breelandwalker:

sweetwaterkill:

breelandwalker:

For those of us who deal with the dead on a semi-regular basis, the phenomenon of being visited or “followed home” is probably not too unfamiliar. For those who don’t engage in spirit work or who aren’t familiar with the paranormal, the experience is a good deal more unsettling. Either way, one of three things usually happens:

1. The entity is pleasant to have around, causes little to no trouble, and is easy to live with, so the living occupants have no problem with it staying.
2. There is some conflict, usually in the form of startling apparitions, noises in the night, or objects moving on their own, but nothing is severe enough to cause alarm; or alternatively, the living occupants do not know how to get rid of the entity, so they either grin and bear it or move out.
3. People or animals are harmed, there is large-scale destruction, verbal or physical threats are made, or possession occurs. When this happens, it’s time to tell the entity to kindly get the fuck out of your home.

There are a number of methods for banishing malevolent spirits from your home. They range from a simple cleansing and reclaiming of territory to a fullblown exorcism.

House cleansings are a simple and easy way to clear the air, so to speak, and regain control of your environment. They are gentler, but no less powerful if you’re willing to really put your foot down and can get your hands on the right supplies. (Don’t worry, the basic ones are pretty inexpensive.)

Exorcism is generally a more ritualized approach to the problem and can (and often does) involve religious rites. This is usually employed in severe cases, or in emergencies. Cleansing is to exorcism as a fistfight is to all-out-war.

If you choose to perform a cleansing or an exorcism, or have one performed on your behalf, you should understand that things can get worse before they get better. The first go-round may not work, repeated sessions may be needed, or the entity may simply be too strong to be expelled.

Step One: Prevention
“No, You Can’t Come In.”

If you find yourself working with spirits often, or you just feel like covering your ass (which is a legitimate concern for more than just ghosty things), a regular warding of your person, property, and house can help keep out those invisible interlopers before they get in to start trouble.

The most common ingredient in many warding mixtures is that darling of the Supernatural fandom, good old SALT. Salt has a purifying and barrier-like effect in protective applications, and is fairly easy and inexpensive to obtain. Oh and don’t fret in the spice aisle over whether to get that grinder of sea salt or the canister of Morton’s. Table salt works just fine.

Other warding and banishing herbs you can find in the spice aisle include:

• Anise
• Black Pepper
• Basil
• Bay Leaf
• Cayenne Powder
• Chili Powder
• Cloves
• Cumin
• Curry Powder
• Garlic
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Sage
• Thyme

If you’re willing to pop over to the produce section, there are a few other things you can pick up to help you out.

• Apple (the seeds, specifically)
• Garlic Cloves
• Leek
• Orange
• Papaya
• Peach (you just need the pit)
• Plantain

Using these super-simple ingredients, you can put together some pretty badass household protection charms or property wards, whatever suits you best.

For a simple household protection charm, you can put together a charm bag. You can use any of the herbs listed about, but my usual formula is:

• Basil
• Bay
• Rosemary
• Salt

Simple, elegant, easy to acquire. Put a spoonful of each into a sachet bag (muslin or cotton works well to keep dust and small particles from falling out) and hang the bag by your bedroom door, front door, kitchen door, wherever you feel it will do the most good.

Salt can also be used to line the thresholds and the windowsills. You don’t need to go overboard; a simple sprinkle will suffice. Rosemary can be added to floor washes to keep things cleansed, not to mention smelling piney-fresh. A string of garlic cloves or bundle of dried herbs hanging in the kitchen pulls double time as an ornament and a protective charm.

In addition, you can try out the following:

• Personal Warding Tutorial
• Simple Protections for Yourself and Your Home
• Wall of Fire Property & House Protection Spell

Of course, no system is foolproof, and sometimes troublesome entities may slip by your defenses. That’s when it might be time for…

Step 2 – Banishing“Get Out…”

About nine times out of ten, a ghost that is firmly shown the door will oblige you by leaving. So long as you’re strong and stand your ground and don’t get hysterical or issue a challenge, you should be fine. Never say “Get out or else” or any permutation thereof. Anything remotely confrontational will see it as a challenge and then shit can get real in a hurry.

Lots of people, pagan and otherwise, will recommend some form of smoke-cleansing. (Smoke-cleaning. Or recaning. Don’t you dare call it smudging. Don’t you dare call it smudging. I will FIND you.) White sage is the most commonly recommended substance for this, but since white sage can be hella expensive and the New-Age demand for it is starting to threaten wild populations, here are some cheaper, equally effective alternatives:

• Rosemary
• Basil
• Bay Leaf
• Thyme
• Lavender
• Peppermint
• Cedar Tips

There are a few more expensive herbs that I recommend for banishing bags or incense blends. These are available online, if you don’t have a specialty shop near you. Here are the online shops I most recommend:

• Starwest Botanicals
• Ruth Roy’s Well-Cat Herbs
• The Magickal Cat
• Mountain Rose Herbs

The herbs you’ll want to look for to include in high-powered banishing charms are as follows:

• Angelica Root
• Cascara Segrada Bark
• Dragon’s Blood (resin or oil)
• Rowan
• Solomon’s Seal Root
• Vervain

Keep in mind: these herbs are great if you can get them, but they aren’t necessary.

It’s also a good idea to determine exactly what level of haunting you’re dealing with, in order to determine an appropriate response. I have my own scale, but you should feel free to make your own. The more severe and threatening the activity, the stronger your response needs to be.

Now then, on to the banishing methods.

• Make another charm bag with any of the ingredients listed above. Hang it by the front door or wherever you feel it is needed.
• Smoke-cleanse with a bundle of dried herbs, fanning the smoke through every room. Open the windows if you need to, but close them directly after you’re done, or line them with salt to keep things from getting back in.
• Simmer an herb (basil works best) for a few minutes and use the water to spray the corners of every room. The proverb is “Where basil grows, no evil goes.”
• Or you can just walk through the house and metaphysically piss in all the corners if you want.

The most important thing is to OWN the space. This is your home. Defend it. Your wards and banishings are only as strong as your determination to hold them.

If you feel the problem warrants an exorcism instead, you may want to contact someone who has had experience doing them, or a local member of the whichever clergy you prefer. If you feel confident in doing the exorcism yourself, or if you have your own realm of experience to draw from, any of the banishing methods listed above can be altered to include religious rites or activities.

Now that you’ve cleared your house, it’s time for…

Step 3 – Post-Op Protection
“…And STAY Out!”

Be aware that multiple cleansing may be needed if the first one doesn’t stick or if the entity you’re dealing with is particularly stubborn or malevolent. Don’t be afraid to reach out for help. Sometimes you need a team effort to get the job done.

Warding your house after a cleansing or exorcism is essential. Once you’re done kicking ethereal butts out of your house, you’ll need to lock the doors, in a manner of speaking. Any of the warding methods from Step 1 are acceptable at this juncture.

Refresh your wards and protections regularly, especially if you regular engage in spirit work, ghost-hunting, divination, that sort of thing. These are not “bad” activities, but they can attract spirits like a freshly-baked pie in an open window. It’s important to maintain the safety of your space and of your person.

If in doubt, my askbox is always open for personalized advice.

Good reminders this time of year, when it seems like EVERYONE seems comfortable just hanging around.

Just a quick note, since this seems to be making the rounds again –

I wrote this post back when I was actively working with spirits every day as well as looking to make a name for myself in the community. I have since moved away from that house, I no longer have to deal with dead people all the time, and I have stopped doing spirit work if I can avoid it.

Please use the information in this post if it helps you, but kindly do not contact me regarding personal situations.

shipping-the-gods:

As many of you probably know, I am a very curse-friendly witch. If
someone is out to harm me, or is willing to harm the people in my
circles, I can and will curse them.

I will not curse people
for no reason of course, and neither will I curse the people that have
done small, insignificant things. As such, my curses are strong, and
usually pretty fierce. I have learned a thing or two about protecting
oneself when casting curses, and I thought sharing a few of these things
may be helpful to you all 🙂

This is the third post
out of four in which I will be giving advice and personal insight on
methods of staying safe before. during, and after cursing. I hope they
help you and keep you well!

After You Curse

Take care of yourself as soon as you finish cursing, even when you don’t think you need to.

I often feel drained, cranky, and a little bit sore after doing a curse, and even though I don’t feel like it, I begin healing from it.

After you curse your target, put them out of your mind. Follow the directions for getting rid of your supplies/mediums/etc. and distract yourself for an hour or so.

Here is my personal list of things to do after I curse someone:

1. Put all witchy things away. Clean up any messes you’ve made and clean up the space you used. Out of sight, out of mind.
2. Cleanse your entire home, and pay special attention to the place you used for cursing. Even something simple like smoke cleansing or salt sprinkling works perfectly fine. Just do something to balance out the energies.
3. Eat something warm and fulfilling, like macaroni or another comfort food. The earthier the better; it’s helpful when grounding. If you have any grounding stones, chill out with them for a bit.
4. Get into an herb filled bath or shower, and cleanse yourself both physically and spiritually. I like to put salt into a spray bottle and spritz myself with it beforehand, since putting it directly into my bath irritates my skin. It feels really good for it to roll off into the water when I step out, clean and fresh. Mint, lavender, and rose petals are my favorite bath additions after a curse. Healing, protection, love, and cleansing 🙂
5. Put on new clothes, dry your hair, and spend time pampering yourself. Moisturize your skin, paint your nails, and otherwise treat yourself well.
6. Pick out your favorite movie/show, and prepare your bed with comfy pillows and blankets. Close your blonds and keep all the light/darkness out. Climb into bed and watch whatever you’d like. Pop popcorn, drink hot cocoa. Have some fun.
7. Burn any self love/protection sigils you want to use. Strengthen your protection with a few little charms, such as a braided bracelet, or a small bottle. Don’t wear yourself out, but make sure you’re safe.
8. Get sleep. You’ll need it after all that energy you just expended!

So there’s a reason I do all this stuff, I promise.

The reason I spend so much time doing self-care rituals and setting up time to specifically do nothing for a few hours is because I attract and give off a lot of negative energy when cursing. Everyone does. It’s how you curse someone.

By taking care of your body, grounding all your anger, and relaxing, you’re attracting positive energy. You already sent all that nasty energy out to your target, so now all you have to do is sit back and watch 🙂 You’re telling the Universe and whatever energy you created that your home and body is not the target. Burning extra sigils is just to ensure that, and isn’t entirely necessary. I  like feeling safe and secure, and burning sigils to add to my already present protection always helps.

The sleep part is the only thing I really feel like I couldn’t go without.

I use so much energy and raw emotion when cursing. Sleep regenerates all that energy and helps me find a nice place to wake to. I’m refreshed and ready to watch my target for signs that it’s starting to work. Or watch for signs of a backlash/counter curse.

(And sometimes there is a backlash or counter curse, but we’ll go more in depth with that in my last post in this series)

For the next two or three days after your curse, be gentle with yourself.

Don’t do too many energy workings or extreme spells/divination sessions. You’ll want to recuperate yourself and build your energy with little things, like crystal grids or herbal teas. Do things that fuel you in one way or another. My favorite methods are:

• Placing a little candle in a crystal candle-holder and meditating next to it.
• Drinking energy-filled cups of herbal tea. I stir it clockwise to bring in energy, add a little sugar, and drink it ^_^ Tastes wonderful and feels great.
• Sitting beneath the sun/moon/stars and just soaking up the energy from them works wonders.
• Burning energy sigils.
• Lighting candles around me and playing with crystals/herbs.
• Lying in the grass and connecting my energy to the Earth/Grounding in general.
• Sitting on top of something warm, like a vent, and taking in the energy from that. 

So there are a ton of ways, and these are not all of them by any means. I just like getting all surrounded by energy so I can take it in and feel good. If you do certain things that make you feel energized, try them out after you curse and see if they help.

After this time of resetting yourself, you may want to add a few small protection enchantments over you and your home.

I actually protect any of my friends and family as well as my pets when I curse, because I don’t want them to get in the way and get cursed or suffer my backlash. So this is usually when I do that, and the rituals typically involve witches bottles and poppets. It’s never a bad idea to do this before you curse, either.

Small little things like sachets or charms might be nice to do after you curse. I enjoy making bracelets with beads corresponding with what I am protecting. Red/orange for my home/hearth, glittery/shiny beads for my spirit/magick, brown for my foundation, etc.

If you’re into potion making or are a kitchen with, you might want to consider eating/drinking things that are protective. Adding spices here and there for a little boost is a wise choice.

Now that you’ve gone thought all your self-care and protection rituals, document what you did so that you can go back for future reference.

It’s nice to have a written record of what you’ve already done, so that you can check for holes if you experience a backlash. For example, if you forget to protect your love life, and suddenly everything is falling apart, you can first check to see if your curse might backlash in that way, and then see if you didn’t put enough coverage over that aspect.

After you figure out how it could potentially be backlashing, you can set up protections and the problem will be solved much faster than if you hadn’t kept record of what you had done.

So that’s it for this post 🙂 I hope you all curse safely and take care of yourself afterwards! 😀 Good luck everyone! 🙂

**Note that some Herbs are not safe to put in bath water, and some herbs are toxic/dangerous to handle, ans are not the best for teas. Some people experience side effects when drinking herbal tea, so make sure it’s safe before drinking, especially if you are pregnant or taking medications of any kind**

violetwitchcraft:

I do!

• Don’t feel like you need a witchy label, you don’t
• Don’t feel like you need to worship a god or goddess to be a witch, you don’t
• practise what feels natural, if something doesn’t click then don’t force it
• spend time outside, talk to the wind, feel the energy in the trees, let the moon fill you with magic
• your mind is your best tool; you don’t need every herb or crystal under the sky to practise
• meditation will help you find yourself
• make friends, join witchy chat groups but keep in mind that no one views one subject the same and there is a good chance they might be doing something either incorrect or harmful depending on what you end up believing in
• Wicca is not the same thing as witchcraft, though many authors and blogs use the terms interchangeably when they mean different things
• Keeping that in mind, Wicca books are still amazing reads for witches because of the use of witchcraft in Wicca
• If anyone tells you that Wicca is an old religion they have no idea what they are talking about
• Stay away from silver ravenwolf books, don’t practise ‘smudging’, don’t use a dreamcatcher (they won’t actually work unless you buy from a native which some people say is ok and some people say is wrong, but explaining why will take too long and this is a touchy subject in the community)
• don’t take practises from cultures that don’t want to share them
• have fun
• make spells up as you go along
• don’t worry when they fail
• age does not equal knowledge; there are many older witches who aren’t as well informed as they seem
• Stay away from the drama, it’s not worth it and will only make you mad

witchy masterposts are your best friend. Here is a masterpost of masterposts. This is a lot of information to take in so I suggest just going super slow with it, maybe focusing on one subject per week. I’m just dumping all this info here so you can keep coming back to it for reference, don’t look at it all at once!

• Tari’s Tips For Those Considering Witchcraft
• Cunning Celt’s Beginner Guide Glossary Of Common Terms
• The Master Post To Rule All Masterposts; Has SO MUCH STUFF
• A Sigil Witch’s Beginner Witchcraft Resources Masterpost
• Natural Magic’s Books And Resources
• Tari’s Spellbook Masterpost
• Crystal Prescriptions
• Green Kitchen Witch’s Crash Course On Fake Gemstones
• Element Information
• Commonly Used Materials Of The Craft
• Limited Witchcraft Masterpost
• Necromancy
• Masterlist of Ways To Tell Fortunes
• Types Of Witchcraft

I could go on forever but you get the point. DON’T FORGET TO HAVE FUN!!!! ❤

thewitchyandtheturtle:

This was taken from a Group on Facebook, thought I would share it here! 

Learning to Use a Mortar and Pestle
This tool will allow you to create wonderful, healthy foods and bring out the essential oils and flavor essences of your herbs and spices in a natural way.

You can also consider it an effective tool to use when the power goes out. Just as you may have a hand grinder for wheat and you’ll now have a hand food processor.

A small glass or porcelain set will be good to grind tablets and medications. Used as a kitchen tool you can make sauces and mix spices with it. 

Just so you know – the word mortar comes from the Latin word mortarium, which means “receptacle for pounding” and pestle comes from the Latin word pestillum, meaning “pounder”

Before You Use Your New Mortar and Pestle the First Time:

Just like a new dutch oven, you need to clean and season your new mortar and pestle. This process will clean out the stone dust that is inherently left during the manufacturing process (assuming you purchase yours new).

Wash it in clean water, without detergent and let it air dry. In fact, you should never wash it with soap unless you want your fantastic creations tainted with it. You should always use it dry, a wet mortar might gum up your dry ingredients.

Roughly grind a small handful of white rice. Discard and repeat until the rice grinds white. It will take several grinds. If you have a white mortar and pestle, plan on grinding three times. This is somewhat cumbersome in the small mortars but is great practice and you should be a grinding pro by the time you’re done. If your mortar has a tendency to slip on the counter while you are learning, put a non-skid shelf liner under it.

Next add 4 cloves of garlic, mash and muddle.

Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper to the garlic. Grind it all together, enjoy the smells, and discard.

Wash it again in clean water, without soap, and air dry.

In their book, Alchemy of the Mortar and Pestle, D & P Gramp suggest this rule of thumb when adding ingredients:

Driest ingredients first (dried herbs and spices, flour, etc.)
Moist ones next (garlic, onion, brown sugar, fresh herbs, etc.)
Oily ones next (anchovy, nuts, oils, cheese, butter, etc)
Wet ones next (lemon juice, stock, vinegar, honey, soy, etc)
Taste and add salt if needed

For those of you here who are witches or if you are simply an herbalist, you also know that you can make many things with the use of a pestle & mortar.

The book Alchemy of the Mortar and Pestle by D & P Gramp is chock full of recipes. Not only do they give some background on this wonderful tool, their recipes are easy to follow. 

Resources:
https://www.facebook.com/thepagancircle
http://preparednessmama.com

I love my mortar and pestle, I have a soapstone one as well as a wooden one. the wooden one I use for things like salts and resins, while the soapstone I use for my herbs and roots. 

With all magickal tools, keep them safe from small hands, because its easy for them to pinch their fingers. Also, make sure you at the very least wipe out the inside of the mortar after each use with a damp paper towel or cloth. (especially if you use yours for resin)

Try to have one that is used for Food grade preparation, and another for Magick. This way, any poisonous herbs you use in incenses and such are not contaminating your delicious food. 

lady–antebellum:

Fruit or herb infused water (making sure you’re using safe and edible ones, of course) can be a great way to have a magical boost for the day

Like, imagine if you want a little help when job hunting

Toss some sliced strawberries (luck), sliced oranges (luck, employment, money), and mint (knowledge, employment) into a container (bottle, thermos, even a pitcher) and let it sit in the fridge overnight

Voila, you have infused water tailored to your need and intent. Plus, for other witches who need to keep things hidden, it’s healthy and popular so most people wouldn’t question it too much