9 Ways To Communicate About Relationship Problems…Without Making Things Worse.

Tips for writing spells:

If you want to keep something close, bury it in your back yard. If you want to attract something, bury it under the front door step If you want to destroy its influence, burn it. If you want it to move away and sink, throw it in running water If you want to disperse it to a distance, throw it into a crossroads If you want to fix its influence, inter it in a five-spot pattern If you want it to work by means of spirits, bury it in a graveyard If you want to hide its point of origin, conceal it in a tree If you want it to work in secret, give it in food or drink If you want it to work by stealth, hide it in clothing or on objects If you want its influence to begin or strengthen, throw it East If you want its influence to end or weaken, throw it West If you want its influence to rise and fall cyclicly, float it in a tidal estuary

A zine about Lady Aphrodite and transsexualism as an offering for her :)!

Lady Adelina!

🔔 BELLS IN WITCHCRAFT 🔔

Bells might just be the earliest form of superstitious practise that I remember. My baba attached three sakura-patterned suzu bells on my schoolbag as a kid, purportedly for good luck and protection from evil spirits – and Japan is far from the only place to have associated bells and bellringing with mystic practise. They’ve been used worldwide to ward off evil and carry messages – and in a more metaphysical sense, sound is the movement of energy through substance. Sounds have the potential to work powerful magic.

Here are some of the ways I’ve found utilising bells to be helpful to my craft. While I’m more likely to use traditional suzu type bells, your own background, path and culture will likely have its own types of bells – and as ever, bells can be ornate antiques or they can be a bottle cap in a tin can, as long as they’re used with intent.

GETTING STARTED

🔔 As with so much of the craft, if you’re new to the witching bell, it’s a matter of exploration and experimentation. Get a “feel” for what works for you and the specific bell you’re using.

🔔 It’s good practise to ensure that the bell itself is cleansed, warded and protected – you don’t want anything nasty tapping into that power. All witching tools can do as much harm as good, intentional or accidental.

🔔 A good way to begin incorporating bells into your craft is infuse them into any typical ritual that you’re comfortable with, or even just a prayer or moment of contemplation at your altar if you have one.

🔔 Give the bell a soft ring while focusing on the energy it’ll ripple and move, try to track the movements it creates and what it touches. The tone it’s sending out.  The most primal and versatile use of the bell – and what many of the below come down to – is simply another manner of physically channelling energy, giving it shape and direction.

PROTECTION

🔔 “Passive” bells such as windchimes or small bells attached to belongings you don’t want disturbed are a starting point. They will scare off some forms of spirit all by themselves, especially if appropriately blessed, charmed or enchanted. Or cursed.

🔔 Gently tolling can draw energy into a ward or circle you are forming and enforce its protective properties, or for a simple cleanse, letting the sound travel to every corner of the area you are protecting. It’s a little more “cutting” than a smoke or incense cleansing, which I view as more “gentle” forms of cleansing. Both have their uses.

🔔 Harder tolling is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful ways in which to enforce a banishing – however, it’s best to you know what you’re doing with the bell before you go bashing it about.

DISCERNMENT

🔔 Bells can have quite the effect on your perception and awareness. Ringing and then stopping, listening to the silence left in its wake, can bring you new perceptions or make things you’d previously missed obvious. Let it attune your mind and senses to something new, whether that’s in your thoughts or something with a little more presence. Visualise travelling with the sound, taking heed of the energies it touches and disturbs. Take note of the echoes – you’ll learn what they mean with experience.

🔔 A set of windchimes can let you know if something is passing through or if there’s some unusual energy afoot – and, yes, it may also just be letting you know that it’s a particularly breezy day, but that’s witchcraft for you.

CONJURING

🔔 This can be as simple as calling good energies to witching tools, spell jars, tarot decks, crystals, altars and shrines, your favourite teddy bar, anything at all.

🔔 With spirit work, it can truly help to magnify your “calling”. This can range from gently bringing your latest offering to the attention of your friendly neighbourhood house spirit – all the way to trying to catch the attention of something more. Be mindful, however. As I said, I consider bells pretty powerful tools and a call that’s too loud is not good spirit work practise for the spirit worker’s own sake. It can really help coax something out of hiding if you’re gentle with it, though.

COMMUNING

🔔 Some use bells to mark the beginning and end of a ritual, and I’ve read that in Wiccan practise an altar bell can be used to invoke the Goddess, although as a non-Wiccan, I’ll welcome corrections on that if I’m wrong.

🔔 In my experience, very simple forms of communication via bell work a lot better than anything too complex – “come here” and “stay away” have already been covered, and other than that they can serve as greetings or signals of a start or end of some practise or ritual, the opening or closing of a door, etc.

🔔 They can also serve as a warning or a litmus test regarding spirits, a signalling of your presence and awareness, lack of fear, or willingness to defend – but be prepared to deal with whatever responses these garner.

BINDING

🔔 Bindings are where you most often see that famous (clockwise) circular motion of the bell, embodying the meaning of the spell. This can be a simple binding to seal a spell or charm or enchantment, or a spirit-binding.

🔔 Personally, spirit-binding is something I do as little as possible simply due to my beliefs holding the autonomy of spirits in very high regard. However, sometimes situations arise that call for it, and I’m aware that not all bindings are unwilling. Far from it – and some spirits are dangerous when unbound.

🔔 As an animist (believing that all things, including inanimate objects, contain a spirit of their own), I consider gently nudging a spirit back into its physical form a sort of semi-binding, and that can be useful.

I’ll leave you all with a note that I am an urban apartment-dwelling witch through and through, so I understand that we can’t all be jangling away at all hours. I myself have a glass windchime in my front window that makes a distinct but muted sound when disturbed by passers-through, and highly recommend wooden ones also. I also only use my small and relatively quiet suzu bell for my crafting – one given to me by my baba herself.

Feel free to add any of your own findings, and happy tolling.

Biological Basis for Misophonia (Explained in Layman’s Terms)

A groundbreaking study about misophonia was released this year by Dr. Sukhbinder Kumar and his team from the Institute of Neuroscience at Newcastle University and the Wellcome Center for NeuroImaging at the University College London and has changed the game when it comes to discussing this misunderstood neurological condition. 

It’s so interesting, so fascinating to people with backgrounds in psychology and neurology, but to the commonperson? Words like “ventromedial prefrontal cortex”, “amygdala”, and “myelination” might as well be in a completely different language. 

And I know that most people with misophonia would absolutely love to be able to understand what’s wrong with them, so that’s why I’m doing this. Strap yourselves in, we’re taking a crash course in miso-psychology!

Some Words You Should Know Before We Get Started So You’re Not Totally Lost:

- Frontal Lobe:

This is the brain part in the very front. It is important because it controls emotions, problem-solving, memory-language, judgement, and the birds and the bees. The control panel, if you will. 

- Cerebral Hemispheres: 

Think of a hemisphere as half of a globe. Your brain is the globe (the word cerebral come from cerebrum, which is your brain), and the hemispheres are the two halves; left and right. 

- Myelin and Myelination: 

Myelin is an insulating substance that covers special nerves in the brain that send information. (Kind of like those chutes at drive-through banks you send your money through.) The more myelin is covering the chutes, the faster and more vroomwhoosh the information can send. More myelin is like high-speed Internet. 

- Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex (vmPFC): 

Don’t panic, this is just a big word that tells us exactly where on the brain this part is. “Ventro-” on the underside of the brain, “-medial” in the middle, “Pre-” before, “-frontal” in the frontal lobe, “cortex” center. So it’s on the underside of the brain, in the middle, and on the very tip of the frontal lobe. It actually sits right above the eye-socket. VmPFC for short, this part of the brain helps keep emotions like fear and empathy in line and helps you make decisions. 

- Salient: Important, or relevant. 

- Stimuli: Sensory information coming into the brain through your eyes, ears, nose, mouth, or skin.

- Anterior Insular Cortex (AIC): 

“Anterior” in the front, not posterior, “insular cortex” the area of the brain in the middle (imagine a baseball in a mitt - the baseball is the insular cortex and the mitt is the rest of the brain). This part of the brain is on the front of the insular cortex and does a lot of things. The AIC decides what stimuli is salient. This part of the brain helps process emotions. It also arranges all the sensory information you’re taking in so that you have a good picture of what’s going on in the world around you. Believe it or not, but how you experience the world is all related to how your senses are processed!

- The Amygdala: 

The area of the brain where the fight-or-flight response is started. Fight-or-flight is what kept humans alive in the caveman days where the rustling in the bushes could be a bunny, but could also be a tiger. 

The amygdala is located in the insular cortex we talked about above and assigns salience to sensory stimuli so you can be ready to run in case it’s not a bunny, but a tiger. 

Now That That’s Settled, What Causes Misophonia?

Okay. So the first thing that Kumar’s team notes through their MRI studies is that people with misophonia have a ton of myelin in their vmPFCs. This means that people with misophonia have vmPFCs that function much faster than the average person. Also, the vmPFC is an area that has a ridiculous amount of information bank-chutes to many other areas of the brain.

 Like the areas which process memories, smells, and most importantly, the amygdala. If the vmPFC and the amygdala are talking more than usual? There can be trouble. And that trouble is spelled M-I-S-O-P-H-O-N-I-A. 

This study also found that people with miso also have greater activation in the AIC when they hear trigger sounds. 

Remember how I mentioned that the AIC is responsible for putting together a picture of your reality based on the sensory information you’re picking up? Imagine if for whatever reason, the AIC decides that grandma chewing gum is important. 

Then the amygdala, for whatever reason, thinks that because grandma’s gum-chewing is important, it must be a tiger in the bushes and you gotta be ready to run. 

Then the vmPFC gets confused and thinks it needs to be angry about it because together with the amygdala, they’re not processing emotions the way that they should be.

 Before you know it, the misophonia sufferer, through no fault of their own, is experiencing the anxiety of being chased by a tiger when they know full well grandma’s gum-chewing sounds aren’t a tiger; and in addition, they’re really freaking angry about it.  

To me, this research is fascinating because it confirms everything I have felt as a misophonia sufferer. I have felt like an idiot because I know full well that my classmate eating chips isn’t going to hurt me. But my body is responding like the noise is actually a threat to my bodily safety. This is because my brain doesn’t see reality as reality, and even though I know that, my brain doesn’t. 

And before anyone tries to say, “Well if you know it’s not going to hurt you, can’t you decide to not be bothered by it?” let me say this: the brain is an organ. It’s part of the body. You can’t just decide to not have cancer because you know you don’t need to grow a tumor right there. Your body thinks it does, but you’re not thinking for your body.

I hope that this post helps to clear up questions about what misophonia is, because it is a very complicated and unbelievable-sounding disorder. And though you may not be a scientist, my hope is that after reading this, you may be able to better understand what’s going on in your body and feel more in the loop with the current research. 

(Original artwork by Stephan Thomas Vomacka not to be independently posted elsewhere without credit being given.)

References:  Brout, J. (2017, February 04). Misophonia Breakthrough Study. Retrieved September 20, 2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/noises/201702/misophonia-breakthrough-study-0

A Little Witchy Guide of Candle Magick

I’ve gotten a few questions about candles and candle magick here and there, so I figured I’d make another Little Witchy Guide! If I have left anything out, please let me know! :) I really hope this helps you and please feel free to ask me any questions of any kind! :D

Candle magic is an ancient art and it is the most widely used magic practiced today. The candle itself is a very powerful magical tool it contains all the basic elements earth, wind, fire and water, earth is represented in the wax, water the melted wax, the flame fire and the air is the smoke. The colour of the candles is very important as the different colours will bring with it its own energy and power, green for healing, red for empowerment etc. Each of the elements has with it its own single coloured candle, green for earth, yellow for air, blue is for water and red is for fire. The different colours also represent either a yin female or yang male energy, yellow is yin, green is yang, blue is yin and red is yang.

A candle is believed to have its own vibration and can be used in meditation and divination, pink or violet is a calm and soft light where as red is strong and powerful, when a candle is lit its colour is released into the surrounding area which will bring a nice energy into the room. If during your ritual you need a lot of power, light multiple candles. By rubbing oil over a candle before your ritual this will charge the candle with your own personal energy.

Magical tips on candles:

It’s always a good idea to clean candles, this will strengthen their power.

Candles prefer not to be blown out, but to be put out using a toll or wet fingertips, blowing out the candle may insult the element.

It is best to use a different candle for each magical purpose, if you are using a red candle for love and a white one for healing, keep them separate.

A white candle is symbolic of purity and can be used in place of any other colour.

Any candle can be used in your magic, but beeswax candles are more powerful.

Engraving a candle is a good way to bring about your wish and by adding a letter of the magical alphabet you will bring mystery and connection to the ancient art of Wicca. A simple example could be to engrave a heart for love and a dollar sign for wealth in your ritual.

If a candle goes out whilst you are practicing doing magic, this is a sign, a message.

On your birthday when blowing out the candles you perform an act of candle magic. No one really knows where the idea of placing candles on a birthday cake came from, the main possibility is from the ancient Greeks who would bake round cakes in honour of their Moon goddess Artemis, it is said that the Greeks placed candles around the cake to resemble a glowing Moon.

Using your own homemade candles will greatly increase their power, candles are very easy to make, you only need to heat wax, add the wick and leave it to cool down then place it into a fire-safe bowl to burn the rest of the way down.

Looking into the flame of a candle is the perfect way to regain or strengthen focus .

A simple candle ritual is to sit in a darkened room facing a mirror, place the candle in front of you and look at your reflection, let your eyes relax and after a few moments your face will begin to change. Your reflection will reveal what you looked like in your past lives. This magic ritual can also be done with a friend. Both of you sit in a darkened room with a candle between you, and as you look at each other letting your eyes relax, you will see what your friend looked like in their past lives.

Some simple yet powerful candle magic is to write your wish on a piece of paper and fold it in half, light one corner with the candle flame and hold the paper as long as you can before the flame reaches your fingers.

To charge your candle you can rub essential oil into it, this will add power to your magic, any oil can be used it’s a personal preference.

Each of the twelve astrological star signs has a specific colour, you may wish to burn the candle for your star sign to empower yourself and enhance your strengths, or you may like to burn a coloured candle associated with another zodiac sign to empower yourself with the strengths of that sign. You may decide to use the strength, determination and wisdom of Scorpio the scorpion  before an important business meeting.

Zodiac Colours

Below is a table of the Zodiac and the corresponding colours:

Gemini the Twins, ruled by Mercury, colour yellow, air sign, best for spells with connections, intelligence and movement.

Cancer the Crab, ruled by the Moon, colour silver, water sign,  spells for love and friendship.

Aries the Ram, ruled by planet Mars, colour red or poppy, fire sign , spells for re-energising or lifting the spirit.

Aquarius the Water Bearer, ruled by Uranus, colour blue, air sign, for rituals to do with detachment, organisation or independence.

Taurus the Bull, ruled by Venus, colour green, earth sign, spells for wealth and fortune.

Leo the Lion, ruled by the Sun, colour orange, fire sign , spells for passion and sexual pleasures.

Libra, the Scales, ruled by Venus, air sign, colour violet or pink, spells for balance, romance and peace.

Capricorn, the Goat, ruled by Saturn, colour black or brown, earth sign, spells for ambition, loyalty  and determination.

Scorpio the Scorpion, ruled by Pluto, colour red or cherry, water sign, spells for intuition, sex, self empowerment and passion.

Pieces the Fish, ruled by Neptune, colour white, water sign, spells for inspiration, divination, intuition or dream magic.

Sagittarius, the archer, ruled by planet Jupiter, colour purple, fire sign, spells for creativity, confidence, happiness, trust and travel.

Virgo the Maiden, ruled by Mercury, colour pale blue, earth sign, spells for healing, communication, peace, and advancement.

Scented Candles and their magical strengths:

Blueberry – burn to keep unwanted negative energies away from your home.

Blue Rose – this is used to honour the goddesses.

Carnations – are traditionally used for healing.

Cherry – perfect to attract and inspire love.

Cinnamon – burn for wealth and fortune.

Coconut – burn this scent for purification and protection.

Copal – is perfect for honouring the Gods.

Frangipani – can be used to stimulate positive energy in a sacred space.

Honeysuckle – is used to bring good luck, health and strengthen psychic abilities

Jasmine – Burn to be lucky in love.

Lotus – burn for a harmonious life, inner peace and for meditation.

Musk – Used to gain courage, strength and to heighten sexual passion.

Myrrh – this is an ancient scent used for protection and purification.

Passion flower – use to ensure peaceful sleep, soothes troubles and calms the mind.

Patchouli – scent to attract money.

Pine – use to gain strength, and repel negative energies.

Rose – perfect for love magic, and a peaceful home.

Sandalwood – is an all purpose scent for healing and protection.

Spice – is a passionate scent for all your magic workings.

Spirit – used to attract guidance from spirits.

Strawberry – burn for love, friendship and luck.

Tangerine – burn to attract prosperity.

Temple – perfect to use on an altar during rituals.

Vanilla – burn to enhance memory and stimulate sexual appetite.

Coloured Candles And Their Magical Strengths:

Purple: power, business progress, ambition.

Red: love, health, sex, strength, energy, fire element.

Green: money, luck, fertility, prosperity, earth element.

Orange: attraction, ambition, stimulation, creativity.

Black: to heal discord, repel evil and repelling negativity and remove confusion.

White: truth, purity, peace, spirituality.

Brown:  fosters neutrality, overcomes uncertainty and hesitation, grounding.

Pink: love, morality, honour, romance, friendship.

Orange: attraction, ambition, stimulation, creativity.

Gray: calms, repels negativity.

Light Blue: tranquility, patience, health.

Dark Blue: aids depression and changeability.

Greenish Yellow: mellows jealousy, anger, discord.

the phrase “curiosity killed the cat” is actually not the full phrase it actually is “curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back” so don’t let anyone tell you not to be a curious little baby okay go and be interested in the world uwu

FIRST, gather your herbs.

Consider starting with something gentle that will be nice to learn with. Some of my first tinctures were skullcap and lemon balm. These herbs aid in stress and are usually effective if taken multiple times daily over time. I find that trustworthy plants like these are great doorways into herbalism. 

The best place to gather herbs from would be your own garden. If this is not possible be sure to find a trustworthy local herb shop or a bigger buyer like Mountain Rose who sells organic. It is best to tincture most herbs fresh, but dry works well too.

*** If the herbs are coming straight out of the garden you can gently wash the aerial parts, and definitely scrub the roots clean of any dirt residue.  

THEN, chop and macerate.

Chop up the herb or root as small as possible. Once you think it is small enough, go smaller. The more surface area that is exposed during the maceration process, the stronger the medicine can be! For roots, dried herbs, and larger projects I will use a Vitamix. If you often have a small amount that can be easily ground, you may want to consider getting a coffee grinder to reserve for all your herbal endeavors. 

Now you are ready to macerate, which basically means to let the plant sit in alcohol for a few weeks. This process pulls out all the healing constituents that make tinctures therapeutic! 

For your menstrum (or solvent) you will need to use some sort of alcohol. Some people like to use glycerites which are sweeter, or apple cider vinegar. Traditionally brandy or some form of alcohol like vodka was used. When I do the standard method, which is a bit more complicated, I use grain alcohol that is nearly 100%!

Fill a jar all the way to the top with your herbs. Cover it with your brandy or alcohol of choice. Let the herbs macerate for one full lunar cycle. Starting medicines on the full moon can be quite magical! Label your jar with the ingredients and date, and store in indirect light. Shake the maceration daily with good intentions.  

***Remember that you are powerful and the energy that you put forth and the intentions that you set will come through in the medicine.

FINALLY, strain and enjoy!

After a month (or longer) has passed, strain out your herbs with the muslin cloth. Squeeze out any remaining liquid that might be living in the herb. Compost the finished herb which is also known as mark. Pour the now tincture back into jar or into a dosage bottle with a custom label. You have now made your very first folk tincture!

Now you can make medicine from all the beautiful plants that grow around you. You will begin to discover that most of what you need is pretty close by. The St. John’s Wort on the highway, the kudzu on the pine trees, the wild oats dancing in the pasture, the dandelion in your lawn, all the plants are here waiting for you! 

With love and healing light,

Summer Ashley

Ostara French Toast & Tea Infused Syrup

Hi lovelies! I hope you’re having a wonderful day/night! I have decided to make another Ostara recipe. This is based off of my mother’s French Toast recipe. Remember to have fun with cooking! You don’t have to follow this recipe exact, experiment and have a good time! Please let me know what you all think! I’d love to hear your feedback! On to the recipe!

🌸Ingredients for French Toast:

🍞1 pan that can fit at least two pieces of bread. A griddle works well too 🍞1-2 sticks of butter 🍞A half a loaf of bread. I use Texas Toast. Any bread will do. 🍞2 eggs 🍞4 cups milk 🍞A LARGE splash of vanilla extract 🍞A little bit of almond extract

🌸Ingredients for Syrup:

🍞3-4 cups of your favorite syrup 🍞3 lavender tea bags (you can use dried lavender or other herbs and spices, about 3 Tbs total) 🍞Pot to hold everything 🍞Cheese cloth or tea infuser of using loose herbs

🌸Instructions for French Toast:

🍞Turn pan onto low- medium low heat 🍞Whisk eggs, milk and extracts together. 🍞Soak 1-2 pieces of bread at a time 🍞Add butter to the pan 1-2 tbs and let melt 🍞Add bread to the pan, brown on one side, flip, and brown on the other 🍞Soak your next batch while browning the first 🍞 in-between batches, of your butter turns brown, wipe it off and add more. 🍞Continue reading this until they are all browned. Then serve

🌸Instructions for Syrup:

🍞Add herbs and syrup to pot over medium-low heat 🍞Let come to a simmer then remove 🍞 Let steep for 20 min or more 🍞Serve with French Toast

Okay guys I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to have fun! If you make this, I’d love to see and hear about it!

Love and light Cait ✌