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This is a simple ward that I’ve used for my rooms throughout college that’s subtle and only requires storm water.

Free to do, collect storm water in the way of your choosing and wet a cloth with it. Wipe the doorframe of your room/apartment/house/etc. with the storm water. You can say an incantation if you’d like, personalize it in any way you feel necessary, and that finishes the ward. It’s very simple, I like to think that storm water is a good protector and that it creates a barrier for your space!! Do you own research and stay safe!!

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I think if studying the occult has improved any element of my life, it is my wonder at ordinary things. I love being able to see a rock or a plant and know the properties that generations of scientists and philosophers have attached to them. It's a dove, it's a nature Spirit, it's an omen of peace, it's a psychopomp, it is associated with the astral intelligences of the air and Venus and Aries and its entrails can be read to know where to build a settlement. But is also just a pigeon, and pigeons a lovely to see.

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Grasping for superlatives my mind came up with unprecedented but beautiful goldenrods have been around for countless millennia. We’re just lucky to be here now and see them still being amazing.

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Looking like September on the lake path.

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Hello all!! It’s a big night for lunar witches!! Tonight’s moon is a super moon, full moon, blood moon, and harvest moon and there will be a partial lunar eclipse!! Even if you aren’t a witch, look at the sky in about an hour!!

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learning about plants in ur area is wild. like you also learn about the histories of the plants. Like oh! Thats garlic mustard! That was brought over from europe as a crop! it smells just like garlic and you can cook with it!  And thats yarrow!  Its been used for tons of stuff and pollinators love it! Oh hey! Thats hemlock! They killed Socrates with that! 

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three different colourations of a fallow deer, photographed by Mszafran on deviantart Source here

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Creating a Backyard Land Spirit Profile

Working with land spirits can help connect you with your local ecosystem, and for some practitioners is a crucial aspect of bioregional magic. Some folks, like myself, consider themselves to be initiated by one or more land spirits.

When I use the term land spirits, I am referring to a few different things. First are the collective spirits of various plants, animals, and insects present in a specific bioregion. An example of collective, in this context, means that if I'm petitioning help from the spirit of violets, I am working with the spirit of all violets present in that area rather than a singe flower that grows in my yard.

The next is the land guardian, which in my practice is a more powerful spirit with claim over a specific territory, like a forest, river, or neighborhood.

Sometimes these two concepts are separate and sometimes they're interchangeable. It all depends on personal practice, culture, local folklore, etc.

One thing that has been extremely beneficial to my practice has been creating a backyard land spirit profile. This method has been useful for spirit work and "green" magic, but more importantly, it's helped me immerse myself in my local ecosystem and I get to meet a lot of cool animals and plants.

Here is an over-simplfied example of my backyard land profile:

Ecosystem: Central Interior and Appalachian: Mixed woodlands, close to possible floodplains

Soil Type: Clay in garden bed, Loamy near/beneath shrubs, Sandy in sunny areas of the lawn

Flora:

Cultivated- Paradise Apple, Highbush Blueberry, Rose of Sharon, Dog Rose, Black-Eyed Susan, Sundial Lupine

Native - Bloodroot, Wild Strawberry, Common Violet, Wrinkle-Leaf Goldenrod, Blue Wood-Aster, Horseweed, Fireweed, Deer-Tongue Witchgrass, Common Milkweed

Invasive - Round-Leaved Bittersweet, Yellow Toadflax, Creeping Bellflower, Common Mugwort

Naturalized - Dandelion, Broad-Leaf Plantain, Deadly Nightshade

Notes - Various mosses, unidentified mushrooms growing on lawn and lichens found on some trees/shrubs.

Fauna:

Mammals - Raccoon, Opossum, Striped Skunk, Grey Squirrel, Chipmunk, Feral Cats, Deer mouse, House Mouse

Birds - Cardinals, Chickadees, Catbirds, American Robin, Downy Woodpecker, Turkey Vulture, Crow

Reptiles and Amphibians - N/A

Fish - N/A

Invertebrates - Dotted Wolf Spider, Leopard Slug, Tiger Bee Fly, Monarch Caterpillars, Peach Root Weevile, Narrow-Winged Mantis, Fireflies

Ecoregion and Soil Type

The first thing I did was determine what type of ecosystem my yard used to be. In an urban/suburban area this was a bit challenging.

I started by identifying a few wild plants and finding out where they usually grow. Most of them seemed to prefer shady woodlands and rich soil. There were also a couple of pioneer species present in the sunnier and more disturbed areas of the yard.

Next, I took a look at surrounding wild areas. We are close to a mountain and a large river. There are woodlands near and within the city made up of mostly hardwood and conifer trees. I knew from memory that certain areas close to my home are likely floodlands.

After that, I found a bioregion map of my country which showed that my state fell under the category of Central Interior and Appalachian. I searched this region on landscope.org and was able to determine my specific ecoregion (not shared here for privacy reasons).

From there I started making educated guesses. I determined that my backyard was likely a mixed hardwood and conifer woodland sitting very close to what might have been a floodplain.

For my soil type, I took samples from different areas of my yard and used an online guide to determine what kind of soil I had. Most of it was sandy or loamy, but my flower beds seemed to have some clay.

Using all this information, I had a general idea of what kind of plants and wildlife would be present without human intervention. It also helped with deciding which native plants to start growing.

Plants

Throughout the year, I went out to the yard with a wildlife field guide and a couple identification apps and identified every plant and insect I found. I grouped the plants into four categories: native, invasive, naturalized, and cultivated. This isn't shown in the example, but I also grouped them by season and the time of year they appear.

Naturalized refers to plants that have integrated themselves into the environment without inflicting damage to the local ecosystem.

You'll notice that under the cultivated section I included a few native plants. This is because those plants were introduced by me and would not be present without my intervention and I wanted to make that distinction.

The importance of native and naturalized plants is obvious, but what about cultivated and invasive? Keeping a profile of invasive plants helped me keep a record of which noxious weeds I need to remove. From an ecological perspective, their removal is crucial to the survival of my native plants and garden crops. From a spiritual perspective, this can be an offering or act of service to the local land spirits. Some of these plants, like Common Mugwort, are both valuable for workings and fine to harvest in large quantities since they are invasive.

Cultivated plants are also important. Many of these plants, like my Blueberries, Apples, and Rose of Sharon, were here before me. The importance of plants introduced by humans is greater than you'd think. First, they are usually crops and flowering plants and provide food for both humans and the local wildlife. Secondly, I live in an urban area, and my land spirits are likely very closely associated with people.

I researched all of my plants and took note of growth patterns, toxicity, medicinal uses, ediblity, native region/habitat, ecological significance/impact, etc. Then I moved onto folklore and symbolism and started working with the spirits of a few plants, performing divination, leaving offerings, harvesting them and including them in rituals and spellwork. I did this in groups to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

Please note that you should always properly identify plants and be aware of potential toxicity before harvesting, especially if you plan on burning or consuming said plant. Also steer clear of protected or threatened plants and keep harvest to a minimum even for abundant native species.

Wildlife

My next project was writing down every species of animal and insect that I had encountered in my yard. I grouped them into several categories: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. In real life my invertebrates section is separated into several subcategories (orb weavers, beetles, etc.).

Next, I used basically the same system I did for plants, researching their native range, preferred habitat, behavior, diet, ecological importance. Then I started looking into folklore.

Finally, I started integrating them into my practice and working with their collective spirits. This involved using animal symbolism in rituals, leaving offerings, and performing a lot of divination.

Remember to never interact with or directly feed wildlife. If I'm making offerings outdoors it is usually fresh water, scattered birdseed, and acts of service like creating habitats and growing plants that a specific species enjoys. If scattering birdseed, do so in the morning to keep too many animals, like raccoons, from entering your yard at night.

Side note: Keep a record of what appears in your yard each year! For example one year we had several chipmunks and one year I saw none. One year we had no fireflies and the next our backyard was covered in them.

Tying It All Together

Once I had my backyard profile completed, I started working with the collective spirits of select species. I have an offering schedule, perform communication, and petition these spirits regularly in spellwork. I use certain plants that I harvest for offerings and use for tinctures, infusions, cooking, and crafts. I use symbols of local animals in crafts and spellwork.

After working with the "smaller" spirits, you can start seeking out specific land guardians by using a combination of divination and research of local history and folklore.

On a mundane level, I am now able to cultivate an appropriate ecosystem for the local wildlife and start projects to support it. Examples of this are pollinator gardens, stick and brush piles for fireflies and small animals, growing seed-rich and fruiting plants for birds and mammals, winter shelters and TNR plans for feral cats, and more.

I also like to take notes on plants and wildlife that I encounter in my general area that don't usually make it into my backyard. For example there have been coyotes, foxes, bobcats, and black bears spotted in my neighborhood.

I want to stress that I live in a semi-urban and relatively populated neighborhood and I have a small yard. The brief example of of my land profile doesn't cover even a fraction of the wildlife I have encountered in my backyard. There is so much life in urban and suburban areas in need of our support.

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A much longer break than anticipated but I am finally settled!! Hope everyone has been well!!

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Flowers on Burgh Island, May 2016

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Elegance in Flowers: Classic Arrangements for All Seasons, 1985

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i actually really enjoy when people leave random objects in art galleries and people start treating them as if they're art. I think it puts people into a headspace where they start looking at normal objects differently and its an opportunity for them to realize that they can do this too outside of a gallery setting. You're not dumb or tricked for seeing something on the floor of a gallery and trying to figure it out or appreciating it as an art object. The world is full of beautiful and interesting objects even some random garbage on the street is worthy of that same level of examination. Theres art everywhere if you're primed to see it.

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Adding to this list of campaigns you can donate to Asmaa’s Gofundme

Hello all!! Earlier this morning I made a post answering an ask I received regarding a Palestinian girl requesting donations for her insulin. Unfortunately people are capitalizing on the ongoing horrors being committed against the Palestinian people and this request was a scam. The PayPal link attached to the account was under to the name Mwanasiti Heri, not the name I was given in the ask. A quick search on Google informs you that PayPal cannot be registered to a Palestinian bank, and another search here on tumblr immediately identifies this as a scam.

However in my post that assumed the best intentions, I promised a three card reading to anyone who could message me proof of a donation to help this girl, and I would like to extend that offer but with links to real donation websites!! The three links below are larger, well-supported organizations you can donate to.

Operation Olive Branch

Project Watermelon Families

Palestine Children’s Relief Fund

There are plenty of other personal campaigns to donate to as well if you feel especially called to help someone more directly, I’ve been following Yusuf Abu Hattab on Instagram for some time who is trying to raise money to help his family and one day continue his education safely.

Help Yusuf’s Family

As promised, any proof of donation to any of these campaigns (and/or more/others if you so choose) is good for a free three card reading from me!! Just send a screenshot of your receipt!!

I will not do readings on:

Matters I am not well versed in such as deities, legal matters, death, and spirit work

I will do readings on:

Love, relationships, money, school, jobs, etc.

I will decline asks I am not comfortable with, but you may ask another question if I am unable to answer your first one!!

♧♧♧ 🇵🇸🕊️ ♧♧♧

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Hello my dears! I, Asmaa, ask you to support my campaign to help me reach my goal. 🙏 I am now in desperate need of your support to help me stay alive and safe. Gaza is a very dangerous place, both in terms of living standards and souls. I need your financial support so that I can get the basic needs of my family. Please help a family survive through your small donations or through your shares to others. And reblog. The campaign is going very slowly. 🙏🍉💔

Wishing you peace during this and sharing this campaign!!

If you can donate to Asmaa’s Gofundme please do!!

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Just moved into my first apartment (incredibly excited) and I’m starting school tomorrow so I am very busy at the moment!! Pardon any absence, I still need to unpack quite literally all of my belongings and secure a job, but with a new space comes a lot of cleansing and new rituals so I’m excited to share!!