Tag: techniques

Shadow Work: How to Love All of Yourself

Everyone has some parts of themselves they don’t like. Many people might be quick to name something physical, like their weight, hair, or nose. But others may name something like procrastination or cowardice as their vices.

Shadow work is the mental exploration, meditation of, and reconciliation of the darker or uglier sides of yourself. It can help you find those parts of yourself and come to terms with it so you can let go of old wounds and move on healthier, cleaner, and more satisfied.

It’s not an easy process and it’s not really witchcraft or magic related. In fact, shadow work originates from Jungian psychology and was adopted into new age circles. It’s taken a life of it’s own now but it started there, officially. The concept, however, has been around forever.

Many people want to overcome and change themselves and you can totally do that but first you need to acknowledge the problem. Not just the symptoms but the root causes of the problems. If that doesn’t happen then you’re only treating the symptoms rather than the actual disease, so to speak.

So how do you do shadow work? I’ve talked a bit about my own personal method of mental shadow work but the easiest way is to write a letter to yourself. Write a truly honest (and probably bitter) letter to yourself. Or maybe to someone you need to let go of. It will be very ugly to look and and even harder to read. I’ve done this before and it’s… unpleasant. But healing. Like ripping open an infected but nearly closed wound. Painful but necessary to heal properly.

Another method is to meditate. I have some posts on meditation coming out later this month but for now here’s a quick meditation for shadow work.

Imagine yourself in a garden. It’s green, lush, and pleasant. You’re sitting on a soft blanket spread over tender grass. There are tall trees above you creating  a lush canopy. It’s late afternoon and distantly you can hear insects and birds but not near enough to disrupt you. You are utterly alone and utterly at peace. The wind rustles but you’re comfortable, pleased, content. Now go ahead and start your shadow work.

Shadow work can be done like this:

Look inward at yourself and examine your thoughts. Don’t try to force them yet. Just see where your thoughts are going. Now think of something you want to let go of or face. It may start as a simple procrastination exercise. Follow those thoughts like a mind map. You might even want to talk yourself through the whole process to trigger something. You may learn, through this mental talking to yourself, that your procrastination stems from social anxiety and that comes from childhood bullying. You may not be able to get over the trauma or anxiety but you can now work with that information. You can decide what to do now.

As said, shadow work is less a witchcraft thing and more of a personal thing. But it’s very useful in figuring yourself out and learning how to love everything about yourself.

 

Dealing with Spirit-Induced Trauma and Injuries

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This is one of those posts I bring back once a year or so to remind people that it’s definitely a thing that needs to be discussed!

My friend duskenpath got an ask on tumblr about links for dealing with spirit-induced trauma and I remember kicking myself as I read it because I actually have a fair amount of experience with this and I haven’t posted on it. Which I feel guilty for.

First, let’s talk about spirit induced traumas and injuries. You can absolutely be abused, harassed, raped, assaulted, and tortured by spirits. You can absolutely bare physical injuries caused by spirits. This can absolutely happen and anyone who says otherwise… well, they haven’t talked to enough people then.

 

I have a finger that was broken by spirits. My finger grew crooked afterwards, the nail growth stunted, and now fifteen years later it causes me pain enough to wear a finger brace and have to pop it back in place daily. I have a knee that was damaged in a fight with a monstrously sized hill toll. I played a decoy for my companions and for my effort I was snapped up into the air, whipped back and forth like a child’s toy with my knee being the bending point. I couldn’t walk for days afterwards and now, almost two years later, my knee still gives me trouble as if I had physically injured it. I’ve seen scratches pop up before my eyes after a spirit encounter where I’ve only been sitting in the middle of a couch with no way for such marks to appear otherwise. I’ve been possessed and nearly thrown off cliffs before. Sure, maybe it is psychosomatic but the point is you can be injured by spirits. But I have and always will attest this: just because your mind is producing the phenomena doesn’t mean that it isn’t also real. It may simply be that spirits use our minds to hurt us.

Experiences in the astral can be extremely traumatic. I’ve been in situations where I’ve been trapped and tortured where in a single night days worth of trauma was inflicted. Time doesn’t work the same way in the spirit realms. So much can happen in a short period of time. Seeing someone murdered – or murdering someone yourself – can still affect you. Although it’s rarely spoken of, we have a tendency to view spirits as “others” and thus murdering or harming them doesn’t count. You can wake up and it’s over, not matter how much you’ve hurt a spirit. This isn’t universally true, of course. Some people treat spirits as equals and others will have to deal with the consequences of their actions long after the event occurs. It depends on the situation and the individuals involved. You can be hurt by them and they can be hurt by you.

Trauma caused by spirits isn’t just spiritual in nature however. You can be affected even outside of the astral. You can be abused, manipulated, and gaslighted. The abuser could be anyone from a ghost, to a nature spirit, or even a deity. Just because these individuals might be nice and beneficial to someone else doesn’t mean they won’t hurt you. Never think that. These beings are far more complicated and complex than many practitioners realize. There’s no reason to think that a deity could be a savior or role model for one practitioner wouldn’t also be a spiteful, cruel abuser to another practitioner.

 

The ways to deal with the situations as they arise can be easy. Say no. Defend yourself, violently if needed. Distance yourself. Protect yourself. And let others know of your experience so you can help help.

These steps get trickier when the being is non-corporeal. Binding, banishing, and cleansing can do wonders. Surround yourself in protections and wards designed to keep them specifically out. And keep saying no.

But just because they’re gone doesn’t mean the situation’s over. Spirit wounds take longer to heal and the trauma you’ve experienced isn’t suddenly gone. It’s a long road to recovery. Spirit wounds linger and should be treated with both healing spells and magic and physical healing techniques like physical therapy and appropriate medicines. Improper care can lead to long-term damage and some wounds won’t heal (like my knee which did receive proper care but was shattered horrifically in the astral.)

Trauma should be handled similarly. Look up treatments and ways to handle similarly experienced trauma like PTSD. And take it slow. What’s good to keep in mind is that just because you experienced the trauma from a spirit doesn’t invalidate it. Try to find an open-minded or pagan-friendly therapist. You may also want to find a clergy member, community elder, or mentor that can help you work through the trauma and be someone to talk to. While licensed therapists are better, they’re not always the best solution for all problems so choose carefully. There’s also support groups that meet to discuss and support one another through the recovery process.

 

Victims of trauma suffer a wide variety of symptoms and trauma can occur from a wide variety of sources such as breaking up a significant relationship (which many spiritual relationship can also fall into), abuse, car accidents, humiliating or disappointing experience, physical assaults, surgery, death of someone significant, sustaining an injury… It’s actually very common. The thing to remember is that your reactions are normal for an abnormal situation – whether that trauma’s from a sport injury or a spirit injury.

Symptoms can wary widely but the most common is to be in shock and deny it ever happened. Anger, irritability, and mood swings are also common. Guilt, shame, and self-blame are extremely common, especially when one’s in a situation where they felt helpless or hopeless. Continuing sadness, hopelessness, and feeling disconnected or numb also occurs. Suffers may also feel confusion, have difficulty concentrating and withdrawn from others. Fear and anxiety, sometimes coupled with depression can linger long after the event occurs. Physically, nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia, agitation, and inability to focus can happen. The opposite might also be true. You may have blank spaces in your memory and sleep excessively while plagued with fatigue and apathy. The body also responds with aches, pains, muscle tension, and paranoia which can lead to being easily startled.

Each person responds differently to trauma. My brother, for example, was hit by a car and permanently damaged for life when he was 13 while riding his bike. His dream of opening a dojo could never be realized with his injuries and he was bedridden for two years. He’s never ridden a bike since. He hates driving for any length of time and driving for longer than ten minutes will result in chain smoking and extreme agitation for him. He will always prefer someone else driving him someone to the point where he’ll schedule appointments around other people’s schedules. That’s trauma. He also experienced spiritual trauma. A few years before his accident we lived in a severely haunted condo complex. The kind of haunted where we didn’t go into certain rooms and visitors reported seeing a child ghost. Every single visitor, including the ones from out of state and never met described the child the exact same way. My brother and I have always been sensitive to spirits and always had them attracted to us. By this point I had buckled down my personal protections so spirits’ attentions shifted to my brother. Nightmares every night and physically seeing the faces of the dead. Therapy did nothing and everything I did to help didn’t help. Eventually he got sick of it and started to destroy them and banish the spirits. It led him down the path of necromancy and dealing with the dead because if they wouldn’t leave him alone he’d make them leave him alone. That’s also trauma.

 

Knowing your triggers are key. I know that being held against my will, even for a few seconds, will result in me lashing out with extreme violence. I’ve literally thrown a six foot 260lbs man across the room and drew out a knife because he wouldn’t let me go when I said so. I know this and so when someone grabs me even while playing around I warn them in a no bullshit voice that if they don’t let me go I will hurt them. I let that boundary be known. Communication is important to making sure that boundaries aren’t crossed and triggers aren’t hit. That’s not always easy or doable for everyone though.

Isolation from the situation is common. You may pull back from astral travel and all spiritual contact. You may even pull back from talking to friends about spiritual pursuits and stop your practice all together. Stop your practice as needed but don’t isolate yourself. Talk to others in the community. An elder, mentor, or clergy member may be able to help you and there are support groups that can help. Talk to people, even if it’s not about the problem at hand. It might take a lot of motivation to do it but try for just fifteen minutes. If you still don’t want to after fifteen minutes, then don’t.

Grounding yourself and staying grounded is really important. Grounding techniques vary but my favorites are eating high carb foods like bread, pushing the excess energy into an object like a ball or necklace, or sitting/laying down and letting the energy bleed away from you. This isn’t just good for excessive energy. If you’re feeling confused, disoriented, anxious, or lost, sit down and take slow, even breaths. Rocking may help keep your breathing even but it depends on the person- it might make you more anxious. You may even want to concentrate on keeping the body tight and pick out objects in the room to concentrate on – like all the green objects. Feel the ground around you. Touching solid things may also help steady you.

 

Allow yourself to feel what your feeling. I hate that I lose my compassion when I’m triggered. I’m angry, violent, wild. I hate it. But I let myself feel it. I get it out and forgive myself later. It’s not always easy though. It may take days of self-care and losing myself in books or video games to reconcile it with myself. Doing normal things and keeping to my daily schedule also helps. Doing dishes, going for a walk, petting the cat. All these normal things helps. I’m a big, big fan of breaking up big tasks into smaller ones in any circumstances but it’s especially nice to even write them down when I’m feeling triggered. It helps ground me that these are things I can do. Accomplishing those things helps even more, even if it’s something like folding laundry. Keeping up your practice, even if you aren’t reaching out to anything spiritual, can help cement things for you. There’s many elements to many spiritual practices that don’t requires spiritual involvement.

Be kind to yourself. Self-care isn’t just about mental care but also physical care. Eat balanced meals regularly. The easiest way to do this is to make a huge bowl of salad and cut up hard boiled eggs, meats, cheese, and other additives and keep them separate. Mix and match at will. It keeps you from being bored and still having regular, balanced meals. Avoid drinks and foods with lots of sugar or caffeine in excessive. Chocolate may help calm you down but six ounces of chocolate and ten coffees isn’t healthy. Avoiding alcohol and drugs is also recommended as they might make symptoms worse or could give you an escape route from the trauma that can lead to addiction. Exercise, even just stretching, can give you an excellent venue to use excess energy or work out aggression or anxiety. It can also keep you grounded and feel more in control. Sleeping regularly the recommended amount is ideal. Not too much or too little. 7-9 hours is recommended by physicians at the moment.

Meditation and yoga can be useful. I’ve written on meditation before so pick the kind of meditation you prefer from the more “I’m going to sit here and ponder this” to the more new agey “breath in and out and go on a spiritual journey”. It might be more useful for you to do neither and just spend time sitting and listening to soothing sounds. I recommend the noise generators over at mynoise.net. Deep breathing, swimming, or activities you enjoy will also work. I like napping outside in the sun. It’s grounding, relaxing, and provides a favorite hobby: falling asleep while reading.

Many times we can treat our own trauma with time, patience, and self-care. This isn’t always the case. If you find yourself unable to engage in relationships or the trauma is affecting your life long-term such as affecting job performance, sleep months later, or trouble functioning in day to day life. Escaping into addictive behaviors such as alcohol, drugs, video games, or sleep is also a sign. Depression and enhanced anxiety or fear are also signs. If this happens to you seek out a professional therapist. If you have thoughts of self-harm or suicide, please seek help.

 

You may need to revisit the event in order to move past it. Coming to terms with what happened often is part of the healing process. This might not happen for years later but it probably will happen. For some people, it never will. For spirit related traumas, I usually recommend joining in on a group ritual where someone else is in charge and someone is aware of your history. That last bit is exceptionally important. They watch to see if you’re overwhelmed and extra protection can be laid on you as needed. You may even want to watch a ritual instead of participating to help soothe your anxiety. One-on-one sessions with another practitioner who has a solid hand on the spirits they work with is also a good idea.

This isn’t always possible however so lead meditations or contacting healing spirits may be something you’ll want to look into. Go slowly and take your time. If you ever feel unsafe, disengage slowly and ground yourself. Reach out and contact people to help solidify that you’re here and safe. It’s a good idea to keep some protection and cleansing implements at the ready to boost your space’s safety and to reduce any anxiety.

When dealing with spirits afterwards, it may be a good idea to come up with a set of rules on how to treat each other. Penalties of the rules should also be listed. For example, my home has a “no assault” rule. No one is to be touched. So when an aggressive spirit chased a friend this past winter to his car, my brother and I didn’t just chase the ghost away but purged the entire crossroads my house sits at. I later invited back those spirits who had been banished but had done no harm. The rule stands however and no one has harassed us since. Spirits should agree to the rules but watch the way they agree to them. They might try to find loopholes just because they can. (Fae are especially known for this.)

 

What’s really important to keep in mind is that healing will take time but your experiences and feelings do matter and are important. Just because the person or situation responsible for your trauma is spiritual doesn’t make it less valid. You’ve been hurt and the wound sits deep in you. It will take time, patience, and work to heal. Each person is different and your healing process may vary wildly from someone else’s. Just know that you’re not alone.

WTF Do I Put in A Money Spell?

Or, Herbs, Spices, Ingredients, and Additives You Can Put In A Money Spell

 

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I disregard most of the magical herb recommendations. Why? Because most of the time these books don’t tell you why they’re recommending it. And I think that’s pretty important stuff to know.

Don’t get me wrong; I own at least three different magical ingredient or herb books. I used Cunningham’s book when I was younger and I got great results. But when I learned to think critically, I stopped using them as intended and started using them to figure out where to start researching.

I personally feel that if you’re including an ingredient in your spell, you should know at least some basic information about it. A flower you selected because of the sweet scent for your attraction spell might also be a climbing plant. The people you attract might be sweet, but clingy, and choke up your lifestyle.

Because of this kind of logic, I use herbs and spices from the historical trading routes. Many of the spices or items listed below come from the Incense Route, Silk Route, and the East India Trading Company. Or just general historical knowledge of various trade goods wanted in different places. I’d check what your ancestors traded for in the past (if that’s applicable).

Common Money Spell Ingredients by This Crooked Crown

The list of course is by no means inclusive.

  • Salt (since the word salary comes from salt)
  • Actual money (coins, bills, etc) [Gold is probably best but whatever]
  • Silk
  • Magnets (or magnetic stones) [Mandatory IMO for money spells]
  • Incense
  • Cardamom
  • Cinnamon
  • Apricot
  • Cassia
  • Ginger
  • Allspice
  • Cloves
  • Sugar
  • Cotton
  • Vanilla
  • Turmeric
  • Tea [Green tea is my default]
  • Coffee
  • Tobacco
  • Chocolate
  • Sandalwood
  • Mace (the plant)
  • Bell and Chili peppers (dried)
  • Saffron
  • Cumin
  • Pepper
  • Grains of Paradise
  • Wine (any alcohol, really)
  • Galangal
  • Imported fruits or vegetables (dried) [These weren’t often traded because rot but they would have been. They were usually dried. Dried figs anyone?]
  • Precious metals (Gold, silver, copper, steel, etc.) [Try gold foil used in baking]
  • Jewels, gemstones, and semi-precious stones
  • Fine textiles (brocade, velvet, etc.)

Now, I’ll usually throw in candle wax from my money candle (I use the same money candle for every money spell I do). I’ll sew up gold silk charm bags with green thread. I embroider in gold or green money-oil soaked embroidery symbols of money or prosperity. I’ll drip rainwater from a full moon (to keep the wallet full). Tiny scraps of fabric can be used to stuff the bag as well. I also put magnetic sand or magnet chips in as well. I’ll mix whatever herbs on hand into an oil or ointment and smear it all over a coin.

I don’t recommend using shells or beads (unless cowrie beads, semi-precious stones, gemstones, or real pearls). Shells and beads have been used to fuck over indigenous people for centuries but you do what’s best for you.

You don’t need much. A pinch of whatever’s on hand will work. All of that dumped in the charm bag and tucked into a purse, wallet, pocket, cash register, whatever and you’re good to go. And really, bits of anything expensive can go into a charm bag. Do what feels right and bring the money in.

Originally posted over on my tumblr.

Cleansing Bell

I love bells. I have a lot of them of all different kinds. It’s a thing. I get a new ones every year and I wear them daily.

Bells have been used in magical practices for a long time and, generally speaking, the tone of a ringing bell is used to cleanse a room. I find bells to be more multi-purpose than that so I use them for protection, warnings, summonings… the list goes on. But today we’re talking about cleansing.

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My favorite way to use bells is to wear them!

 

There’s a ton of ways to set up a cleansing bell and there’s a lot of rituals out there that can show you how to do this or how to use a bell to cleanse. In various practices, there’s specific steps to using them. But, since I don’t follow any of those practices, I’ll talk about how I use them and how to make one for yourself.

First, get yourself a bell. Any bell will do. For cleansing, it’s the tone and sound of the bell that’s important so pick a bell that sounds good. It should have a tone that is pleasing to the ear to you and yet has a clear tone that radiates energy and light to you.

To test the bell’s sound and energy, close your eyes, take a deep breath and release it. Then ring the bell. Pay attention to how you feel and how it sounds. Do you feel more relaxed? Does the sound make you smile?

The bell can be in any shape, size, color, material, or even come in a set. You could even use cowbells if you want! I recommend Irona Works to buy handmade bells. If you’re more inclined towards DIY you can give this simple clay bell tutorial a whirl.

 

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Irona Works’ Oh So Tiny and Cute Mixed Windchimes. https://www.etsy.com/listing/97450188/sale-oh-so-tiny-and-cute-mixed

Once you’ve picked a bell,  it’s time to wash it. Since most bells are made of metal, you can give it a wipe down with some holy, blessed, or magical water. Moon water collected during a full or new moon will work as well. Salt water may also work, depending on the metal type (some metals may have chemical reactions so double check first!)

If your bell cannot be washed, such as in the case of very old bells with beautiful patinas or clay bells, then you might want to try leaving the bell in a place where it can get as much moonlight or sunlight as possible for a full 24-hour period. (Although, if your bell is painted, you may wish to avoid direct sunlight so it doesn’t fade.)

You can also use a blast of energy to overwhelm and reset the bell’s energy. However, this should only be done on days you’re feeling centered and balanced, so you don’t accidentally send out negative energy in the process.

It should be noted that not all bells will need cleansing! I once picked up an antique bell that had the perfect energy. Resetting that bell’s energy would have been a terrible shame. On the other hand, I once was given a bell that had some weird nastiness to it and it needed resetting and cleansing three times before I was happy with it. It will really depend on the bell and you to determine what’s best.

Stair Bells

My favorite way to use bells is to wear them!

 

Now that the bell’s cleansed and reset, it’s time to get cozy with it. On a day that you’re in a good mood and at peace, sit with the bell nearby you. You can do anything you want during that time, but the bell should be within reach. Just sitting near it will give the bell your energy. You can also meditate with the bell and focus on passing on peace and serenity. (Or whatever you want your home to feel like when cleansed).

Time for cleansing! Now walk around the space you want to cleanse and ring the bell! That’s all you need to do. You can walk in a particular direction, such as clockwise, to invoke certain energies or counter clock-wise if you want to banish energies. (Or you can walk in the pattern of a sigil or any direction you want.) I recommend cracking a window or door just a bit so any entities that want to flee can do so.

You can say anything you want during this time or add anything to the cleansing. I like to put on a fun playlist that embodies the energy I want in my home. I sometimes cleanse the space with incense and follow up with the bell. But sometimes I just pick up a bell and ring it.

Hanging Bell

My favorite way to use bells is to wear them!

 

 

That’s it. That’s all there is to bell cleansing. This is a great technique for your repertoire and can work beautifully for stealth practitioners or someone who wants to always have a cleansing method on-hand. Besides, it’s always fun to pull out a little bell from wherever and give it a ring.

Blessing & Ensorcelling Your Plants

Earth day is here. Some practitioners will even have rituals to renew the environment, praise mother nature, or volunteer to help clean up pollution. Others will spend their day adding or tending their garden or houseplants. And then there’s some who don’t care or have “oh shit!” moments ten minutes to midnight and light a candle and dust off their cactus. To each their own.

 

Nature tends to be a very large portion of a great many people’s practices and growing the plants used in your practice is kind of assumed at times. But gardening isn’t easy. Some plants are notoriously difficult to grow like mandrake and others like mint can go wildly out of control if caution isn’t taken. You have to decide what’s better for you to grow versus what’s better for you to buy when needed. Then you add in your climate, local laws, and just how much space you even need to grow plants. Gardening is a huge endeavor and can get expensive very quickly.

I’m no green thumb. I kill plants all the time. I blame this largely because of space issues – I have too much space in the Crossroads House. House plants are far-flung so it becomes a hassle to care for them in a timely manner and when conveniently or aesthetically placed, there’s little sun for the plants to grow. Outside, the soil’s not great but it’s the layout of the property itself that makes it a gardening challenge. And let me tell you: It is a major annoyance of mine. My neighbors have this palatial garden next door and it irks me so much.

My number one gardening tip is to take it slow. Pick two or three plants a growing season and focus on them. Read up about their care and see how that does. Then pick up another few the next year. Over time you’ll have all the plants you want and you’ll know how to care for them without sinking a big chunk of cash into it. Plus, you’ll develop gardening habits so six weeks in you don’t slack off and kill hundreds of dollars worth of plants.

But what do you do with them? Outside of caring for them and using the bits in your practice, how do you work magic with living plants? There’s numerous ways to do it.

 

Plant with a blessing. For my 21st birthday I asked for a tree and a cat. I got Kiki and a cherry blossom tree. My tree is now huge and beautiful but it didn’t grow that way without help. When I planted my tree, I layered clean water on blessed herbal water on clean water, then murmured numerous beneficial inspiration and motivation as I planted it. I layered in spells for protection and health. Make the entire act of planting a spell and ritual.

Add enchanted decoration. Hanging a crystal from a tree branch or adding quartz to a flower pot not only adds an aesthetic beauty but also can add energy to the plant itself. Crystals aren’t the only thing you can use though! I enchant a very large number of wind chimes to my purposes and hang them up.  I’ve also used pinwheels, tiny statues, and wooden signs.

 

Placement and pots. Adding a fun or funny pot can make or break a “boring” plant. Planting flowers with interesting color combinations can really make your garden stunning. Enchant those things. When you add soil to your garden or water the grow before planting, mutter your spells and send energy towards it. I write in chalk or water sigils or spells inside and outside the pot to encourage growth, strength, and health.

Work with what you got. Look to see what already grows naturally around you. The Crossroads House came with grapevines so I had a crash course in how to care for them. To my delight, poke weed and bittersweet nightshade all grow naturally in my yard (but so does poison ivy and poison sumac. Oops.) But don’t be afraid to ditch what you got. I’m not a fan of hostas but there were over a dozen of them when we bought the house. I ended up re-homing a bunch of them to friends back in college and I’m still finding more of them half a decade later. Just because you have plants you didn’t super want doesn’t mean you can’t enchant them too. When I cut back or rearrange the creeping jenny and grapevines, I put spells on them.

Ask the plant! If you’re an animist, then you’re probably of the school of thought that plants have spirits. So simply ask the plant what spells they should be used in. I tend to plop down somewhere sunny and meditate with the plant for a little while until I get a sense of what I should do. Sometimes it follows along with folklore and sometimes it’s out of left field. For example, I have a climbing rose bush that I only use for curses or vengeful bindings because the plant is mean and vindictive. I never come away working with that rose bush without several new wounds. No other rose bush gives me that trouble. My bittersweet nightshade is a sweetie though and super laid back. My hydrangeas are perfectly happy to protect, encourage, or connect to the spiritual world – in exchange for a a gallon or so of water. Maybe I’m projecting but my spells work and the plants are alive still so I give it the benefit of a doubt.

 

But what kind of spells can you use? Anything. Growth, protection, and health spells are the easiest to pull off. But money or job spells? Sure. I grow basil as a money spell. Curses? Yup. My creeping jenny will stop any enemy or thief in their tracks. It’ll take care of curses too. And that’s just from telling it what I want it to do while taking care of it. I find plants to be a really great alternative to positive jar spells. Plant some sunflowers or marigolds in soil mixed with a few pinches of other herbs can really boost household happiness.

Heads up though. Unless killing the plant is the purpose, be careful with what you add to your plant. You might want to toss in a bunch of ingredients to have a living spell but the weird additions to the soil ends up killing your plant – and your spell.

 

As for myself, this Earth Day I’ll spend my day picking up one of the local beaches, painting a few clever sayings on some pots, and getting to know my new plant friends.

How to Tell If You’ve Been Cursed

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Being cursed is one of the the most fearful things for a practitioner or superstitious person. I’ll be honest with you: I’m pro-curse and I’ve been cursed in the past at least a dozen times. It’s a thing, it has a history, and people kind of need to get over hating on those people who do decide to curse.

I am passionate about education. And I feel that even if you’re not going to curse someone ever you still need to know how curses work so you can create effective protections. Knowing how you can be hurt is one of the best ways to prevent being hurt, after all.

Plus, even if you’re not going to curse someone that doesn’t mean someone else won’t curse you. It’s a two way street after all.

What is a curse?

A curse is a prayer, utterance, or spell with the intent to cause harm, trouble, or ill luck to befall another. The word hex has an Pennsylvania origin, from what I can tell, and it meant from meaning simply ‘witch’ or ‘to practice witchcraft’ to ‘to cast a spell on’ and now it has a darker meaning. That probably comes from the ill-reputation that magic workers had for a long time, if I had to hazard a guess. I personally define hex as a short-term spell meant to cause mischief and trouble. Like a casual curse or minor vengeance. But it is regional speech so you’re probably better off just using the word curse and calling it a day.

So what are the symptoms of a curse?

Curses can be really casual such as spilling coffee on yourself. An extreme example would be someone who spills coffee on themselves, has a car break down, has the tow truck driver drop the tow bar ON THE CAR crushing it, is late for work, finds out they’re being laid off, and has a lover break up with them on the same day.

Other things to look for:

  • Nightmares
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Loss of energy (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and so on)
  • Sudden legal troubles
  • Sudden relationship troubles
  • Sudden medical issues
  • Sudden financial issues
  • Random pain and aches
  • Scattered mind and unable to gather your thoughts, confusion, disorientation
  • Bad luck

Generally, it’s a culmination of several of these things at once. Please, please, please, check with doctors when you’re feeling aches, pain, or medical issues. Whether something medical is induce via a curse doesn’t mean that the curse breaking will actually REMOVE those issues. Same goes for any other issues that crop up. You’ll still have to deal with that shit. Removing the curse or hex means that nothing additional should crop up (beyond the normal “shit happens, that’s life” kind of deal)

How to tell if you’re cursed

The above symptoms should occur consistently and suddenly. They are persistent. You don’t ever catch a break. There are curses that last years and years but they are very rare. Most end up fading out over time. By and large, you can counter a curse simply by changing your lifestyle or behavior (but not always).

I’m going to be honest. There are some curses or hexes that won’t register because they’ve been designed to avoid detection. If you think this might be the case, simply move onto hex breaking and curse removal methods, followed by cleansing and protection.

However, there are some methods to determine if you’ve been cursed. Divination is the easiest way to go about it. Tarot cards, oracle cards, pendulums – you pick whatever method works best for you.

For a deity and/or spirit workers, I would ask for a sign of some kind within the next three days to confirm that there’s a curse. And then pray for help with the removal.

If you’re unsure still or want to be extra sure, just skip right onto the curse breaking and hex removing methods. Remember, don’t panic. You are your own worse enemy when you panic. (I know that’s nearly impossible for some folks with paranoia or anxiety but it’s something to keep in mind)

spells and herbs

How much do I have to worry about curses? Really?

You probably aren’t cursed. It’s just bad luck which happens to everyone. If you’re not a practitioner, then it’s even more likely that you’re not cursed. Sometimes bad shit just happens. But, when you deal with other practitioners, don’t be surprised to find that you’ve annoyed one of them and they fired back at you. I’m not saying that curses or hexes never happen, they absolutely do, but they’re not super common either.

But if you want to take some preventative measures, it can’t hurt either, right?

 

Adapted from my original post here.

Sources:

Dream Magic 101

Dream magic is something I did a lot as a teen but less now. However, it can be incredibly useful if you keep in mind that it’s a dream.

Here’s some quick things to keep in mind when dealing with dreams or dream magic.

  • Dreams do not mean reality. Don’t confuse the two.
  • Dreams are an incredibly personal and individual thing. Each person has their own system of personal symbolism derived largely from environment, past experiences, education, and culture. So an encyclopedia isn’t going to help a whole lot beyond giving you a jumping point for your search.
  • Sometimes dreams are just dreams.

Differences between dreams and astral travel

This is one of those fields that gets… murky when we talk about separation. I define it as this: dreaming is internalized and in your own head. Astral projection or Out of Body Experiences (OBE) take place in this realm or plane of existence but happen externally, outside of your body. Astral travel is an astral project or OBE that goes elsewhere, to another realm of plane of existence.

That doesn’t mean the realm of dreams aren’t connected to this realm or the spiritual realms. I think they are connected and you can slid in and out of them fairly easily. So it’s really more of a matter of semantics and fine-point differences that we can’t readily agree on.

I think of things this way: Does the experience matter to you in some way? Even if you only get a laugh out of it, that experienced mattered for that moment. If so, then it doesn’t matter what that experience actually was so long as you derive something from it. So a vision or religious experience could be gained from sickness or drug-induced and it can still offer relevant experience and meaning for you.

Dream Magic

As a whole dream magic can be lots of fun and interesting. Often used for helping out in shadow work or introspection, it can also be a form of divination. However, you can get a lot of inspiration or answers from dreams. Even objects or symbols like sigils can come from dreams.

The most common kind of spell seen here are simple, often using herbs or stones to help encourage dreaming. This typically is followed by statements of intent or keeping the exact purpose behind your dream magic in your mind before you fall asleep.

Some people will even dream of rituals or spells continuing after they’ve gone to bed. It’s like a second part of the spell or ritual. Pretty useful and is a neat way of putting out more energy into the world.

Many people have trouble remembering dreams. Just because you don’t remember a dream doesn’t mean the dream magic didn’t work. It may come back to you or maybe it’s done but you weren’t suppose to remember.

Dreamwalking

Because, as mentioned above, it’s commonly believed that the realm of dreams is a shared space or can be accessed by others, you can actually walk into someone else’s dreams.

You can even alter or implant ideas in someone’s dreams, encouraging them upon waking to do something you want them to do like call you or skip work. They might even look for something for you, even if they wouldn’t have thought of it before. These sorts of things tend to appear as unshakable feelings in the target.

This might cross into moral gray areas so tread carefully.

Examples

For example, I often dream of full, detail-chocked novels with complicated characters and twisting plots. Sometimes they’re nonsensical and other times they are so complete that they simply need to be written down.

My Lavender Dreams flying ointment came to me in a dream. Upon waking I immediately wrote down the ingredients and within an hour created a new flying ointment.

I’m also in the process of writing up my own oracle. Each card comes from a dream or has a dream inspiration.

Originally written over on tumblr.

Home Construction, Witchcraft, and You

I’ve lived through a fair amount of construction. You’ll hear that living through construction isn’t fun and they’re right. It’s always a hassle and always difficult to live through. There’s always someone in your home, there is constantly dust and dirt everywhere, entire rooms will be out of commission, things will be misplaced, and worst yet, you have to have pants on or even be presentable at some ungodly hour in the morning. Shudder.

Now long-term readers will know that I live in an in-law flat at my mother’s house. My mother’s house isn’t new. Built in the 1940s, it sits between two crossroads on the top of a hill overlooking a swamp turned middle school. (No, I’m serious.) The previous owner did a lot of work themselves – poorly. The garage was clumsily doubled, we’re fairly certain one of the bedroom’s was added, the finished basement was roughshod, the kitchen linoleum floor was caulked down, the upstairs tub isn’t sealed properly and leaks into my closet at times… oh the list goes on and on. We once watched an electrician climb up a ladder, open up a ceiling light, and then fly back down, shaking their head in fear and horror.

Every single time we attempt something in this house, no matter how small, something expensive and catastrophic happens. A simple clogged kitchen drain turns into the house’s main line being snaked because of the way the plumbing was designed. Adding a ceiling fan becomes rewiring half the house. Changing cable companies requires three teams of people all to stare in vague disbelief at the house. Every single home improvement we do is a major event. Despite the trouble, each year we try to do something for the house. Sometimes those home improvements are laying down new flooring ourselves or updating appliances and other times it’s the more construction side of things. This year it’s windows and gutters. The star of the show is a window that takes up half the wall in the double parlor. We’re turned into into a bow window with a little shelf for plants and knick-knacks cats.

But what does this have to do with witchcraft?

Let me talk to you about windows first. Windows are doors. They are gateways. They are reflective surfaces. They are both outside and inside. They allow you to see the world without being involved with it. Windows are the shit. Glass is pretty damn amazing all things considered and I could do a whole rant on the amazingness of glass but I’ll put it aside for today. Windows, like doors, can be used as entrance ways for spirits and magic, especially if you treat windows as a door. When I cleanse the house I cleanse the windows the exact same way I cleanse the doors and corners. They are spaces where two things are separate by very little, like veils between worlds.

So when mum said “we’re going to do the big window this year” I sighed and thought “well, shit.” This means I had to break down the protections on this huge double window in our living room that we haven’t been able to open for the eleven years we’ve owned the house. So I spent a few evening tearing down the protections and holding them out in a temporary state until the installation could be done. Plus I had to take down the barriers to ensure that any constructors workers that are psychic-inclined don’t get a massive headache from my barriers (known to happen as I do some powerful protections). Then it took several days to ensure that the new window protections meshed well with the old protections. I also cleansed the window and area from any crap it came with during the install.

The room's mostly done in this image. There's still some touch up needed. The wall colors are silver (inset) and a marine turquoise green.

The living room is now a great place to hang out.

And one doesn’t simply add a new window to a room without considering repainting said room. So I did that too. The inset transformed from red into a silver-white and the peach walls melted into a marine turquoise green. The room is now cool and clean feeling. It came out really nice all things considered and now I’m really pleased to say this will be the perfect space to do readings for clients that come to the house. Plus, I was able to install some of my older gaming consoles so it doubles as a joint gaming location for the household. Which makes it even sweeter. It still has some work that needs doing (touch up paint) but usable again which is super nice. The photo to the left is the new room. I just wish I had a before picture to show you the stunning change.

Gutter boxes laying across the side yard and waiting for installation.

Gutter boxes laying across the side yard and waiting for installation. Get use to seeing this and more if you’re doing construction.

Then we turned our attention to the gutters. Actually, the installation of the gutters is being done as I type this, huddled over my computer sipping on too much coffee as the crews started at the lovely time of seven-thirty in the morning. We are not morning people and there was much bitching involved with this wake up call.

Gutters are a pain in the ass. Not only did I need to take down anything hanging on the exterior wall that could fall down, but I had to do some major landscaping and  deal with the fact that my gutters are changing. Gutters are potential streams attached to your house. Water helps conduct of a bunch of things including energy. With new gutters up, I’ll had to ensure the corners where the gutters hang were well protected magically. I had to crawl into the depths of the house to find each corner and protect it. Luckily I didn’t have to climb on the roof but it was a near thing. (I don’t mind climbing roofs but the ground was muddy and ladders don’t do well in the mud.) I did have to dodge some possums that live in our garage attic. We usually stay out of each other’s way but I scared the shit out of them when I climbed up to do the spells. It was worth it as I can now incorporate a potential running source of water into its own self-standing protection during storms and inclement weather.

That wasn’t the only change going on though. When you start doing work on one part of the house, you tend to start looking at the other parts of the house and think “well, that looks like shit. I bet I could change that.” Which is what happened to me.

In order to do the gutters I had to hack down my grape vines and climbing roses off the garage trellis. This is the backyard spring clean up in progress.

In order to do the gutters I had to hack down my grape vines and climbing roses off the garage trellis. This is the backyard spring clean up in progress.

During install

And here’s during install. There was a lot going on. A lot of ladders. Still not done with the yard spring clean up. Sigh.

I already mentioned I had to do some landscaping. When the previous owners built the trellis and planted the grape vines, they also put a gutter on the garage roof (which you can see there in the photo hanging down a bit. I damaged it during my demo). I have three mature grapevines and a climbing rose bush that propagated itself so now there’s something like four of them along that back wall. I kind of let the vines do their thing for years and they were in some dire need of trimming and shaping. So I hacked them all down to what you see in the photo. It was several days of tiring hard work. It wasn’t just cutting them down. I had to cut each vine piece into a size that would fill a lawn bag. I’m already at ten lawn bags as of this writing and I’m sadly not done. I also had to rake out the leaves on the patio and the leaves on the memorial garden on the other side of the garage (my bittersweet nightshade is a monster that will not be tamed). I also had to beat back my Audrey III in the front yard. In the summer we let it the creeping jenny wind around the front porch and provide some serious shade but every few months I have to go out there and hack it down to size. Creeping jenny will go everywhere if you let it so I had to make sure it didn’t make it’s way down to the mailbox. Followers on my instagram saw my work in progress a while back as I tackled Audrey III. It worked out though since I needed to clear out the front anyway so they could put the gutters up on the porch.

I’m still not done yet though. Although the garden’s now coming along nicely and will be pretty damn sweet come the summer, I’m also tackling three more painting jobs. The dining room (actually the second half of the living room since it’s a double parlor) and the greenhouse/storage/exercise room, and my staircase into my apartment are also being painted. (Yellow, green, and multicolored, respectively). I might even do my own kitchen/sitting area too if I still have enough fucks to give by that point…. Yeah. Half a house later and I’m satisfied with the house. Until next year that is.

I know I’m not the only witch to deal with construction so here’s my tips on how to survive, witchy-style. This list will also work for those of you apartment dwellers who have landlords that drop in with a “hey, we’re going to be doing work on your place. Deal with it.”

  1. Be certain you know when they’re coming, going, and to have all your paperwork in order. Put a “notice me!” type spell on paperwork you’ll need (and some pens!) so you can locate it in the chaos to follow.
  2. Secure any breakables, expensive stuff, and well-liked things. Thievery isn’t unheard of. Put down some badass “do not touches” on stuff and some extra protection on things you want safe. Plus thieving spirits will get into everything since your protections will be moved around too.
  3. Get a box and put your witch shit in it. This depends on you but if you’re not out about your craft and you want them to not know of it, get a box and tuck the most damning stuff in it. Stick it in a closet somewhere. Put your altar in a second box by itself. I highly recommend, especially for long-term constructions, moving the altar to a room that won’t be touched or to empty out a drawer somewhere and put the altar in that. If you’re open about your craft and don’t mind people knowing (like me) then just make sure your witchy stuff isn’t going to get knocked over or trip anyone. (I’m looking at you, cauldron).
  4. Cleanse the house before anyone comes in. This gives you a baseline for finding out if anyone’s hauling in new stuff or any negative energy that might come in. Plus it’s nice to have a breather before the chaos. Also, clean. It’ll cut the clean up after the construction in half.
  5. Make sure the new parts of the house mesh well with the old parts of the house. Each house has its own personality and spirit. Some spirits are livelier than others so make sure the house knows what’s going on and what to expect. [UPG]
  6. Determine if your protection spells need to be altered, adjusted, or taken down. My home protections are layers upon layers. Most are designed to be “dropped” at a moment’s notice for reasons I won’t get into here. My household is made up of misanthropic hermit-hobbits so we have excessive protections to ward off… well, everybody. Most people don’t do that apparently so YMMV but you may need to put aside some protections for the mean time. If you do, remember to boost your personal protections and any protection spells for individual people or things that may need it.
  7. Cast a luck spell. Not only will this help things go smoothly but it may speed up the time of the construction or save you money. Do any other necessary spells before construction begins and plan any regular rituals you might hold around the construction if possible. If you do big spells or spells with lots of components, start making those things now and put them aside. (If you use an anointing oil for example, make that before you begin construction)
  8. Find the devices and items you use every day and enchant them with a “notice me!” spell. I do this for all my remotes as well as my cellphone but you might also find it useful for things like medication, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, and so on.
  9. At the end of each construction day, take ten minutes to meditate and de-stress. Your home will be in chaos. Your home’s energy will be tossed around and feeling like crap. Find a corner of your house that is completely untouched by the chaos and go there. This might not be possible depending on the construction but try to find some place where you can have a moment.
  10. Keep your regularly scheduled woo and non-woo stuff on track. Do normal things. This will be one of the hardest things to do but it can be the most encouraging and supportive for you. Make your bed. It doesn’t matter if the entire family’s crashing on a mattress on the floor but the simple act of making the bed look neat will give a visual and mental reprieve from the chaos. Plus, you’ll have somewhere to sit and put stuff that you’ll need to find again in five minutes.
  11. Unfinished houses are in danger from spirits and woo the most. Protect them as much as you can. Try not to leave walls unpainted or spaces without where things can be tucked without your knowledge. Cleansing, divination, and knowing the energy of your place will help find anything amiss. [UPG]
  12. Enchant as you go. I placed charm bags in the walls of my flat when it was rebuilt. I use water or chalk to trace out protection symbols on walls and floors before they were finished. When painting, each coat has a new enchantment on it, depending on what my purpose is. If you’re a DIYer, definitely enchant as you go. Remember that blood is powerful but so is sweat and the energy you put into something.
  13. Determine if you’re setting up a permanent spell, a spell that will need to be maintained, or if it’s something that can be taken down when/if you move. For example, as mentioned many of my house protections can be dropped. Some of those protections are part of the house now and will never be taken down without someone going out of their way to do it intentionally, even if I moved. Layering protections like that can help but adding new bits to your home puts a discrepancy in between the protections. Make sure everything melds together smoothly when needed.
  14. Blessing your new space might be a thing you want to do. I tend to roll it into my protection rites and it’s less of a blessing more of a “Welcome to the Crossroad-Shire! We drink blood on Tuesdays and perform necromancy on Fridays. Pants are optional.” YMMV. (I’m kidding about the blood).
  15. Sweeping out the negative energy with the dust and dirt will be helpful. Expect to do this actively for a week after construction. Dust will be everywhere.

Here’s some non-witchy pro-tips for the construction-minded folks out there:

  • Always have a contingency money set aside in case something goes wrong. I personally recommend and go with half of whatever you’re paying to have done available or on hand. Excessive? Sure. But if you don’t need the money then it can be plopped right into a savings account or spent on something nice.
  • Many window companies will outright refuse to price windows individually or do only a few windows at a time. If you do have a company come out, see if they’re guarantee a price or do some windows at a time.
  • Avoid using companies that don’t do the work themselves. Trust me. You can bitch all you want to the place you ordered your fancy new door from but they won’t give a shit because it’s on the contractor they hired out and that contractor is magically not insured or just poofed from existence.
  • Rhode Island is one of the worst fucking states in the U.S. for construction. Hands down. We’re notorious for it. If you’re in the New England area, triple check any construction companies as they might be from Rhode Island.
  • Make duplicates of your paperwork and keep it ALL in one place. Ideally, this should be the place where all of your important paperwork is kept whether a safe, deposit box, filing cabinet, or a beat up box tucked under your desk.
  • Stock up on foods and drinks you don’t need a kitchen for. Even if your construction doesn’t take place on the same floor as the kitchen you may find yourself so stressed from dealing with the construction or people that you can’t be bothered to cook.
  • Secure your pets and children. This should be incredibly obvious but it needs repeating.
  • Buy an extra set of cables for your devices. There is literally nothing worse than misplacing your charging cable or was finding it in the sink under a pile of soaking dishes. This will invariably happen after the stores are closed in your area and your phone is at 10% battery.
  • Have at least one set of shoes tucked under your sleeping space. Shoes are some of the first things to be misplaced in the chaos of construction. Hide an all-purpose set of shoes in your car for extra protection.

Now, here’s an unpaid promo. I cannot recommend enough Power Home Remodeling Group. They’ve always been polite, clean, and friendly. Always professional, enthusiastic, on time, and on top of their paperwork, they have excellent customer service. Plus the work they’ve done so far has been amazing. They’re the people we’re going through for all our windows, the gutters, and whatever else we can use them for. So if you need windows, doors, or gutters and you’re in their area, I’d use them.

Uncrossing Oneself

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Rootandrock’s musing post got me thinking. I have several clients that come to me in need of an unhexing, counter-curse, or exorcism. I almost always recommend a cleansing because that helps open oneself up and clears out the muck. Sometimes though that isn’t enough and an uncrossing is needed.

What is an uncrossing?

Rootandrock said it best but essentially sometimes we are so use to living with the bad stuff that even when it’s going we don’t know how to live without that bad stuff so we keep repeating the same patterns and behaviors we were doing before – and essentially creating our own bad stuff all over again. This cycle must break. This is what an uncrossing does.

I tend to like to combine unblocking spells and techniques as well, as many of my clients want to be able to reconnect with the spiritual. Unblocking is just like it sounds – breaking the blockages are typically caused by too much negative crap in your life weighing you down and making you feel fuzzy. Sometimes they’re caused by curses or spirits. Realistically, unblocking spells are a subcategory of uncrossing techniques but that’s not really the point here.

So how do you do the thing?

Mundane measures:

Cleaning.

I always recommend a deep cleaning of the house and your living and working spaces (including your car!) during deep cleansings. The same goes for uncrossings. This isn’t just sweeping and mopping the floor. Change the atmosphere of your living and working arrangements as best you can to help yourself.

This doesn’t have to be an expensive process.  Just burning a scented candle, baking a delicious dessert, opening up the curtains and letting in a lot of natural light would help. Rearrange rugs, art on the walls, and/or furniture. Clean out your cupboards and get rid of anything you don’t routinely use (especially if it’s unhealthy) if you can. Focus on areas that you first see when you walk into a room – counter tops, tables, chairs, the floor.  Sort though your closet and donate what you don’t need (or refashion it).

For those of you who want a more permanent solution or can purchase things, add mirrors opposite of windows to extend and expand the natural light of the room and increase the size of the room. Have a different set of curtains, blankets, rugs, and even pictures to rotate in and out seasonally.

Why do this? It shakes up the energy of the room. Many magical practitioners don’t do this often if they can help it because it messes with the energy of a room. I did it just the other day – rearranged every corner of my house – and my servitors and spirits grumped about it for half of the next day. It also breaks up routine and adds something new to your life without having to do something.

I’m stuck! Having trouble doing this? Is your house too cluttered? Afraid that it would take too long or is a hopeless cause? Are you simply not able to get up the energy to do this? Check out Unfuck Your Habitat (especially if you don’t have the energy or your home is too cluttered) and HabitRPG (for you gaming type).

How do you do it? I use to be a huge mess until I was seriously shamed by an aunt as a kid. It made me want to show her I could be better than she expected. Since then I’ve been pretty neat. That being said the UFYH method of 20/10 (20 minutes of cleaning and ten minutes of rest) is a heralded miracle. I tend to do 20 minutes of one thing and then 10 minutes of something else and then start the next 20 minutes on the original thing (which is excellent for those who HAVE to keep at it or have ADD/ADHD) or I do 10 minutes of cleaning, 5 minutes on the internet, etc. I burn incense and candles to change the smells of the room. In the summer I put away my rugs and comforters and leave the windows open to let air in. In the winter, I put down lots of area rugs (mine were rescued  and repurposed), double up on curtains to keep the warmth in (and let the act of pushing those curtains aside to let in precious light feel all the more important), and lay on blankets in both size, warmth, and texture to give the room a better feel. I also find getting things off the ground helps with cleaning. IKEA is a great inspiration for this. Things feel less dirty when done this way. I recently did that with my under-the-stairs closet with a simple screwdriver and it was brilliant. It was customized, creative, organized, and really let me use every square inch of the space. Another huge thing I do is Do-It-Yourself projects. I’m a big DIYer and I love repurposing things. I find creating and making things for yourself lets me learn new skills, build a solid connection with whatever I’m making, and learn to love it (and myself) more. Every time I get a compliment on something I’ve made, I feel awesome.

Take a vacation

I don’t just mean book a cruise to Bermuda. Even taking a Sunday afternoon to sit or walk through a large park and breath in the fresh air is enough. Leave your cellphone on silent and maybe bring a sketchbook or a book to read. Combined with a spa day (even at home spa treatments) and a luxurious breakfast, fresh and crisp lunch, and satisfying dinner this can replenish you. The most important bit is to break your cycle.

If you’re a super busy officer worker and you live your life by a strict schedule, don’t schedule a thing during your vacation – go with the flow. If you’re the opposite, keep a strict schedule and have some sort of reason to keep to that schedule. Breaking your cycle of bad behavior is key. It will not be easy. You’ve formed habits and connections with these bad behaviors. You’ll have to actively work to change them.

Why do this? Routine is easy to follow. When the routine is broken, we begin to look at the whys, hows, and whats of things. This is important. If you continually have no energy and change your diet accordingly, but never do anything with the potential new energy, you’ll feel restless and caged. Similarly, if you do the same workout routine three days a week, you’ll never work out or strengthen other parts of your body. Change things up and inspire yourself. Decompress and stretch your body and spirit.

I’m stuck! Set up a reward/punishment system. For example, I use HabitRPG for a reward/punishment system to keep myself on track. If I’ve done something really good, I’ll make a special dessert for myself or buy myself something. If I’ve done something bad, I do something I don’t like such as weeding the garden, an hour at the gym, etc. (Although, this means I cement the idea that those activities are “bad” – so there’s inherent flaws in the system.) If the reward/punishment system doesn’t work for you, or you can’t think of a good enough threat, rope in a friend or set up alarms on your computer/cell phone to pester you to break the routine.

How do you do it? I take a roadtrip. This happen every couple of years but a roadtrip gives me hours of just me by myself and lets me decompress. If that doesn’t work or isn’t available, I go to the ocean. It’s an instant fix. I don’t live by a schedule or routine so forcing myself to adhere to one, even if only for a few weeks, is a huge change.

Stop buying things/start buying things

This obviously will only apply to some of you.

I know when I’m broke, I spent absolutely zero money on anything. That keeps me home and stressed due to lack of money. To break this cycle I save even as little as 50 cents a week and buy myself something – a new shirt, a coffee, whatever. It brings a little bit of pleasure and makes everything that much more special.

When you’re a materialistic person and buy a lot of stuff – stop. There will always be sales and you’ll probably be able to find whatever you want to buy on Amazon or eBay at a later date. Stop trying to fill the hole in yourself with stuff. If you go out a lot, stay in and try a new recipe or bake a frozen pizza or something. Change up your life.

Why do this? We live in a very instant, very demanding, very materialistic world. Switching off your impulse to buy things (or to hoard what little money you have and have the lack of ability to buy and keep up with the impulse buys) creates a new change in behavior at what is now a fundamental level of society – money and how we spend it. As mentioned above, it creates the break in behavior and allows you to evaluate how, what, what, and when you’re doing something.

How do you do it? I hoard money. When I have it, I spend it. I’m not a saver. However, because I am my own source of income, I hoard my money now and dislike spending it unless I have a cushion to fall back on – which is rare in this economy. So every couple of months I buy something new. New fabric or yarn for a piece of clothing I want to make, a new pair of shoes, pick up a new hobby, or join a club or event.

Change you.

This one’s a bit harder and would be if you seriously need some uncrossing. Changing you is the hardest part. There will always be bits of you that will never change. However, it can be a superficial change. Get a new haircut, buy, make, or restyle a new wardrobe, toss clutter that has sentimental value but things you wouldn’t miss (let’s be honest, there’s stuff most of us keep that might remind us of an event or thing but isn’t the only thing we have from great grandma – that’s what I’m talking about). If you can’t toss it, box it up and stick it in a closet. If you don’t miss it or think of it by the time you rediscover the box again, get rid of it. I pretty much only keep awards, yearbooks, etc or things I can use again (theatre programs I’ve designed as a part my resume). Change your style, if possible, or the way you walk, talk, or act in public. Again, this will not be easy and will be a difficult choice to make.

Why do this? If you’re so caught up in muck that you can’t break free, shed your skin and start anew. It sounds as harsh as it’s meant to be. This potentially is the most difficult advice I could offer because it requires you to discover a new you. It’s more than a breaking of the cycle – it’s breaking the old your and birthing a new one.

How do you do it? I’ve only done this a few times and each time it was making a truly difficult choice to modify my behavior. One time it gained me friends and a whole new lifestyle. Another time was to break the toxicity that lifestyle contained. I regret neither but it was hard at the time to deal with the overwhelming new situation – breaking through my shyness and expressing my opinions to strangers and then to break away from fair-weather friends and toxic situations. (And no, I know not everyone can remove themselves from toxic people or situations but it you can do so.)

Magical and spiritual measures:

Petition an entity, join a new religion, or become a follower of a new deity.

Sometimes we need help. Petitioning  a deity or joining a new religion is a great way of getting a helping hand. It’s not just deities but also spirits, saints, and other beings. This is a very common practice but if you aren’t doing it or haven’t in a  while, it may be time to give it a try.

Working with these beings can be as simple as asking for a blessing or sign and then receiving it. Ask for guidance or a path to follow, the power and strength to succeed on that path and finally the physical, mental, and spiritual health and will to do so.

Any deity or spirit can be a source of help but the following are especially known as potential sources of unblocking and uncrossing assistance or to see a better way of dealing with the problem (just be wary of cultural appropriation):

  • Papa Legba (source 1)
  • Ganesha (source 1)
  • Hecate (source 1)
  • Ogun (source 1)
  • Yemaya (source 1)
  • Anubis (source 2)
  • Dosojin (source 2)
  • Akasagarbha or Kokuzo (source 2)
  • Lubana (source 2)
  • Sarutahiko (source 2)
  • Amaterasu
  • Uzume
  • Amatsumara

Why do this? As mentioned, sometimes help is needed. Perhaps you need someone to throw you a floating device when you’re drowning. It’s not weakness to ask for help.

I’m stuck! If you’re not getting answers when petitioning a specific deity, send out a general, universal distress call but be VERY sure to read all the fine print before agreeing to anything. Please also remember that a deity can be communication with you without you directly hearing their voices or receiving a obvious sign. Deities can live within the everyday – you just have to find something that strikes you as meaningful.

What do you do? I’ve worked with a malevolent spirit before as well as two Norse deities indirectly and pop culture entities. The deities and pop culture entities were gentle guidance in an off-hand manner – I found solace in their stories than them as beings. The spirit and I came to an agreement of sorts but that’s not really a story I want to tell. I don’t tend to turn to deities when I’m in trouble. I’m independent however I’ve taken a lot of inspiration and guidance from the aforementioned. I literally could not say where I would be without the pop culture entities. I never worked with them as spirits or deities but their stories helped create the person I am today.

Divination.

Typically divination is used to diagnose a problem but it can also be used for insight to figure out way around a problem. Meditating with the meaning of a card or using the card’s deep meaning to help you understand a way out of or through your problem. Some cards can be used to progress through the problem (the Tower for example is a personal favorite). Some people even use cards in spells. If you do you can literally choose cards from your current status moving in realistic steps towards your uncrossed goal.

Why do this? Primarily, it helps identify and offers solutions to the problem. As a secondary measure it can be used directly to affect change on yourself as a spell.

I’m stuck! Get a reader to do a reading for you. In fact, ask a few different readers for advice, if you can. There are plenty of people that will give a free reading.  Try it yourself, if you’re able. Find people use use different techniques if you’re only selecting tarot cards.

What do you do? I’m a seer so I do divination daily. However, I’ve used the aforementioned spread to work through a problem and help write a spell for change. (I personally don’t like using my cards in spells as it adds energy the cards don’t need.)

Chakras and Reiki

I’m not trained in Reiki (although I know the basic principles, premises, and techniques) and there’s a lot of information out there. I recommend seeking out a certified practitioner. I can name a few very good ones for you. Otherwise, Google is your friend. Reiki is a defined practice with a specific education, rankings, and certified teachers and practitioners. The theory of of Reiki is more widespread but actual Reiki is pretty defined.

You can also cleanse your chakras and enable you to move forward. There’s a variety of ways to do that and, again, I recommend a certified Reiki practitioner or taking a Reiki class.

Why do this? Cleansing the body and chakras is a good way of resetting and refreshing the body. Reiki can also heal you which would be ideal for those with bodily afflictions.

I’m stuck! Please seek a certified Reiki master.

What do you do? As mentioned I’m familiar with Reiki as a practice so I usually do a session for myself. If I really needed a cleansing or assistance, I would contact one of the Reiki masters I know and have them assist.

Astral Uncrossing and/or Spiritual Uncrossing or Meditation or Shadow Work

This is especially useful it you’re being afflicted by a spirit or entity. You must first cross into the astral/fade/spirit realms, find the source of the negative muckery, and destroy it. Sometimes this will involve diving deep into the afflicted person’s psyche and spirit to rid them of the affliction. If you’re doing this on yourself, you’ll have to either lucid dream or meditation to achieve a deep enough state to rend yourself apart, rid yourself of the negativity, and patch yourself up. This is similar to Reiki’s techniques and . It’s not unlike Reiki in a cleansing but instead of energy, it’s more forceful and takes place either in your mind or in the astral. it can be very harsh and cautious must be made of clearing out too much negativity too soon as you’ll need to recover.

For meditation and shadow work, you’ll need to dive into yourself in a deep meditation state an discover the parts of you that are “bad” or “negative” and either come to terms with them or change them in ways to better yourself.

Why do this? This is, as mentioned, useful for when this is a state afflicted on you or it has set deep inside of you. This is excellent for people who are powerful spirit workers or are more powerful in their mind or in the astral than elsewhere.

I’m stuck! Some practitioners may assist you in this. Guided meditation may also be useful.

What do you do? Depending on the circumstances I either tear into the issue in the spirit realms or use my Mind Room (read: Mind Palace) to clear out the junk and fix myself.

Select Spells and Techniques

These are spells and techniques used specifically for uncrossing and unblocking. If you haven’t already tried a  cleansing spell or technique, try that first.

Uncrossing Oil (source 1, page 1056-1057)

  • Essential oil of hyssop
  • Essential oil of angelica
  • Essential oil of frankincense
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • Pinch of black pepper
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
  • Sprig of rue
  • Sliver of fresh garlic
  • Section of broken chain
  • Castor oil and jojoba oil base

Add ingredients. The chain and angelica are the most important elements. Angelica has photosensitive properties so be careful of the sun if you use it on the body.

[Crown’s Notes: You can absolutely mix this spell up. I use different oil bases and herbs in my recipe.]

Crown’s Too Heavy a Cross Spell

Make a cross with two sticks and some twine. If you’re really burdened, add more sticks. Really pour your problems into the sticks as you make it. Douse is in Uncrossing Oil (recipe above). If there’s a specific area being affected, brush the over the area. Envision your negative energy and experiences as you set it on fire and watch it burn.

Uncrossing Spell: Rosemary (source 1, page 614)

This spell breaks a curse and will also lift the Evil Eye.

  1. Put nine drops of essential oil of rosemary in a glass of rainwater
  2. Add nine drops of Uncrossing Oil.
  3. Stir it up and place it in the window. Leave it there for three days.
  4. On the fourth day, sprinkle this water throughout the house, concentrating on corner, dark spots, and any areas that feel “creepy”.
  5. At the same time, add rosemary essential oil and Uncrossing Oil to your bath water.

[Crown’s Note: Be sure to only use a few drops of essential oil and Uncrossing Oil. If undiluted, most essential oils can be damaging to the body.]

Unblocking Spells (2) (Source 1, page 1014)

When your cross is too heavy to bear and you’re sick of being in such misery.

  1. Collect a bowl of rainwater or seawater. You can keep it in reserve. it’s hard to plan to do this spell: you will know if and when the right time arrives.
  2. Cry into the bowl of living water.
  3. When you can’t cry anymore, take the water and feed a plant with it.
  4. Nurture this plant; tell it your desires and dreams.
  5. Write your wishes on a piece of paper and bury them together with a small crystal beside the plant’s roots.

[Crown’s Notes: It could be a local tree if houseplants aren’t your thing. Pick something strong so it can carry and share your burdens.]

Scents and materials to use:

  • Benzoin (burn as needed to remove blockages)
  • Citrus (as described in the cleansing post, but all the citrus scented or flavored things! watch for the sun and photosensitivity)
  • Vetiver (boil, steep, let cool, add to bathwater for nine consecutive days)
  • Devil’s Shoestring (boil, strain, let cool, pour over yourself, air dry, for seven days)
  • Larch (burn to unblock yourself)
  • Peridot (charge and carry)
  • Sardonyx (charge and carry)
  • Quartz crystal (charge and carry)
  • Frankincense (burn as needed)
  • Rosemary (charge and carry or burn as needed or add steeped liquid to bath water)
  • Wahoo bark (infusion)

OK! I’ve done an uncrossing. Now what?

How do you feel? Better? No different? Either can be true and if you feel don’t feel different that doesn’t mean it isn’t working. Your next steps could be any of the following:

  • Healing spells
  • Protection and warding spells (for you and your home)
  • Luck spells
  • Financial assistance spells
  • Binding and banish spells (if a person or entity is involved)

Sources:

  1. The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells.  Judika Illes.
  2. The Encyclopedia of Spirits. Judika Illes.

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Cleansing Yourself

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Cleansing yourself (or other people or your home) is the spiritual equivalent of “did you try turning it off?” (Meditation, of course, being the equivalent of “is it plugged in?”)

Even though it is such a common remedy for so many things, it is often one of the things people just don’t know how to do or only know one method of. This intent of this particular post is to list and describe a few common cleansing practices. For some folks, this will be basic 101 stuff and others may find revelation in this. Wherever you fall in that spectrum, hopefully this is an interesting read and it helps you some.

First, safety tips: Don’t use anything you’re allergic to. It’s very likely a quick 40 seconds google search will give you an idea whether the mixtures suggested elsewhere or even here will be harmful for you. Use common sense and be safe.

Secondly, before you do anything. Stop. Just stop. Stop checking your phone, reading this sentence, or listening to music. Just stop everything. Now breathe. Drawn in a deep breath. Yes, good. Now hold it for a few seconds. Great. And release. Feels better, doesn’t it? Do this a couple of times. These few moments will mentally break you from whatever chaos is around you and help you re-evaluate what needs to be done.

Now, onto the cleansing methods.

The Water Method

The easiest method by far is taking a shower. Take a few minutes to soak in the hot water and get a steam going before dialing the water temperature down to as cool as you can stand, close your eyes (feel free to lean on the wall if you’re worried about falling), and clear your mind as best you can. Take a few deep breaths and start to envision all the black muck and problems you’re facing falling away like the water. Start this at the top of your head and envision it slipping down your body, gaining more muck as it goes. Envisioning the water going black as you do this and that black water going down the drain. Keep doing this until you feel light and can breath easier.

This method historically is used in many cultures. In Japan, there are specific rites of cleansing and purification that require the person to stand under a waterfall. Most of us don’t have a waterfall handy, so the shower works. I personally use the shower method most often but the best way for me to be cleansed is to go to the ocean and just stand in the water. I don’t have to swim, precisely, but just soak my feet (and maybe splash about in the incoming waves) and I am instantly and enormously better. A cousin of mine uses a specific lake. Many users like to do this with a bath but I don’t often recommend because you’re sitting in the sullied water without something to counter the taint. Essentially, bathing and allowing the water to take the problems from you is a strong spiritual cleanse.

If you’re using a shower or bath, the water method is very easily combined with herbs and bathing salts for cleansing. Even bathing in salt water (which you can make by dissolving sea salt into water) will be extremely helpful. Adding essential oils or herbs to the bathing salts, or just alone will help enormously. (Don’t put essential oils directly on your skin without diluting them first.)

My favorite combination is using citrus essential oils, juices, or dried zest to this effect. A drop of two of lemon juice or bergamot essential oil in a bath or among bath salts will do wonders. A quick warning though is that most citrus is photosensitive. So bathing in lemony water will cause the skin to burn more easily. In short: Don’t bath in citrus anything and then go spend a day in the sun. You’ll burn and dehydrate your skin which will cause even more problems.

Mints, like spearmint, peppermint, or common mint, or even eucalyptus can be used in a similar fashion for a cooling bath. This bath is actually really great if you have an upset stomach or headache so I use it when getting over being sick.

Some people go so far as to bath in sage or other cleansing associated salts or herbs. I find these tend to be very startling spiritually when used in this manner so I recommend them only when there’s a serious problem at hand.

There’s about a hundred thousand different recipes out there. For herbal books based on beauty care Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health or Stephanie Torres’ Organic Body Care Recipes are recommended. For those interested in cleansing salts or scrubs and don’t want to make them, I offer them in my shop on and off again.

If you want to use herbs in the shower, take a mesh bag or cheese cloth 1/4-1/2 stuffed with herbs and tie it on the shower head. Wash as usual. Just be careful as some herbs have dyeing, drying, or irritating properties on the skin and eyes. Talk to your licensed herbalist. Keep a bowl of clean water beside the shower in case you get irritants in your eye so you can do an eyewash. Alternatively, you can steep the herbs in warm water and cool it, leaving it aside in a bowl. Take that bowl into the shower with you and use it with a shower sponge (bath scrubbie or bath puff) or wash cloth.

This can also be used to clean the house. I tend to use these herbal salt water recipes for my cleaning buckets, floor washes, window cleaning, and so on. Works beautifully. I even toss salt and a drop or two of essential oil in my washing machine to encourage various things.

The Egg Method

Eggs are spiritually powerful. Not only are they unbirthed young, they contain a lot of healthy materials for us. Since they are unbirthed animals, they can be used to absorb hexes, curses, or just general negative energy. Roll the egg over every part of your body that you can reach. Once done, take the egg to a crossroads far away from where you live (an intersection will work, just don’t get hit by a car) and break the egg. Really throw the egg with some force away from you. Leave a different way you came and go home. I generally recommend following this method up with a luxurious bath or shower.

This can also be done with a stone. Alternatively, you can toss the egg or rock into live water (ocean, river, etc.)

The Smoke Method

This is your smudging or herbal stick burning. Burning incense also falls into this category. In general, you pick up cleansing herbs or incense and burn it, carrying the burning whatever throughout the house  and over your body. Leave a door open so if there’s a spirit that’s being chased out, it can leave.

Similarly, candles can be made with cleansing properties and burned for the same results.

This obviously isn’t recommended if you can’t burn candles in the house, have sensitive smoke alarms, or are allergic to or sensitive to smoke.

Detoxification

There’s a lot of bad information out there for detoxification. Talk to your doctor or licensed herbalist for information on how to detoxify yourself. This is less cleansing of the spirit and more of the body. Still, you would be amazed at how detoxifying your body helps the spirit. Be careful and vet each and every recipe you try since there’s so much bad information out there.

One recipe I use fairly often. I tend to drink this between breakfast and lunch every couple of days. Generally people make this recipe in warm water as a tea. I don’t bother. I just pour a cup of room temperature filtered water and call it a day. And yes, the pepper and cinnamon is really necessary. Capsaicin and cinnamon have a lot of great properties when used in small doses so I highly recommend them both.

  • 3 tbsp lemon juice or 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp honey (raw is better but whatever works best for you)
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional)
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
  • 1 cup water

Drinking a tea of nettle and green tea is another method.

All of the above being said, you’ll find when googling that a lot of detoxing recipes can also be used as weight loss treatments. Please don’t do it. The above has some evidence of assisting in weight loss but when combined with a balanced diet and exercise. You’ll lose weight by only consuming the above for how ever many days but you’ll gain it all back afterwards. It’s really hard on your system. Additionally, if you begin to experience or are prone to acid reflux, stop taking it and switch to milk or cream to calm the reflux. Vinegar, in large quantities, will be acidic on your system without something to counter it (hence why I use so little apple cider vinegar.)

You could also bathe in the above, but as previously mentioned, lemon juice can make someone photosensitive. The recipe, if used on the hair and skin topically often, can even be used as a dyeing method. Yes, really. I use lemon juice in my hair oil recipe and it has lightened my hair over time (which I’m fine with). Something to note.

So these are just some of the methods you can use to cleanse yourself.

For more reading, you can go to the following links over on tumblr: