#thevirginwitch

[thevirginwitch]

DON'T CALL ME MABON

WHY MABON IS AN INAPPROPRIATE NAME FOR THE AUTUMN EQUINOX

by Anna Franklin

The name ‘Mabon’ as a term for the neopagan festival of the autumn equinox (along with the Saxon term ‘Litha’ for the summer solstice) was introduced in 1973 by the American witch and writer Aiden Kelly (b. 1940). His blog for 21st September 2012 explains:

“Back in 1973, I was putting together a “Pagan-Craft” calendar—the first of its kind, as far as I know—listing the holidays, astrological aspects, and other stuff of interest to Pagans. It offended my aesthetic sensibilities that there seemed to be no Pagan names for the summer solstice or the fall equinox equivalent to Ostara or Beltane—so I decided to supply them… I began wondering if there had been a myth similar to that of Kore in a Celtic culture. There was nothing very similar in the Gaelic literature, but there was in the Welsh, in the Mabinogion collection, the story of Mabon ap Modron (which translates as “Son of the Mother,” just as Kore simply meant “girl”), whom Gwydion rescues from the underworld, much as Theseus rescued Helen. That’s why I picked “Mabon” as a name for the holiday…” bd

Curiously, his own tradition, the New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn, did not follow him in this and instead called the autumn equinox ‘Rites of Eleusis’.  However, the term took off and was used in many American books, and by extension, the readers of those books in the UK and elsewhere.

The association of the god Mabon with the festival is certainly not an ancient or traditional despite the claims in various books and websites where you might read ‘the Celts celebrated the god Mabon on this date’.

In order to see why the name of Mabon for the autumn equinox is an inappropriate one we need to examine the tales of Mabon.

The Celtic God Maponius

There is certainly a Celtic god whose title was Latinized as Maponus, which is not an actual name but means something like ‘divine son’. He is known from a number of inscriptions in northern Britain and Gaul in which he is addressed as ‘Apollo Maponus’ identifying him with the Graeco-Roman sun-god Apollo. Like Apollo, all the evidence suggests that he was a god of the sun, music and hunting – significantly, he was not a god of the harvest or of the corn.

It is not known whether he was widely worshipped before the coming of the Romans, but with them his cult spread along Hadrian’s Wall amongst the Roman soldiers stationed there. Several stone heads found at the Wall are identified as representing Maponus.

He was also known in Gaul where he was invoked with a Latin inscription at Bourbonne-les-Bains, and on a lead cursing tablet  discovered at Chamalières, Puy-de-Dôme where he is invoked along with Lugus (Lugh) to quicken underworld spirits to right a wrong. 

It is possible that there are some place names associated with him, such as Ruabon in Denbighshire, which may or may not be a corruption of Rhiw Fabon, meaning ‘Hillside of Mabon’. be During the seventh century an unknown monk at the Monastery at Ravenna in Italy compiled what came to be called The Ravenna Cosmography, which was a list of all the towns and road-stations throughout the Roman Empire. It lists a Locus Maponi (‘place of Maponus’) which has been tentatively identified with the Lochmaben stone site.

It is possible that Mabon’s Irish equivalent is the god Aengus, also known as the Mac Óg (‘young son’).

 Literary Sources

A character called Mabon is found as a minor character in the Mabinogion, a collection of eleven – sometimes twelve – Welsh prose tales from the Middle Ages. He is called Mabon ap Modron, meaning ‘son of the mother’, which has led to speculation that his mother Modron (‘mother’) may be cognate with the Gaulish mother goddess Matrona. There are no inscriptions dedicated to her from ancient times, so this cannot be verified. Whether or not the Mabinogion tale of the hero Mabon stems from a thousand year old story of the god Maponus is uncertain, but since the stories contain the names of other known Celtic gods (transliterated into heroes) it is certainly possible.

The Mabinogion is a collection of medieval Welsh stories which would have been recorded by Christian monks. They don’t seem to have been very widely known until they were translated into English in 1849 by Lady Charlotte Guest, who invented the title Mabinogion since each of the four branches ends with the words “so ends this Branch of the Mabinogi”. In Welsh, mab means ‘son’ or ��boy’ or ‘youth’, so she concluded that mabinogi meant ‘a story for children’ and (erroneously) that mabinogion was its plural.  Another possibility is that it comes from the proposed Welsh mabinog meaning something like ‘bardic student’.   

The stories now included in the Mabinogion are found in two manuscripts, the older White Book of Rhydderch (c.1300–1325) and the later Red Book of Hergest (c.1375–1425) and Lady Charlotte Guest used only the latter as her source, though later translations have drawn on both books.

The first four tales, called The Four Branches of the Mabinogi, are divided into Pwyll, Branwen, Manawydan and Math and each of these includes the character Pryderi. The Mabinogion scholar W.G.Gruffydd suggested that the four branches of the collection represent the birth, exploits, imprisonment and death of Pryderi.

Mabon is mentioned in the Mabinogion story of The Dream of Rhonabwy in which he is described as one of the King’s chief advisors and fights alongside him at the Battle of Badon. His biggest role comes in the story of Culhwch and Olwen (originally from White Book of Rhydderch). In it is the only known reference to Olwen, and Mabon is still a very minor character in the story. One task of the heroes is to search for Mabon ap Modron, who was imprisoned in a watery Gloucester dungeon. Arthur’s cousin Mabon had been taken from his mother Modron when he was only three nights old, and no one knew whether he was alive or dead. After asking the oldest animals,  they were finally directed to the oldest creature of all: the great Salmon of Llyn Llyw. The salmon recalled hearing of Mabon, and told them that as he swam daily by the wall of Caer Loyw, he heard a constant lamentation. The salmon took Cei and Gwrhyr upon his back to the castle, and they heard Mabon’s cries bewailing his fate. Mabon could not be ransomed, so seeing that force was the only answer, the knights fetched Arthur and his war band to attack the castle. Riding on the salmon’s back, Cai broke through the wall and collected Mabon, both fleeing on the back of the salmon.

Let us suppose for a moment that the god Maponus and the literary hero Mabon are one and the same. We must remember that all the evidence points to Maponus being the young sun god, his youth meaning that he would represent the morning sun or the sun newly reborn after the winter solstice. His theft from his mother after three days would make sense in this light – the three days being the three days the sun stands still at the winter solstice. The imprisonment of the young god underground equates to the sun in the underworld before he is ‘released’ to begin his reign as the new sun. In Culhwch and Olwen, Mabon is said to be imprisoned inside a tower in Gloucester, from which he is freed by Cei and Bedwyr. The ‘missing sun’ or ‘imprisoned sun’ is a premise found in the solar myths of many cultures to explain the night or the shorter days of winter, especially those around the three days of the winter solstice. Such tales often include themes of captivity or the theft of the sun (i.e. the god or object that represents it) and its rescue by a band of heroes, such as Jason and the Argonauts rescuing the Golden Fleece (the sun) from the dragon or the Lithuanian sun goddess Saule, was held in a tower by powerful king, rescued by the zodiac using a giant sledgehammer, or the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu hiding in a cave.

An earlier source that mentions Mabon is the tenth century poem Pa Gur, in which Arthur recounts the great deeds of his knights in order to gain entrance to a fortress guarded by Glewlwyd Gafaelfawr. In this, Arthur describes Mabon fab Madron as one of his men and says that Mabon is a servant of Uther Pendragon. A second Mabon is mentioned, Mabon fab Mellt (‘Mabon Son of Lightning’) and this is interesting, since the sky/storm god is often the father of the sun god in myth, as Zeus is the father of Apollo.

Mabon defeats the monstrous boar, and in myth the boar is often a symbol of winter and the underworld, just as the sun after the winter solstice defeats winter. Mabon then is the divine sun-child born at the winter solstice and this is his festival – he is not the aged god of the harvest or the seed in the ground as Kore is in Greek myth. As Sorita d’Este says:

“Honour Mabon as a Wizard, a Merlin type figure, as the oldest of men and beasts, honour him as the Son of the Mother, and a hero – don’t take that away from him by ignorantly using his name as if it is a different word for Autumn Equinox.  If you really believe that the Old Gods of these lands still live, that they should be honoured and respected, then do that.  Don’t join the generations who tried to belittle the Gods in an effort to diminish their power.”[1]

© Anna Franklin, The Autumn Equinox, History, Lore and Celebration, Lear Books, 2012

[coinandcandle]

re: your post on familiars from, like, almost two years ago (lol)

do you have any resources for reaching out to familiars and/or discovering familiars, specifically though dream work? I have a feeling I've dreamt about familiars in the past (before becoming a witch) and I'm wanting to do some dreamwork to see if I can see them again or contact them in someway.

- @thevirginwitch (forever cursing tumblr for not letting me send asks from specific sideblogs, lol, therefore forcing me to ask anonymously 😔)

Hey friend! Sorry, I wanted to do this question justice so I waited til I was able to do more research!

(First, I assume you're talking about this post.)

Here's what I found:

Familiars vs Magickal Pets - Blog post by "Dead" on the Pagans And Witches Amino. -> There is a familiar calling ritual at the end of the post.

The Crooked Path by Kelvin has a section on Familiar spirits -> see Exercise 27: Meeting a Familiar Spirit

Cunningfolk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby -> So far I haven't found a ritual or spell to conjure a familiar, but she goes into great detail about their history and has some really interesting tidbits!

Familiars in Witchcraft Supernatural Spirits and Guardians by Maja D'Aoust -> I have just started this one but it seems very interesting.

In my opinion, a familiar isn't a particular type of spirit, it is a title or role given to a spirit based on an understanding or contract between the spirit and the witch.

So, I would consider doing a guided meditation focused on meeting a spirit. Even if it doesn't say exactly "familiar" or "familiar spirit", just make sure you go into the meditation with the intention of meeting the spirit that you feel is contacting you. If you can do this meditation on your own, great! I struggle and need a guided meditation otherwise I get distracted and can't drop into the right space for it.

Also consider creating a sigil or doing a spell that allows well-meaning spirits to enter your dreams! They may not be able to get through any wards or protections your have, depending on what you've put around you.

[thevirginwitch]

i’m over 5'5 / i wear glasses or contacts / i have blonde hair / i often wear sweatshirts / i prefer loose clothing over tight clothes / i have one or two piercings / i have at least one tattoo / i have blue eyes / i have dyed or highlighted my hair / i have or have had braces / i have freckles / i paint my nails / i typically wear makeup / i don’t often smile / resting bitch face / i play sports / i play an instrument / i know more than one language / i can cook or bake / i like writing / i like to read / i can multitask / i’ve never dated anyone / i have a best friend i’ve known for over five years / i am an only child

tagging @coinandcandle @fernthewhimsical @teawitch @serpentandthreads !!

tag game 🤭

rules: color the sentence that's true about you

i’m over 5'5 / i wear glasses or contacts / i have blonde hair / i often wear sweatshirts / i prefer loose clothing over tight clothes / i have one or two piercings / i have at least one tattoo / i have blue eyes / i have dyed or highlighted my hair / i have or have had braces / i have freckles / i paint my nails / i typically wear makeup / i don’t often smile / resting bitch face / i play sports / i play an instrument / i know more than one language / i can cook or bake / i like writing / i like to read / i can multitask / i’ve never dated anyone / i have a best friend i’ve known for over five years / i am an only child

this is a whole lot of yellow lmfao

no pressure tags: @marthawrites @schniiipsel @aemonddtargaryen @aemondsbabe @adragonprinceswhore @arcielee @black-dread @lovelykhaleesiii @aemondsbabygirl @valeskafics @connorsui

[thevirginwitch]

City Magic: Painted Rock Wards

This post was released a week early over on my Patreon! You can subscribe for free to be notified of important projects announcements, or subscribe for as little as $2 a month to gain early access to my content, exclusive access to research/reading notes, and free digital goodies! Your support means the world to me and helps me to continue doing what I love.

We’ve all seen those pretty painted rocks over on Pinterest, right? These bad boys? Or perhaps you’ve even seen them around your neighborhood/public parks.

Traditionally, these are meant to be painted (sometimes with words of encouragement) and left in public spaces for people to take home, as an act of kindness. Some others paint them for their garden, either to deter pests with vibrant colors, or they’re used to label whatever’s in their garden.

Now, if you live in a big city, you probably have felt a disconnect from your craft or your practice. It’s difficult to connect with a nature-oriented spirituality, such as witchcraft, when you live in a concrete jungle! But there are many, many ways to feel connected to your craft, even if you don’t live in the middle of the woods or have a lot of nature around you. One of these ways is to connect with your neighborhood.

Your neighborhood has mass significance to your life, whether you realize it or not: this is where you live, where you work, where you breathe, where you practice your craft – you must make yourself known, and make the neighborhood known to yourself as well. One of the best ways to do this is to take walks!

Whenever you’re ready, take a walk through your neighborhood and bring a map, notebook, and a pen. As you walk, observe the behaviors of the residents around you. Do they seem to be struggling with anything? What kind of people are they like? Write these characteristics down. If you notice any parts of your neighborhood that evoke any specific emotions (such as unease, happiness, peace, or anxiety), mark them on your map. You might also notice some “problem areas” – perhaps some patches of the road or sidewalk are horribly paved and need to be repaired, or there’s a lot of loud dogs constantly barking at the end of your block. Mark these areas on your map as well, and report back to your home when you are ready.

Picking Your Purpose

Now that we’ve identified a few “problems” and made observations within your neighborhood, we can decide what we want to do. Do you want to protect against thieves? Ward against illness for one of your elderly neighbors? This is the time to select the primary purpose for your ward.

Picking The Area

Take the map that you marked up during your walk. Connect any common points you see (for example, connect up the "peaceful" areas you marked on your map, or connect any points that have a common theme). What kind of shape does it have? Does it remind you of any popular symbols? Can you use the general shape of the area to generate a sigil or symbol that represents the area? What area(s) would most benefit from your rock wards?

Here is an example of how I created a sigil from a fictional city map I found! Obviously, play around with this idea until it makes sense to you. You can connect up different routes, or perhaps create a border around the areas that feel safest to you.

Now is the time you also want to pick where you want to place your wards - you can use your neighborhood sigil to influence where you place them, or, place them based on intuition or based on need. For example, placing a rock ward at the end of the noisiest block, or in the middle of the block that has the most number of children in the area.

Creating and Using Your Sigils/Symbols

Now, you want to develop symbols or sigils for your purpose. You can use any method you’d like! You may wish to incorporate your neighborhood sigil into each one you create, but ultimately the design is up to you. This is also the point where you would “charge” your sigil, with whatever method you see fit - as long as the design, intention, and charging method makes sense to you, that’s all that matters!

Painting Your Rocks

Finally, onto the fun part!

Now, you could simply paint your sigils on your rock and call it a day. Or, you could paint your sigil, and layer a more “mundane” piece of artwork on top of the sigil, leaving the sigil hidden underneath. This technique works best if the “mundane” artwork connects with the ward’s purpose in some way (for example, if your ward is for protection against nosy neighbors, you could paint eyes; or if your ward is for health, you could paint green colors, or even a red cross). I definitely recommend this “layering” method of painting your rocks so no one in your neighborhood ends up reporting any “suspicious looking rocks” with “satanic symbols” on them to your local Facebook groups!

Materials

acrylic paint

rocks

paint brushes

toothpicks (optional)

paint markers

outdoor/water-proof sealant such as Mod Podge: Outdoor

Instructions

Lay out your rocks and other materials

Seal your rocks with a coat or two of your sealant before you begin painting. This is an important step, since rocks are porous and will suck up any paint you try to apply!

Paint your rocks to your heart's content! If you are layering paint on your rocks, please make sure each layer is dry before painting the next.

Once your rocks are completely dry, seal them up with your outdoor/water-proof sealant so they don't get damaged in the elements.

Lastly, take another trip through your neighborhood to place your rocks. Converse with the neighbors if you feel inclined, and make double-sure of the locations you chose for your wards. I recommend taking regular walks throughout your neighborhood to check on these wards, and make sure they’re doing their job. You may wish to refresh the wards with a new coat of paint, or replace them with something new if the situations within the neighborhood change.

Ultimately, magic is what you make it, especially when you live in a big city. Warding your neighborhood and showing care for the people that live there is one of the many ways you can connect to your neighborhood on a deeper level and feel more connected to your practice locally.

Recommended further reading: Urban Magick by Diana Rajchel

[coinandcandle]

Witchy Review: Witchcraft 101: Pocket Book of Basic Spell Correspondences

I bought this zine from my pal @thevirginwitch

Photo courtesy of Virgo

This won't be a long review because it's a zine and it's a short read but it's so cute!

First and foremost the design: the design is reminiscent of those cutesy journals that some people are blessed to have the patience to make and I love the aesthetic of it.

I also appreciate that on the back, very obviously, Virgo states that these correspondences are their personal correspondences (I'm paraphrasing!). This is great because all too often I see correspondence posts, pages, and books that decide to forego this bit of info and that can get really confusing for new witches who don't know what to take as fact and what to take as personal experience/opinion.

They also have a "how to use this zine" section which encourages the reader to continue their research past the info on the zine. Love the encouragement to pursue education <3 Included in the zine are correspondences relating to:

days of the week

colors

crystals

elements

herbs

Price: They're selling it for a great price, only $6.99 USD on their etsy and they added stickers and a handwritten note to the order, (and even though we're friends, they had no clue it was me who ordered it!). Plus it arrived in a timely manner and in perfect condition!

Would I recommend this? Absolutely! If you're new to witchcraft and you want to 1) get a feel for others' correspondences and practices and 2) help support a wonderful creator then I think you'll enjoy Virgo's zine! <:

Here's a fun photo I took of the zine but the lighting kinda messes with the colors so I put Virgo's photo first lol:

[rosecoloredtarot]

Tagged by @friend-crow and @aesethewitch

are you named after someone? I don't think so. My real name is the same as my dad's middle name, but I'm pretty sure that is a happy accident

what sports have you played? 3 years of little league, 3 years of soccer. Mom was adamant that all of us play team sports growing up. I was the only one of my siblings who did not continue past the required time

do you use sarcasm? all. the. time. I was such a sarcastic ass growing up. Now, I know how to layer it with charm so people don't want to punch me as often

what is the first thing you notice about people? like randos walking down the street? cute butts

what’s your eyes color? Hazel

scary movies or happy endings ? scary, scary and more scary. I used to watch terrible Netflix horror movies to fall asleep. Very few scary movies actually scare me, but I do have a weakness when it comes to zombies. Something about them haunts my dreams.

any talent? I play piano, cook very well and can grow almost anything. I am also really good at doing math in my head. At my last job, I was the human calculator and spell check.

what are your hobbies? I play piano, cook very well and can grow almost anything. idk my hobbies are my talents

do you have any pets? Many! 2 dogs, 2 cats, a ball python and as of last week, 6 chickens

how tall are you? 5'7"? I think that's what it says on my license. Although I have been told I seem taller than I actually am.

dream job? I do not dream about labor. I dream about zombies.

Who should I inflict this upon? @nightshade-storms @jasper-the-menace @fernthewhimsical @thevirginwitch

[thevirginwitch]

Held a decent-sized gathering for my coven! We had a potluck and did a fantastic secular ritual based around apples. Oh, and fire - LOTS of fire. 🍁🔥🍎

What is everyone doing for the Autumn Equinox?

I'm planning on leaving out on offering to Demeter and Persephone then making myself an apple cobbler/crumble!

[wolverinesorcery]

would you ever share photos of your grimoire? i saw your post about it having annotations/a bibliography and it sounds super interesting! - @thevirginwitch

My current massive grimoire is in a word document [with the very eventual goal of maybe getting it printed as a handbook I can reference on the go], so I can share screenshots of it no problem! My bibliography is cited in the harvard method [it's the one I'm most familiar with from my university days] - this is just a part of it since it's currently several pages long.

I also have in-text citations for anything that isn't my own personal gnosis, so far this is mostly limited to my flora section [plants, shrubs, trees, etc]

Most of the reason I like citing & having a bibliography is because then I can keep track of what I've read + what's come from where if it's not from my own experiences.

I also have citations + references for the handful of charms I've used directly from folkloric or historical sources, to distinguish them from my home-made charms :-)

If there's any other snippets you'd like to see, or questions, let me know!

[fernthewhimsical]

Tagged by @coinandcandle and @thevirginwitch <3

Rules: Tag 10 people you want to know better!

Relationship status: Married! Just got back from celebrating my 10 year wedding anniversary <3

Favorite color: Jewel green

Song stuck in head: a background song from the game Cozy Grove

Last song I listened to: Meaningless by K's Choice

Three favorite foods: Sticky lemon tofu, goat cheese macarons, croissants

Last thing I googled: "Queer magic Tomás Prower"

Dream trip: Norway

Anything I want right now: For my walls to paint themselves, lol!

Tagging: @book-of-whispers, @broomsick, @cottageshadowwitch, @elizatungusnakur @glossyfeathers @heretoboogie, @whichwitchami

[broomsick]

3 & 17 for the polytheist ask game! -@thevirginwitch

Hi Virgo! Thank you so much for the question!

3: which patheon(s) do you worship?

I worship the norse pantheon, by which I mean the Æsir, the Vanir and the Rökkr, but I also venerate Jötnar and spirits such as the landvættir (skogvættir more often than not) and the Dísir. Some specific spirits I worship are the Greenman whom I see as a forest spirit, and the Fox spirit.

17. Do you have any UPG’s?

I do! I actually have quite a few, but I’ll just say those which I find the strongest and which come to my mind. I believe that Thórr is extremely playful, and that He’s a fan of handicrafts. He loves to receive them! To me, Freyr feels super free-spirited but also quite protective, in the sense that He always wants to cheer you up when you’re feeling down. I associate Him a lot with sunsets. Freyja has always been followed by the smell of flowers when She came to me, but like, the single most exquisite smell you’ve ever experienced. Ódinn’s presence is extremely calming but He never really “speaks”. Communing with Him is like looking out onto the sea on a cloudy day and you just naturally understands what He wants you to feel without there being any specific message. I’ve experienced Frigg’s presence very strongly recently, which was totally new for me because I’d never felt especially drawn to Her. She came to me through a sort of dream, as I was about to fall asleep. She looked surprisingly young and we were both inside a warm and homely cabin at the heart of a large forest, where snow was falling. She was preparing a meal for me and saying words of comfort. I just knew it was Her! As for Baldr, in my experience at least, He’s fond of extremely cold but sunny days, as well as calm instrumental music, like the harp. His presence feels somewhat like that of a child, because He is eager to know about you and He is curious about your life, asking many questions. He always presents as cheerful to me and when He is not, He is simply comforting. He feels like a sincere smile. To me, Loki likes rock music! He also loves to play pranks and make you jump out of your skin, so much so that it can almost be scary, but He never has any bad intentions. He’s actually pretty sweet and fun! Plus, He also sort of smells like the smoke from a fire. I have plenty other UPG’s but I’ll stop here: we don’t want to make this post too long! I’ll direct you to this previous post I made, where I listed what some of the Gods feel like to me!

[thevirginwitch]

Reblogging to add: PLEASE RESEARCH WHAT YOU CAN/CAN'T LEAVE OUT IN NATURE. Even something as simple (and very common in spell jars) as salt can be catastrophic to soil and plant life, so please be careful with what you "return to nature"!

How Do I Disassemble A Spell Jar?

I’ve seen way too many posts about how to make one, but never any about how to take one apart.

If you buried your spell jar (or otherwise placed it somewhere not in your general vicinity), retrieve it first.

There are a few ways to go about disassembling a spell jar.

Throwing Everything Away

Returning It to Nature

Burning It

Putting It Into Another Container for Safekeeping

Retrieving the Reusable Ingredients (crystals, shells, etc.) and Getting Rid of the Rest

Throwing Everything Away

As simple as it sounds. I would recommend breaking the seal (melting it or even just stabbing it) before getting rid of it, to break the spell itself. Keep the jar and wash it or throw it away with the rest of it. Throw the contents into the trash (or a dumpster, if you don’t want it near you).

Returning It to Nature

Also very simple. Can only be used with natural ingredients. Do not dump in rivers. Retrieve any non-organic materials (crystals, shells, poppets, etc.) to either reuse or get rid of separately. Be sure it doesn’t include things that can harm the local wildlife.

Burning It

Empty the contents of the jar into a different, fire-safe bowl or plate. Then, burn it. Simple as that. Lighters or matches, it doesn’t matter. Be sure that you and any pets or family can inhale the fumes from it. This is usually used with spells that have little amounts of ingredients. Be sure to research fire safety and safety when it comes to burning herbs and other ingredients.

Putting It Into Another Container for Safekeeping

Transferring the contents into a different container. Usually done when you want to reuse the jar or size down the original jar. Break the seal, pour it into your other container, seal that, and you’re done. Super easy. Can also be used when putting a spell into a ‘dormant’ state.

Retrieving the Reusable Ingredients and Getting Rid of the Rest

What I see the most in the witch community. Reusable ingredients include crystals, shells, rocks, bones, and anything else that can be used again. Doing this is a bit harder when the jar has liquid. Break the seal and place the contents of the jar into another container. Then, pick out all of the reusable items, the ones that you want to keep. Wash them and dispose of the contents of the jar through one of the methods above.

Notes

When disassembling a spell jar, it’s always good to declare the intentions of the jar done (or dormant). If the spell could have negative consequences on your or someone else’s life, be sure to neutralize the energy you have put into the spell. Cast a counter-spell or just neutralize the spell. Please tell me if I missed anything!

[thevirginwitch]

Weather Witchcraft & Correspondences Notes

This post was released early for subscribers over on my Patreon! If you like my work, and would love to check out some pretty sweet rewards, you can support me on Patreon for as little as $2/month!

Rain

second changes, renewal, cleansing

emotions, intuition, connecting with your inner self

Activities

Meditate in the rain: imagine the water washing away your worries

Snow

representative of the macrocosm/microcosm (think of the way each snowflake is unique, yet snowflakes pile on and on until they create huge blankets of snow)

concealment, hidden magic

purity, freshness, innocence (this has less to do with color magic [that old concept of black vs. white magic] and more to do with the way fresh snow looks)

revelation, awareness

cooperation, unity

Activities

Find an area covered in snow and, using your finger or a stick, write a wish in the snow. Watch the open spaces fill back in as the snow falls, and imagine your wish is being carried out by the universe.

Hail

haste, speed, action

power, motivation

strength

Activities

When you  hear hail, close your eyes and focus your energy on something you've been avoiding. Using the energy of the hail, write out a plan to tackle the problem at hand. When the hail ends, you will have gained the strength you need to carry out these tasks - don't be afraid to ask for help from others if necessary!

Thunderstorm

power, amplification

contains power of all four elements: earth=thunder, fire=lightning, air, and water

Activities

Count the seconds between lightning and thunder as the storm approaches. When the storm is at its peak (there's no delay between the lightning and thunder), focus on your current magical workings. Feel your energy pour into the storm as the storm fills you with strength and power. Imagine the storm continue to pour strength into you and your magical workings as it fades away.

High Sun (Hot Days)

strength, endurance

intense

projective

analytical, objective

Activities

Take a yellow, orange, or red stone and let it charge under the sun for a few hours on a hot day (be sure to double-check that your stone/crystal is sun-safe). Place the stone on your altar, desk, or area of your preference. Pull out the stone and call on its energy when you need a boost of strength or endurance. 

Sources:

Weather or Not: Two Books About the Magic of Timing & the Timing of Magic by Katrina Rasbold Stormy dividers are from @firefly-graphics

[windvexer]

what's a spell component you always keep on hand/can't go without? -@thevirginwitch

Fire

[creature-wizard]

Hello friend! I am currently doing research on modern paganism, and have found a few notes in some of the book I'm reading about how many practitioners of the Craft between the 70s and 90s believed they were following an "old", traditional religion of Great Britain and Northern Europe that predates Christianity. Have you read up on this at all? I swear I've seen the term "old and true religion" float around on this hellsite before, from people who consider themselves pagan, but I cannot find any additional sources for the life of me. If you have any further resources on this "old religion", or if you have your own thoughts on the matter, I would love to hear them! -@thevirginwitch

Ya, no problem!

So basically, the witchcraft movement of the 20th century was heavily inspired by Margaret Murray's witch cult hypothesis, which basically postulated that the witch hunts of the early modern era were targeting a surviving form of pre-Christian religion. The whole thing has been discredited, and we now understand that early modern beliefs about witches were essentially a bunch of conspiracy theories.

Justin Sledge on ESOTERICA has some good videos about the witch hunts and the actual reasons for them, so I'd recommend giving those a look!

[thevirginwitch]

I've been researching "alternatives" to ancestor veneration recently, and this is an awesome idea for those of us who have shitty ancestors we'd rather not work with, or for those of us who were ostracized by our own families. Venerating ourselves can absolutely scratch that "itch" for those who still want to participate in a form of ancestor veneration.

Part of making your own altar could of course involve anything you'd use on a "normal" altar. Add anything you'd like - your favorite crystals, artwork you've made or are a fan of, your favorite herbs, etc. Keeping sentimental items like stuffed animals, figures, trinkets, and other items would boost the power of your altar. For me, my personal altar consists of a few items I inherited from my mother, along with my favorite crystals and trinkets. I also keep my favorite tarot deck on my altar when I am not actively using it.

You could also try making your own candles - whether they're real or LED candles - and decorating them how you see fit, and lighting it on your personal altar whenever you need an energy boost. You could even have different candles for different purposes that you can light whenever needed - for example, a candle for money, a candle for happiness, a candle for good health - whatever you feel is important enough to keep on your personal altar.

Adding images, figurines, or items that remind you of your "best" self, or things that comfort you when you are going through rough times is another option. For example, adding sigils or affirmations, inspiring quotes, and even soothing sensory toys.

Keeping a journal alongside your altar would be greatly beneficial as well - write out shadow work prompts, journal normally, sketch, meditate and write out your thoughts - it will become a catalog of, well, YOU! And it will be something great to look back on and observe your growth as a person.

There really aren't any rules to making an altar for yourself - but thought I'd share some of these ideas for those who might be interested!

So I understand why we have alters/shrines for deities, and I have two separate ones for Hekate and Loki.

But how about also having an alter/shrine to ourselves? Worship ourselves like we would the gods? We are spiritual beings, and I think we deserve our own worship as spiritual beings but also as self care and self-love to ourselves. (Especially if we struggle with that!)

I heard about someone saying to image your a demon in a humans body that you have to look after but what if we made a shrine/alter for ourselves and treat ourselves with that respect and devotion we show to a deity?

I'm thinking of trying it and seeing how it goes.

[rivarinas]

wild rosemary [bahulʹnyk]

⠀⠀⠀//: wild rosemary is a poisonous plant of the Far East and some regions of Siberia. its leaves and branches (and especially flowers, pollen and seeds) emit a sharp, specific intoxicating smell. in the old days, rural tavern-keepers often insisted wild rosemary in moonshine in order to stupefy the client and extract more money from him.

⠀⠀⠀Somewhere it was believed that with its help you can send madness, cause an evil spirit, somewhere it was considered one of the most effective love potions. in Carpathian legends, it is depicted as a strong love spell. in the Far East there is an ancient belief, remotely similar to the legend of the fern, that the wild rosemary is a magical bush that can talk, knows all the secrets, including where the treasures are buried.

⠀⠀⠀In the symbolic language of plants, rosemary flowers symbolize courage and disregard for death. for centuries it was believed that rosemary strengthens memory and clarity of mind, improves mood, protects against evil influences from outside and evil thoughts inside.

⠀⠀⠀Blooming, it paints all the hills in a bright, unnatural color - as if the dawn had spread over the mountains and glades.