Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Cleansing Carpet Refresher Powder

Many witches incorporate physically cleaning their space as part of how they cleanse the energy of their space, but most tips out there involve sweeping or adding ingredients to mop water or to surface cleansers. But I have carpets! (and simply vacuuming just didn’t feel like enough).

So, my ingredients are for cleansing, healing, and peace: 

Rose 

Lavender 

Rosemary 

Pink Salt 

Bay Leaf 

Chamomile 

Eucalyptus 

Cinnamon

Fine Salt 

I ground that up in my food processor, but a mortar and pestle works really well too! I just had too much shoulder pain to mess with that lol 

Then I added that to baking soda and cornstarch, which help to eliminate odors and lift stains/grease/grossness. I wish I had the measurements but I just poured it in until it seemed right… 

Mixed it up really well and ended up with something like that ^ then I added oils with similar properties (here I will specify that the oils I use are herbal infused oils that I get from a small mompop Indian market, not essential oils). Just a couple drops of each, or else the powder will clump up too much: 

Lemon oil 

Peppermint oil  

Rosemary oil 

Lemongrass oil 

Lavender oil 

Eucalyptus oil

Mix all of that up, and then spread it over your carpet. I tried poking holes in the lid of my jar, but that didn’t spread as easily as using my hands. Lightly tossing it to spread it over the carpet also allowed me to be more involved in my intent. Leave the powder on your carpet for about an hour, and then vacuum it up! 

The Lemon Hex

For when someone has REALLY done you dirty and you just need a quick and powerful burst of baneful energy. This one is powerful, fast-acting, and short-lived, by nature it can really f a person up and can't be undone/reversed once you've cast it. As always, practice responsibly and be safe!

What You Need

A lemon (naturally.)

A knife to help handle said lemon

A leaf or piece of paper with your target's name/identifying info on it (taglock)

Ginger/Cayenne Pepper to help empower/speed up the spell. Both preferred, but just one can do.

Salt/Black Pepper, good baseline ingredients for most hexes

Anything nasty or spicy you can think of. Hot sauces/peppers, old vegetable juices, lint/dust, dish scum, you name it.

Important note: This is not a spell you want to use needles, nails, or other hard things in. Keep it soft and organic if you can. You'll see why.

Steps

Throughout all of this, I find hexes to be a good opportunity to speak your mind, let the target know exactly how they fucked up and how this is the consequence of their actions.

Prepare your taglock and cut an opening in your lemon. Give it some room in the middle.

Roll up or stuff the taglock inside the lemon alongside all of the other ingredients. Be sure to add the ginger and cayenne for best results.

Once it's all in there, give it a little roll/squeeze to make sure those lemon juices permeate all the nasty insides. Let the citrus sting and the spices burn, let the grossness reflect the grossness they've wrought on your own life being sent back.

Chop the whole thing into pieces in preparation for the next step.

Once you're ready, chuck it into the garbage disposal.

If you don't have a garbage disposal, a blender with some liquid should work too. You could even continue using nasties like lemon or pickle juice.

Your lemon is now ground up and liquefied. Dispose of the remains however you please.

So You've Got a Spirit Problem: An Adept's Guide to Taking Care of Business

Knowing how to do magic is not at all the same thing as knowing how to solve a problem.

Here is a map to one trail through this irritating, often murky, forest. The steps are generally presented in the order I'd recommend taking them, but naturally the details of execution are up to you.

This guide assumes that as someone who knows how to do magic, you may be called upon to assist others from time to time, so there is a distinction made between you as the practitioner, and the victim of a haunting.

Never rely on visualization-only techniques.

There is a difference between Energy Work and visualization. If someone has told you that all you need to do to protect yourself from spirits is to imagine that they cannot hurt you, they are wrong.

Yes, where your attention goes, energy flows - but as it turns out, real spirits are probably more powerful than the wispy energy patterns sprinkled about by you imagining stuff really hard.

I have met many a practitioner who was convinced they were up against an incredibly powerful spirit, because years of visualization did nothing. The first time they cast an actual spell with real power (that takes like 45 minutes of prep and 15 minutes of execution), the spirit was gone.

Fancy that.

Please place the mask over your own mouth and nose before assisting others.

Spirit hauntings often affect more than one person. Household members, social groups, entire Discord servers - it happens.

Attend to your own personal protections first. If this is your first rodeo, a few suggestions:

We may assume there is a timeline pressure; by the time you're called in to help, things may have become rough. There is no need to avoid taking care of the problem for months while you carefully craft a system of protections.

Obtain or recharge a single personal amulet of protection, especially one crafted against malefic spirits (as opposed to a general protection). Charge it and wear it for the duration of this process.

Obtain or recharge a single household ward for your own home, if you are not the one being haunted. If your home is already under spiritual attack, now may not be the right time to place wards. Read on for details.

Obtain or recharge a single ward for your sleeping space, a heavy-handed one that strongly protects your sleep, and strongly limits spirit movement into your room.

For the duration of solving this problem, engage in spiritual cleansing techniques more often. Also ensure you are getting enough calories and rest - depending on how resistant the problem is, your ongoing energy may be required for some time, and burnout helps no one.

Gather as many details as possible.

If you are assisting another person, get down (in writing) as many details as you can about when the haunting began, who it affects, the symptoms, any locations where the spirit is present, etc.

Consider that sometimes the spirit haunting is caused by a spirit which cannot be banished, like local nature spirits who are going to dwell there regardless of your actions. Whether you need to approach the situation as a warrior or a diplomat should be ideally figured out before you begin taking actions.

Make sure wards are not trapping the spirit inside.

If there is a potential that this is happening, open up or partially dismantle a ward (this can often done by opening a household door or window with Intent) so the spirit can leave.

Ask it to leave.

Not, "leave me/my friend alone." Not, "go away."

"Please leave this household permanently, and do not come back."

Combining this with a good-faith offering can help a lot. Place the offering outside, ideally beyond the property line, but we all do what we gotta do.

"Please leave this household permanently. I have placed an offering of [stuff] outside for you, because we are not enemies. This offering is yours if you accept these conditions: that you leave this property and do not come back. Please accept this offering, and leave."

Tell it to leave.

"You must leave this household, and all the people in it. This is not your home. Authority has been given to me to revoke any invitation which brought you here. Leave now of your own volition. If you do not leave, force and aggression will be used against you to force you to leave."

And if that doesn't solve it, time to get down and dirty.

Maybe you didn't even ask it to leave, because you arrived well after that was already attempted. If things have already escalated:

Prepare personal protections for everyone involved.

If you cannot reasonably do so, teach them how to shield through energy work. Remember that there are many inherently protective amulets found in nature which do not require much (or any) magic to be worked over them before they are effective; employ these to your advantage.

Optional: Figure out the spirit's weaknesses.

This step may be especially useful if banishments have already been attempted, and failed.

Gather a wide variety of magical symbols, amulets, talismans, and objects charged with various energies.

Find the spirit or connect to its energy (ideally behind a mirror, or through a protected scrying device, or using some other technique so it can't see you).

Hold up each symbol, object, etc., up to the spirit in turn. See how the spirit is affected. Take notes (ideally, have an assistant who can take notes as you describe what you're seeing).

Suppose the spirit seems totally unaffected by watery energies or solar symbols, but seems very affected by fiery energies and iron - now you have helpful answers.

Combine your discoveries with information about any previous banishments that may have been attempted to aid you in choosing your next course of action.

Less optional, but still optional: Perform divination

1. DO NOT CONVERSE WITH THE GODDAMN SPIRIT.

2. You do not need to know everything about the spirit before you get rid of it.

It drives me fucking CRAZY when people refuse to banish or get rid of obviously harmful spirits because they want to know its backstory, its personality traits, its gemsona, its full natal chart, and its favorite comfort foods first.

"We can't banish it until we know why it's doing this!"

The fuck you can't.

If your attitude is literally that it's okay for beings to hurt you as long as they have a good reason for it... Or you're not going to set boundaries unless you know why someone has crossed you...

I don't know what to tell you.

And hey, by the way, if it's an obviously bad spirit that you've already acknowledged is harming you, IT'S GOING TO LIE TO YOU AND MANIPULATE YOU.

There's a hell of a lot of people out there who have fully acknowledged the absolute hell a spirit has caused them, but they want to talk to it because idk, why wouldn't you want to talk to your own personal torturer, and thirty minutes later they're accepting the spirit as their new guardian and building it an altar.

So.

Divination is useful to help determine the outcome of your banishing actions and to give you insight into how to perform your operations effectively. This is a really good idea if you don't have a million years to randomly try stuff until something sticks.

It is not to become penpals with a harmful spirit who has already shown you its intent towards you.

Telling a spirit something, or sending messages, is extremely different from two-way communication. Don't open yourself up to a force that is causing active harm.

So now you've got to banish.

Your banishment will be greatly increased in efficacy if you surround it with supportive actions. The ability to employ any of these techniques of course varies depending on situation. Employ as many of them as possible.

Petition benevolent spirits, ancestors, and divinity to assist and support your workings.

Include as many people as affected by the haunting as you can.

Flood the house with supportive and helpful energies.

A floor wash or steam pot will be very helpful. Smoking out an entire house is difficult to get away with these days, but a fine option. If you can't get to the whole house, especially try to work on the areas where the spirit is known to be present.

Protective symbols hung about, including saint candles, also tends to assist in shaking the spirit "loose" from its moorings.

Loud and cheerful music, fresh air, and a generally upbeat mood helps the proceedings a great deal.

If it is determined that the spirit is attached to a single person, focus applying smoke, blessed waters, and talismans to their person.

Trap the spirit inside of something.

When you banish a spirit, where does it go? Just outside the property line? All the way across town? To the ends of the earth? How long until it finds its way back?

A cobalt-blue bottle filled with sand is a handy spirit trap. The spirit will eventually be freed again, before this world is over - and likely, quite a bit before that. Research why and how spirit traps work, and what techniques may be used to occupy the spirit for a great length of time before it can escape.

Perform your banishment.

As this post is for those who already know how to do magic, I leave the details up to you. Reflect on what you've learned about the spirit up until that time, and utilize powers which seem best suited to cross it.

Relying upon your personal power alone is not advised. Draw from sources greater than yourself. Asking divinity and benevolent spirits to arrive and support the working while you undertake it is a fine idea.

Once the spirit is gone, or trapped, dispose of various implements and clean up as you normally do.

Cleanse the home or person if you haven't.

Any technique will do.

Set up home wards if they did not already exist.

This includes helping others understand how to maintain protections in their own home.

Listen to yourself, or the person you are helping.

Mighty sorcerer though you are, it is possible that the spirit was not actually removed when you performed your banishment. Do not discard gut feelings or intuitions that the situation is not fully at rest.

You may need help, or new techniques, or simply ongoing effort applied to the situation before it is completely resolved. Every now and then, rare as it may be, the solution is really just to apply protection and go about your business.

Taper off healing, cleansing, and spiritual hygiene back to your normal levels.

Even if a spirit has been correctly removed, a person or place may have sustained actual spiritual damage. Instead of immediately dropping extra spiritual self-care when the spirit is gone, try maintaining it for a little while (especially if your normal level is zero). Staying clean and hygienic will help spiritual injuries heal on their own. Mundane actions, such as continuing to get enough food and rest (where possible), will also help.

If you are helping another, give them steps for things like cleansing baths how how to clean their own aura.

RETURN TO SENDER SPELLS

Return to Sender (RTS) spells are a great way to send back any negativity sent towards you, whether this be a hex, a curse, the evil eye, or just someone sending general bad vibes your way. You don't have to put up with that. Send it right back to them. I do not follow any wiccan redes, nor do I believe in the rule of three because it does not apply to me or my practice. If you are justified in your actions, hex them. If they sent you nasty shit, send that shit right back where it came from. It's like Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc.

Send that shit right back!

I'm going to give you a couple RTS spells to try out, They all send shit back but it's your preference.

Return To Sender #1

1 black candle 1 white candle protection sigil cinnamon garlic juniper black salt cayenne pepper

carve "return to sender" into the black candle and dress with juniper, black salt, cayenne pepper

carve protection sigil into white candle (or put candle on top of sigil on paper) and dress with cinnamon and garlic.

light both and say "as this flame burns bright, so does my protection grow stronger. as this candle burns down, this energy will return to it's sender ten fold.

(any substitutes that may be needed for juniper or black salt or whatnot, just use herbs or spices that correspond to banishing.

Reflect a Hex

(Return to sender #2)

1 Protection candle 1 black candle paper and pen black salt small mirror

write target's name/birthday on paper and fold away from you.

Place black salt on mirror, covering it completely

scrape some away in the middle so the paper can stand up in a '/' shape

Light black candle (off to side) and say: "I reflect this spell back to you, enemy estranged. All harm and ill intent is yours to obtain. so mote it be"

How do I prevent this shit in the first place?

Make baneful wards. Create wards and protections that send back all negativity that is "not of your highest good" so that maybe anything you view as troublesome can get in BUT it will be for character development and growth. Any negativity sent for no damn reason except to be shitty will be sent back.

Hell, make your ward catch their bullshit, charge it up for a while, and send it back 10 times stronger. Make them regret it.

Baneful Wards that Bite Back

(please, for the love of fuck, do this outside)

. personal item or taglock of the person bothering you . florida water (to ignite, literally, this spell will literally go up in flames. Also for protection and warding) . dragons blood (banishing negativity) . defensive sigil (or protection sigil) . 3 juniper berries (for returning negativity back to sender) . rosemary (protection) . vervain (protection from harm)

Crush taglock and mix with florida water, rosemary, vervain, and dragons blood.

form mixture into your defensive sigil

pop the juniper berries in the middle

set it on fire and let it burn itself out.

bury remains.

Mini Land Spirit Shrine

use this as a conduit to connect you to the local spirits and nature

get a pot

fill it with local dirt/sand/clay

keep it on your porch/inside/near your house. somewhere you can visit it.

put cool natural items in it, like local shells, bones, branches, etc. that you’ve found…

watch it come to life. if i just leave a pot of dirt around, something will spring up in it. usually those considered “weeds”. if nothing grows, plant a low-maintenance native plant in it. but there should be something after a time.

make offerings like water and more natural items as you desire. 

connect to it, talk to it, introduce yourself.

Rinse and repeat over time. That’s really it! and then you just… build a relationship as time goes on.

Kitchen Witchery: Elminx's Anti-anxietea

In honor of eclipse season, I wanted to share a recipe to bring your buzz down a notch (or two). I've been drinking this nervine tea for nearly five years now; it features all of my favorite herbal flavors! I'm not going to go into detailed herbal profiles for each of these botanicals, but I suggest looking into them more if you are curious. I think learning the basics of herbalism can greatly benefit the kitchen witch.

Each of these ingredients can be found in any decent grocery store, bought online, or grown yourself. The combination is designed with flavor and herbal actions in mind; it's not a measure of exact ingredients - mix with your heart. All of these botanicals are well tolerated and can be drunk regularly by most people. Please be careful when trying new herbs; allergic or other adverse reactions can occur.

Hibiscus, Hibiscus sabdariffa Hibiscus is the primary flavoring agent in this blend. It gives our tea its Cool, Moist, and Sour properties. Please keep in mind that hibiscus will stain anything it comes into contact with, including clothing, wooden spoons, and even countertops. If you don't think you're familiar with hibiscus, it is the primary flavor in all "Zinger" teas. It tastes tart and inexplicably red.

Peppermint, Mentha piperito

Peppermint is the first of our gentle nervines to be added to our tea. Nervines do exactly what you expect them to: they calm your nerves. In addition to being a nervine (primary benefit), Peppermint adds its properties of Pungent, Sweet, Cool, Warm, and Dry to our tea. I'm sure you're all familiar with peppermint; you could probably substitute a different mint here with similar effect.

Lemon Balm, Melissa officinalis

Lemon balm is a nervine and a mild sedative. It brings the properties of Sour, Cool, and Dry to our tea. Some people don't like the taste of lemon balm, saying that it tastes like Pledge. If that's you, just omit it from this drink. The taste of hibiscus strongly overpowers the lemon balm, though, so maybe try it first.

Tulsi (Holy Basil), Ocimun santum

Tulsi is a nervine and adaptogenic herb, which means that it helps the body manage stress better. Its properties are Pungent, Sweet, Bitter, and Warm. With its heady, peppery notes, Tulsi is certainly an acquired flavor. If you get along with this herb, you will know almost immediately upon drinking it for the first time. A little goes a long way; you don't need to overdo it.

Dried Apple, Malus sp.

Although apple is primarily a flavoring agent (and sometimes a sweetening agent) in this blend, it does have mild sedative effects that lend themselves to the overall feel of this tea. I suggest using the apples you would eat in this recipe; you can dry slices of apples by putting them in your oven at 225F for 1.5 to 2 hours. Use a sweeter apple if you want a sweeter tea.

Minx's Anti-Anxietea

2 parts hibiscus

1 part peppermint

1 part lemon balm

1-2 parts dried apple

.5 part tulsi

Start by adding 1 tsp tea to hot water and steeping for 8 minutes. Adjust to your tastes from there.

This drink tastes great, hot or cold.

I've never sweetened this tea because I like my drinks bitter like my soul, but I bet a dollop of honey would be lovely in this—especially a nice summery wildflower honey. I've added sweetened cranberries in the past (1-2 parts) for more sweetness. And honestly, I don't measure. I know when it smells right.

I apply this drink liberally, but some people may find it too strong a diuretic to consume more than once daily. I drink it any time that I feel especially anxious or when I know I am going to be under a lot of stress. My partner likes to drink it before bedtime and claims it's one of the only things that will calm them down when they feel like they have too many thoughts.

You can witch this up (it's a verb now!) as little or as much as you like. I like to work calming energy into the drink step by step as I create the mixture by working with each botanical individually. You could charge this with a candle or sigil, dedicate it to one of your favorite gods or spirits, or store it on your altar. I create bindrunes for my favorite tea blends and use them as magical labels.

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Do you have any advice for how to strengthen ones spirit hearing, or is it just something you're born with/given?

I was not born with it. I did not have magical experiences until I was in my 20s.

I hope this doesn't sound pedantic, but the best way to improve is to practice and learn about it.

Learning about all different types of spiritual communication from many faiths is important because it provides a more stable and well-rounded foundation. Knowing what others believe can give us insight into what we're doing and how to strengthen our own practices.

And you just gotta practice. I've put in hundreds of hours of active practice (at least). I don't just mean like, trying psychic techniques. I mean just talking to spirits.

Simmer Pot For Peace and Love

Since we are having guests over for the first time ever, I really want the house to feel…inviting and cozy and warm. SO! I decided to craft a little simmer pot to get those juices flowing!

2 Lemons, peeled and sliced (for cleansing, and for joy)

Roughly 2 TBSP of Rosemary (for Love, protection and peace)

3 TBSP Lavender (Love, happiness, comfort)

Pinch of Sea Salt (for cleansing and purifying)

So, just combine these all in a small pot, fill it with water, and bring it to a boil. Then reduce heat and let it simmer however long, adding more water when it gets low. 

PRO-TIP- Don’t throw away those lemon peels!! You can dry them and use them for witchcraft! You can soak them in salt to make Lemon Salt!! You can candy them and eat ‘em! 

Connection is not a feeling.

With some of the responses I've been getting on my post about connecting with nature, I realized I needed to write about this.

Folks have got to understand that connection is not a feeling. "I feel such a deep connection with-" nope, that's not connection you're feeling; that's fascination.

Whether it's nature, or a culture, or anything at all, connection isn't transcendent. It's something you build with actual physical effort. It's a relationship.

Let's say there's a stray cat outside, and I want to have a connection with it. So I go inside my house and meditate on the cat, visualizing myself sending out rays of love to the cat. I look at pictures of cats on the Internet. I collect cat memorabilia and pray to cat goddesses. But when I go outside and try to pet the stray cat, it runs away.

This is because I never built a genuine connection, or relationship, with this cat. I'm a parasocial admirer, at best. To the cat, I'm a weird stranger.

But let's say I put cat food outside, and I stay out there while the cat eats, and slowly get closer to the cat as it becomes more comfortable with my presence. Finally, I give the cat light touches, and it gradually learns that I am safe. And we become friends.

Now I have a connection with the cat, because we have a relationship. I feed the cat, the cat eats my food, and we're in each others' social networks.

"But what if I can't build relationships like this?"

It's okay if this is impossible for you right now. You're not going to be a Bad Pagan or a Bad Witch because you can't do something that is literally impossible at the moment.

But, if a connection is something you want to have, at some point? Get studying. You want a connection with nature at some point? Okay, then start studying ecology. Learn about the rain cycle. Learn about environmental damage. Find materials about the plants and animals in your area.

What about a culture? Okay, go learn about its history, go learn what kinds of problems its people are currently facing, and work on perceiving them as real, complex people instead of whatever stereotype you have in your mind right now.

And above all, remember: that's not a mystical connection you're feeling, that's fascination.