tools Archives

Witchy Soap Making

February 19, 2019Spells

As witches, many times we like to do our own crafting tools and ingredients. Personally I feel like doing this helps a lot on spell/ritual effectiveness. After all it’s all about transfers of energy. So if I make, say, a candle I use for a spell it already has the right energy and intentions for making the spell work. But making your own tools and ingredients may require some additional training.

In this article, “The Sunflower Witch” shows in detail how to make your own witchy soap. You could use this to learn the basics and do some additional experimentation on your own. You may read more about The Sunflower Witch on her Tumblr blog. Have you tried making your own witchy soap or other witchy things? Would you like to see more “crafty” articles like this? Let us know in the comments below!

Hello Witches! So awhile ago I posted some pictures of my Yule soaps cooling and a bunch of yall wanted to know my methods so here ya go! (This is going to be a longggg post guys and I’m on mobile so no page breaks sorry.)

First thing you will need to do is choose your soap base. I use glycerin because it draws moisture into itself (which is great for locking moisture into your skin. Also it lathers BEAUTIFULLY for shaving) and because lye based soaps are a bit too chemically intense for me.

Glycerin melt and pour soap bases are widely available online (read Amazon😍) and come in a wide variety. You have shea butter glycerin soap, goats milk glycerin soap, honey glycerin soap, and soooo many more. I usually use goats milk glycerin BUT if you want to witch it up you can certainly use your own correspondences.

Next choosing scents. I use essential oils in my soaps (which if you havent read the posts that circulate every now and then you should use SPARINGLY and properly diluted. A teaspoon of rosemary oil in a pound of soup is alright. But be careful for skin reactants and please don’t burn yourself). However when properly diluted, essential oils really add a lovely scent to your soaps that can last on the skin for hoursss.

(Side note: NOW is my favorite brand and I’ve never had any issues with them. I have with other brands though. Be sure to pick a good quality brand that doesn’t contain alcohol or other questionable ingredients.)

When choosing scents, there are a few things to keep in mind (which you can find pretty easily as perfumers basics online). You want three types of oils in your mixings to create a signature scent^tm. A base note, a middle note, and a top note. Base notes generally consist of your woodsy patchoulis, cederwoods, cloves and the like. Mid notes would be more citrusy or a little lighter in nature like your lavenders, oranges and lemongrasses. And for top notes these are usually more floral like jasmine, ylang ylang and lemon verbena.

The purpose of combining scents like this, is because the top notes are what you first smell from the scent, but are also what evaporate most quickly, then the mid notes and so on.

Some of my favorite combos are (for two pound at a time pours)

4 tsp Vanilla Essential oil

1 tsp Orange Essential Oil

¼ tsp Clove Essential oil

1 tsp Patchouli Essential Oil

2 tsp Lavender Essential oil

2 tsp Vanilla Essential oil

(I like vanilla okay?)

1 tsp Orange Essential oil

2 tsp Tangerine Essential oil

1 tsp Bergamot Essential oil

(This one doesn’t have all of the notes, but it smells sooo refreshing)

If the scents arent strong enough, you can always add a little more. When diluted in two pounds of soap a little more wont hurt.

The last element of your soap is mostly for visual purposes, though you can certainly make it witchy, and includes things like coloring, flowers and salts. One of my more recent soaps pictured here

Is orange because of the tumeric I used while mixing the soap (this is the tangerine orange soap). However, mica powders and edible glitters can also be added for an extra punch. The soap above it included crushed lavender flowers (the lavender patchouli soap) and the one above that (men’s shaving soap) sodium sodium bentonite clay.

Alright so now you know what kind of soap base youre using and have picked your scents and inclusions, you are ready to begin!

You will need a double boiler OR a pot large enough for a large metal bowl to melt your soap in.
Your soap (I use about two pounds) cut up in smaller cubes for ease of melting.
A spatula to stir with.
A whisk or fork.
Your essential oils.
Your inclusions.
A mold. (I use the disposable tin bread pans a lot of the time and they work just fine.)
Something to cut your soap. (This can be a knife or a special tool its up to you)

First things first on about medium heat, heat your water to begin melting your soap. DO NOT GET WATER IN YOUR SOAP. A glycerin soap pour can be ruined by water faster than you can say quidditch.

While that’s melting, you’re going to want to prepare your inclusions. Pictured here is blue mica powder and pink Himalayan salt. I like to mix it with a mortar and pestle to be sure everything is completely incorporated.

Now after your soup is evenly melted, you’ll want to add in your powders and whisk it together well in order to avoid lumps. (Think pancake batter. Below is the example with the blue mica powder and Himalayan salt.

After this step, you’ll want to remove your mixture from the heat and allow it to cool off before adding in your essential oils. If the oils are added too quickly, the scents will burn off and you’ll be left with scentless albeit colorful soap.

Once this is done and your soap is wafting tempting notes of citrus or warm spicy cloves in your face, pour the soap into your molds. As you can see from the molds pictured now is the time to add flowers or other (skin and plumbing safe) decorations. If topping your soap with salt i would wait until a thin film starts to form so it stays on top better.

After this step is done, you’ll need to wait for the soaps to completely firm and set. Depending on the thickness of your soap, this could be anywhere from a few hours to overnight. I usually wait overnight so that i can be sure everything is set enough to cut. (Side note as with candles, soap should not be cooled in the refrigerator. Firstly because it can cause uneven cooling and a large hollow hole in the middle and secondly because when the soap comes out and begins to sweat it can ruin your soap batch.)

After you’ve let your soap set, its time to cut it into bath soap size slices; about an inch to an inch and a half is usually a good bet depending on how thick your soap is. Pictured is above mentioned fancy cutting tool, but you can just as easily use a good knife, just watch out for fingers.

And there you have your finished product!! I like to wrap my soaps in seran or plastic wrap to help keep the scents fresh, but wax paper would probably work as well.

I hope you all enjoy your soaps lovelies and if you do make any please tag me so i can see! 🌻

An Introduction to Candle Magic

February 10, 2019Spells

Candle magic is one of the simplest forms of spell casting. Considered sympathetic magic, it’s a method which doesn’t require a lot of fancy ritual or expensive ceremonial artifacts. In other words, anyone with a candle can cast a spell. After all, remember when you were a child and you made a wish before you blew out the candles on your birthday cake?

In this article, Patti Wiginton, explains, as birthday candles, here is the same theory, only now instead of just hoping, you’re declaring your intent (and by now you’ve probably stopped hoping for a pony). If you think about it, the birthday-candle ritual is based on three key magical principles:

Decide on a goal
Visualize the end result
Focus your intent, or will, to manifest that result

What Sort of Candle Should I Use?

Most practitioners of magical systems will tell you that, much like a few other aspects of life, size really isn’t important. In fact, really big candles may be counterproductive. Look at it this way–a candle that takes three days to burn down can be highly distracting to someone working a spell that instructs you to wait until the candle burns out on its own. Typically, a short taper candle or a votive candle will work the best. In some cases, a spell might call for a specific type of candle, such as a seven-day candle or a figure candle, which may represent a particular person.

One of the most popular candles, believe it or not, is in fact the little menorah candles which are sold by the box in the kosher section of the grocery store. They’re about 4″ long, white, unscented, and thin. Because of this, they’re perfect for spell work.

You should always use a brand new candle for spell work–in other words, use virgin materials. Don’t use the candles that you burned at the dinner table or in the bathroom yesterday for spell work. In some magical traditions, once a candle is burned it picks up vibrations from things around it. If a used candle is already tainted by vibrations, some people believe it will lead to a negative or ineffective magical outcome.

When it comes to colors, you may wish to have a variety on hand for different magical purposes. Typically, Color correspondences for candle magic are as follows:

Red: Courage and health, sexual love, and lust.
Pink: Friendship and sweet love.
Orange: Attraction and encouragement.
Gold: Financial gain, business endeavors, and solar connections.
Yellow: Persuasion and protection.
Green: Financial gain, abundance, and fertility.
Light Blue: Health, patience, and understanding.
Dark Blue: Depression and vulnerability.
Purple: Ambition and power.
Brown: Earth-related or animal-related workings.
Black: Negativity and banishment.
White: Purity and truth*.
Silver: Reflection, intuition, and lunar connections.

* Note that in many Pagan traditions, it is acceptable to use a white candle in place of any other color.

Using Your Candle in Ritual

After you’ve selected a candle, you’ll want to oil it or dress it before burning. This is a method by which you’ll establish a psychic link between you and the candle itself. In other words, you’re charging the candle with your own energy and personal vibrations, and projecting your intent into the wax before you burn it. To dress a candle, you’ll need a natural oil; many practitioners like to use grapeseed because it has no smell. Another option is to use special candle magic oils from one of the metaphysical supply stores.

Begin at the top of the candle, and rub the oil downward to the middle. Then, begin at the base of the candle and rub the oil up towards the middle, ending where the first coating of oil left off. In some traditions, the anointing is done just the opposite way; start in the middle and work your way towards the two ends.

If your working calls for herbs to be used as well, roll the oiled candle in the powdered herbs until it is coated all the way around.

Brujo Negro of BrujoNegroBrujeria says,

“Is a candle magical in and of itself? No, it is the flame of the candle which is what we are making the magic; the candle and its wax are the fuel for the fire. In essence the candle is a vehicle for the creation of the magic contained in the flame, it is a tool if you will and yes it is a magical tool so you should treat your candles as magical tools. You should give your chosen candle a basic cleansing, before dedicating it to the use of a magical spell.”

The most basic form of candle magic uses a piece of colored paper that matches the intent of your candle. Decide what your goal is, and write it on the piece of paper. Just for an example, let’s say we’re going to do a money working. Write down your intent, something like I will become financially prosperous. In some traditions, you would write your intent in a magical alphabet, such as Theban or Enochian. Because this is a money-oriented working, we would select either a gold or green piece of paper, and a candle of the same color.

As you write down your goal, visualize yourself achieving that goal. Think about the different ways in which your goal might manifest. Could you be getting a raise at work? Perhaps someone who owed you money will arrive out of the blue to repay their debt. Maybe you’ll find out you overpaid that cable bill from last year, and you will get a surprise refund check!

Once you’ve written down your goal, fold the paper, concentrating on your intent the whole time. Some people like to say a small incantation as they do this. If you’re one of those people, this is a good place to do it. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy. You can use something as simple as:

Extra money come my way,
I could use a little cash today.
Extra money come to me,
As I will, so it shall be.

Place one corned of the folded paper into the candle’s flame and allow it to catch fire. Hold the paper as long as possible (without burning your fingers) and then place it in a fire-safe bowl or cauldron to burn the rest of the way on its own. Allow the candle to burn out completely. When the candle has burned out completely, dispose of it, rather than saving it to use again for another working. Usually there’s not much left of a candle except a stub of wax, and you can either bury it outdoors or dispose of it in whatever manner you choose.

Candle Magic for Divination

In some magical traditions, candles are used for divinatory purposes. The two most commonly used methods of candle divination are by reading the wax, and reading the manner in which the candle actually burns. To read the wax, the typical practice is to drop the liquefied wax into a bowl of cold water. The wax will harden almost immediately, and form shapes. Use these shapes to get the answers to your questions, much as you would if you were reading tea leaves.

To divine by the way the candle burns is a bit more complex, and Cat Yronwoode of LuckyMojo has a great essay on ceromancy in Hoodoo candle magic.

5 Steps To Write Your Own Spell

January 19, 2019Spells

I have noticed a lot of interest on spells. While there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using other peoples’ spells — and in fact there is an entire industry devoted to publishing books full of them — there are times when you may wish to use your own. I loved this 5 steps guide from Patti Wigington because if you can’t find what you’re looking for in a book, or you might just feel a need to use original material you have the option to write your own.

Whatever your reasons, it’s not as hard as you may think to write your own spells if you follow this very simple formula.

1. Figure out the goal/purpose/intent of the working.

What is it you wish to accomplish? Are you looking for prosperity? Hoping to get a better job? Trying to bring love into your life? What is the specific aim of the spell? Whatever it may be, make sure you’re clear on what it is you want — “I will get that promotion at work!”

2. Determine what material components you’ll need to achieve your goal.

Will the working require herbs, candles, incenses, or stones? Try to think outside the box when you’re composing a spell — and remember that magic relies heavily on symbolism. There’s nothing wrong with using unusual ingredients in a working — Hot Wheels cars, chess pieces, bits of hardware, sunglasses and even old DVDs are all fair game.

3. Decide if timing is important.

In some traditions, moon phase is crucial, while in others it’s not significant. Generally, positive magic, or workings that draw things to you, is performed during the waxing moon. Negative or destructive magic is done during the waning phase. It may be that you feel a certain day of the week is best for the working, or even a certain hour of the day. Don’t feel obligated to drown yourself in the details, though. If you’re a person who feels confident doing magic on the fly without worrying about timing, then go for it.

4. Figure out your wording.

What words or incantation — if any — will be verbalized during the working? Are you going to chant something formal and powerful, calling upon gods for assistance? Will you simply mutter a poetic couplet under your breath? Or is it the sort of working where you can simply ponder the Universe in silence? Remember, there is power in words, so select them carefully.

5. Make it happen.

Put all of the above together into a workable form, and then, in the immortal words of the Nike commercial, Just Do It.

Llewellyn author Susan Pesznecker says of crafting a spell on your own, “When you build a spell yourself, from the ground up, you infuse it with your deliberateness, your preferences, your wishes, your thoughts, and your energies. This spell won’t simply be something you read from someone else’s pages—it will carry your own signature and resonate through your very core. It will be much more powerful and complete than any ready-made charm could ever be, making you an integral part of the magick from start to finish.

Tips:

Despite the above five-step method being a very bare-bones and simple way of looking at spell construction, it does work effectively. You may wish to keep a magical journal or make notes in your Book of Shadows during the spell construction phase, and then keep track of results as they begin to manifest.

If a working hasn’t begun to manifest within a few weeks — some traditions say within 28 days, a lunar month — you may want to stop and revisit the working. Figure out what variables may need to be changed.

The Universe has a quirky sense of humor, so make sure anything you cast a spell for is worded correctly. In other words, be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it!

Remember that magic is a tool and a skill set, but some common sense should prevail as well. You can cast all day to get yourself a job, but your chances of success are greatly reduced if you haven’t pounded the pavement and sent out copies of your resume!

Last but not least important… Remember to practice, practice and practice.

Magickal Tools in Wicca

September 11, 2018Spells

In the neopagan religion of Wicca, a range of magical tools are used in ritual practice. Each of these tools has different uses and associations, and serve primarily to direct magical energies. They are used at an altar, inside a magic circle.

In traditional Gardnerian magic, there was as an established idea of covens. This included initiated members that used rituals involving magical tools and secret books (Book of Shadows). These tools were predominately kept within a specific coven because they were so sacred. These were owned, and used by individual Wiccans, but could also be used collectively by the coven. However, there has been a tremendous shift in the way that the Wiccan religion is practiced today.

This practice may derive partly from Masonic traditions (such as the use of the Square and Compasses), from which Wicca draws some material, and partly from the rituals of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. The latter made much use of material from medieval grimoires such as the Key of Solomon, which has many illustrations of magical tools and instructions for their preparation.

Usage

In Wicca, ritual tools are used during rituals which both honour the deities and work magic. The general idea is that the tool directs psychic energies to perform a certain action.

In modern day Wicca, there is an encouragement of solitary practice of rituals and study. Covens are still a part of Wicca and related doctrines but there is now insistence that solitary practice is permissible. This has filtered down to lightweight (in the sense of being heavily illustrated, not exactly scholarly and not entirely serious) books being available in the bookstores of any modern town which are marketed as manuals of how to become a Wiccan (or Pagan). The allowance of solitary practice is clearly an important factor in terms of the growth of adherents, as the requirement to join a coven would involve transaction costs of locating fellow members and/or being initiated.

In Gardnerian Wicca, as laid down by Gerald Gardner, someone who had been initiated in the 1st degree had to create (or, alternately purchase and then engrave) their own ritual tools. One of the requirements for being initiated for the 2nd degree is that the Wiccan had to name all of the ritual tools and explain what their purpose and associations were.

Consecrating Tools

Before tools are used in ritual, they first are consecrated. In the Gardnerian Book of Shadows, there is a section based entirely on consecrating ritual items. In this, it states that items must be consecrated within a magic circle, at whose centre lies a paten. Each item that is to be consecrated is in turn placed upon the paten, sprinkled with salt and water, and then passed through some incense. This is followed by the declaration, Aradia and Cernunnos, deign to bless and to consecrate this [tool], that it may obtain necessary virtue through thee for all acts of love and beauty. Aradia and Cernunnos, bless this instrument prepared in thine honour.

The Primary Tools

Various different tools are used in Wiccan ritual. Chief amongst them in importance are the paten, athame (or sword), wand, and chalice, each of which represents one of the four elements of earth, air, fire and water.

Pentacle or Paten

The Pentacle or Paten disc is an altar consecration tool with a sigil or magical symbol engraved or inscribed upon it. The most common symbol is a pentagram within a circle, specifically a pentacle, although some other symbols may be used such as the triquetra. The disc is symbolizes the element earth. It is typically used to represent the element of Earth during evocation, as a symbol which blesses items, as well as magically energizing that which is placed upon it.

Sword and knife

A sword or a ritual knife, commonly known as an athame, is often used in Wiccan ritual. In Gardnerian Wicca these are associated with the element of fire and in Golden Dawn influenced traditions with air. This is only true, though, of the Dagger, which is painted with a yellow handle. The Sword itself is fire in that it is attributed to Geburah and is under the presidency of Mars. The Sword should not be confused with the Dagger in the Golden Dawn or Hermetic systems. The Dagger is Elemental in nature, the Sword is Planetary/Sephirotic in nature.

The athame is traditionally black-handled, usually inscribed (sometimes in the Theban alphabet). It is used to direct energy for the casting of magic circles, controlling of spirits and other ritual purposes. Gerald Gardner described it as “the true Witch’s weapon” in the Bricket Wood Book of Shadows, something which he has been criticised for, by Frederic Lamond believing there should be no “weapons” in Wicca. In some traditions, it is never under any circumstances used to draw blood, becoming tainted and requiring destruction if it does.

The term “athame” in its modern spelling first appears in Wicca, but it originates from words found in two historical copies of the Key of Solomon. The version currently held in the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal, Paris, uses the term “arthame” to describe a black-handled knife. This was adopted by C.J.S. Thompson in his 1927 book The Mysteries and Secrets of Magic and by Grillot de Givry, in his 1931 book Witchcraft, Magic and Alchemy. The historian Ronald Hutton theorised that Gardner got it either directly or indirectly from one of these sources, although with a modified spelling.

Wand

In Gardnerian Wicca, the wand is symbolic for the element of Air, though in some traditions it instead symbolises Fire. It can be made from any material, including wood, metal and rock, and Wiccan wands are sometimes set with gemstones or crystals. Though in the Golden Dawn system, the Elemental Wand of Fire is not the same as other sticks (such as the Lotus Wand, Caduceus, or the staff of the Kerux). Some traditions appear to confuse and conflate the various wands and staves into a single symbol.

In his Book of Shadows, Gerald Gardner stated that the wand is “used to summon certain spirits with whom it would not be meet to use the athame”. Frederic Lamond states that this referred to elemental spirits, who were traditionally believed to be scared of iron and steel.

Chalice

The chalice, or goblet, is symbolic for the element of Water. Many Wiccans do not consider it to be a tool, but instead to be a symbol of the Goddess, particularly her womb. The chalice bears many similarities with the Holy Grail, except for its symbolism used in witchcraft. Rather than being the blood of Christ, it is symbolic of the Goddess’ womb. The chalice is traditionally used to hold wine.

Other Tools

Boline

The boline is a white handled knife, sometimes with a curved blade, like that of a crescent moon. It is used for more practical uses than the athame, for instance for harvesting and cutting herbs, inscribing candles with symbols or sigils, or cutting ritual cords. Unlike the athame, the boline is used in the physical process of magical works (such as ritual cutting); the boline serves for the physical plane what the athame serves for work in the spiritual/astral planes.

Censer and incense

The censer is used to dispense incense.

Scourge

The scourge is used in Gardnerian Wicca to flagellate members of the coven, primarily in initiation rites. Frederic Lamond said that whilst Gardner never told his Bricket Wood coven which element this was associated with, he believed that as an “instrument for exercising power over others” then it should be Fire. The scourge stands in contrast to “the Kiss” in Gardnerian and other forms of Wicca. These being representatives of the “gifts of the Goddess,” the scourge standing for sacrifice and suffering one is willing to endure to learn, the kiss being the blessings of abundance in all life’s aspects.

Cingulum

In the various forms of British Traditional Wicca, cords, known as cingulum, or singulum (which literally translates as “girdle” or “belt”), are worn about the waist by adherents. These are often given to a Wiccan upon their initiation, and worn at each subsequent ritual. Traditionally they are nine feet in length (nine being three times three, the magical number), and are used to measure the circumference of the magic circle so that it can be set up correctly.

In many traditions of Wicca, the colour of a person’s cingulum indicates what rank of initiation they are; in several Australian covens for instance, green denotes a novice, white denotes an initiate of the first degree, blue for the second, and a plaited red, white and blue for the third, with the High Priest wearing a gold cingulum (symbolising the sun), and the High Priestess wearing silver (symbolising the moon).

Wiccan High Priest Raymond Buckland has said that the cingulum should not be worn, but kept especially for spellcraft.

Besom

The besom, or broom, is often associated with witches and witchcraft.The stories of witches flying on brooms originated from the besom. In Wicca, it is used in handfasting ceremonies, when a couple jumps over it. It is also used in seasonal fertility dances as a representation of a phallus.

Cauldron

A cauldron is often associated with Witches and Witchcraft in western culture. In Wicca, it is sometimes used to represent the womb of the Goddess, like the chalice. It is often used for making brews (such as oils), incense-burning, and can be used to hold large, wide pillar candles, depending on how small it is. A fire is often lit within and the flames are leaped over as a simple fertility rite or at the end of a handfasting. If filled with water, a cauldron can be used for scrying. It plays a large role in Celtic magick, taking after Cerridwen’s cauldron. Cerridwen was a Celtic goddess who possessed a cauldron that had a brew that took a year and a day to construct.

Jewelry

In various traditions of Wicca, jewellery depicting pentacles and other relevant symbols are sometimes worn, both in ritual, and as an everyday piece of jewellery.

Doreen Valiente, the Gardnerian High Priestess, claimed that when she was initiated into the craft by Gerald Gardner, she was naked, but accidentally left her necklace on, only to be told that it was traditional for witches to wear such things.

In traditional forms of Wicca a necklace is worn by all women within a circle, representing the Circle of Rebirth.

Spear

In the tradition of Seax-Wica, the spear is used as a ritual tool as it is symbolic of the god Woden, who, in that tradition, is viewed as an emanation of God in place of the Horned God. According to Norse mythology, the god Odin, who is the Norse equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon Woden, carried the spear Gungnir.

Any questions or comments?… Feel free to start a conversation by using the comments section below.

Source: wikipedia.com