Halloween Festivities

Can I just say that I love autumn? It’s strange, because never before would I have considered it my favorite season until now. I’ve missed it, but I didn’t understand how much I missed it until it came back around. There are many great things about fall, from the food to the pretty colors of the leaves to the fun activities.

So, for this blog post, I’m going to talk about fun ideas I’ve brainstormed and some other ideas that my friends have mentioned to shake things up this fall, but particularly, this Halloween.

1) Jack-o-lanterns: Carving pumpkins has always been a fun part of this holiday for me. They always look really cool on Halloween night and making pumpkin pie out of the carvings and eating the seeds is always fun. This year, why not try to empower the pumpkins with protective energy? Try putting dried herbs in them like rosemary. Also, you could empower the pumpkins to provide welcome vibes to your home for all those who bring good energy that come by.

2) Scarecrows: I’ve never made one before, but I can imagine this would be a fun activity, as I saw many people around my college campus making them today. You could also empower these for protective energy or use them as giant poppets. Stuffing them with straw and herbs for your purpose could also help the process along.

3) Apples: These fruit are harvested in this season and are perfect for a lot of magickal work. The apple has a lot of representations, some being love, health, and temptation. This weekend, my girlfriend and I made apple cider cupcakes and empowered them with love and cozy warmth. We shared them with our friends and everyone really liked them.

Those are the few things I thought of and I hope you find them useful. I also wanted to mention a really cool book I found in the discount bookstore in my college town. It is called Everyday Sun Magic by Dorothy Morrison. I didn’t end up buying it, since I didn’t have the funds to do so, but I did look through it and hope I can save up enough to buy it. It’s a book all about the sun and the God and has some great spells to do with the sun. If you’re interested in learning more about sun magic, that book may be a good option. It inspired me and I hope to be performing magick with the sun as well as the moon. Maybe I can connect on both levels instead of only one. I know when to work with the moon, but now I want to know more about working with the sun. I’ll probably keep my findings posted here when I discover something I’d like to share, be it a spell or information.

For those of you who know about my playdough runes that I made, they still have yet to turn completely dry. I’m not sure what’s taking so long, but I know they’re getting there. I think it’s because I made really thick runes and now the moisture is taking longer to escape. Oh well, they’re almost there! So for those of you making amulets and talismans or anything else with your magickal playdough, keep in mind it may take awhile to dry out!

Blessed be.  

The Magick of Playdough

So, these past few days have found me running around like a chicken with its head cut off. After being smacked in the face with a few holds on my enrollment, everything else sort of disappeared. My mind went into overdrive trying to accomplish everything at once and the time whizzed by at the speed of light. Only after getting a hold on my life did I realize that my college Wiccan club was going to make runes for Monday night. We were asked to bring items to make runes with, rocks, bottle caps, whatever suited our fancy. I had this grand adventure planned out to go search for the right rocks, but as it turned out, daylight was scarce, and my recuperation time took the form of sleeping and being in the company of friends.

Monday morning rolled around and I didn’t have anything to make runes with and did not have time to go rock hunting as I had planned. So, feeling a little distraught and looking for sympathy, I talked to my girlfriend about the issue. She said I should use playdough.

I have to say, I didn’t expect this answer, but it was a stroke of genius. She told me I could make playdough really easily and so I looked up a couple recipes online. I used the one that I had time for and went about making my playdough. It was a very pleasant experience and brought me back to childhood in a way. Did you know there is a lot of salt in homemade playdough? You could dehydrate a cow with how much salt is in it.

Still, the playdough worked to make my runes, though I made them thicker so that when they dry and turn a bit brittle, they won’t break too easily. Right now I’m waiting for them to dry and I am very excited to use them. Making these runes also has led me to think of the other magickal things one can do with playdough. One can make amulets and talismans, goddess and god figures, one can even use playdough as a stress reliever, and also to represent the changing of a situation. One can scent playdough for different purposes by using different extracts and oils, and one can also dye the playdough colors using food dye. It was amazing to discover all of these possibilities and I am looking forward to using the rest of my playdough in my magickal endeavors.

So, if you ever find yourself in need of clay, but cannot make the trip to the store, try using a homemade playdough recipe instead. Enjoy and happy crafting!

Blessed Be

Potato Healing Spell

When stress and sickness hits your home in the second month of school, you have to figure there’s a problem. In my dorm this month, everyone was stressing themselves out so much that it started to get them sick. I myself haven’t been feeling on top of my game as of late either. So, that’s why, for this past full moon, I decided to write a healing spell.
When I was writing it, I wanted to keep it simple, and for some reason I felt the need to bury a potato for it. Now, I have looked up spells before that involved burying potatoes before, so this wasn't a stroke of intuition. I just remembered reading about it before and decided to look it up to see if I got my facts straight.

The idea of burying a potato is an old one. I couldn’t tell how old though. The idea behind it is you take a potato and imagine the potato symbolizing something you wish to get rid of. Then, you bury the potato in the ground and ask the earth to help you with your problem. As the potato decays, so the negativity (put in the potato) will as well. I’d never tried this kind of sympathetic magick before and decided to give it a try. I do hope it works out for the better for my dorm and I hope everyone is less stressed and sick. Below, I include the spell if you ever find any need for it. Happy casting, and happy Autumn also!

Blessed Be

Potato Healing Spell:

Supplies: Quarter representations, potato, something to dig with

1. Cast circle, call quarters.
2. Look up at moon and say:

Mother full and Mother bright

I sit in your loving light

Sickness and stress have struck my house

And sucked all happiness and health like a louse.

I ask you Mother, please hear my plea,

Please take this negativity away from all those in my home and me.

3. Hold potato in your hand and say:

I hold this potato in my hand

And with this spell, sickness ban.

In the ground this potato will go,

And sickness and stress will no longer grow.

As in the Earth this potato will decay,

May the sickness and stress also decay and go away.

4. Bury potato in the ground. Thank the Earth for its help. Thank the Lady in your own way, or by saying:

Thank you mother for hearing my plea.

With harm to none I cast this spell,

So mote it be.

5. Dismiss quarters and dismiss the circle.

P.S. The last two lines in the thanking section belong to Silver Ravenwolf. I did not write them. I take no credit.    

Ritual For Mabon

I’ve done it. I’ve finished my first written ritual and I’m very excited to share it. This ritual, as some of you may recall, is for Mabon, and I found myself needing to do some research before writing this ritual.
From my research, I found out that Mabon is the second harvest and celebrates the harvest of apples and grains. It also focuses on thanksgiving and honoring trees. I decided to try to incorporate all these elements in my written ritual.
As some of you may recall, Kansas spent most of the summer in a drought this year. This affected the growth of crops, and while we had a harvest, it was not the best it could have been. Still, I am thankful for the harvest that did occur and still think it is important to thank Spirit for this. Another idea of Mabon that I tried to incorporate was the idea of asking for the harvest to be strong next year. I felt like this was necessary, so I made it a big part of this ritual. I hope you all enjoy reading this and I hope it is helpful to those who are looking for ideas for their own Mabon rituals, or those who may like to practice the ritual I have written.

Blessed Be

Mabon Ritual

Items: one corn dolly for each person, corn bread for liberation/communion, Apple cider for liberation/communion, quarter representations, bowl

Location: Anywhere, but after ritual, you will need to find a garden to place the blessed corn dollies in. This can be a personal garden, or a community one. One that grew food to be consumed is preferable.

1. Cast circle and call quarters.

2. Have each person hold their corn dolly in their hands. Imagine the strength of the harvest as a bronze light and put that light into the dolly. Imagine the bounty of this year’s harvest, and all the food it has produced. Imagine then, the bounty of next year’s harvest. Have one person say the following blessing, or take turns saying it in a group line by line:

Spirit of the great harvest, we thank you,

Many blessings you have bestowed in view.

Our crops that have grown great and mighty tall,

We now take joy in harvest for the fall.

We ask blessings upon this our off’ring,

So our next harvest will new bounty bring.

May this blessing bring crops that are so strong,

That we may take part in them all year long.

3. Hold hands over the pitcher of apple cider and say:

With this drink from the apples of the Earth,

May we never thirst and all have great mirth.

Pour apple cider into cups and pass them to each member. Have each drink some, but leave some in the bottom of their cup. Pour the extra into the bowl.

4. Hold hands over the corn bread and say:

With this bread from the strong grains of the Earth,

May we never hunger and have great mirth.

Pass the bread to each of the members, and put some into the bowl.

5. Close quarters and close circle.

6. Pour the contents of the libation bowl by a tree. Take blessed corn dollies and put them in a garden.  

Inspiration

So, perhaps it is too early to be thinking about Mabon. This year it is on the 22nd of September, and while some may think this is early, I’m a bit of a planner. Not to mention, I was asked to help write the ritual for my pagan club on campus. In truth, I probably won’t be attending this ritual, since I might be going back home that weekend to see my friends, since the holiday falls on a weekend. But I offered to write a ritual and give it to one of the other members so that she can modify it as she sees fit. I mainly decided to do this because I haven’t written a full ritual for a group and I figured this is the best way to expand my writing skills along with my spiritual ones. Maybe it won’t be the best ritual I’ve ever written, but it will be a start, and we all have to start somewhere when we begin new tasks.

So, for the blue moon that occurred on the thirty-first of August, I made a bottle for inspiration to help spark some ideas and hopefully give me a little help. In this bottle I put the following ingredients:

Lavender and chamomile, ground with mortar and pestle (scents that inspire me)
Metal clock gears (for the working and turning of imagination)
Rose perfume (another inspiring scent)
Light of a flashlight (which I shined to illuminate the bottle)
Green ribbon tied around the top (Green for the growth of ideas)
Parchment scroll, with the spell written on it

At first, I thought I would write some lines of inspiring writing from writers on the parchment, but then I decided against it. I decided my spell needed to be something I wrote, and that I needed to find the words to kickstart my own writing and imagination. This bottle, I think, has already had some effect on me. My use of words in my writing has excelled, and I am very excited to do some research and write my very first group ritual.

Maybe, in a couple of weeks, I will be able to share it here. If not in full, I’m sure I’ll share its progress. Till then, my readers.

Blessed Be

Love in a Bottle

So, it’s official. Classes will begin tomorrow at my university and I’ve been moved in and gone to countless events already to kickstart the year, including convocation. Needless to say, I’m super excited for classes to start. Oddly enough, my move-in day started on the new moon and classes will start during the waxing of the moon. Coincidence? I’ll leave that for you to decide.

Last week I talked about finding a space to do ritual. I think I’ve found one that’s secluded enough, but not an unsafe place. I’m very excited to try this space out. Also, I found a space for my altar in my room above my bed like last year. My living arrangements are wonderful, as always, and made even better by these few things. I’m looking forward to a great year.

At first though, I have to admit I was anxious. I was enjoying summer and enjoying seeing my friends from highschool. I was really nervous about leaving, but I knew that a lot of them were going to university too, some for the first time. Now that I’m here, I realize why I like university, and that, as always, it isn’t the end of the world to move. I’ll see my friends again, and our reunion will be awesome.

There is one person I really didn’t want to leave behind however. This person is very dear to me, and I still miss her. So, before I left, I decided to give her something. I wanted to make her something she could remember me by. I decided to give her some of my love contained inside a bottle.

I thought of all the things that made me think of love and went on a hunt to find them. I put in dried white rose petals, dried carnations that she gave me in the past (including the blue ribbon tied to them), a little bit of my Taurus oil (not only my zodiac sign, but also ruled by Venus), some rose perfume, lavender, a metal heart charm, wheat thresh (it makes me think of home and of a comfortable love), two marbles (one blue like water, one green like earth), rose quartz, a blue butterfly that makes me think of her, a piece of parchment with quotes from Shakespeare, and words I whispered into the bottle before I closed it.

When I gave it to her, I told her she could open it and read the note when she missed me the most. I know it might not be the same as having me there, but I wanted to give her something to remember me by and remember how much I care for her.

This bottle creation led me to think of other things I could bottle as well, and how I could use my bottle collection for my magick. Now, a friend of mine has been making magick bottles herself for a while now, and they are charms one would wear as jewelry. I have one from her, in fact, and I have to give her some credit for putting the idea in the back of my mind. In truth, glass bottles are appealing to me, hence why I collect them, and I’m realizing now that I can use them beyond the basic witch’s bottle for protection.

I’ve already bottled some of the beach from the Gulf coast. Now, I think I will work on bottling other things. On my list currently are theses:

Autumn Air

Ocean Air

Field Air

Fire

Earth

Inspiration

Home

Freedom (a little ironic, I know)

These are just a few, and my list grows longer each time I think about it. I’m very excited to give these a try, though bottling ocean air when I’m landlocked will take some planning.

I hope I’ve inspired you to look around your house at your collections and see how to make them into a magickal endeavour, a spiritual endeavour, or just a fun craft. Also, one  last note, now that I am at University, I may not be writing in this blog every week. I will try to go for every other week, since my studies should come first. Happy new school year!

Blessed Be  

Back to School

Oh my goodness... where did my summer vacation go? Okay, move-in day for university is creeping up on me, so I thought for this week I’d discuss being at college and keeping up with my spiritual studies as well as my academic ones.

Last year, I struggled with feeling connected to my faith. I kept it a secret most of the time, and didn’t practice a lot of magick. Second semester was a little better than the first, since I joined the pagan group on campus and got to know a few people who share my faith. I learned many things and shared some of my knowledge. My personal development struggled a little bit though. This year, I want things to be different.

So, for this year, I plan to find a space that is secluded, but safe enough to practice ritual. This ritual space hunt might be difficult. I went around campus looking for spaces last semester with my club and couldn’t really find the perfect spot that felt safe enough. But, I will look again this year in hopes to find a spot.

Secondly, I will need to find a good space for my altar. Since I share a space with three other women in my room, it will have to be somewhere special and I will have to make sure my altar doesn’t draw unwanted attention. Last year, the room I was in had a shelf above the bed. This was perfect for my altar and my magickal supplies, since I was on the top bunk and it was a space that was really my own. I’m in a new room this year though, so I’m not sure if there will be a shelf in that spot. I hope so, but if not, I may put my altar in a drawer and pull out the drawer when I want to use my altar.

Thirdly, I will continue to meet at the pagan club meetings so I can continue my studies and keep learning. My club also meets for holidays too, so I will probably be doing some ritual in that way.

I don’t have many ideas beyond these for now, but I will continue to think on them. I want this year to be different. A book was recommended to me by a friend of mine. I’ve seen this book before, but have never picked it up to read it cover to cover. It’s called Rocking the Goddess by Anthony Paige. It’s a book that focuses on wicca for the university student and seems to be a good read for those going to university. This book has now made it to my priority list and I hope to learn from it. I hope it is helpful to others too.

If you have any suggestions for a witch going to college, feel free to leave comments below. I know I’m not the only one, and I’m certain we could all learn from each other.

Blessed Be