sapplingwitch

[sapplingwitch]

🔔 BELLS IN WITCHCRAFT 🔔

Bells might just be the earliest form of superstitious practise that I remember. My baba attached three sakura-patterned suzu bells on my schoolbag as a kid, purportedly for good luck and protection from evil spirits – and Japan is far from the only place to have associated bells and bellringing with mystic practise. They’ve been used worldwide to ward off evil and carry messages – and in a more metaphysical sense, sound is the movement of energy through substance. Sounds have the potential to work powerful magic.

Here are some of the ways I’ve found utilising bells to be helpful to my craft. While I’m more likely to use traditional suzu type bells, your own background, path and culture will likely have its own types of bells – and as ever, bells can be ornate antiques or they can be a bottle cap in a tin can, as long as they’re used with intent.

GETTING STARTED

🔔 As with so much of the craft, if you’re new to the witching bell, it’s a matter of exploration and experimentation. Get a “feel” for what works for you and the specific bell you’re using.

🔔 It’s good practise to ensure that the bell itself is cleansed, warded and protected – you don’t want anything nasty tapping into that power. All witching tools can do as much harm as good, intentional or accidental.

🔔 A good way to begin incorporating bells into your craft is infuse them into any typical ritual that you’re comfortable with, or even just a prayer or moment of contemplation at your altar if you have one.

🔔 Give the bell a soft ring while focusing on the energy it’ll ripple and move, try to track the movements it creates and what it touches. The tone it’s sending out.  The most primal and versatile use of the bell – and what many of the below come down to – is simply another manner of physically channelling energy, giving it shape and direction.

PROTECTION

🔔 “Passive” bells such as windchimes or small bells attached to belongings you don’t want disturbed are a starting point. They will scare off some forms of spirit all by themselves, especially if appropriately blessed, charmed or enchanted. Or cursed.

🔔 Gently tolling can draw energy into a ward or circle you are forming and enforce its protective properties, or for a simple cleanse, letting the sound travel to every corner of the area you are protecting. It’s a little more “cutting” than a smoke or incense cleansing, which I view as more “gentle” forms of cleansing. Both have their uses.

🔔 Harder tolling is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful ways in which to enforce a banishing – however, it’s best to you know what you’re doing with the bell before you go bashing it about.

DISCERNMENT

🔔 Bells can have quite the effect on your perception and awareness. Ringing and then stopping, listening to the silence left in its wake, can bring you new perceptions or make things you’d previously missed obvious. Let it attune your mind and senses to something new, whether that’s in your thoughts or something with a little more presence. Visualise travelling with the sound, taking heed of the energies it touches and disturbs. Take note of the echoes – you’ll learn what they mean with experience.

🔔 A set of windchimes can let you know if something is passing through or if there’s some unusual energy afoot – and, yes, it may also just be letting you know that it’s a particularly breezy day, but that’s witchcraft for you.

CONJURING

🔔 This can be as simple as calling good energies to witching tools, spell jars, tarot decks, crystals, altars and shrines, your favourite teddy bar, anything at all.

🔔 With spirit work, it can truly help to magnify your “calling”. This can range from gently bringing your latest offering to the attention of your friendly neighbourhood house spirit – all the way to trying to catch the attention of something more. Be mindful, however. As I said, I consider bells pretty powerful tools and a call that’s too loud is not good spirit work practise for the spirit worker’s own sake. It can really help coax something out of hiding if you’re gentle with it, though.

COMMUNING

🔔 Some use bells to mark the beginning and end of a ritual, and I’ve read that in Wiccan practise an altar bell can be used to invoke the Goddess, although as a non-Wiccan, I’ll welcome corrections on that if I’m wrong.

🔔 In my experience, very simple forms of communication via bell work a lot better than anything too complex – “come here” and “stay away” have already been covered, and other than that they can serve as greetings or signals of a start or end of some practise or ritual, the opening or closing of a door, etc.

🔔 They can also serve as a warning or a litmus test regarding spirits, a signalling of your presence and awareness, lack of fear, or willingness to defend – but be prepared to deal with whatever responses these garner.

BINDING

🔔 Bindings are where you most often see that famous (clockwise) circular motion of the bell, embodying the meaning of the spell. This can be a simple binding to seal a spell or charm or enchantment, or a spirit-binding.

🔔 Personally, spirit-binding is something I do as little as possible simply due to my beliefs holding the autonomy of spirits in very high regard. However, sometimes situations arise that call for it, and I’m aware that not all bindings are unwilling. Far from it – and some spirits are dangerous when unbound.

🔔 As an animist (believing that all things, including inanimate objects, contain a spirit of their own), I consider gently nudging a spirit back into its physical form a sort of semi-binding, and that can be useful.

I’ll leave you all with a note that I am an urban apartment-dwelling witch through and through, so I understand that we can’t all be jangling away at all hours. I myself have a glass windchime in my front window that makes a distinct but muted sound when disturbed by passers-through, and highly recommend wooden ones also. I also only use my small and relatively quiet suzu bell for my crafting – one given to me by my baba herself.

Feel free to add any of your own findings, and happy tolling.

[sapplingwitch]

Garden witches, green witches, healers and anyone who uses herbs in their practice...

This is a really good, comprehensive list of edible flowers. It has a vivid description each plant’s taste and how to use and harvest as well as including which parts of the plant are inedible (x)

Here’s a great free ebook on cooking, brewing and blending herbs (x)

This website has fantastic gardening advice. Just search for a plant and it will tell you how to grow it, what grows indoors, pest, solutions, trivia and much, much more. (x) And it even has an edible gardening section (x) plus an indoor section if you don’t have a garden (x)

If you have any other resources, feel free to add them to this list.

[sapplingwitch]

🌄Sunrise Witchcraft🌄

☀️sunrise is the best time for: healing, positivity, happiness, anti-anxiety/depression, spirituality, self care/love, air magic, cleansing, soft energy/ positive energy amplifier, truth spells, protection, and peace

☀️sunrise associations: citrine, lemon, peaches, ginger, orange, morning dew, orange calcite, coffee, bergamot, lime, earl grey, mint, sage, cinnamon, grapefruit, morning glory, marigold, saffron, calendula, daylily, daisy, black tea, and frankincense

☀️tips and things to try:

🌞yoga (especially sun salutations!)

🌻sunbathe in the sunrise to cleanse and charge with positive energy

🌞if you can’t wake up before/during sunrise, just leave your window blinds open to help you wake up naturally and/or to charge in the sunlight while you’re sleeping

🌻this is a great time for tea and coffee magic

🌞this is a great time to charge stones, especially sun-sensitive stones. (Here’s a post on solar stones)

🌻listen to and charge with soft or acoustic music

🌞 spend some time outside, take some deep breaths of fresh air, enjoy the birds chirping, flowers, dew, fog, and the beautiful colors in the sky that sunrise brings

🌻charge some lemon juice in the sunrise for extra boost of cleansing, positivity, and happiness properties (to make it stronger you can infuse it with mint or grapefruit, which both have similar properties and correspond with sunrise)

🌞if you’re comfortable with it, leave an offering out for sunrise deities and dawn sprites & other sun fae

🌻sunrise is a spiritual time, it’s the perfect time for meditation, exploring spirituality, astral travel, etc.

🌞here’s my post on how to connect to the elements in the morning/dawn

☀️My sunrise recipes:

🍋Sunrise tea: (has cleansing, happiness, positivity, energy boost, and protection properties)

1 part grapefruit (be careful if you’re on medication) optional

1 part sage or basil (whichever you prefer, both work)

1 part lemon

1 part orange

1 part mint

1 part hibiscus

🍊Sunrise oil/diffuser blend: (helps you connect to the sunrise, and it’s energy. It has positivity, happiness, anti-depression/anxiety, glamour, cleansing, and love properties)

Bergamot

Grapefruit

Rosemary

Lime

🍑Dawn faeries/spirtes:

☀️What they’re like- human looking, lots of pinks (their skin as well as ‘clothes’), they love dancing during sunrise, waking up the animals and plants sweetly, happy attitude, gentle, they love dew, pink clouds, they have a soft yet sparkly pink glow (it feels warm but not hot), and can bring about peaceful and positive feelings

☀️Offerings- rose quartz!!!, grapefruit, pink chyroprase, pink roses, peaches, peach roses, peony, geranium, hibiscus, marigold

☀️Deities associated with sunrise- Eos, Aurora, Hemera, Alectrona, Neaera, Mitra, Saranyu

[sapplingwitch]

50 Simple Charms

Basil at the door, windows, or scattered in the home will increase money.

Lay thorny branches on your doorstep to keep evil from your dwelling.

Eat a pinch of Thyme before bed, and you will have sweet dreams.

Place chips of Cedar wood in a box with some coins to draw money to you.

Carry an Anemone Flower with you to ward against illness.

Hang a bit of Seaweed in the kitchen to ward evil spirits.

Keep a jar of Alfalfa in your cupboards to ensure the prosperity of your house.

Burn Allspice as an incense to draw money or luck to you, as well as speed healing.

Cut an Apple in half, and give one half to your love to ensure a prosperous relationship.

Carry an Avocado pit with you to let your inner beauty shine outwardly. Avocado is also an aphrodisiac.

Strawberries are an aphrodisiac.

Place a piece of cotton in your sugar bowl to draw good luck to your house.

Celery is an aphrodisiac.

Place Almonds in your pocket when you need to find something.

Scatter Chili Peppers around your house to break a curse.

Carrying a packet of strawberry leaves will help ease the pains of pregnancy.

Scatter some sugar to purify a room.

Throw rice into the air to make rain.

Carry a potato in your pocket or purse all winter to ward against colds.

Eat five almonds before consuming alcohol, to lighten the effects of intoxication.

Place a pine branch above your bed to keep illness away.

Chew celery seeds to help you concentrate.

Carry of chunk of dry pineapple in a bag to draw luck to you.

Ask an orange a yes or no question before you eat it, then count the seeds: if the seeds are an even number, the answer is no. If an odd number, yes.

Eat olives to ensure fertility.

Toss Oats out your back door to ensure that your garden or crop will be bountiful.

Eat mustard seed to ensure fertility.

Place Lilacs around your house to rid yourself of unwanted spirits.

Eat Lettuce to drive lustful thoughts from your mind.

Rub a Lettuce leaf over your forehead to help you sleep.

Add Lemon juice to your bathwater for purification.

Eat grapes to increase psychic powers.

Carry a blade of grass to increase your psychic powers.

Smell Dill to get rid of hiccups.

If you place a Dill sachet over your door, those who wish you ill can not enter your home.

Place cotton on an aching tooth, and the pain will ease.

Burn cotton to cause rain.

Place pepper inside a piece of cotton and sew it shut to make a charm to bring back a lost love.

Carry a small onion to protect against venomous animals.

Eat grapes to increase fertility.

Place a sliced onion in the room of an ill person do draw out the sickness.

Place an onion underneath your pillow to have prophetic dreams.

Place morning glory seeds under your bed to cure nightmares.

Walk through the branches of a maple tree to ensure that you will have a long life.

Mix salt and pepper together and scatter it around your house to dispel evil.

Smell Lavender to help you sleep.  (Lavender makes me fall asleep so fast).

Hang a pea pod containing nine peas above the door to draw your future mate to you.

Eat a peach to assist in making a tough decision.

Carry peach wood to lengthen your lifespan.

Carry a walnut to strengthen your heart muscle.

[sapplingwitch]

♊ FULL MOON IN GEMINI JAN.1.2018 ♊

The full moon is good for:

🌕 charging/cleansing crystals and items 🌕 healing 🌕 love magic 🌕 banishing 🌕 clarity

because it’s in Gemini, it’s also good for:

♊ wisdom ♊ healing ♊ logic ♊ intelligence ♊ studying ♊ research ♊ tech witchcraft

[sapplingwitch]

Free Moon Card Printables

For anyone who was interested in the moon cards I made for my moon journal, I’ve created a digital file of my hand painted moon phases which are each labeled and state a focus or intent for each one. You can use these to study, put them in your grimoire, or just use them for decoration. If you share, please credit me/link.

Light and Love Witches!

[sapplingwitch]

[sapplingwitch]

Witchy Moon*:･ﾟ✧

A little guide on using the moon in your favor while practicing witchcraft!

The moon is so important in cycles and everyday life so pay attention to what she says!

[sapplingwitch]

Types of Spells & Basic Methods of Casting

Attracting - fill a small jar with honey and add a written statement of intent to the jar - seal and set the jar in direct sunlight to manifest your intent; stir your morning coffee or tea in a clockwise motion while focusing on the intent of what energies you wish to attract for the day; fill a jar with herbs and crystals that represent what you want to attract and add a statement of intent; charge a crystal and wear on your person to attract certain energies; create a sigil and either draw it on yourself or on paper and keep in your pocket; create a talisman, charge it, and wear it to attract various energies

Banishing - take an item that represents what you wish to banish and: throw it in the trash, flush it down the toilet, burn it, bury it, drown it; burn the item and sweep the ashes out the back door or bury them; carve the name of what you want to banish into a black candle and let it burn down completely; transmute negative energy into a stone (preferably a black stone like onyx) and throw it over the fence in your backyard (or whichever direction is south in reference to your home); stir your morning coffee or tea in a counter-clockwise motion while focusing on the intent of what energies you wish to banish for the day; using incense that is associated with banishing negative energy, walk around your space in a counter-clockwise motion with the lit incense in your hand

Binding & Sealing - wrap a string around a poppet or other representation of the target or item you wish to bind; put the poppet or other representation in a plastic bag filled with water and freeze it; place the item in a black box and seal it - store in a dark place or bury the box in your backyard; drip wax over the item

Blessing & Consecrating - anoint an object with holy or blessed water/oil; place the object in a dry bath of herbs or flowers that are known for blessing; pass the object through incense smoke that is associated with blessing

Cleansing - leave the item in the path of direct moon, sun, or starlight; place in a dry bath or herbs or flowers that are associated with cleansing; place the item in a bowl of sea salt; pass the item through incense smoke that is associated with cleansing; pass the item through running water; anoint the item with a cleansing oil or charged water; bury the item in soil for 3 days so it may be “reborn” when unearthed; place a cleansing crystal on top of or next to the item; hang a wind chime outside of your home to negate negative energies before they have the chance to enter your home; open doors and windows; physically clean your space

Cursing - fill a poppet with baneful herbs and crystals, seal it, and store in a black box; add baneful herbs and crystals to a jar with a piece of paper that states the target’s name or a description of them and seal it; create a poppet or other representation of the target and destroy it (commonly by burning); stab the poppet with pins and needles; curse an item and gift it to the target

Dreams & Sleep - fill a sachet with herbs associated with restful sleep and peaceful dreams and hang above your bed; place the sachet under your pillow; wash your bedsheets and sleep clothes with a few drops of lavender or chamomile essential oil; alternately, choose fabric softener that is lavender scented to wash your sheets or sleep clothes with; create a sigil for peaceful dreams or dream recall, charge under the light of the moon, and place it under your pillow before you go to sleep; drink mugwort, peppermint, or valerian root tea before bed for vivid, lucid dreams; drink chamomile tea before bed for restful sleep; drink lemon verbena (vervain) tea before bed for dreamless sleep; when bathing at night, create a sachet that matches your intent and place in the bath or shower

Glamours - anoint the containers of beauty and hair products with Pluto oil or moon water (for transformation and metamorphosis); leave the item you wish to cast a glamour on under the full moon; charge a talisman with the effect you wish to have on others and wear when you go out for the day; add Pluto oil and moon water to a bath for a full body glamour (write your intent with bath crayons on the tub or shower wall for an extra boost); create an energetic shield over yourself in which the outside mirrors what you want others to perceive of you

Goal & Wish Manifestation - write your intent on a bay leaf and burn it; turn your intent into a sigil and store it in a jar filled with herbs or other items that represent said intent; place a written description of your goal or wish in the center of a crystal grid using stones that are associated with manifestation and power; place a coin in moon water while focusing on your wish or goal (leave container under direct moonlight overnight so that it may charge); light a candle whose color matches your intent and while focusing on your goal or wish, blow out the candle

Personal Power & Effects - create or enchant a talisman that represents your intent, charge it, and wear it on your person; take a ritual bath filled with herbs that are associated with personal power; create a potion from herbs associated with power and drink in the morning

Warding - sprinkle a mixture of protective herbs around the perimeter of your home while walking clockwise; leave protective crystals at each corner of your space; hang a protective amulet above the door to your space; wear a protective amulet for personal protection; create a protective witch bottle and bury near your front door; plant herbs or flowers that are associated with protection outside at each corner of your home; draw a protective sigil or symbol on the outside of your front and back door with sun water; hang witch balls or a witch’s ladder near your front door; create an energetic shield and place over yourself, your loved ones, or your entire home

*Please be wary when drinking herbal mixtures and putting essential oils directly on the skin or on items that your skin may come in contact with*

[sapplingwitch]

// I made a spell the other day, just a quick little thing because I haven’t done anything in a long time. I don’t even know if you can even call it a spell, really. I was fixing a cup of pour-over coffee for my boyfriend. If our schedule lines up, sometimes he’s getting up out of bed just as I’m leaving for work (I like to get up early) and sometimes I’ll make a coffee for him before I leave. It’s so cute to see him all groggy coming out in his briefs to give me a good-bye hug, and such surprise that hot sweet coffee is ready for him :) 

//...anyway. Lately he’s been in such a rut. He quit his job a little while ago and while we’re okay financially I worry about his mental health. He’s highly anxious, is known to fall into depression, and can get pretty down on himself. We’ve talked about therapy and medication and that’s coming along, but another story. 

// That morning I woke with a feeling of foreboding, and I was really worried about him. Nothing in particular had happened, just a gut feeling like, oh no I don’t think this is going to be a very good day. When I was making his coffee, I took a pause, and hoped for a good day for him. Something, anything that might make him feel better. A ray of sunshine through the back window, or a call from a friend. Anything. I didn’t know what I was really expecting to achieve, but standing over his freshly washed mug, I focused all my energy on a sense of ease. I focused on the kind of feeling you get when you feel protected and love, the feeling you get when you know nothing can hurt you, the feeling you get when your love tells you you can do anything in the world, and in that moment, with all the love and the blankets surrounding you and the candles so soft and sweet, you actually believe them. I took that feeling and balled it up into cozy warm light, then popped a whole clove in my mouth. I focused that feeling up into my mouth, like I wanted to put it in a smile, or in a kiss, and rolled that clove around in my tongue while the water boiled. After portioning the grounds into our pour over cup, I made a little ditch, planted my clove there, buried it with love and hope, then watered it. 

// I didn’t tell him about it. I thought, it will be my little secret. Something I did for myself, more than for him, because sometimes I just don’t know how to help him but I hate to see him miserable. I don’t think I would ever cast a spell on anyone without their permission, but something about this felt just as innocent and sweet as kissing him on the forehead while he’s asleep. Focusing on that feeling got me through a so-so morning at work, and I generally felt pretty good. 

// At lunch time, he called me up out of the blue. He desn’t ever do this, but he just had to tell me he’d had the best morning since he quit his job. I’m sure you can imagine my surprise! He told me that, after his coffee he made himself a big healthy breakfast (this guy who runs on nothing or applesauce made himself an omelette!), he did laundry for both of us, worked out, looked for a job and did the dishes. He said he hadn’t had such a productive day in weeks, that for some reason, it was like all his anxiety and worry melted away. I came clean and confessed that I had put a spell on his coffee in the morning, and he was absolutely blown away, almost giddy, because he’s always humored me but never really put much stock in my brand of spiritualism. 

// He’s never asked me to do it again, and I never have. It’s just nice to know that maybe, by the grace of some power, I was able to plant a little love. It’s not for repeating, I don’t think, just a reminder of how powerful love can be. 

[sapplingwitch]

A Beginner’s Guide to Tea Leaf Reading

Hi there! If you’re here, that means you most likely don’t know how to read tea leaves, or perhaps you could use some more tips? Regardless, you’ll find all of that here! This guide will be pretty all-encompassing, so bear with me!

What is tea leaf reading?

Tasseography, better known as reading tea leaves, is the process of divination using tea leaves. When done properly, the tea leaves will show an image (even if vague) that will symbolize the answer to a question the reader asked. The image can tell the future or just give advice; depending on the question.

How does one read tea leaves?

This is definitely a more involved question, but here’s how I do it; step by step.

1. First, brew your cup of tea. It can be any flavor. But if you are reading for someone else, you may want to let them choose the flavor (I like to do this). However, if you can’t choose a flavor, black tea is pretty standard as the dark color of the tea makes it easier to read.

2. Now, drink your tea. If it is a loose leaf tea, try to drink as little of the leaves as possible. If it is a bag, leave the bag steeping in there and drink. Don’t drink it all, though, leave a little liquid in (not very much at all.)

3. At this point, if you used a tea bag, you’re going to want to open the bag and let the leaves pour into the little amount of liquid there is left.

4. Now, at this point I like to rotate the cup clockwise three times. You can rotate it any direction and as many times you want. You don’t even have to rotate it at all if you don’t want to.

5. Now, you’re going to place a saucer or plate over the top of the cup. Tip the cup over so that most of the liquid and leaves spill onto the plate/saucer.

6. Now, you will see some leaves left in the cup. These should make an image. Although it may be abstract, it’ll be there, even though it might take a while for you to see it.

7. Now it’s time for you to interpret your image. You can either look up the symbology of the image you saw or do your own interpretation based on your own personal associations.

8. Now focus on where the image is. Is it at the top, bottom, left, right, right by the handle? The placement shows what time the interpretation will happen. I will attach an infographic to give a better idea of what I’m talking about here.

And there you have it!! This is how I do my tea leaf readings. It does take some practice, but once you get a hang of it, you’ll only get better.

~Aster-Monroe

[sapplingwitch]

[sapplingwitch]

I made this three card spread to help plan for my goals. I hope this will be useful to someone! 

[sapplingwitch]

[sapplingwitch]

[sapplingwitch]

Some examples of psychic abilities~

[sapplingwitch]

Abandoned Detroit House is Transformed with 36,000 Flowers

In November 2014, florist Lisa Waud bought this abandoned, crumbling duplex in Detroit Michigan. Winning the bid at $250, Waud had not even seen the home. Her vision was to transform the location into an art installation called Flower House.

To ornate the home, Waud invited florists Michigan, Ohio, New York and Canada to install different flower installations in every room.