Fresh Apple Autumn Cake With Honey-Cinnamon Glaze

Sabbat Altar and Celebration Ideas for the Solitary Witch

YULE Altar ideas: Put mistletoe and pine on your altar; put a candle up there to represent the Sun; keep your Yule log on your altar; use symbols of the Sun; decorate with red, green, white, blue, and yellow (red and green for holly, white and blue for snow and wintery colors, yellow for the Sun). Celebration ideas: Kiss a consenting person under the mistletoe for luck; give gifts; have a feast; make magickal wreaths with herbs corresponding to the spell intent (you might use lilac, lavender, and camomile for a wreath that brings peace into your home).

IMBOLC Altar ideas: Use candles to represent the return of spring; make a cute little corn dolly; put a Brigid’s cross on there to honor her; decorate with yellow and green to represent the Sun and return of spring. Celebration ideas: Clean your house; have a self-dedication ritual (to a particular path, deity, philosophy, standard of life, etc.); clean off your working altar and redo it; cleanse and charge any tools or crystals you need to.

OSTARA Altar ideas: Use fake eggs, rabbits, and other symbols of fertility or spring; put some potted plants on the altar; place some packets of seeds you might be planning on growing; decorate with purple, yellow, green, white, and other spring, pastel colors. Celebration ideas: Paint and blow eggs (take proper precautions when handling raw eggs, obviously, especially if you’re putting your mouth on them); if you have a greenhouse, want a potted plant, or it’s warm enough where you live to plant outside, plant some seeds; buy a potted plant; organize your herb shelf.

BELTAINE Altar ideas: Make a mini Maypole for your centerpiece; smack some candles up in there, especially beeswax, if that’s in your budget; put some faery symbols, like little statues or bells or something like that; a jar of honey or some beeswax is always dope; if you’re comfortable with it, some people like to put representations of genatalia on their altar. Celebration ideas: Light an awesome bonfire (also be very cautious with this because fire can quickly turn dangerous); leave offerings to the faeries; have a dance outside; this is a good time to plan to have a handfasting ceremony or wedding; cast any love workings you’ve been meaning to do; if you’re an adult and have a person/people who consent to it, you could choose to have sex during this time (but do be safe!); many people try to conceive children during Beltaine.

LITHA Altar ideas: Symbols of the Sun and the Moon, feminine and masculine symbols if that’s a thing in your tradition; decorate with black and white to symbolize the night and day. Celebration ideas: Get up before the Sun rises and go to sleep after it sets, so you can experience the day and night; have a bonfire (again, safety is important); have a picnic; just spend a lot of time outside.

LUGHNASADH Altar ideas: Put bread and grain on the altar; maybe some apples and other autumn fruits; pinecones and leaves are fall symbols; decorate with red, orange, yellow, brown, and other colors of the season. Celebration ideas: Bake (especially make the cute little bread men); give an offering to the Earth; go to an apple orchard and pick some apples; share a feast with the family or your friends.

MABON Altar ideas: Wine, or grape juice if alcohol is unavailable for any reason; leaves and pinecones; apples; a money jar (see first celebration suggestion below). Celebration ideas: For a week or two before Mabon, put money you can afford to give up in a jar, and donate it to charity or a cause you support on Mabon; have another apple harvest; have another feast; do a ritual to honor the Earth.

SAMHAIN Altar ideas: Pop a few gourds in there, more apples if you want; pictures of the deceased; tools for divination and spirit contact; decorate with black, white, and orange. Celebration ideas: Divination, spirit communication (obviously only if you know what you’re doing); hold a seance or a dumb supper if that’s more comfortable for you; light a candle in the window for spirits (use a fake one if you want it lit all night); leave some milk and honey for the Fair Folk; give offerings to the dead; put up wards and shields if you’re one of the people who would prefer to avoid spirit activity.

Following witchcraft blogs is an absolute roulette wheel on whether you're following a TERF or not and I can't stand how many times it's happened to me. Reblog this if you're a witchcraft blog and aren't a TERF and I'll give you a follow! On this blog we love and respect trans women!

summertime stir fry

- ✨🍜☀️

relatively simple, cheap, and super fulfilling summertime stir fry meal with a really easy side and a tea potion! ofc feel free to modify the recipe to what you have/like especially cause of quarantine, similar ingredients and good intention setting will do the trick~

- 🍜🤍

[ stir fry noodles & veggie ]

1 pk ramen

comfort, grounding

1/4 red & 1/4 green bell pepper

prosperity, communication, happiness, healing, protection, clears brain fog

2 tsp chili paste

energy, confidence, happiness, success, protection

2 tsp soy sauce

grounding, protection, stability, luck, communication, understanding, love

1 tbs teryaki sauce

prosperity, happiness, peace

red chili flake

energy, protection, strength, banish negative energies

garlic powder

healing, protection, strength, confidence, communication

fresh ginger

healing, energy, strength, happiness, prosperity, protection, mental clarity

[ steps ]

- prepare 2 cups hot water & the ramen seasoning packet and put aside

- slice/dice up & begin to sauté your peppers on med heat with some of the ramen liquid, garlic powder, red chili flake, salt & pepper

- begin to boil your ramen in plain water (witch tip; you can add a bay leaf if you want!) cook for 2 min then strain and add back into your cooking vessel

- add in sauces, ginger & chili paste + fully cooked peppers & toss together evenly over low heat

- 🍜🌼

[ fried rice ]

1/2 cup white rice

wealth, good health, happiness, healing, protection, wisdom, kindness, purity

1 cup water

sun water; healing, energy, renewal, confidence, strength, happiness

2-3 tsp soy sauce

grounding, protection, stability, luck, communication, understanding, love

1 egg (scrambled)

luck, happiness, success

1/4 c peas

healing, prosperity

1/2 med carrot (diced)

abundance, joy, kindness

[ steps ]

- cook rice then add in soy sauce with your veg & scrambled egg, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder :)

- 🍜☀️

[ summertime dinner tea ]

1 mug of water

sun water; healing, energy, renewal, confidence, strength, happiness

1 1/2 tsp black tea

grounding, healing, protection, strength, renewal

2-3 slices of fresh ginger

healing, energy, strength, happiness, prosperity, protection, mental clarity

1-2 tsp honey

healing, luck, prosperity, love, abundance, communication, happiness, wealth

[ steps ]

- steep ginger for about 3-4 minutes in boiling water then reduce to a quiet simmer; steep black tea for 4-5 minutes then stir in honey

- 🤍🍜

more recipes coming soon; feel free to leave asks or comments with suggestions for recipes you’d like to see!

Low Spoon Ways to Celebrate Lammas/Lughnassadh

(Made, in part, for my own benefit on this very tired Lughnassadh)

🌽 Eat some carbs/bread, and leave the rest to your deity/beings of choice if you like.

🌽 Light just one candle, (gold, orange, white, yellow, red, or brown if you can) and just spend five minutes thinking about Lughnassadh and all the things you wish to harvest in the coming months.

🌽 Reconnecting with nature is always a good idea, if you have the spoons for it. See if you can take a walk outside, or maybe meditate with some plants.

🌽 Write down everything you hope to manifest in the coming months. Keep it in a safe place for Yule, where you can bring it out again and burn it to close this chapter on that part of your life.

🌽 Drink some mint tea to draw abundance. Leave some for your deity/beings of choice, if you like.

🌽 Write down all the things you’re grateful for, imbue the gratitude into a piece of paper, and bury it later when you can.

Feel free to add your own ideas!

NO-KNEAD CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD

One of my most reader-tested and approved recipes! This crusty, fluffy artisan bread needs only 4 ingredients and 5 minutes to come together… you won’t believe how easy and delicious it is!

The beautiful, crusty and fluffy bread that results from just four ingredients will knock your socks off! All it takes is flour, salt, yeast and water, all mixed up in a bowl and set to rest for 8-24 hours.

Just make sure your flour is fresh and yeast isn’t expired. I’ve used both active dry yeast and highly active dry yeast with great results!

NO-KNEAD CRUSTY ARTISAN BREAD YIELD: Makes 1 loaf INGREDIENTS: 3 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt (not table salt)

½ teaspoon dry yeast (active dry or highly active dry work best)

1 ½ cups lukewarm water

Special cookware needed: Dutch oven or any large oven-safe dish/bowl and lid*

DIRECTIONS: In a large bowl, stir together the flour, salt and yeast. Stir in water using a wooden spoon until the mixture forms a shaggy but cohesive dough. Do not over-work the dough. The less you “work” it, the more soft, fluffy air pockets will form.

Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough sit at room temperature for 8-24 hours*. Dough will bubble up and rise.

After dough is ready, preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Place your Dutch oven, uncovered, into the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

While your Dutch oven preheats, turn dough onto a well-floured surface. With floured hands, form the dough into a ball. Cover dough loosely with plastic wrap and let rest.

After the 30 minutes are up, carefully remove Dutch oven. With floured hands, place the bread dough into it. (You can put a piece of parchment under the dough if your Dutch oven isn’t enamel coated.)

Replace cover and bake for 30 minutes covered. Carefully remove cover and bake for 7-15 minutes* more, uncovered.

Carefully remove bread to a cutting board and slice with a bread knife.

Enjoy!

NOTES

Uncovered baking time depends on your oven. In my oven, the bread only needs 7 minutes uncovered until crusty and golden brown, but this can vary. Just keep an eye on it!

Preheating your Dutch oven to 450 degrees F will not damage it, or the knob on top.

I’ve let this dough rise anywhere between 8-24 hours and it has baked up beautifully. Just make sure it has risen and appears to “bubble” to the surface.

There’s no need to grease the Dutch oven/baking dish/pot. My bread has never stuck to the pot. If you are concerned though, put a piece of parchment paper under your dough before placing into your pot.

I do not recommend using whole wheat flour or white whole wheat flour in this recipe. The resulting bread will be very dense, and not as fluffy and delicious.

I used a 5.5 quart enameled cast iron Le Creuset pot, but you can use any large oven-safe dish and cover. All of these also work: a baking dish covered with aluminum foil, crockpot insert, stainless steel pot with a lid, pizza stone with an oven-safe bowl to cover the bread, and old cast iron Dutch oven.

Add any mix-ins you like - herbs, spices, dried fruit, chopped nuts and cheese all work well. I recommend adding them into the initial flour-yeast mixture to avoid over-working the mix-ins into the dough. The less you “work” it, the more you’re encouraging soft, fluffy air pockets to form!

Everybody has ancestors. EVERYBODY. Ancestral worship is for everyone no matter the religion or spiritual path. Those within the African diaspora are dealing with the generational trauma due to oppression and the symptoms of oppression. Those of European descent also have the generational trauma of being lied to, and a loss of cultural identity in order to blindly support a system that continues to oppress others. Healing said generational trauma will involve an alchemical process of healing the guilt, shame and embarrassment from what the ancestors have done so an ally can be born and that history does not repeat.

This one Caucasian girl told me that she began to work with her ancestors and she said that she could tell that some were still deeply racist in the spirit world, and others had learned to do better. She asked me, what can be done when she’s just trying to honor her “good” ancestors and be better. There’s certain rituals that one can do to block yourself from ancestors that don’t wish you well or that you don’t find useful. They don’t have to be elaborate. The key is that you have that right, and you have that power to define who has access to you.

Kitchen Magic: Empowerment Oils

Empowerment oils… oh, boy! When it comes to oils, there are about as many oils as there are witches in the world, and more! When I had first started getting into witchcraft, I was most intrigued by what I could do in the kitchen - something that definitely makes sense, as I am a cook and am pursuing a culinary degree - and between the herbs, teas, and oils, I had discovered an entire world of witchery that seemed daunting at first. And oils, I think, were probably the most daunting.

In learning about oils, I had come across entire books dedicated solely to herbal concoctions that can be blended up for use - Cunningham’s The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews alone has 62 oil recipes, and that’s just a select few that Cunningham had shared.

But, sister witch, understand that you don’t have to be a whiz in the kitchen, nor a certified herbalist to make use of oils. With research, you can learn quite a lot, but like any aspect of the Craft, it comes down to what feels right. Trying to make a healing oil and you want to throw an amethyst into the bottle? Go right ahead! Making a money oil and don’t feel like bay laurel draws money to you? Leave it out and toss in some cloves! The possibilities are nearly endless.

So in order to cover oils in any kind of meaningful way, I feel like it’s best to break that umbrella topic down into what the oils are being used for. And as tempting as it is to hop straight into specialized oils, like Return-To-Sender or Road Opener oils, I realized that when I was studying oils and learning from other witches, I almost never came across a general-purpose oil, or what I call an empowerment oil.

In short, an empowerment oil is a multi-purpose oil meant to give a spell or other working just a bit more umph. It’s not focused to any particular use, and if I were to compare it to crystals, I would say that an empowerment oil is most like clear quartz in its uses. It is a battery oil, an energy drink for your mojo bag, liquid fire warmth for your spells that are going cold.

So! All of that rambling said, say you want to get into making empowerment oils. What do I look for? What do I put in it? Do I have to have a special carrier oil extracted from the wood of an endangered arctic berry bush? Well… first of all, I hope that you’re practicing wisely and not using endangered species for your work if your practice calls for it and it can’t be substituted for something non-endangered… well, good on you, but I won’t be helping you out on that one.

I break down what I look for in an oil based on the following criteria: What is it for? What do I want it to look like? Do I want to put it in my body? And can I easily make it with ingredients I have access to, or can easily gain access to?

What is it for?

Simply saying “empowerment” isn’t enough. Just like with any spell, you want to be able to visualize the purpose of the oil. So my Fire Water oil, for instance, is an oil where I knew I wanted it to protect, cleanse, purify, and enhance my workings. I visualized it as liquid fire, and when dressing, say, a healing candle, I can see the candle glow with golden healing warmth.

This is the kind of thing you want with your oils. Specific intent. The beautiful thing about empowerment oils is that they can be enchanted time and again for whatever you’re using them for. Going back to the Fire Water, I enchant it when I make it so that I can align the herbal properties, and then when I use it in a spell, I enchant it again so that the more specific property is called upon. My oil can be used for all sorts of purposes, but if I’m needing it for protection, I call upon that specific property.

The best way I personally use to do this is by using multiple herbs that share common traits. Cinnamon, Rosemary, Sage, and Cloves are all exceptionally good protection and purification herbs. All four of them are in my fire oil. Cinnamon, Clove, Rosemary, Sage, and Juniper are all very good for energizing and waking me up. All of them are in my fire oil.

You can use your intuition to determine what properties you want to incorporate into your oil, and start determining your ingredients from there!

What do I want it to look like?

This varies from person to person. Some couldn’t care less what their oil looks like, as long as it smells good, or as long as it does what they want it to do. For me, the senses are very important to incorporate into the spell or mixture I’m using - call it the cook in me.

If you’re a person who is put off by something because it stinks, looks or tastes rancid, or has floaty bits in it, then put together your recipe in a way that counters all of that.

I love vibrant colors, swirling movements, and pleasant smells that remind me of the purposes I want to incorporate. As such, my oils are pretty, have floaty bits, and smell - if I may say so - rather divine. For me, all of that adds to the magick of my Craft, so I take it into account.

Do I want to put it in my body?

I am a cook. For a lot of my oils, I want them to either be edible and pleasantly smelly or safe to put on skin with pretty scents. This is why I use a lot of herbs and spices that I can easily find in my kitchen. However, essential oils are occasionally included, and it is important to make sure that you know if what you’re putting into the oil is safe for consumption.

This may sound like a no brainer, but it isn’t always so for some people… I’ve seen someone get herself sick because she didn’t stop to think about a) how much essential oil she was adding, and b) whether it was a natural oil or if it was an artificial oil meant for aromatherapy. Always. Do. Your. Research.

Similarly! If you want the oil to help you with divination or healing, don’t add selenite to it - the stone will dissolve, and you will get yourself sick by consuming it. If it’s a divination oil for communicating with the dead, do not consume an oil with nightshade in it. You’ll end up communicating with the dead, but your physical body would be most ready to become fertilizer.

Can I easily get the ingredients?

If the answer is “yes!” Then have at it! If the answer is no, then in my practice, it’s important to consider why that may be. The oil may not be meant to have that ingredient, or Goddess could be saying “leave it out” or “there’s something better that you already have.”

I often see recipes that call for woods that aren’t readily accessible where I live. If I’m making a protection empowerment oil, for instance, and I’m not worried about consuming it, but it calls for female holly berries (holly with pointed leaves), I won’t have access to that. What holly grows here is all male. I can, however, substitute the holly for acorns or oak leaves, since oak is very easily accessible here.

Use your intuition and go with your gut if you can’t get a hold of something. It is okay to change up recipes as you need to suit your purposes.

In conclusion…

Empowerment oils are beautiful tools for any witchy working, and can be used in place of any other oil if you don’t have access to it (drats! I’ve run out of amethyst oil… good thing I have a jar of fire water!).

Be safe, and mix to your heart’s content! Empower your empowerment oil and empower your spell with that lovely empowerment oil! Just know that as long as you’ve made it your own, it will do wonders for you!

I’ll leave you with a short list of good herbs that I personally love to use as all-purpose herbs for empowerment oils, or which are great for mixing with others!

Blessed Be! )O(

Herbs: Cinnamon, Sage, Rosemary, Cloves, Juniper, Bay Laurel, Chili Pepper

Oils: Olive (extra virgin), Grape Seed, Vegetable, Canola

Stones: Clear Quartz, Salt, Iron

Mental clarity bottle

Salt - cleansing

Mint - refreshing

Ginkgo - memory

Lotus incense ash - purity

Sage - cleansing

Juniper - rejuvenating

Clear quartz - clarity

White candle - purity

Cleanse your space well and layer the ingredients in the bottle, focusing on the intent of each one. Now some of these are more personal and can vary for different people, e.g. I used desert sage because it grows wild here. Maybe you hate mint, if so then don't use it. Etc. Put the candle in the bottle and light it any time you need to clear your brain fog or make a tough decision.

I don't have an incantation for this one because I typically don't use them. Instead I use bells (pictured) or some other instrument to raise the energy and bring everything together. In this case I rang the bells over the bottle, focused on their ring, and let the sound gradually fade, then focused on the silence.

I feel like selenite works be a good addition, I just didn't have any extra on hand.

Whenever I feel in a witchy rut, like I don’t know what to do next, or simply stalled in my practice, I go back and re-read the Witches Sequence of the Discworld books by Terry Pratchett.

Nothing will teach you more about witchcraft than Granny Weatherwax.

Earth-Friendly Witchcraft

Whatever religious or spiritual tradition they identify with, most witches agree that there is something sacred about the natural world. We draw our power from the earth beneath our feet, the sky over our heads, and the air in our lungs.

And yet, many of us live in societies that are actively contributing to the destruction of the natural world. Most developed nations have a linear economy, which means resources are extracted and then sent on a one-way trip to consumers who will use them and then throw them away. This leads to overflowing landfills, air and water pollution, and quickly disappearing resources. The World Economic Forum predicts that, if our habits don’t change, there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. And I dearly hope that by now we’re all familiar with the reality of climate change and its devastating impact on global ecosystems.

I’m not trying to scare you, but I do want to point out the hypocrisy of drawing power from the Earth in our magic while simultaneously contributing to her destruction. If we truly want to consider ourselves spiritual allies of the planet, we need to make an effort to live our lives — and practice our magic — in ways that are less harmful to her.

You don’t have to become an environmentalist or switch to a zero waste lifestyle, but we can all make little changes for a more sustainable life. There’s lots of information out there about how to live a more Earth-friendly lifestyle, so in this post I’ll be focusing on how to apply that same philosophy to your witchcraft.

Steps to a more Earth-Friendly Practice:

Limiting your consumption will automatically lower your negative impact on the planet. Follow my previous guidelines for avoiding consumerism to start shrinking your carbon footprint.

Avoid plastic as much as possible. According to the WEF, 70% of our plastic ends up in a landfill or in the world’s waterways, and according to Julia Watkins, author of Simply Living Well, only 9% of household plastics get recycled. Plastic (unlike glass and metal) cannot be recycled indefinitely — it can only be recycled a handful of times before it becomes too degraded to be repurposed any further. There really is no way to make plastic safer for the planet, so it’s best to just avoid it altogether. Look for tools made of metal, wood, or glass instead of plastics, and try to order things shipped in paper and cardboard when possible.

Create spells that won’t leave leftovers. One of the big contributing factors to our current environmental crisis is that we just produce too much waste. You can avoid this in your magical practice by crafting spells that won’t leave you throwing away a big ball of candle wax, herbs, and paper. Kitchen magic is a no-brainer for this, since kitchen spells are meant to be eaten. If you want to do a candle spell, use small candles that will burn up completely — I find larger candles are more likely to leave leftover wax. Making magical bath salts is another great option for leftover-free spells — just make sure everything you include is safe to go down the drain and won’t contribute to water pollution!

Forage for your own spell materials. One of the best ways to avoid plastic packaging and cut down on emissions from shipping is to use materials from your backyard! Learn about the plants, animals, and minerals native to your area, and take regular nature walks where you can gather what you need. Remember to only take as much as you need and to be careful never to damage the plants you harvest from. Make sure to carefully disinfect any animals bits you pick up — you can do this by burying them in salt for a full moon cycle and/or setting them in the sun/under a UV light for several days. If you find a dead animal and want to strip and clean its bones for use in ritual, this is a much more involved process and will require special research, equipment, and lots of time. And, of course, never eat anything you have foraged unless you happen to have an advanced degree in botany.

Keep a magical garden. Another great way to connect with the planet and shrink your carbon footprint is to grow your own herbs, vegetables, and fruits. You can, of course, grow food for your kitchen if you have space, but even if you live in a tiny apartment you can grow a handful of magical herbs in pots. For a list of common houseplants and their magical associations, check out this post.

Shop for spell materials at a local farmer’s market. Buying local is a great way to avoid the environmental impact of shipping produce, and it allows you to support small farms. Farmer’s markets also typically carry seasonal produce, which can help you align your magical practice with the cycles of nature. Farmer’s markets are a great way to find seasonal fruits and vegetables for kitchen magic, but you can use the produce you find there for other types of spells as well.

Trade paraffin wax candles for beeswax or soy wax. Paraffin, the material used for most cheap candles, is a by-product of crude oil, which is not only highly unsustainable but contains carcinogens (chemicals that may cause cancer). Beeswax is a sustainable alternative, and beeswax candles produce a “clean” burn, meaning it does not negatively affect air quality. Soy wax is a slightly pricier, vegan-friendly sustainable option that also produces a clean burn.

Use undyed, unbleached paper for your written spells. The bleaches and dyes used in most commercially available paper have a toxic effect on the environment. Colored paper cannot be recycled or composted because it will contaminate everything it touches. Use plain, unbleached paper for your written spells, especially if you plan to bury them in the ground or dispose of them outside.

Make sure your essential oils are ethically harvested. Essential oils are tricky — although they are marketed as natural, many of them are produced through unsustainable methods. Because essential oils are concentrated, it may take thousands of pounds of plants to produce a single pound of oil. This can have a devastating impact, especially for endangered plants like white sage or palo santo. Look for ethically-sourced, wild-harvested essential oils — these are oils that are gathered from the wild in ways that don’t hurt the local ecosystem. Mountain Rose Herbs and Eden’s Garden are two brands that are committed to sustainable essential oil production.

Instead of burying a spell in a jar, bury it in a hollowed-out fruit or vegetable. Many traditions call for spells to be buried in the ground. Items like jar spells and witch bottles are traditionally buried on the witch’s property. The problem with this is that plastic and glass bottles do not biodegrade, and will remain in the ground for years. Instead of putting these materials in the ground, bury your spells in a hollowed-out fruit or vegetable. As a bonus, you can choose this item to support your intention. For example, you might use an apple for a love spell or a spicy pepper for protection. Just make sure everything inside the spell is also biodegradable!

Keep a compost pile as an offering to your local land spirits. Compost is an easy way to reduce food waste, and it gives your garden a boost! Even if you don’t have your own garden, you can give your compost to a fiend who does or look into donating it to a community garden. When composting, it’s important to maintain a balance between carbon-rich “brown” ingredients (leaves, undyed paper, cardboard, etc.) and nitrogen-rich “greens” (fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grounds, egg shells, etc.) — you want about four times as much brown as green in your compost. Start your compost with a layer of brown — preferably twigs or straw to allow good airflow. Alternate layers of green and brown materials as you add to the pile. Every time you add to your compost, verbally express your gratitude to the land spirits. Your compost should be moist, but not soggy — you’ll know it’s ready when it’s dark and crumbly and smells like soil.

Make your own tea blends with loose herbs and a reusable tea strainer instead of buying teabags. Witches and tea go together like peanut butter and chocolate, but the individual wrappers on teabags create a lot of waste. On top of that, since many of these wrappers are dyed, they may not even be recyclable. Keep your teas earth-friendly by buying dried herbs in bulk and blending your own teas. Making your own blends is not only better for the planet, but also allows you to choose each ingredient for a specific magical intention.

Find ways to use your trash in your craft. This one is pretty self-explanatory. Instead of throwing things away, find ways to use them in your magic! Use food scraps from cooking, like carrot greens and potato peels, in spells. Turn an old shoe box into a travel altar. Add your coffee grounds to spells to ground them and manifest results in the physical world. You get the idea. Be creative!

Research different models for Earth-friendly living, like the zero waste/low waste lifestyle, sustainability, and the solarpunk movement. This will give you more ideas for a sustainable lifestyle, as well as a sustainable magical practice.

The funny thing about Earth-friendly living is that, the more time you spend taking care of the planet, the more connected you feel to it. I encourage you to try some of the ideas on this list — you’ll be amazed by how quickly you develop a deeper relationship with the Earth and all her creatures.

Resources:

Of Blood and Bones by Kate Freuler

Simply Living Well by Julia Watkins

“By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the world’s oceans, study says” from The Washington Post

A Sustainable Mind podcast

Practical(ly) Zero Waste podcast