Blessed Mabon Witches!

May has been a long and winding month. As always happens when everything blooms at once, I ran out of time to do all of the things and, moreover, to write about all of the things. I’m feeling very behind (that may just be Mercury retrograde talking). I did manage to carve out some time for violets, my absolute favorite early spring edible. I’ve been working with violets for two years now – I’ve written in the past about my violet syrup experiments (which were relatively successful) and I also made a violet cordial, violet drinking vinegar, and violet sugar cookies (which were less successful – not inedible but not really what I wanted.)

As fate would have it, my perfect violet picking day was May Day proper. I had a number of helpers – friends who were all helping to collect dandelions for our May Day feast and a little bit extra (violets for me). My friends have all willingly signed up on my journey to eat all of the edible flowers so the promise of future violet edibles was all the encouragement they needed. With extra hands, picking enough to make violet syrup and then some was easy and so I set out to make violet jelly as well.

Both the violet jelly (featured here in the front) and the violet syrup (back pouring bottle) have been a smashing success. Violet jelly is what I have been missing in my life – the flavor is so deep and purple. (I know, descriptive, right?) The jelly has been great with a charcuterie plate (really good on salted meats and cheeses) and it makes a pretty great addition to a cheese danish, too! Truth be told, I like it BETTER than the violet syrup which I have found to be a bit finicky.

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know that I have a serious thing for cocktail syrups. My go-to is to make them into a gin sour with a good solid juniper-forward gin and some freshly squeezed lemon juice. That is one of my staple cocktails so I know my recipe isn’t the problem but honestly, I haven’t particularly liked the violet syrup in that application. A lot of my others have so I’ve kept making the cocktail but up until last week, I wouldn’t have skipped the cocktail syrup for that jelly any day.

That all changed in a moment. I was staying at a hotel on the beach in Cape Cod with my partner, my coven mate, and her partner. We didn’t know what to make for a drink – it was hot. We knew that a tiki drink was in order. But what?

We surveyed our assets: aged rum with pineapple and lime juice sounds like a tiki drink, right? My partner used some Google magic and came up with an absolutely perfect summer cocktail. It called for aged rum, those two juices, Aperol (which I had thrown in our bags on a complete lark), and simple syrup. We happened to have our violet syrup so in it went.

Meet the Violet Bird of Paradise

The bird of paradise is already a riff on the more classic Jungle Bird cocktail and we put our own twist on the drink by using violet simple syrup rather than plain cocktail syrup. The results were spectacular. The violet flavor grounded this drink (as I mentioned before, violet has a surprising amount of depth of flavor for such a tiny flower) and the color-changing properties of the syrup were on full display when combined with the citrus elements of the drink. This is the perfect cool you down on a hot day kind of drink.

The Violet Bird of Paradise

1 oz. overproof rum (I used aged rum for this purpose 1 oz. Aperol 1 oz. Pineapple Juice 1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice 1/4 oz. Violet Simply Syrup

Mix in a Boston shaker and then serve over crushed ice.

This drink is sweet and needs to be served very cold – don’t skimp on the ice. Fill the entire glass. With rum, pineapple, the orange from Aperol, and sweet violet – this drink can be easily enchanted for good times and happiness. Please drink and enchant responsibly!

Minx

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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.

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Witch tip:

Winter season is upon us, which means that these types of candle holders in the shape of a tiny house will be sold as Christmas decoration again. These are amazing as home wards, to bring warmth and joy to the home, and for protection spells!

- Paint protective symbols on them or in them - charge the tealight you put in there with protection magic or magic for a happy home - choose tealights (or make them) with scents that you associate with protection or cozyness/happiness - lay a wreath around it as a symbol of your protective ward, for example a small wreath made of rosemary, or a plain metal (iron) one - you could even lay a circle of salt around it - charge the candle to become your hearth, the basis of all magics to be worked for the home - also good for working with hearth deities such as Hestia - also can be used as a house for a servitor created to protect the home - paint it in happy colours to attract joy and happiness to your home - instead of a candle, fill it with herbs, crystals, and other symbols to attract magic into your home (sort of like an open spelljar or an altar) - use it as a focus when working with the "spirit" or "soul" of your home - charge it specifically to eliminate strife and negativity within the home during the holidays

The possibilities are endless!

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When Life Gives You Jewelweed, 1

As an intuitive witch, I strongly believe in working with the plants that grow in your natural environment. It's a covenant that I have made with my spirits and the spirits of the land - it's invasive, I should use it all up or if it's native, I should help it to flourish and grow.

Enter jewelweed aka Impatiens capensis, Balsam Weed, Slipper Weed, "Touch Me Not"

Jewelweed is native to the American Northeast but is not often a gardener’s friend.

I don’t blame the intrepid gardener who, appalled at the HUNDREDS (literally) of jewelweed plants that spring up in their yard, pulls them all up in a haste to do be done with the voracious spreader (jewelweed is known as “touch me not” because its seed pods go off like a BOMB when touched, spreading its seed voraciously – one misstep with this and you will guarantee yourself months of weeding jewelweed out of every space you have).

Yes, almost every single plant in this following photograph is jewelweed! Dora has recently moved into her ancestral home and is trying to reclaim her gardens back from the mess that her Grandmother made of them to “fit in” with the popular gardening trends of the ’90s.

As often happens when you start to clear out a wild space, the first thing to move in are the “weeds” – in this case – jewelweed!

Still, as a green witch, I know that even the most “obnoxious” plants have fabulous magical, edible, and/or medicinal properties. Jewelweed is a perfect example of this.

Jewelweed is both anti-inflammatory and an anti-histamine and can be used topically to treat eczema, bug bites, stinging nettles, and fungal rashes. It is best known for its ability to neutralize the urushiol compound in poison ivy that causes many people to have that horrible itchy rash. This can be done in one of two ways. Firstly, by applying the raw sap of the jewelweed plant directly to the area that you want to treat. For longer-term use, jewelweed can be made into a salve or tinctured (I am going to put mine into a Thatcher’s Witch Hazel toner because I know that my skin tolerates that well).

Magically, there is less information on the properties of jewelweed. Like many of the native plants to the Americas, there is a dearth of information due to the continued reliance on “old world” herbs in our modern crafts. Due to its healing properties and the wet environment in which it grows, the obvious elemental association is Water. The bright orange color of its trumpet flowers speaks to happiness and joy. I might simplify that plus its healing properties to a sense of “relief”.

My intention is to pick and dry some of the flowers and play around to see how it works out magically. I’ll update you with the results.

I am pleased with the medicinal applications of jewelweed. My partner has both realized their love of gardening and developed quite an intense contact dermatitis to something in my garden, so a jewelweed concoction is right on time. I intend to make both a salve and infuse into Witchhazel – they will ultimately be my guinea pig as to which is better.

In any case, I’m very excited to be making a new plant acquaintance.

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Magics for Curse-Breaking

Updated: November 12th, 2017

Are You Cursed?

[Have I Been Cursed?]

[How to Tell if You’ve Been Cursed]

[I’m Afraid That I’ve Been Hexed]

[Knowing if You Are Under a Curse/Have Been Cursed]

[So You Think You’ve Been Cursed]

[So You Think You’ve Been Cursed?]

Protection from Curses

[Curse Removal / Protection]

[A Hearth Witch’s Defense, Part Two - Protecting Yourself & Your Hearth From Curses]

[Protection and Return to Sender Jar]

[Protection from Curses]

[Protection Jar Against Binding and Hexes]

[Protective Measures Against Common Hexes or Curses]

[Three Little Empresses: Curse Protection Poppets]

[To Ward Off Curses]

Decoys

(a decoy acts as a “substitute” for you, which the curse will be redirected to instead of harming you; the decoy can then be cleansed or destroyed to remove the curse from it; sometimes you don’t get a choice and the decoy gets destroyed, and you have to make a new one if you still desire its protection)

[Anti-Curse Poppet]

[Black Hole Decoy]

[Creating a Decoy for Protection Purposes]

[Curse Decoy]

[Decoy Poppet]

[Diversion Jar]

[Negativity / Bad Luck / Curse Absorbing Decoy Poppet]

[Sea Witch’s Scapegoat]

[Spell: Witch Bottle]

[The Spook’s Decoy]

[Substitute Spell]

[Witch Bottle]

To Break a Curse

[Antidote: Hexed Objects; Removal Powder]

[“Black as Night” Curse Removal Body Scrub]

[Blackthorn Reversing Spell]

[Break a Curse Candle Spell]

[Break a Curse Spell]

[Break a Spell Cast Against You]

[Breaking a Curse]

[For Breaking a Curse]

[Burning Bridges Spell]

[Buster Poultice Recipe]

[Curse Breaker Cleansing] (cw: sigil)

[Curse Breaking Hand Washing/Bath]

[A Curse-Breaking, Purifying, and Protective Witch Jar] (tw: music autoplay)

[Curse Removal & Reversal]

[Curse Removing Wash]

[To Destroy a Curse]

[The Healing Pool: A Cursebreaker]

[Hex and Curse Breaking]

[Hex-Breaker Candle]

[Hexbreaker Powder]

[Lemon Uncrossing]

[Lift a Curse]

[Mild & Spicy Cursebreaker Powders]

[Multipurpose “Curse Removing” Wash]

[To Remove a Curse]

[Remove a Hex, Reverse a Jinx]

[Removing Hexes and Curses]

[Rid Yourself of a Curse]

[Smoke Out the Curse]

[Thu'um Magix: Disarm]

[Unbinding Spell]

To Send a Curse Back

[Anti-Curse Powder]

[Calcifer’s Bargain - A Spell to Reverse a Curse/Hex Placed on You]

[Charm - Curse/Spell Breaking]

[To Counter a Curse]

[Curse Breaking Shampoo]

[Curse-Reverse]

[Curseturner Powder]

[“Drown the Witch” Reversing Spell]

[Engraved Hourglass Nebula Curse Return Spell]

[Flame Wheel]

[Lemon Curse Breaker]

[Major Arcana Spells - Lady Justice - Return to Sender]

[Mirror Counter-Curse]

[Mirror, Mirror (Reversal)]

[Reflect Away Harm (Curse Reversal)]

[Return to Sender]

[Return to Sender / Banish Negativity Spell]

[Return to Sender Candle Spell]

[Return to Sender Spell] 

[Reverse a Curse]

[Sealed with a C(urse)]

[Simple Hex/Curse Reversal]

[A Simple “Reverse the Curse” Spell]

[Spell: Return to Sender]

[A Spell to Counter Another’s Magick]

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Been tossing this idea around in my head but for spirit-working witches I lowkey think a good place to start is going around to make introductions to a variety of helpful spirits, either benevolent or neutral in moral dignity, who can be called on at any time.

Literally going around and meeting the archangels/monarchs/guardians/gatekeepers (etc/whatever) of the four elemental roads. Just shaking hands and saying hi. Asking for their support, patience, and grace in working with them and their domains.

Brief introduction to the structure you live in, or absent of that, the land you live on.

Choosing your top 5 personal favorite kitchen spices, one or two nice rocks, and the nearest convenient tree and just doing a series of private rituals to meet them one by one.

Because then by the time you want to get started with other stuff, like finding familiar spirits, learning new skills, or solving problems, you already have met several spirits who are likely to be easily invoked to stand by your side and offer protection, assistance, and guidance for the task at hand.

Just because you don't know any spirits on a friendship level doesn't mean you have to be alone. You can still have spirits standing with you to help and ensure things go well. You can lay a compass, call forth the elemental gods, and ask them to provide assistance for the duration of the ritual. You can ask them to send a teacher or a guide to you to help you with something important.

Etc.

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Grimoire Tips

Just some things I've done that have helped me out tremendously with my own.

Cross-reference everything and anything before adding it in with pen. I usually aim for between four and six sources at least.

Table of contents! Number your pages and start a table of contents on the first one. Make sure you reserve the first few pages to continue it.

Print out charts to paste in. I have the wheel of the year in mine! It was so much easier than drawing it.

If you have trouble remembering what a specific plant looks like, and if it's available near you, press-dry a leaf or stem and paste it next to its information.

Sources! Write down where you found the information! If you have further questions that your book isn't answering yet, go to the source!

Cleanse your book when it feels heavy. Not physically heavy - you understand what I mean.

Keep crystals on top of it. Depending on what you keep on it, the qualities of the crystals will keep the book feeling fresh and light.

Don't just copy paragraphs and information straight from your sources. Paraphrase things in your own words so that it's easier for you to keep them in your head. Yes, having a book to reference is great, but it's also great to study it so you don't have to use it every time you have a question!

Share. Sharing grimoires with others can be massively beneficial to everyone involved, especially if you're swapping information. Seeing from other perspectives is always a good idea.

Just a few tricks and tips! As always, do your research, be safe, and blessed be.

Support your local witch on Ko-Fi or at my store, Hallow Grove!

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Green Witchcraft: A Living Ward Spell

Note: I called this a green witch spell because it calls for caring for a living plant. That means providing it with the correct levels of light and water for its care. You do not have to call yourself a Green Witch to use this spell. You do, on the other hand, need to be able to care for a plant. Be advised. Note: There are a lot of parts to this spell. This isn’t the kind of thing that should be undertaken lightly or can be accomplished, in most cases, in a single weekend. This is by design. Be aware that in assembling the items to complete this spell, you have begun the action of casting it. You are creating a living ward that could live for upwards of ten or twenty years or more – treat it with the reverence it deserves.

This spell is designed to create a living plant ward tl protect you and your environment. It uses a combination of candle magic (as an initial charge for the spell) and green magic to power the spell. I also suggest the use of additional elements such as bindrunes, sigils, or intention papers but they are not necessary. As always with my spells, I expect you to bring your own magic to the table here – how you empower this spell should be determined by how you cast magic.

I will also include some sections on how to interact with your plant ward – they are just that, suggestions. Take what resonates with you and leave the rest.

To Cast This Spell You Will Need:

1 Jar Candle appropriate in size to use as a cachepot (3″, 4″, 5″ or more)

Oils or herbs to anoint your candle (optional)

A paint pen or other permanent marker (optional but recommended)

A plant (I suggest one that you associate with protection magic)

A pot with drainage holes that will fit into your cachepot

Soil, Water, and Sunlight to care for your Plant Ward

The goal of this spell is to prepare a vessel and imbue it with protective energy and then to permanently home a plant in it to create a living ward that you feed with water regularly. Steps 1 and 2 of this spell can be performed congruently or separately. They are interrelated – the size of your plant will dictate the size of your cachepot/candle, so keep this in mind during your choosing process. If you choose a cachepot that is too small for your plant, you will need to transplant it out quickly, defeating this process. If you choose a cachepot that is too large for your plant, you risk root rot. As you might imagine, a dead plant is not an effective ward.

1 – Choose Your Protective Plant Ward

Ultimately, your plant choice is up to you. There are, however, some things that I think it is important to keep in mind when choosing a plant for a spell like this. The first is that we need to keep this plant alive so choosing a relatively “easy” plant is a good starting place. You know how much time and care you like to put into your plants, now think about this also as the time and care that you want to put into your wards. If you want to maintain your wards more often, you may wish to choose a plant that is more thirsty or time-consuming. If you are more of a set-it-and-forget-it type of magic user, something more low-key may be more your style.

The second thing is that your plant needs to be able to grow effectively in your environment. I would lean towards choosing a plant that you have grown before in your current living space as you will know, for sure, that it is a good fit and will thrive in your home.

Things like rose bushes and herbs have a lot of protective properties but can be difficult to grow in a home environment. I suggest thinking about what protection means to you – there are many ways that plants can be protective (bark, thorns, poisonous leaves, vines that strangle…) besides the obvious protection associations in That Big Green Book.

Keep in mind that the size of the plant in its mature form will come into play here. Some plants can be continually divided to remain in the same pot for a long time while others will outgrow their homes in 1-2 years. A plant that can stay in its cachepot for at least a couple of years – either through the slowness of its growth, division, or because it prefers to be a bit snug in its home – is preferred for this type of spell.

Plants can be expensive but this step doesn’t have to be! Check your local plant groups for free plants or propagate an existing plant you already own. I would suggest that the plant become fully acclimated to your environment before you actually use it in this spell.

2 – Choose You Candle/Cachepot

Once you know what type of plant you want to grow as a ward, it is time to find yourself a vessel to house your ward. Here we are looking for a candle in a pretty jar* that you like enough to keep as a decoration. You may have one in your house already! The one condition is that whatever sized plant you have chosen should be able to fit inside your candle jar as a cachepot. It doesn’t have to fit exactly (there’s a possibility here of choosing a large cachepot to give your plant ward space to be repotted and grow!) but you should be able to comfortably sit your plant into the candle jar.

From there, the choices are very much up to you and virtually endless. You can choose based on a color association that you have with protection magic, or maybe it is the scent of the candle that makes you think of protection here. I suggest choosing a scent that you enjoy (or scentless altogether) as you are going to burn this candle out before we use it as a home for your new plant.

If you make your own candles, there is some amazing room here to further your own magic by choosing an appropriate vessel and then making a protection candle to go inside of it.

Candles, especially bigger jar candles, can be quite expensive. This isn’t about going out and spending a lot of money here (though you can, of course, if you wish). You can often find unburned candles in thrift shops or at discount stores of all kinds.

*If ascetics aren’t important to you, you can skip this step.

3 – Create Your Protection Vessel

Now that you have chosen a vessel, we want to imbue it with the energy of protection. This is basic candle magic 101 and can be done in many different ways. Many people will start by cleansing the candle with their preferred methods. Many people like to write their intentions or sigils/bindrunes/magic symbols onto the candle – you can write all around the outside of the candle to create your own art effect or stick to the bottom of the candle to be more discreet. You want to use a permanent marker that won’t wash off if at all possible.

Some people will meditate with the candle, send their power into it, or imbue it with another energy source such as the sun, moon, or Reiki. Many people dress their candles with magical oils, protective powders, or gemstones.

Do what works for you and your practice. If you need a very basic protective spell, you can draw the Algiz rune on the bottom of your candle, anoint it with olive oil, and add a couple of pieces of finely ground rosemary to the edge of the candle (away from the wick). Please practice fire safety here.

4 – Burn Your Candle

Ultimately, I feel that the goal of this candle burn should be to burn your candle out as efficiently as possible to minimize soot stains on the jar and to burn as much of the wax as possible. To do this requires some candle tending. Generally, to burn a jar candle down completely you need to wait until the top layer of wax has melted before you extinguish it on each burn. The amount of time that will take is determined by a ton of factors: the temperature, the type of wax, the number of wicks, the type of wicks, airflow, and other things as well. You may not be able to let your candle burn for that long with every lighting, but I suggest at least attempting to.

There’s a lot of additional magic that you could add to this step. You could speak words of protection over your candle as you light it. You could light it once a week on a Tuesday in the hour of Mars. You could light it every day for a number of days that is magically significant to you. You could dedicate the candle to a protective force that you work with. Or burn it on a protection altar. You could write a petition paper and place it under the candle while it is burning.

I personally think that including your plant in the spell here is very useful for creating a connection – I would keep my plant near the burning candle as the spell progressed to strengthen the connection between the plant and the energy of the candle burn that fuels the spell.

Continue with this step until your candle has completely burned out. From here you want to clean out your vessel of any remaining wax, soot, or other leftovers from your candle burn. Take care to try not to remove any protection symbols on the jar, but things happen. It’s okay to go back over and redraw your protection sigils if you have to here.

5 – Put Your Plant into its New Home

Note that I do not say PLANT your plant into its new home. We are using the candle jar here as a CACHE POT, not the direct home of your houseplant. This is because your houseplant likes to have drainage holes and the candle jar has none.

As you do this, you might wish to talk with your plant about how and why you are putting it into its new home. This is when, in my practice, I would Name the plant if I had not discovered its name prior. Giving a plant a name creates a connection between the spirit of that exact plant and you; it also gives you a nice way of addressing the spirit of the plant! (if you don’t do spirit work, feel free to skip this step) I like to tell my plants that I am enlisting them in the protection spell that I have cast and asking their permission.

Place your plant in a place where it will get its needs met and watch it grow! Congratulations, you have just made yourself a living ward.

6 – Care For Your Living Ward

Properly caring for your plant wards is an important part of this spell and is a type of repetitive magical focus. The goal is to focus on your plant as it grows and check up on its needs. This allows you to feed your spell as you water your plant and the growth of the plant feeds the ward itself. Forge a connection to your plant as you care for it – think about its growth, think about the magic that you imbued into the creation of the ward, and think about the candle burning that fueled the spell! Depending on your sensitivities, you may be able to “feel” the ward.

Over time, you may want to burn additional candles to add power to your living ward. You can do so by anointing the candles in the same way that you did your original (with the same symbols, oils, and herbs) and burning it close by to your plant. Depending on your practice, you may also be able to change the ward with sunlight, moonlight, or words of power. Use what you are good at here!

It is wise to remember that this is still warding/protection magic so I would refrain from telling people about your ward or sharing photos of it on social media.

7 – Troubleshooting this Spell

Eventually, depending on your plant ward, your plant may outgrow the container that this spell was built for. Consider this to be a great success! You choose to continue to work with this plant by transplanting the plant into a larger pot, finding a new vessel, and casting the spell again – or -by finding a new plant sized small enough to fit into your current vessel. You may be able to divide your plant and keep a part of it for your spell while “retiring” the rest. (think about the power of continually dividing a pothos and each time creating ANOTHER living plant ward that you put in a different space in your house…) What to do if your plant ward dies or is not doing well: This happens to the best of us. Some people might consider a plant ward dying to be a sign that something magically is amis in your environment. You need to decide for yourself if that makes sense to you. I would consider what is going wrong with your plant – have you been under or over-watering it? Is it dying because it’s too rootbound and needs to be repotted? Does it have a plant pest? Did it scorch in direct sunlight?

You not caring for your plant properly is almost never going to be a sign that somebody else is messing with you. But if your plant ward is suddenly dying for no reason (and you’ve thoroughly checked the reasons) – do some divination on it, please. Also, unpot your plant and check the roots because that’s always the best practice.

If you need to move house, you will need to decide what to do with your plant ward. If the ward is more designed around protecting you as a person, it may be able to move to your new place. If it is designed around protecting your space, it should probably be recast in the new location. In that case, I would choose a new jar candle and cast the spell anew. When in doubt, I suggest casting a new spell.

8 – Variations on a Theme

Though this spell is written to create a protective ward, it can be altered easily to fit most other long-term goals. You could use a plant associated with tranquility to make your space more peaceful, as an example. I suggest sticking to magical goals that affect your environment or your person here. The reason for this is that I believe that this spell works because you and your plants share the air in your house – you breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide and your plants “breathe” in carbon dioxide and “breathe” out air. If your belief system of how magic works differently, your experience may vary.

There are always ways to vary this spell to suit your needs - if you come up with a cool one and feel like sharing, I'd love to hear about it!

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Offerings: Why, and How?

There are some spirits and gods in the worlds that really must be approached with the correct offering, or will be very offended if you bring the wrong one. This post is not about them.

Thanks goes to @river-in-the-woods for help proofreading and providing additional perspectives

Spirit and deity work is a huge part of my deal, and therefore so are offerings. When I help people with various spirit issues or perform divination that suggests a spirit wants to contact them, I usually recommend giving offerings as a first step.

This usually creates a lot of questions, like:

I don’t want to worship them, so I’m not comfortable with offerings.

I only want to work with spirits I don’t need to pay.

What kind of offerings are OK? I can't afford to buy extra stuff right now.

I can’t have a shrine or leave food sitting out so it’s not possible for me to make offerings.

The reasons why offerings are given change from culture to culture, and situation to situation. I personally see offerings as being one of two things: good manners, or equivalent exchange.

How to do so comes after the saucy radio dialogue and the fairy tale.

Good Manners

Your grandma comes over. She was just on a 5 hour flight to come visit you. She comes in through the front door. You offer her some water and a snack.

Offering grandma water and a snack isn’t a form of worship or payment. It’s polite and respectful. It took her a lot of energy and effort to come and see you. Her well-being and comfort are important to you (in this hypothetical, of course).

When I drive 10 minutes to see my best friend, she always offers me tea. She’s not paying me for my friendship – she’s happy I came, she wants me to be comfortable, and it’s a sign of mutual respect. “I value your presence; I’ll offer you some tea.”

If my friend stopped offering me tea, I’d wonder if our relationship was doing OK – and if she explained to me she was out of money, or she’s doing a no-tea challenge, we’d be perfectly good.

But if you greet grandma empty-handed and say you don’t think it’s your job to provide her meals, the situation feels a little different. It feels to me as if grandma might not be as interested in making the trip to see you next time.

Equivalent Exchange

“Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I’m going to bury some stuff. I just did ritual and an important part is burying the remnants at the crossroad.”

“Right on, we’re the spirits of the crossroad, so you came to the right place.”

“Yeah, so you’ll be opening the gates of the four directions and delivering my spell to manifestation, right?”

“Sure, we can do that.”

“…”

“…”

“Are you going to, uh… pay us for that service?”

“I don’t see why I should.”

“But you need us to open the gates for you. We have to spend our own energy to do this work. I mean it’s not terribly difficult, but still.”

“Yeah, but I don’t see why that should be on me.”

“Not even a tip? Have you got some change in your pocket?”

“To be honest, I don’t think it’s fair to me to have to pay.”

“So you want us to work for free?”

“Yes.”

“You don’t care what it costs us to do this work for you, you just want to take the fruits of our services without regard for us?”

“Yes.”

“And we should do it because you feel it's unfair to have to pay us for our work?”

“You got it.”

“And if others told you that you must donate your labor to give them what they want because it's unfair to give you a wage, this would be…”

“A huge injustice. This is actually a major problem in my country right now. We are so underpaid for what is demanded of us that it really is hurting my mental health and wellbeing. You have no idea how hard it is to be exploited for someone else’s prosperity. I kind of feel like one day I might just go off grid and refuse to be a part of their system.”

The Quality of Offerings Are Relative

The fairy queen Medb was curious about the humans beyond the Greenwood, so she decided to meet them all, from the wealthiest noble to the poorest villager, and to give a gold coin to the kindest one. Before she left, she cloaked herself in a human disguise and dressed as if she were a hardworking seamstress.

First she went to the house of a rich farmer who owned herds of cattle. She knocked on the door and was greeted by the mistress of the house, Frau Hilda.

Medb said, “I am a traveler and the road has been long, may I have some water?”

Frau Hilda kindly invited Medb inside. She sat the queen down at her large, clean table in her warm and cozy kitchen. Frau Hilda went to the larder. Medb could see that her larder was overflowing enough with fine wine, cheeses, and sausages to serve an army. Frau and fetched two jugs of milk and two loaves of bread. One of the jugs of milk was thin, and the loaf of bread was dry. The second jug of milk was thick, as if it was pure cream, and the loaf of bread was hot and fresh.

“Here, have some milk and bread,” Frau Hilda said. “It is much better than water, and will restore you from your travels.” Frau Hilda poured a glass of each milk, and handed the queen the thin milk and old loaf. Frau Hilda herself drank the rich, delicious milk and ate the hot bread.

“This is much better than water, and I thank you for your kind generosity,” agreed Medb.

The two women spoke kindly and politely to each other. Medb learned about the wealth and prosperity of the farmer and his household. They spoke until Medb finished her thin milk and old bread. As she left, Medb thought to herself that the thin milk and old bread, although better than water, were the poorest things in the larder. She kept her gold coin to herself, and walked down the road.

The next day, Medb came upon the hovel of a poor woodcutter and his wife. She knocked on the door and was greeted by Frau Brunhild.

Medb said, “I am a traveler and the road has been long, may I have some water?”

Just like Frau Hilda, Frau Brunhild kindly invited Medb inside. Frau Brunhild’s kitchen was small and cramped. She went to her larder and Medb could see it was almost empty. It only held a bag of flour, a scrap of bread, and a jug of water.

Frau Brunhild brought out the water and bread. “I am sorry I don’t have any milk for you,” Frau Brunhild said. “But let us share in what little we have.”

Frau Brunhild poured Medb some water and gave her one-third of the bread. “We must save some for Mister Brunhild,” she explained.

“I thank you for your generosity,” said Medb. “You show kindness in sharing what you have.” The two women spoke kindly and politely to each other until they had eaten the bread and drank the water. As she left, Medb thought to herself that although it was only water and a little slice of bread, Frau Brunhild had truly offered the best in her larder.

Medb was so moved by this generosity that she returned to the hovel that night, and hid the gold coin in one of Frau Brunhild’s shoes, and after that the Brunhilds always had better prosperity and fortune.

No matter what you have, your best is your best. You do not need to over-spend, give away too much, or sacrifice your wellbeing to give respectful offerings to spirits. If the best you have is a glass of tap water, that is good enough.

What kinds of offerings can you give?

I’m copying this over from my neighborly protection post.

Food and Drink: Good offerings include things with strong tastes and smells, foods high in caloric value, milk, honey, all nuts, eggs, and seeds (things which contain the potential for life are very good offerings), all home cooked/baked foods, fresh water (an especially good offering), coffee, tea, alcohol, tobacco, and juices all make very fine offerings.

Perhaps tellingly, the finest or most necessary offering is simply a glass of fresh water (yes, it can be tap water).

Consumables: Incense and candles both make good offerings. Both should be burned. I am actually more wary of using real resins and herbal powders for spirit offerings, since the natural powers of these plants are released and may affect what I’m trying to do (or make it easier or harder for spirits to speak to me, or drive away spirits I’m trying to talk to, or draw in ones I don’t want to talk to). For these reasons I like to use stick or cone incense for offerings. It is the light and warmth from the candle which is enjoyed by spirits so it can be any type or color of candle.

Artwork, fake paper money, origami, and other burnable stuff can be dedicated (another way to think about this is to gift it to them) and then burned. The point is not destruction; the astral essence of these things is released so the spirits can possess them in their world.

Non-consumables: Coins are very common offerings. Small, delightful objects (especially shiny ones), like shells, little figurines, or toys often make good offerings. The act of devoting a ritual tool or vessel to a spirit can be an offering. Things which can be consumed (like cigars or paper art) don’t have to be burned and can be given as regular offerings also.

Energy: Your personal energy is a great offering. You don’t have to give a ton of it away. Try making an energy ball and sending it upwards and away, intending that it reach the spirit you want to give it to. I often like to pattern these gifts into an object, like an energy coin or energy apple.

How do you give physical stuff to a nonphysical being, though?

Lay out the offerings on a clean surface. It doesn’t have to be an altar or a shrine, although I suspect such consecrated places can make it easier for spirits to access and enjoy your offerings. It can be just like setting out a glass of water and half a sandwich for grandma.

Do something which indicates the offering is for the spirits or a specific being. My friend can make me a cup of tea, but if she just sets some tea down on the table and walks away, I’m not going to be sure it’s OK for me to drink it until she says, “this is your tea!”

What you do can be as simple as standing before the offering and saying or thinking, “This is for [names of spirits, or ‘the household spirits’, etc], please enjoy! I’ll come clean it up by noon, enjoy it before then.”

At a minimum I recommend leaving non-consumable offerings out for fifteen or thirty minutes. If it’s a candle or incense, they burn out when they burn out (you do not have to let large candles burn completely, but be careful of promising a candle as a gift to spirits, then going back on that promise and using it for something else). Energy offerings are given instantaneously and no waiting period is necessary.

Whenever you return to clean up the offering, it’s polite to say something like, “thank you for coming by, and I hope you enjoyed! It’s time for me to clean up now. Please return to your abodes; as you came in peace, leave as friends.” I personally like to affirm the purpose of giving an offering - that it’s because I want to be a good neighbor, I want to have solid relationships with the spirits around me, and that I hope we’re all going to be friends. I also like to affirm that although I invited them all to the offering, they should go home now - I wanted you for the BBQ but it’s like 9pm now and we’re going to bed, so you need to go home too.

I throw out food. I compost it if I can. Whether or not you can eat food already offered to spirits is a whole discussion and beliefs vary. My belief is that you shouldn’t eat it after it’s offered.

Other non-consumable objects can be buried if they’re nontoxic to the environment. They can be left on an altar or shrine, and cleared out on a regular basis (like once a full moon, or on holidays).

To Eat or Not to Eat?

I mentioned briefly above that I don’t believe you should eat offerings after they’ve been offered. This is a pretty complex topic that does merit discussion.

For example, I sometimes eat the offerings while they’re being offered. I have a close relationship with various spirits, and sometimes I invite them into my body to taste and experience the food and drink I eat.

The reason I don’t prefer to eat offerings after they’ve been offered is that my belief is that the metaphysical substance which supports us as living creatures has been removed and taken away from the spirits. I don’t believe the food would be harmful, but that it also wouldn’t be helpful. To me, throwing the food away isn't a waste because it already fulfilled its purpose.

However, tons of people believe that you should eat food and beverage offerings. This is in order to avoid waste (because after all, even if I say metaphysically the food served its purpose, I’m still throwing away totally edible food). I am advised that in Buddhism, offerings given to ancestors, buddhas, and bodhisattvas aren’t degraded at all, and you can safely eat and drink offerings afterwards (and not doing so would be wasteful). For buddhas and bodhisattvas offerings are just a sincere gesture; the ancestors do get nourishment from food offerings and they greatly benefit from it. Even so, food offered to ancestors is still perfectly wonderful to eat.

In other belief systems, some people think that eating offered food can actually make you sick, especially if it’s offered to the dead. This may be due to a metaphysical change in the food, or because the spirits don’t want to share.

Sometimes, whether or not food is eaten after being offered depends on the type of spirit or god it’s given to; chthonic entities often seem to frown upon their offerings being eaten or shared.

Some believe that food offerings shouldn’t be eaten but neither should they be trashed; they should be burned or buried.

Sometimes, dedicating a food or drink offering to a spirit is a way to bless it under their power. If I dedicate a glass of water to the Indweller of the Sun, it’s understood to be imbued with the virtues of the Sun. If I drink it, it becomes a form of equivalent exchange - I gave something to the Sun, it gave something to me, and this ritual action is completed when I consume the offering.

Given all these varieties of belief, it’s safe to say that you probably can’t go wrong. If you can’t or don’t want to waste food, or it isn’t counter-indicated by your path, eat food offerings.

If you’re especially nervous or worried about what might happen to you if you do eat them, then don’t. Or, avoid the problem altogether by just giving energy or incense offerings.

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