Starting out, witchcraft can seem overwhelming due to the vast amount of information out there. When I first began, I saw all these amazing witches on social media and was shunned by the same ones for asking questions they didn’t want to answer. As a whole, the witch and pagan communities are welcoming and open. However, there are always those few that feel the need to spread hate instead of information for those witches that are just starting out. Witchcraft is just that, a craft. While my craft may not be exactly the same as yours, it does not make either one “better” than the other. For those searching for information, I will list things I believe will help anyone starting out and looking for guidance.
Firstly, decide what kind of practitioner you want to be. I’m not referring to your “title” so much as figuring out which areas appease most to you. For myself, divination practices came naturally due to being a conduit, but the options are endless. Perhaps you love the beach, or cooking, or feel the pull of different dimensions and spirits. Your craft is meant to fit you, so explore the areas that call to you the most.
Secondly, read and read some more. In my opinion, knowledge is power. The better informed you are, the better you can adapt your craft to fit you. I recommend any book by Scott Cunningham or Arin Murphy-Hiscock for beginners. Their books are packed full of easy to comprehend information. They are good books to see what resonates with you.
Most importantly, DO NOT GET DISCOURAGED. Just as with any other craft, it can take time to build up all the tools that you need/want. Get what you can, when you can, and the rest will come with time. You are your most important tool. Your intention and state of mind shape your reality, and witchcraft is nothing more than harnessing the abilities that lay dormant within you. Your tools simply amplify your intentions.
Lastly, welcome to the family. You will never be alone again because you are now part of an ancient, tight-knit community. We make mistakes and we learn together. Additionally, La Morte XIII understands how difficult and overwhelming it can be, so reach out anytime on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Tumblr. Let us know if you have a specific question or would like us to do a post pertaining to a topic you are learning.
Blessings to you all, SoloVVitch
Photography by: @solovvitch Pagan Pages by: @solovvitch
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🌰 Bless the salt before using it for a protection spell
🌰 Stir clock wise for cleansing, and counter clock wise for banishing
🌰 Rosemary in a stew is yummy and also works great for protection or self love
🌰 Add hot spices to attract love, and warm spices for hearthy spells
🌰 When you bake a cake, when your greasing the tin, draw a sigil in the butter and then cover up with flour. Blessed be!
🌰 Use a toothpick to draw protective rhunes on your biscuits
🌰 Black pepper for hexing! (even on baked goods)
🌰 Use a strong liquor to ward off evil spirits (and have a sip while you cook, we can never be too careful 😉)
Yule-Mothers Night Blót
I put this ritual together from various sources-I can’t claim all the wording myself only the final form of the ritual. This was used for my kindreds the first Mother’s night. Because of our eclectic group, we chose not to only focus on Frigg, and instead included many mothers. As offerings, each of the members that wished to partake creates a Poppet from straw in the shape of a woman, which was burned at the end of the ritual.
Hallowing-
To be done before the arrival of guests- it is not essential that there be witnesses{this was done to cut down on time, during the cold winter}
Godi holds the ceremonial hammer and opens the circle with the traditional blessing:
In the Elhaz position standing facing North the Godi speaks:
Hammer to the North, hold and hallow this holy stead.
Hail Odin and the Northern forces
Godi faces East and speaks:
Hammer to the East, hold and hallow this holy stead.
Hail Freyr and the Eastern forces
Godi faces South and speaks:
Hammer to the South, hold and hallow this holy stead.
Hail Balder and the Southern forces
Godi faces West and speaks:
Hammer to the West, hold and hallow this holy stead.
Hail Thor and the Western forces
Hammer above and Below me Hold and hallow this holy stead
Hail the Aesir and Vanir, the Ancestors and the wights of the land
Sacred Fire
Loki.
Pine-fire.
Through the power of my love for you, I ask that you kindle the flame of this sacred fire.
As you have you have kindled one in me.
As we honor this evening our mothers, I ask for the comfort of the hearth for my kin.
May they know your gifts, as the gods have done
***
{godi speaks}
Welcome, to the Wolves of the North Mother’s night Blót. I hope the evening finds you well and warm. Tonight, the longest night of the year, we come together in this circle to praise the many mothers in our lives.
Motherhood is a sacred charge, AVAILABLE, to every woman.
Whether conceived through coitus, or artificial insemination.
Through natural birth, or C-Section.
Born of the blood, or adopted.
How a woman becomes a mother varies, but what never changes is her love and her place as a guardian and teacher of the next generation. Like Skuld of the Norns and all mother Frigg, every mother is a safeguard of the future. Let us honor them.
Invocation
The Godi faces the altar, holding high with both hands a horn of mead and recites:
Meditation
{insert name/Gothi} will now lead us in a mediation; hold your poppet and reflect on your Disir, your ancestors and ancient mothers. Reflect on your living mothers and most of all your respect and love for them and theirs for you.
Hailing
We will now commence with a Sumbel, a little different than usual. In the first round I invite each of you to hail a goddess, Round two you may hail one of your Disir and on the third round a living mother of your family. At any point you may offer your poppet to whomever you would And As You cast it to the fire, reflect, feel their love for you. And give it in return. If you wish to pass on a round simply pass the horn to the person next to you.
Gythas example - Hail to Laufey, also called Nal, the Needle and weary Mother of Loki.
*poppet is offered to the fire*
Closing
Spirits of the nine realms we thank you for your presence here in this circle. We ask for your blessing and while you depart to your noble realm we bid you hail and farewell. I hereby release any Spirits that may have been imprisoned by this ceremony. Depart now in peace to your abodes and habitations. The blót is now ended, let the merriment begin.
Like everyone else, I experience healthy skepticism relating my religious practice. There is one thing, however, that never ceases to impress me and it’s when personal observations (or even more complex UPG) end up being attested and proven through research. Nothing is more validating than reading an academic essay and recognizing something you have experienced firsthand as a worshipper.
We’ve all seen the hashtag #wakingwitchblr or the term itself at one point. Still, I found that there’s a lack of info on what you can actually do to make witchblr more active.
So I took it upon myself to create a list of things that anyone can do to revive our amazing community! Enjoy !
There’s nothing inherently wrong with liking a post, it’s just that due to how Tumblr works, liking a post does virtually nothing. Reblogging, however, lets that post be seen by more and more people. The surefire way to revive witchblr is by reblogging as many witchy posts as you can.
But what if some posts just doesn’t fit into your blog’s theme, even though you want to support it? Well, you have a couple options:
Reblog anyway. Diversifying your posts actually makes your blog more interesting. You can always tag it as ‘off-topic’ if the different theme bothers you that much.
Create a reblog/spam account! I have one and it is so simple. The post may not gain as much traction compared to if you RB-ed in your main blog, but trust me when I say a single reblog goes a long way.
Share it on other social media. See that arrow-like button down there? Click it and you can share the post anywhere. Send it to your witchy discord servers or your insta groupchat !
AKA reblog from lesser-known bloggers.
Not only will you support fellow witches creating content, this also give you a chance to talk to them and find your place within Witchblr! Which brings me to my next point…
If I’m a witch who wants to move away from Tumblr, there will be only one thing that can stop me, and that’s the friends and connections that I’ve made here.
Join online covens and discord servers, ask your witchstagram and witchtok friends for their tumblr url, and just have fun together.
Interacting with other witches, making friends, even just giving compliments or advices. This is what makes us a community. It’s what makes us stay here. If we don’t interact with each other, than we’re just a bunch of people who likes the same thing without any connection. That’s not witchblr.
There is a kind of… exclusivity, when you look through the hashtags of witchy posts. Witches only ever tag with “witchblr”, “witchcraft”, and “magick”.
This creates an accurate, non-spammy post, but it is also a post that will only show up on other witches’ dashboard and no one else’s. The community will never grow in this way because there will be no new people finding the community. It’s just an echo chamber.
Instead, diversify your tags. I’m not telling you to tag your ritual oil with ‘cars for sale’, but if you made a travel altar yourself, there’s nothing wrong in tagging it #crafting, #diy, #handmade, etc.
Non-witches will then find the post and potentially become interested in the community, thus making it grow.
Original content is the backbone of any community, and witchblr is dying because we’re not producing any. So if you want to revive witchblr, make content of your own.
No, it doesn’t have to be well thought-out. Heck, it doesn’t even have to be good. Original content can be anything! It can be you posting about a witchy thing that happened. It can be your drawing, or a picture you took. It could even be memes???
Or it could be a ‘how to wake witchblr’ post that you wrote because you have a script due 3 weeks ago and somehow this is your idea of procrastination
The point is: just click that ‘Make a Post’ button, and make a freaking post !
Now that you know these, it’s time to let other people know too ! I put a lot of thoughts into this post, but I have to admit that these tips will only work if everyone in the community is doing it.
If you have other tips or ways to make Witchblr more active, feel free to reblog with your own addition too.
I love this community, and if you’re reading this post I’m sure you do as well. It’s not gonna happen overnight, but I know that we can be as active as we used to be. We’ve got the heart, we just need the action.
The Key of Solomon. I’ve heard a lot of good things from several ceremonial magicians, including @thedesertgod , that the edition to go for is Skinner’s. He’s compiled, edited, and added scholastic commentary to The Veritable Key of Solomon, as well as The Magician’s Tables. Joseph Peterson, also recommended, has worked on The Lesser Key of Solomon and the Clavicula Solomonis (or Key of Solomon). I probably would read it in its original Latin, if you have the means.
Agrippa, Cornelius (false attribution). The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy. 1655. Stephen Skinner also worked on an edition of this book. Unlike the actual Agrippa’s original three books, this volume does not hold much in the way of theory but offers plenty of practical instruction.
Casaubon, M. A True and Faithful Relation of what passed for many years between Dr. John Dee…and Some Spirits. 1659. As a record of the seances held by Dr. Dee and Kelley, it recounts the techniques used to conjure spirits.
Chamberlain, Richard. Lithobolia. 1682. One family’s account of witchcraft perpetuated by the fetch of a neighbor.
Culpepper, Nicholas. Complete Herbal. 1653. It provides a comprehensive description of the herbs, along with their medicinal uses and instructions on preparing them to treat illnesses.
Culpepper, Nicholas. The English Physician. 1652. The first medical guide published in the American colonies (apparently), it is intended for the average person.
Defoe, Daniel (assumed). A Compleat System of Magick; or, The History of the Black-Art. 1727. As a skeptic, like Reginald Scot, this anonymous author (who we’re pretty sure is Defoe) provides much information on the work of witches, conjurors, and cunning-folk.
Hale, John. A Modest Enquiry into the Nature of Witchcraft. 1702. After the Salem witch trials, he challenges the legal proceedings and religious principals of witch hunts in general.
Magnus, Albertus (false attribution). The Book of Secrets. “Provides a portrayal of the magical culture that predominated in the 16th century. This work includes secrets which are divided into five distinct parts: Of the Virtues of Herbs, Of the Virtues of Stones, Of the Virtues of Beasts, Of the Planets, and The Marvels of the World.”
Mather, Cotton. Memorable Providences. 1698. Having fanned the flames of the Salem hysteria, this book discusses several witchcraft cases in New England before the Trials arose.
Mather, Increase. Cases of Conscience. 1693. Intended to vindicate the Mathers’ involvement in Salem, it was intended to prove that witches and devils could assume the shape of an innocent person.
Scot, Reginald. The Discoverie of Witchcraft. 1584. By attempting to debunk witchcraft as a hoax, it managed to record a good cross-section of their formulae.
Turner, Richard. Botanologia The Brittish Physician: or The Nature and Vertue of English Plants. 1664. Another guide to British herbs and medicine, by an astrologer, occultist, and botanist.
Davies, Owen. Cunning-Folk: Popular Magic in English History. Hambledon and London, 2003.
Demos, John. Entertaining Satan: Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England. Oxford University Press, 2004.
Godbeer, Richard. The Devil’s Dominion: Magic and Religion in Early New England. Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Merrifield, Ralph. The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic. Batsford, 1987.
Semmens, Jason. The Witch of the West: or, the Strange and Wonderful History of Thomasine Blight. Semmens, 2004.
Thomas, Keith. Religion and the Decline of Magic. Peregrine, 1978.
Weisman, Richard. Witchcraft, Magic, and Religion in 17th-century Massachusetts. University of Massachusetts Press, 1984.
Wilby, Emma. Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic. Sussex Academic Press, 2005.
You really don't need all the fancy bullshit every tumblr influencer will ever tell you to use. Here's my countdown ofaxtually useful shit.
A pocket knife, preferably with a wood handle. Use that bitch for everything, enchant it, carve symbols in it. It will absolutely be your best friend.
A good bag or backpack with a couple of plastic or ziploc bags in it. If you ever run off into the woods to find minerals, bones, plants, etc. A set aside bag and some things to store your treasures in becomes a necessity.
Basic divinatory sets. You don't have to buy fancy shit, learn to divine with playing cards and dice, or learn geomancy, lithomancy, or rune casting with homemade sets. A tarot deck is nice, but it isn't necessary when you've got so many other divinatory aids available.
A nice sized chunk of scrap cloth. When you process dried plants or sort new ones, that shit can and will get everywhere. A scrap piece of muslin or linen can help contain all of that mess and make clean up way easier.
A stash of good rocks. Draw sigils or symbols on those babies and leave them in the garden, the windowsill,property boundaries, under the stoop, etc. You can never have too many good rocks.
A pendulum, for fucks sake. The cards are going to be vague as hell when you're trying to figure out yes or no questions, and using a candle to communicate with spirits is really fucking hard outside. If you can't afford one, find a nice chunk of pointy quartz and learn to macrame.
A workspace. Everyone talks about having big fancy altars, but no one mentions that you need a good surface to do all your work on.
Storage, so much storage. I'm not talking about mason jars and pill bottles, I'm talking about where you put all the things you put in those jars. Having a workspace with drawers is immeasurably helpful.
A broom and water source. You're going to be cleaning up after yourself a lot, it's helpful to have a jug of water and a broom that stays by your workspace.
A mode of cleansing. I make a salt concoction to scatter around my workspace on short notice and store it close by.
On that note: SOMETHING TO CANCEL SPELLS WITH. Eventually, something will go wrong. You'll want to end that spell immediately. Have something to do it with.
A strainer. If you don't have a blender, rub dried plants across it to get a powder. If you do have a blender, you can strain that powder with it. Either way, if you intend to powder shit, get a strainer.
Small trays. It makes drying flowers so much easier if you have a small metal surface to contain them with- then just stick those suckers in a southern window and let em go.
Yarn/string scraps. Having a box or drawer of scraps makes trying this up to dry easier and a bit less wasteful.
A stash of offerings for whatever you work with. Honey for fae, coins for graveyard gatekeepers, alcohol for ancestors, etc.
Protective talismans or charms. Once you're into all of this stuff, you'll likely stick your nose in something you shouldn't. Having basic protection with you or in your workspace is incredibly important. A key and hagstone with red string is simple and effective.
A lighter- so many people forget the most basic shit. You're going to want to light shit on fire if you're a witch.
And a last tip- if something is too hard for a mortar and pestle, a plastic bag and hammer works too.
Souls cakes are small round cakes which is traditionally made for Halloween. Originally the poor would knock on doors of wealthier families begging for leftover soul cakes, in turn for a prayer. And thus the trick or treating tradition began! A great offering for the dead, and your family at that matter.
3 ½ cup flour
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup cold butter
A pinch of salt
Splash of vanilla
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp all-spice
A pinch of ground cloves
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
Dried cranberries/currents/raisins
Candied Orange Peel
A spoon full of honey
3 tbsp almond milk
¼ cup chopped hazelnuts
For a simple frosting:
3 tbsp softened butter
3 tbsp cream
1 tsp vanila extract
Red or orange food dye
¼ cup powdered sugar
¼ cup almond milk/alternative milk
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl combine flour, spices, salt, and baking powder. In a smaller ball, rehydrate your dried fruit with apple cider vinegar (sounds weird, but trust me it soften the tart bite of dried fruit).
Cut cold butter into the flour mixture until it becomes evenly crumbly. Mix in sugar and eggs. Once completely combined, add your almond milk, dried fruit and candied orange peel. Add in hazelnuts and honey.
Kneed dough until it becomes solid, if you think it’s too liquidy, add in more flour. If it’s too dry, add in more almond milk.
Once you’ve got your dough, plastic wrap it, and put it in the freezer for 15 minutes. Kneed the dough out, roll it, and cut them into circles. I personally use a biscuit cutter, and that works fine ~ Although you can use a knife or a cookie cutter as well!
Place them on baking sheets and with the flat end of a knife, make crosses that come to look like plus signs. Not too deep to cut the cookie in half, but not to shallow or else it will fade away while baking.
Place them in the oven for 25 minutes, or until done. While baking, combine your frosting ingredients and beat with a fork. Shovel into piping bag with a thin tip.
Once the cookies are out of the oven, let them cool to room temperature before frosting. Now with your festive orange or red or even black frosting, pipe along the cross to define it. You could also skip the frosting all together if your not a frosting person - but I suggest it since these cakes are not overly sweet.
\ Garnish to your liking and serve for a tasty Samhain! \
~ Blessed be, Angel….
I’m going to use this post not only as a correspondence guide but also as a traduction guide, since english is not my native language and I need to keep record as to what is what. So I’m posting the original english correspondence and just below the names in spanish and catalan with a spanish traduction of the correspondences.
BTW, the original correspondence list was made by @peachyymama. So all praise be to her.
————————————–
Manzanas / Pomes: Amor, fertilidad, matrimonio, belleza, vanidad, sabiduria.
Aguacate / Alvocat: Deseo, amor, belleza (puedes llevar un hueso de aguacate para irradiar belleza)
Albaricoque / Albercoc: Atrae el amor.
Plátano / Plàtan: Fertilidad, potencia, prosperidad.
Mora / Mora: Curación, protección, dinero.
Arandano / Nabiu: Paz, protección.
Brócoli / Broquil: Liderazgo, protección, fuerza.
Coles de Bruselas / Cols de Brusseles: Protección, resiliencia, protección.
Remolacha / Remolatxa: Amor.
Repollo / Col: Buena suerte, dinero, fertilidad, magia lunar.
Zanahorias / Pastanagues: Deseo, fertilidad.
Coliflor / Coliflor: Protección.
Apio / Api: Poder mental y psíquico, deseo, fertilidad.
Cereza o Guinda / Cirera: Amor, adivinación, felicidad.
Coco / Coco: Purificación, protección, castidad.
Maíz / Blat de Moro: Protección, buena suerte, adivinación.
Pepino / Cogombre: Salud, castidad, fertilidad.
Ajo / All: Curación, protección, purificación, exorcismos, guarda contra las malas energias.
Uvas / Raïm: Diners, fertilidad, poderes mentales, magia de jardín.
Pomelo / Aranja: Limpieza, purificación.
Limón / Llimona: Limpieza, purificación, remueve bloqueos.
Lechuga / Enciam: Adivinación, protección, sueño, magia lunar, hechizos de amor.
Lima / Llima: Protección, purificación, promueve la calma.
Setas / Bolets: Conciencia psíquica.
Cebolla / Ceba: Estabilidad, dinero, deseo, protección, prosperidad.
Naranja / Taronja: Amor, felicidad, alegría.
Melocotón / Préssec: Fertilidad, amor, sabiduria.
Pera / Pera: Deseo, amor.
Guisantes / Pèsols: Suerte, dinero.
Pimiento verde / Pebrot verd: Crecimiento, prosperidad.
Pimiento rojo / Pebrot vermell: Energia, fuerza.
Pimiento amarillo / Pebrot groc: Creatividad.
Piña / Pinya: Suerte, dinero, castidad.
Ciruela / Pruna: Curación, paz, amor.
Granada / Magrana: Adivinación, deseos, riqueza, fertilidad
Patata / Patata: Curación, dinero, suerte.
Calabaza / Carbassa: Curación, prosperidad.
Rábano / Rave: Protección, deseo.
Frambuesa / Gerd: Amor, protección, felicidad, estamina.
Espinacas / Espinacs: Prosperidad.
Fresas / Maduixes: Éxitos, buena fortuna, amor, suerte, romance.
Batata o Boniato / Moniato: Anclarse a la tierra, amor, deseo.
Mandarina / Mandarina: Protección.
Tomate / Tomàquet: Curación, amor, prosperidad, protección.
Sandía / Sindria: Curación.
- Before cooking I always start with a spritz cleanse with a rose water/moon water blend. Light a candle and make myself a cup of tea.
- Rock salt for grounding, sea salt before a journey or to get rid of feelings of being stuck in place.
- I love to cook with the seasons. This one may seem obvious but at times it can be tough to do given the endless year round choice we get in super markets. Each set of seasonal foods matches the energy of that season, helping you to get in sync with the natural rhythms and flows of the year.
- YOU DON’T ALWAYS NEED FRESH SPECIALITY HERBS TO DO KITCHEN MAGIC. I cannot say this enough, a lot of what goes into the food I make for my family are simple spices and herbs that you can buy for like 50p anywhere. I do have quite a large stock of less common dried herbs but these mostly come out when somebody is sick or needs an elixir rather than going in a casserole unless I’m making something a bit special for a festival or something.
- Stir clockwise to manifest & anti clockwise to rid/banish/ other wise tell something to bugger right off.
- pssst..I don’t make or bake everything from scratch all the time. I’m busy, I have class, I have a job, I have a dog, I’m supposedly a practising artist. I *do not* have time to laminate pastry every time I wanna make a puff pie on a Sunday.
- An almanac is your best friend for figuring out whats’ in season & if you want a kitchen garden: when, how and what to plant/harvest etc. (it’s also nice to have it all on paper rather than googling every time).
- I plan ahead as much as possible, I do a weekly meal plan and buy everything on Saturdays. I know my partners’ schedule and by extension, what this household is likely to need throughout a 5 day period. Huge important PhD presentation coming up on Tuesday? great, we’re having pumpkin risotto with bay, basil, black pepper & thyme on Monday night to set you up for confident delivery. Stressful meeting on Friday? No problem, Cumin infused tarka dal with homemade rosemary flatbreads to ease out of the working week and relax.
- Kitchen crafting for me is all about manifesting love, care and warmth for my loved ones. Building connections & community through the sharing of thoughtfully, *intentionally* prepared food. As an anthropologist, I cannot over-estimate the importance of food/food making/food sharing to how people feel and experience their worlds.
- Cooking is alchemy, it is a vastly undervalued skill (because misogyny) and the ability to take a bunch of raw materials and turn it into a physically and spiritually nourishing feast is magic.
(Image: cheesy macaroni casserole with nutmeg & tomato, seeded rolls & rainbow salad)
☀ Charge Sun Water ☀ Make a Sun Book ☀ Burn Incense ☀ Make a sachet with appropriate herbs ☀ Make Sun catchers ☀ Make a solar oven then…. ☀ Bake treats for the fairies ☀ Make/Buy a sundial ☀ Chart the sun’s movement through the sky by outlining your shadow in chalk throughout the day. (Great for kids) ☀ Do a drawing or painting ☀ Write a song, poem, or devotion ☀ Make sun tea ☀ Make a wreath for your front door ☀ Do red/yellow/gold candle magick ☀ Sun print fabric ☀ Watch a Midsummer night’s dream ☀ Paint a figurine gold for your altar ☀ Decorate special cups ☀ Dress in corresponding colors (bonus points for makeup magick) ☀ Cook up a Litha feast (grill to enjoy a fire if you can’t be at a bonfire) ☀ Try a new cocktail/mocktail ☀ Have a picnic outside in the sun ☀ Meditate on the energy of the sun/summer
These are just a few ideas I had and are going to try for Litha. Have fun and spend some time outside! As always, magick is all about intent.
💘Light and Love Witches!