to you in welcoming the Fall Season!!!

[aidyns-path]

Rainbow Water???

Okay, so I realized something today. I always see posts detailing the various correspondences of different types of water. Moon water, sun water, eclipse water, rain water, storm water, snow water, even *dew* water. Water from a lake, a river, an ocean, a stream, a brook. Even water collected from mist.

But y'all know what I haven’t seen?

Rainbow water.

So hold on to your seats yall because I’m about to take ya on a ride.

Rainbow water is something I use quite often in my craft. Why? Because it’s got so many uses! I use it for:

LBGTQ+ spells

Spells for positivity

Spells for luck

Spells for change

Spells for perserverance

Spells for hope

Spells for connection (I call them “bridge spells”)

Spells for happiness

Spells for creativity/imagination

Honestly, I have no idea why I haven’t seen rainbow water being mentioned before. It can’t be because it’s too difficult to collect because, y'all,

You can make your own rainbows. You don’t have to wait for one to show up in the sky.

Observe:

That right there is a bona fide rainbow that i created with nothing but a hose on the mist option and natural sunlight. Get yourself a pretty (or ugly) bottle with a wide mouth and you can very easily make your own rainbow water!

“But wait, Eiolrin, what if I don’t have a hose?”

Nothing to fear. I’ve got your back. You can also collect rainbow water by:

Shine a light through a prismatic crystal, then placing a bottle of regular water in the rainbow that’s created. Just like making sun/moon water! You don’t need to put it in the rainbow for more than maybe 1-5 minutes.

Get a plastic spray bottle that mists and spray the mist into natural sunlight until you find a rainbow. Hold bottle against the rainbow and *keep misting*.

Hell, you know what? Who needs an *actual* rainbow?

Draw a rainbow. Print out a picture of a picture of a rainbow. This rainbow is in my grimoire in the form of a magic circle (enchantment circle) and i’ve imbued it with the energy of a rainbow. I use this to make rainbow water sometimes.

So go forth and conquer, my lovelies! Be the witch/mage/occultist that uses rainbow water! Spread this around and make sure this is something that becomes a thing because in my opinion, rainbow water is just too useful to be ignored as a valid component in spells and other things.

As a bonus, here’s my rainbow water!

[aidyns-path]

How cozy is this room? ✨🌻🌸🌿

[aidyns-path]

Does anyone else have the Justice League Tarot and really wish there was a guide?

Or is it just me because I like to know the nuances of each deck as put in by the artist?