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Photos from the Bristol Renaissance Faire coming soon!

[art page]

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A note on crystal cleansing from The Witch’s Master Grimoire by Lady Sabrina.

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Common Substitutions In Witchcraft - Herbs and Oils

Disclaimer: When working with herbs and oils is it imperative to be aware of your own allergies and sensitivities as well as any dangers posed by the herbs or oils. Be sure to research any herbs or oils that you plan on using before doing so. It is also important to research the status of herbs and plants in the wild and to avoid those that are endangered or threatened. Be aware of herbs that may not be harmful to yourself, but may be harmful to your pets.

“*” - Denotes known herbs with poisonous properties /essential oils that are poisonous when ingested.

Herbs

General Substitutions:

Rosemary can be used in place of any other herb

Rose can be used in place of any flower

Frankincense or Copal can be used in place of any Gum Resin

Sage can substitute for any mint

Tobacco can be used in place of any poisonous herb

Specific Substitutions:

A

ACACIA - Gum Arabic

ACONITE* - Tobacco

ALLSPICE – Cassia, Cinnamon, Cloves, Mace and Nutmeg

AMBERGRIS - Cypress, Patchouli

AMMONIAC GUM - Asafetida

ASAFOETIDA* - Tobacco, Valerian

B

BALM OF GILEAD - Rose Buds, Gum Mastic

BELLADONNA* - Tobacco, Tomato

BENZOIN - Gum Arabic, Gum Mastic

C

CACHANA ROOT - Angelica

CAMPHOR - Eucalyptus, Lavender

CARNATION - Rose petals anointed with a few drops of Cinnamon Oil

CASSIA - Cinnamon

CASTOR BEANS - A few drops Castor Oil

CEDAR - Sandalwood

CINQUEFOIL - Clover, Trefoil

CITRON - Equal parts Orange Peel and Lemon Peel

CLOVE - Mace, Nutmeg

CLOVER - Cinquefoil

COPAL - Frankincense, Cedar

COWBANE* - Tobacco

CYPRESS - Juniper, Pine Needles

D

DEERS TONGUE* - Tonka Bean, Woodruff, Vanilla

DITTANY OF CRETE - Gum Mastic

DRAGON’S BLOOD - Equal parts Frankincense and Red Sandalwood

E

EUCALYPTUS - Camphor, Lavender

EUPHORBIUM* - Tobacco

F

FRANKINCENSE - Copal, Pine Resin

G

GALANGAL - Ginger Root

GRAINS OF PARADISE - Black Pepper

GUM AMMONIAC - Asafetida

GUM ARABIC - Frankincense, Gum Mastic

GUM BDELLIUM - Copal, Pine Resin, Dragon’s Blood

GUM MASTIC - Gum Arabic, Frankincense

H

HELLEBORE* - Tobacco, Nettle

HEMLOCK* - Tobacco

HEMP - Nutmeg, Damiana, Star Anise, Bay

HENBANE* - Tobacco

HYSSOP - Lavender

I

IVY - Cinquefoil

J

JASMINE - Rose

JUNIPER - Pine

L

LABDANUM - Hibiscus

LAVENDER - Rose

LEMON GRASS - Lemon Peel

LEMON PEEL - Lemon Peel

LEMON VERBENA - Lemon Grass, Lemon Peel

M

MACE - Nutmeg

MANDRAKE* - Tobacco

MINT - Sage

MISTLETOE - Mint, Sage

MUGWORT - Wormwood

N

NIGHTSHADE* - Tobacco

NUTMEG - Mace, Cinnamon

O

OAKMOSS - Patchouli

ORANGE - Tangerine Peel

ORANGE FLOWERS - Orange Peel

P

PATCHOULI - Oak moss

PEPPERMINT - Spearmint

PEPPERWORT - Rue, Grains of Paradise, Black Pepper

PINE - Juniper

PINE RESIN - Frankincense. Copal

R

RED SANDALWOOD - Sandalwood mixed with a pinch of Dragon’s Blood

ROSE - Yarrow

ROSE GERANIUM - Rose

RUE - Rosemary mixed with a pinch of Black Pepper

S

SAFFRON - Orange Peel

SANDALWOOD - Cedar

SARSPARILLA - Sassafras

SASSAFRASS - Sarsaparilla

SPEARMINT - Peppermint

SULFER* - Tobacco, Club Moss, Asafetida

T

THYME - Rosemary

TOBACCO - Bay

TONKA BEAN* - Deer tongue*, Woodruff, Vanilla Bean

TREFOIL - Cinquefoil

V

VALERIAN - Asafetida

VANILLA - Woodruff, Deer tongue, Tonka Bean

VETIVERT - Calamus*

W

WOLFSBANE* - Tobacco

WOOD ALOE - Sandalwood sprinkled with Ambergris Oil

WOODRUFF - Deer tongue, Vanilla

WORMWOOD* - Mugwort

Y

YARROW - Rose

YEW* - Tobacco

Essential Oils

Keep reading

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cottage witch vibes

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By Katerina Plotnikova

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Full Moon: Harness The Energy & Make It Work For You

Full Moon: June 20th, 2016!

The full moon is a time of positive opportunity if you use it correctly. It can increase your positive energy or conversely, it can wreak havoc on your emotions. Since the full moon pours down a tremendous amount of energy, you must be in a calm state of mind to receive a positive effect. Remember that whatever is going on in your body, mind and spirit will be amplified. If you are angry, you will feel angrier or if you are happy, you will feel happier. During the full moon, the ocean swells and emergency rooms have more patients. The energy is very powerful so it’s important to direct it with positive intention. Crazy energy as well as loving energy will be intensified. Knowing this is a huge opportunity for your emotional and spiritual growth.

Keep reading

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Witch Things

-Sometimes birds are just birds

-Magic/crystals/herbs/spells should never replace actual medical treatments

-Spells do not always work in the way you expect them to; use caution

-Spells are not shortcuts for hard work; i.e., instantly memorizing information, increasing magical or psychic abilities. Chanting a poem over a candle or drawing a sigil will not instantly give you special powers or skills.

-Emoji spells may work, but don’t expect strong results.

-Gods are not tools, and cannot be controlled. They are very old, very wise, and deserve respect.

-Magic is potent, and real. It can be a force for destruction or transformation or new creation. But it isn’t like the movies. You won’t levitate, or freeze time, or control minds.

-Magic is unruly and untamable. Even with years of practice a spell may backfire or reveal itself in unexpected ways. Sometimes the effects will be immediate, sometimes they will take days or weeks or months.

-Christians can be witches. Wiccans can be witches. Polytheists can be witches. Anyone can be a witch.

-Witchcraft is a practice, and is very personal. It is not a religion, and though there are modern movements that attempt to standardize specific paths, witchcraft traditionally was personalized and individual. What works for someone else, might not for you, and that’s OKAY.

-Astral projection isn’t like the movies. There’s no one “right way” of doing it.

-The Gods are not tools.

-Nobody can tell you if you have been visited or chosen by a god or goddess.

-Wicca is a new religion, and was not practiced by our ancestors.

-You will receive the best results by creating your own spells, recipes, rituals. Borrowing can be good for learning, but personalizing your craft is vital if you want to grow.

-The Gods cannot be controlled.

-You don’t have to believe in Gods to be a witch.

-You don’t have to practice witchcraft to believe in Gods.

-Witchcraft is not easy. Witchcraft cannot solve all of your problems–in fact, sometimes it may actually complicate them more. But it is real, and beautiful, and empowering. Make it yours. Study others’ paths, become aware of the ridiculous amount of misinformation is out there. Never stop researching and learning. Recognize that some of the popular ideas and beliefs are harmful, inaccurate, and wrong. Accept criticism gracefully. But don’t let anyone dictate your practice. Make it yours. Make it real.

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Master Post of Calming Things

Things to make you feel better:

Make it feel like you are outside also turn on your volume

Talk you threw a stressful time

Automatic flatter 

Quick Distractions:

Draw Silk

Music Squares

jigsaw puzzles 

Sudoku

cookie clicker

Immediate Crisis Help

List of Hotlines - Crisis Hotlines by need

Befrienders - Find crisis hotline information for the country you live in

Suicide Hotlines - A list of crisis hotlines by country

International Rape Crisis Hotlines - A list of international crisis hotline directories

Lifeline Crisis Chat - Online chat help for people in a crisis

IMAlive - online crisis chat

Self Help

MoodGym 

Self Harm Alternatives

Self-help Anxiety Management App

Get Help

Find Therapist

Find a Psychiatrist

How To Help Others

Depression

Anxiety 

Eating Disorder   

Cutting

Suicidal

Panic attacks

Gifs:

watch the ball

breath in and out with the box

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Intuition is kinda like a muscle

The more you work with it, the stronger it gets, BUT ALSO, sometimes you need a break!  You can overdo it and burn yourself out, pretty easily if you’re just starting out.  So if you find that suddenly things aren’t connecting for you, you probably just need to give yourself some time off to recuperate.  It’s not gone forever <3

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concept: We wear clothes that feel soft against our bodies and walk barefoot through hills and meadows so we can know the sensation of grass and dirt against the bottoms of our feet. Every step is a little bit different and we’re suddenly immersed in the flow of creation like sitting in the middle of a river like the eternal stillness always present within movement. We are motion and rest. Form and void. Endlessly expanding and returning home again.

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Short-Term Soulmates: How They Fulfill Our Needs

People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. At first, it may be hard to determine the nature and purpose of a relationship. Perhaps these descriptions will help somewhat to clarify the mystery.

When someone is in our life for a reason, it is usually to meet a need that has been expressed. They have come to assist us through a difficulty — to provide guidance and support no matter how short lived. Perhaps they’ve come along to bring us the healing power of kindness and hope. They have most definitely shown up to reactivate a virtue within us to aid us physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

Keep reading

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This is for a request made by sabrinahasablr :3

Tools for the Kitchen Witch

Here is a list of things that I would suggest that kitchen witches keep on hand. I know that we get a little caught up in the THINGS of witchcraft, but for the kitchen witch the things are much more simple and easy to come by. Also I feel like kitchen witchery is kind of about these things:

Wand: for a kitchen witch, the wand is one of the super fun items. Because… your spoon is your wand! Pick a favorite metal spoon or a wooden spoon, maybe decorate it, maybe not. Designate that as your wand, and make sure every magic concoction is given a good stir with it. Even use it in non food spell casting! Brandishing a spoon has a very unique and powerful feel to it ;3

Besom: the witch’s broom can take many forms. I like to have 2; a practical broom that I can use to clean and to cleanse, and a little broom for more symbolic cleaning. I’ll use it when I feel particularly yucky and I “sweep” out the air around me. I made mine from willow branches, and wrapped them in a long string to make the handle, and dipped the tip in wax. Easy! The kitchen witch can use any old broom to be their besom.

Cauldron: you’re probably getting the idea. The cauldron doesn’t have to be massive, cast iron, and hang over a fireplace. Choose a pot to be your cauldron. Specify it for magical concoctions. Making a super-charged soup for cold fighting? Pull out the cauldron! You can even use it every day, because magic is best when it happens all the time. I also keep a small ceramic bowl that I use as my mini cauldron, much like my mini broom, it’t for more symbolic workings.

Athame: any kitchen knife can become your athame, but having a special knife set aside for specific plant harvesting is I think a good idea. I also have a neat (and useless) arrowhead knife that I use for symbolic things in spells and rituals,

Empty jars. Lots of empty jars. Spells and storage!

Sewing kit: I really like making little sachets of herbs for various spells, and as a kitchen witch I’m always fixing and making things. Also who hasn’t had a button fall off their favorite shirt?

Herbs: There are a great number of dried grocery store herbs that I think a good kitchen witch will want to keep on hand, both for cooking and for magic. The are thyme, garlic, onion, ginger, bay leaf, basil, oregano, rosemary, nutmeg, cinnamon. Sage is of course the witch’s all purpose cleanser, and lavender is a great herb to have. These may not be as easy to find, however lots of lavender soaps and oils are becoming available.

Cook book: get the most all inclusive, massive, wonderful cook book you can find. Write in it. Find things on the internet and print them out. Build a massive library of delicious things to do with food.

Spell book: This is also your Book of Shadows. Every witch should keep a journal, notebook, and or their own personal book in which they gather information on their craft. Record everything, even things you later don’t believe. Be informed!

Notebook

House plants: House plants are air cleaners, mood boosters, and good friends. Jade and other succulents are extremely easy to care for. I feel that kitchen witches are well suited to keeping little friends, for good spirits and the like.

Candles: keep candles on hand, also for spells. Birthday candles are great for some quick magic.

Hearth: I know that in the modern world, having a fireplace isn’t going to be possible for everyone. Kitchen witches are about the home, and as such I think that we need a “hearth”. For the urban and or poor witch, this can be a stone, a candle, a jar, anything. Make it your center. Make it the essence of your home. This makes cleansing and assessing the energy of your home a little simpler. It’s also a great way to help acknowledge the home as an entity with a heart.

That’s it! Most of these are easy to get, not only inexpensively, but also at pretty much any store. And even so, I want to say again that not all of this is necessary. You just need a kitchen to be a kitchen witch, really!

Happy cooking kitchen witches!

Be warm and be well,

~Rain

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To all my female followers: walk confidently. Be unapologetic. Speak your mind. You’re all goddesses.

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You don’t know me, and you love me. I think you love to love. You truly love, love.

Awakened Vibrations (via awakenedvibrations)

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Wand

Clichéd as it may sound, the wand is one of the most popular magical tools in Wicca, as well as in some ceremonial magic traditions. 

It has a number of magical purposes:

A wand is used for the directing of energy during a ritual;

Because it’s a phallic symbol it is used to represent male energy, power, and virility;

Representative of the element of Air (although in a few traditions it symbolizes Fire), the wand can be used to consecrate a sacred space, or invoke deity.

Wands are traditionally made from willow, elder or oak, though almost any material can be used to create a wand. Sometimes crystals are added to the tips of wands, since crystals amplify the energy sent through the wand.

How to make your own wand

You’ll need:

Stick from a tree: this should be approx. 8"-12" long, or whatever feels most comfortable to you. (I get mine off of the ground, there isn’t any need to harm the tree);

Glue: Tacky, Super, or Epoxy (read bottle for best application);

Decorations: such as crystal points, stones, feathers, ribbon, paint to draw runes or symbols.

Wood you can choose from for your wand:

Balsa: Psychic awareness

Cedar: Healing, purification, protection

Cherry: Love

Ebony: Protection, magickal energy

Elder: Spirituality, protection

Eucalyptus: Healing

Maple: Love, money

Oak: Strength, health

Pine: Money, healing, exorcism

Walnut: Health

Willow: Psychic awareness, blessings of the Moon

Take a branch from a tree that is fairly straight and the right length for a wand. Preferably this should be one you find, but it can also be taken from a living tree if you psychically “ask the tree’s permission”. But if you get a strong feeling this is wrong and that you shouldn’t cut that tree, don’t do it.                                     Either way, leave an offering of thanks: if you are in Wicca/NeoPaganism traditions, a libation of apple juice is appropriate or some home-baked cakes (unfrosted plain cupcakes, corn muffins, oatmeals or cornmeal, cookies or cornbread, a loaf of all-natural whole where bread) but please no twinkles and junkfood.

Remember: this should be done on the Waxing Moon.

Now that you have cut the branch, you’ll need to smooth down the wand: make sure all the splintered areas are smoothed out nicely, even on each end, so not to poke you while you work with it or use it afterwards.

After that, you can begin decorating it if you wish. I like to use a woodburner and burn my magickal name into it, along with a pentagram, or pentacle, celtic cross, triquetra, whatever your heart desires. I’ve seen some that actually had some beautiful pictures on them.                                                                 Whatever you decide to do to it, just remember that you are putting your energy into it. Use your imagination, paint something onto it, or carve something into it, or add crystals or gemstones to it in some decorative way. And don’t say “I have no imagination,” because we all have an imagination. 

Now that you have it decorated to your liking, the next and final step is to seal it and make it weather resistant you might say. I prefer to use a polyurethane stain on mine, especially the lighter woods. I usually don’t use anything any darker than a pecan colored stain, but I have been known to use a cherry stain, which turned out real pretty. Of course you can also use a clear stain as well. But the whole point to this step is to seal the wood so that it will last longer. I usually put at least two coats of the polyurethane stain on mine. I will put more depending on how dry the wood is.

Now this is just one way of making the wand and staff. I know there are many other ways and methods of doing this out there, I just know that this is how I do it. It is not a difficult method to use and your wand and staff still serve for the same purpose. They are merely an extension of yourself, but when properly made and designed, they can not only be your extension but an amplification as well.

How to consecrate:

You’ll need:

a small bowl of salt —> north/earth;

incense —> east/air;

a white candle —> south/fire;

a cup of water —> west/water.

If your tradition requires you to cast a circle, do so now.

Light the candle and the incense. Take the wand in your hands, and face north. Pass it over the salt and say:

Powers of the North, Guardians of the Earth, I consecrate this wand of (name of the wood), and charge it with your energies. I purify it this night, and make this tool sacred.

Now, turn to the east and, holding the tool in the smoke of the incense, say:

Powers of the East, Guardians of the Air, I consecrate this wand of (name of the wood), and charge it with your energies. I purify it this night, and make this tool sacred.

Next, face the south and pass the tool over the flame of the candle and repeat the process, saying:

Powers of the South, Guardians of Fire, I consecrate this wand of (name of the wood), and charge it with your energies. I purify it this night, and make this tool sacred.

Finally, turn to the west, and pass your ritual tool over the cup of water. Say:

Powers of the West, Guardians of Water, I consecrate this wand of (name of the wood), and charge it with your energies. I purify it this night, and make this tool sacred.

Face your altar, hold the wand to the sky, and say:

I charge this wand in the name of Old Ones, the Ancients, the Sun and the Moon and the Stars. By the powers of the Earth, of Air, of Fire and of Water I banish the energies of any previous owners, and make it new and fresh. I consecrate this wand, and it is mine.

Now you’ve not only consecrated the tool, you’ve claimed ownership. In many Pagan traditions, including some forms of Wicca, it’s considered a good idea to put the item to use immediately to bind the consecration and strengthen the energy of the tool. If you’ve consecrated a wand you can use it in a ceremony to consecrate another tool.