Insecurities-and-embarrassments - Stars, Flowers, And Words

Are there gay bugs?

What do your signs stand for?

Sun sign: Basic you

Moon sign: Inner you

Rising sign: Public you

Venus sign: You in relationships

Mars sign: Your passion

Mercury: Your communication (and planning)

Saturn: Your limitations

Jupiter: Your luck

Neptune: Your spirit (deeper self)

Uranus: How you Change

Pluto: Your power

Irish people; The faeries aren’t real

Irish people; No fucking way will I go in that faerie ring

Sorry to literally anyone who is following me because I'm about to reinvent this blog

Women of Amphissa, 1887, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912).

Here Lawrence Alma-Tadema depicts a scene from a story told by Plutarch. The women sprawled on the ground are followers of Dionysus, the God of wine, and are seen recovering from a dancing ritual from the night before. These women originated from the city of Phocis, and had wandered into the marketplace of Amphissa. These two cities, however, were at war. The group lined at the back, clearly separated from their way of dress and posture, belong to Amphissa. Recognizing the danger the disoriented followers were in, the women of Amphissa form a circle around them, offering their protection and giving them food.

By representing these two very different groups of women, Alma-Tadema touches on the themes of femininity, compassion, and charity.

“Start from where you are. Don´t wait until you have everything figured out. You´re never going to feel ready if you never start. You´ll improve along the way.”

— The Fool (The Tarot Insight)

Detail of Ophelia, 1851, by John Everett Millais (1829-1896).

something about netflix castlevania felt really weird but oddly familiar in the way the story is medieval low fantasy and yet every character is not only speaking in a super modern way but constantly dunking on eachothers backstories, dropping f bombs with impunity, and going on 5 minute tangents on whether or not vampires really are killed by running water and I couldn’t put my finger on it until I realized they all talk like they’re players in a dnd campaign

the cure to self-sabotage is to anchor yourself to the universal truth that you are worth it. you are worth the effort. you are worth the difficulty, you are worth the time, you are worth the consideration. there is never a point in your life, in time itself, that you are not worth it. return to this truth when you feel yourself slipping. do not let it go.

Centering, Grounding, and Shielding

- From my Grimoire

A Preface

Something that I don’t think enough people cover when it comes to The Craft, is how to keep yourself protected when doing spells and rituals, or communicating with spirits. This is a very basic aspect of witchcraft, so I’d like to take a moment to go in depth on the topic to make sure that as many people as possible, can find something that will work for them! Of course though, there will be some methods that I either don’t have experience with or may have simply forgot to mention. Find what works best for you and your practice, and look at some other articles or books as well!

Centering

First off, what is centering? This is basically you preparing yourself and getting in the mindset of doing a spell/ritual. This is taking a moment to yourself to make sure you’re intentions are in the right place, and everything is set up and ready to go. Centering isn’t too difficult to do, so there’s honestly not too much to say on the topic.

Method I like to begin centering with meditation. Relax yourself and get into the “witch headspace”, if you will. Cleanse yourself, and maybe even take a shower or a bath. Next thing is to gather your thoughts, write some questions down on a piece of paper or on your computer and answer them. Things like “What is my motivation?” “What outcome do I want” “How do I want to do this?” If you really take a moment to understand what you’re doing and where your heart lies, your spell will be at it’s most effective.

Grounding

Grounding is an important thing to do after any spell you perform. While it doesn’t necessarily hurt to do before a spell, it can limit your meta-physical performance. Grounding is connecting you back to the earth and bringing you back to your physical body, getting your head out of the clouds if you will, and sometimes when performing a spell that’s where you want your head to be. If you’re working with any earth based magick though, this can greatly help, so just figure out what works best for the kind of spell you’re doing.

Methods

Roots - This is my covens favorite method to ground. This is basically where you have a meditative moment, plant your feet on the ground, and “sink your roots in”. First thing you wanna do is get in some kind of contact with the ground or floor, just anything that is a solid foundation. Plant your hands or feet flat and start by breathing deeply. You wanna really take in the energy from the earth, pay attention to all of your surroundings and take in the moment. Next close your eyes and start focusing your energy at your hands or feet. (You may feel your hands start to tingle or even go mildly numb) Lastly, release that energy and push it into the earth. Let it soak in deep, and if visualization helps, imagine your roots growing down.

Going outside is another very good method to reconnect with the Earth. If at all possible, I like to go outside barefoot and feel the grass on my feet. Really connect to the earth, take in your surroundings and walk around as much as you feel comfortable.

A Dump Stone - Just about any stone will work, but generally stone that come from bodies of water, have holes, or are green or black tend to work the best. Basically just hold the stone in your hand and let any and all negative energy flow out from you into the stone. Stones can handle quite a bit of negative energy so don’t be afraid to let it all come out. After you’re done though, you’re immediately going to want to cleanse your crystal with whichever method works best for you. I prefer to let mine sit in salt overnight, or until the feel done.

Drinking a cold glass of water, splashing cold water on your face, or even taking a really quick cold shower is also a really good way to ground yourself. It’s all about being present in your body, and nothing can bring you back into the now like some cold water can.

Shielding and Wards

Shielding yourself is important when it comes to any kind of magick, because there truly are negative entities and energies out there that like to take advantage of people. It’s a sad truth, but this is why we learn to protect ourselves spiritually. Putting up a shield or ward isn’t difficult, and sometimes you do it without even realizing!

Shielding Methods

Visualization - This is my favorite method to teach beginners because it doesn’t require any tools just you, and yourself. The begin, start by getting into a calm relaxed state, maybe even meditate before hand. Next, imagine a ring of light around yourself starting at your feet. This light can look like anything, be any color, and be any shape so the only limit is your imagination. Once you have the ring of light, imagine it slowly coming up around your body, let it fill your heart with warmth and let it remind you that you are safe spiritually and no negative entity can harm you. Once it has made a complete bubble around yourself, say some affirmations and remind yourself that you’re strong and can handle anything. The more you believe in yourself, then the stronger this shield will become. 

Smoky Quartz or any other black stone, when kept on the person or placed at the feet can create a ward as well. For those less imaginative, this is a very good alternative because you have the crystal to support you as well. 

Magick Circle - There are many ways to open a magick circle, but heres a really simple method. Hold one of your hands out, palm up and focus your energy in your hand. (You may get that warm, tingly, or numb feeling, if not though thats okay!) Really let it bubble up into your fingertips, and once there, point a finger out and draw a circle around yourself and say some simple affirmations of safety and peace. Just like the visualization method, this works best the more you have faith and believe in yourself. 

Simply stating that you are, or feel safe is another way to shield yourself spiritually. You remember how when you were little and alone in your room at night and you thought you heard something scary? You covered your head up with a blanket right? Do you remember how safe you felt after doing that, like how nothing could get you? That was quite literally you putting up a shield. Remember your intentions and feelings are the most important thing in magick, always keep that in mind!

Warding Methods Wards are another variation of shields, but these are things you put on the physical plane rather than a spiritual one. 

Runes/Sigils - A really good way to set up a ward is to carve or draw some runes either into the side of a doorframe, a candle, or even on a piece of paper to burn later! If you’re going to carve them into wood or draw them, charge the tool you’re going to be doing it with. If your going to use a candle, burn the candle whenever you feel like you need it most! And as for burning paper, keep the ashed around and maybe even sprinkle them into every corner of the room.

Salt - Put lines of salt on the top of your door and window frames, and sprinkle some in every corner of the room.

Stones - Certain stones are said to be warning stones and will break if danger is near by. Malachite is one of these stones, and is fairly easy to get your hands on. Place this stone above door and window frames as well. 

Holy/Blessed Water - A drop placed in every corner of the room creates a barrier around the room.

Brooms/Staffs - Place in the corners of rooms, and said to fall over if danger is near by.

Black Candles - Burning a black candle is said to bring protection and keep a room hidden from spirits.