Welcome To Manifestmoons

🔮 Enchanted & Mystical Blog 🔮 Credit: [x]

Happy Litha, my beautiful fairy angels ✨💛✨

⚡️How to Enchant Items⚡️

This is a basic guide on how to enchant everyday objects from necklaces and rings to phones and laptops. Whatever you want to enchant, go ahead and charm it! ⚡️This is not the only way to look at enchantment or do enchantments! Practice and explore to find what suits you best.⚡️

To break it down, enchanting is just giving an item purposed energy. All you need is intent + an energy source! The correspondences of that energy source will be transferred to your object. For example, I could take a necklace and leave it in the sunlight so the sun’s energy can be transferred to the necklace to give me energy, warmth, and confidence (those are my correspondences of the sun). Tada! That necklace is now enchanted!  ⚡️Examples of energy sources: the sun, the moon, the weather, yourself, plants, herbs, crystals, electricity, the elements, sigils, etc.⚡️ You can also say a quick chant before or during the charging stage (charging is giving an item energy; the difference between charging and enchanting is that charging is giving an object energy without a specific purpose while enchanting involves giving an object purposed energy) to make that energy have a specific purpose. For example, I could take a ring and leave it on top of a rose quartz crystal and say, “This ring shall be energized with love.” Tada! That ring is now enchanted with the specific purpose of having loving energy! Rather than having all the correspondences of rose quartz transferred to my ring, it is now just the love aspect that has been given to my ring. So, how do you use these items once they’re enchanted? Just keep them close to you! If you want to be confident, for instance, I’d recommend enchanting a necklace and wearing it around your neck so that it’s closer to where you talk and also closer to where you think. You can also leave them in places where you reside in the most since some of your energy will linger there, such as your bedroom, your most frequented restaurant, etc.

⚡️Common energy sources: crystals, the sun, the moon, herbs, the elements, your own energy, a tarot deck, electricity, lit candles, incense, essential oils⚡️

Frost Moon - November 15 2024

Grab your scarves and mittens, witches - it’s time for the Frost Moon!

Frost Moon

The Frost Moon is the name given to the full moon which occurs in the month of November. In temperate zones in the Northern Hemisphere, November is the month during which the first frost or first hard freeze of the season is usually observed.

Like many full moon names, this is an English translation of a traditional name used by one or more North American indigenous groups, in this case the Cree and the Assiniboine. Similarly, the Anishinaabe and the Ojibwe also called this month the Freezing Moon or Freezing Over Moon respectively, as indigenous naming conventions usually refer to the entire lunar month and not just the full moon itself. Other indigenous names include Deer Rutting Moon (Dakota and Lakota), Whitefish Moon (Algonquin), Leaf Fall Moon (Catawba), and Digging (or Scratching) Moon (Tlingit). The latter refers to the habit of deer and other creatures scratching up the ground to find hidden food caches, as well as bears digging their dens for winter hibernation.

Another very common name for this month’s full moon is the Beaver Moon, due to the increased sightings of these busy little creatures shoring up their dams and food stores before the first hard freeze of winter. (Unfortunately, it’s also a reference to the peak days of the North American fur trade, signaling the optimal hunting time for beaver pelts.)

In some modern pagan traditions, particularly those claiming Celtic lineage, the November moon is also called the Mourning Moon. This occurs when the November moon is the final full moon before the winter solstice. In 2024, the November is not a Mourning Moon, as the December full moon falls on the 15th, several days before the winter solstice. (I was not able to find an original source for this claim, but given the celebration of the beloved dead in October, a subsequent period of mourning and remembrance makes sense. It may also be a reference to the Catholic All Souls Day, but that’s just speculation.)

This particular Frost Moon will be at peak fullness in the afternoon hours of November 15th (4:29pm EST). This is the final supermoon in the four-month consecutive series of supermoons for 2024, so make the most of it!

What Does It Mean For Witches?

This is the month when migrations are finishing up, animals are finishing their cold weather preparations, the temperature starts to plummet, and fall descends rapidly into winter. If you haven’t finished your preparations for winter, mundane or magical, this is probably your last chance to do it. (Don’t forget to prioritize and delegate!)

With the days getting shorter and the nights getting colder, the temptation to hunker down and hibernate is STRONG. But we have to remember that just like the eponymous Beaver, humans have to stay active during the cold months. Start stockpiling ways to keep yourself busy and motivated, since that Seasonal Slump is on the horizon for many of us.

Consider also the beaver’s dam. You’ve spent the whole year working towards all kinds of goals. Is there still something blocking your way? What might it be and how can you best address and remove the obstacle? Or, alternatively, is it time to stop and rest and see if that roadblock will clear itself with a little time and patience?

In keeping with the Mourning Moon moniker, this could be a good time for reflection and remembrance. Think back on what you’ve built this year and take time to be proud of yourself. Remember what is dear to you, take a moment to miss someone who is gone, and consider rekindling bonds that may have lapsed or grown tenuous during the hustle and bustle of daily life. It’s always a good time to tell someone you love them.

On a practical note, if you have pets that regularly stay outdoors overnight, start bringing them inside or make sure they have a shelter that is properly warm, clean, and secure against human or animal intruders. If it’s too chilly for you to be out without a coat, it’s too chilly for the critters, fur or no fur. PLEASE do not leave your furry friends out in the cold!

What Witchy Things Can We Do?

As we prepare for winter, this is an excellent time to shore up those magical protections. Check on your longterm spells to see if they need refreshing, or just go ahead and do a quick cleanse-and-reclaim as a proactive measure. Even if everything is solid, practice your technique by shoring up points of egress or adding a new layer to the existing wards or trying a new visualization or method for personal protections. Create a new charm or talisman to carry you through the winter or make something festive and decorative that could be given as a gift.

On the subject of cleansing, this is a good time to clear out any stale or disruptive energy that might be lingering from the recent change of seasons. Solstices can be times of transformation, but change is rarely a calm or peaceful process and it brings its’ own set of challenges and upheavals. If things have gotten a little more chaotic than you’d like, take a moment to put your house in order, metaphysically speaking.

If you’re partial to jar spells, consider putting one together to help maintain safety and abundance through the winter months. If you’re going to be traveling for the upcoming holidays, a bit of luck and protection for the journey wouldn’t go amiss either.

If you've been working any longterm magic over the past few months to coincide with the abundance of supermoons, this is the time to bring your working to a culmination. Finish setting things in motion, tie up loose ends, close loopholes, and send your magic out into the world. Be sure to document what you've done and when and what methods you used, as well as any indicators of success to look for later if (and hopefully when) tangible results begin to appear.

Try a frost divination. If your area is starting to see overnight frosts, take a moment in the morning to examine the patterns that the frost leaves on the windows of your home or vehicle. Do you see any patterns or images in the ice crystals? Check the weather forecast and whisper a question into the wind when the overnight temps will drop below freezing. Then in the morning, see if there’s an answer waiting for you!

Happy Frost Moon, witches! 🌕❄

Further Reading:

Additional Lunar Calendar posts

Beaver Moon Magic: November’s Vibrant Moon Meaning in 2024, The Peculiar Brunette.

Beaver Moon: Full Moon in November 2024, The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

Beaver Full Moon in November - Buckle and Hocken, TimeAndDate.com.

Everyday Moon Magic: Spells & Rituals for Abundant Living, Dorothy Morrison, Llewellyn Publications, 2004.

Image Source - ABC News.

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Witchcraft Exercise - Quantifying Your Craft

Witchcraft is a complicated business. There are lots of moving parts, dozens of things to study, and so much information to try and keep straight in your head. It’s easy to become overwhelmed. Sometimes we forget things. Not just when the full moon is (although plenty of us do) but what it is we want to do with our craft.

And sometimes we feel like we’ve lost our drive. Like whatever moved us to become witches in the first place has somehow slipped away, leaving us with just the dregs. Sometimes we feel stuck, unable to make progress. It’s easy to become frustrated too, but it’s important to push on.

To that end, I offer this exercise.

Choose a journal or open a word document and begin quantifying your craft.

Start by outlining the broad concepts. Do you follow a particular path or tradition? How would you classify your craft, i.e. green witchcraft, cottagecraft, sea witch, lunar witch, and so on? Do you work with any deities, and if so, which ones? Do you work alone or with others? How long have you been practicing? What, to you, is the most important aspect of your craft?

Then get into your working space. Do you have an altar? If so, what’s on it and why? Do you have a dedicated workspace, or a place you go to work magic outside of your home? If you could describe your ideal workspace, what would it look like? 

Next, describe your tools. Do you have cards or runes or a wand or other specialized tools that you work with? What do you use most frequently? Do you have favorites? Do you make or grow any of your components? Where do you acquire the things you use in your magic, if you can’t make them at home? Do you have a personal library? What are your favorite sources of information? Do you have ritual garb or jewelry that connects you with your craft?

Sketch out your year as a witch. What holidays do you observe and how do you celebrate them? What seasonal festivals or special occasions do you mark? Which ones do you enjoy the most? Is there a time of year when you feel more energized?

Once you have all of this recorded, think back to what first interested you in magic and witchcraft and describe that. Was it a movie? A favorite book? A personal experience? Were you raised in the craft or did you come to it on your own? What made you decide to become a witch?

Then think about how you’ve progressed since you started. Have you achieved a particular goal you set when you began, or are you closer to achieving it then you were? What have you gotten really good at? Where are you still struggling? Where would you like to be a year from now? Are there things you’d like to try but haven’t yet?

And of course, if anything else occurs to you, record that too.

There is no need to share these thoughts with anyone if you don’t want to. This is purely a personal exercise, to help you understand where you are, where you’ve come from, and where you want to go. Quantifying this information might provide some much-needed inspiration, in addition to helping you solidify any nebulous thoughts that might be floating around. It’s much easier to progress in your craft if you have an outline for what you’re already doing.

Happy Witching!

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Want more witchcraft exercises? Check out the masterpost here.

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, tune in to my monthly show Hex Positive on your favorite podcast app, or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

Beltane is an ancient Gaelic holiday celebrated on April 30.

It was originally a pagan festival marking the beginning of summer. The holiday was eventually absorbed into Christianity and became known as "Walpurgis night"

Beltane celebrations traditionally involve bonfires, dancing, and feasting. Today, people all over the world continue to celebrate Beltane as a time of rebirth and renewal.

It has a really long tradition in Germany! It's a time to celebrate the arrival of summer, and people often dress up, make loud noises and play pranks on other people.

Are you celebrating Beltane?

I would love to hear from you.

Have a lovely week my friends

Sometimes I wonder if my patrons watch me open a container with my teeth, and then elbow their fellow gods and point going, "look look! That one's mine" 😏

Y’all asked for it so y’all gonna get it! I’mma start off with the barebones essentials and work my way to basic definitions. Sit down on something comfy and get yourself your warm beverage of choice and maybe grab a notebook because here goes.

What are runes?

Runic alphabets have been around since about 150 AD and used as a writing system by a lot of Germanic languages. These systems were eventually phased out, slowly but surely, with the progressive Christianisation that started around 700-1100 AD. The three most commonly known (and used?) Are the Elder Futhark, the Younger Futhark and Futhorc.

Runes aren’t, themselves, broadly meant for divination, thought there are a few passages in the Eddas that mention Odin “finding” and using them.

Alright, so which alphabet should I use?

Whichever one you want! I prefer using the Elder Futhark, because it’s the first alphabet I learned and got familiar with, but that doesn’t at all stop you from using the Younger Futhark or Futhorc. I’d heavily suggest making sure you read up on the differences in each alphabet though; Ansuz, for example, won’t look the same, mean the same or even be called the same from one alphabet to another. 

Familiarize yourself with each of them if you want/can, and choose based on your own preferences and criteria. Always work with what feels best for you!

But I’m not really familiar with Germanic traditions / I’m a baby witch, should or can I use runes for divination?

This is the concept that got my goat real good the first time. You do not, in any way, shape or form, need to be experienced to cast runes. This is a notion that is outdated and perpetuated by gatekeepers and exclusionists. No one gives a flying flip how long you’ve been practicing witchcraft, or if you even practice at all!

Divination should be seen as a tool to further yourself and/or your craft. It can be used by itself or in conjunction with other activities, practices or beliefs. I was 15 when I started learning about runes (dear god that was literally over ten years ago) and I had no idea what I was doing back then. I read up as much as I could about the system I was wanting to use and, once I was comfortable with it, I started doing small readings.

It shouldn’t matter how new or familiar you are to divination, rune casting or Germanic traditions. If rune casting feels right to you, you are more than free to use whatever divination method feels right to you.

What should I do before I start a reading?

As a Norse Pagan, I usually invoke my patron deities (Baldr and Loki, in this case), as well as Odin and Freyja, sometimes Gullveig/Heiðr because reasons. I have no idea whether or not this has any actual bearing on the reading itself, as mine were as accurate before I converted as they are now.

Making sure you’re in a quiet and/or comfortable space is also a good idea, even if that just means popping in some earphones and listening to something that makes you focus and feel calm.

This is also a good time to mention that cleansing your runes (stone, bone, wood or otherwise) is a very good idea. I typically do this with candles, incense, a bowl of water and a point of quartz for each element. I don’t do this nearly as often as I probably should, since most people suggest cleansing them after each reading… but, whatever, being lax with that hasn’t bitten me in the ass so far. So if you’re a spoonie, don’t worry: cleanse your runes when you feel they need to be cleansed, and that’s it.

Alright, I think I’m ready; how do I start reading?

Let me start by saying that the bullshit about never reading yourself? It’s just that. Bullshit. Do readings on yourself if you want to. Who the hell is going to stop you. Do whatever you want.

On that note, there are a few ways to cast runes, though these probably aren’t close to being the only ones: 

Intuitively choosing the stones Lay the runes down on a flat surface and let your hand hover over them and pick out the ones that feel right. You can either pick them in order of the spread you’re using, or place the runes where you feel they belong on the spread.

Throwing the stones Make sure you have a large flat surface to work with (preferably the floor honestly) where you won’t drop, scatter or lose a rune. You can use a mat underneath, and read the stones that fall on the corresponding positions in the spread or circle. (You can find many of these with a quick google search, or make your own mat!) Otherwise, you can take the first stones you see facing up and lay those out according to your spread.

Picking them blindly Either you or the person you’re reading pull stones blinding out of a pouch, bag or other container, and lay them out according to the spread you’re using. Pretty straightforward.

If you can think of another method, literally nothing is stopping you from using that instead. The runes are acting as a universal translator for whatever it is you’re tapping into. They’re just a tool to receive a message. How you choose to receive that message is completely up to you!

So I’ve got my runes laid out, now what?

Now comes the fun part. I can only really give you a good run-down of the Elder Futhark, and though it’s a good starting point, I would highly advise you do your own research on whatever alphabet you want to use. Wikipedia is a great place to start, but don’t stop there: look at several different websites and lists and compare. Combine and condense the information for yourself, and get to learn the definitions and meanings for yourself!

ᚠ Fehu • catle wealth, money, hard work paying off, can represent spiritual wealth reversed: effort gone to waste, natural and/or financial loss, greed

ᚢ Uruz • ox physical strength and speed, great energy, courage, masculine reversed: physical weakness, illness, violence, misdirected aggression

ᚦ Thurisaz • thor reactive, destructive and/or defensive force, tendency towards change reversed: dangerous compulsions, betrayal and malice, lies, spite

ᚨ Ansuz • of the Æsir  revelations, intuition, signs and signals, wisdom, power of words/names reversed: misunderstandings, delusions and vanity

ᚱ Raido • chariot physical/spiritual journeys, transition, seeing the bigger picture reversed: crisis, maybe due to stagnation, unwanted disruption

ᚲ Kaunan • torch creativity and inspiration, power of transformation, power of life reversed: instability, lack of creativity, false hope revealed, disillusionment

ᚷ Gebo • gift gifts in the form of sacrifice or generosity, contracts, partnerships reversed/opposed: greed, isolation and dependence, over-sacrifice

ᚹ Wunjo • joy comfort, pleasure, companionship, possibility of going over the top reversed: sorrow and alienation, growing distance, raging frenzy

ᚺ Hagalaz • hail wrath of nature, destruction for the sake of creation, natural order reversed: natural disasters, powerlessness, suffering

ᚾ Naudiz • need strength/growth from hardships, survival, determination reversed: deprivation and emotional starvation, constraints/restraints

ᛁ Isaz • ice challenges and frustration, psychological block, anticipation reversed/opposed: can oppose other runes with malice and treachery 

ᛃ Jera • good year hard work is fruitful, peace, happiness and relief, breaking the cycle reversed: sudden setbacks and bad timing

ᛈ Pertho • vagina secrets, mysteries, undiscovered abilities, choosing your own path reversed: stagnation, isolation and loneliness

ᛇ E/ihwaz • yew tree strength, stability, endurance, trustworthiness, your goal is realistic reversed: confusion, dissatisfaction and weakness of the mind

ᛉ Algiz • elk shield, the instinct to protect yourself/others, connection to the gods reversed: hidden dangers, loss of link to the divine, turning away

ᛊ Suwilo • the sun success and goals achieved, you have the power you need to succeed reversed/opposed: deception, false goals, gullibility, divine wrath

ᛏ Tiwaz • tyr honour and leadership, authority, success in competitions reversed: artistic block, over-analysis and sacrifice, imbalance/conflict

ᛒ Berkana • birch tree fertility in a broad sense, personal/physical growth, new beginnings reversed: family/relationship issues, anxiety over loved ones, abandon

ᛖ Ehwaz • horse steady and gradual progress, teamwork/loyalty, relationships reversed: reckless haste and its consequences, restlessness

ᛗ Mannaz • mankind the self, the human race, your attitude toward others and vice-versa, social awareness, altruism reversed: mortality, self-deception, cunning and manipulation

ᛚ Laguz • water literal/metaphorical flow, imagination, the unknown, chance of loss reversed: confusion/uncertainty, may be making the wrong choice

ᛝ Ingwaz • probably freyr warmth and love in general, tying loose ends, relief, freedom to move reversed: moving without change, fruitless effort, helpelessness

ᛞ Dagaz • dawn breakthroughs and clarity, security, power to change and grow, the ideal reversed/opposed: endings and coming round full circle

ᛟ Othila • inheritance ancestral property, what is most important, spiritual heritage and safety reversed: slavery, homelessness, bad karma, what one is unwillingly bound to

Phew! What a list. These are just brief descriptions and meanings that I’ve been able to compile and condense over the years.

But, what does “opposed” mean?

I see where you’re coming from. As a baby diviner, I, also, was confused by this. But let me explain how I’ve come to understand it! 

Sometimes, if you’re doing a set spread, you’ll have a spot for things like, “what will oppose you”, or “what you need to avoid”. Things like that. If, say, a rune like Suwilo was found in something like that, you’d want to try and keep a sharp mind to avoid deceptions or letting yourself be too gullible.

When runes don’t have a reversed form, their position in your spread will usually determine what they mean. (Though really this is true for literally any rune.)

Anything else I should know?

The best advice I can ever give anyone is to always do what you feel is right. If you find yourself wondering, “Should I do this? Is this right?” If you question yourself at all, you should probably not to the thing and go with something else.

It’s also important to mention that the names I have for the runes may not be the ones that you’ve learned to know them by; a lot of runes can go by different names depending on who you ask and where you look. Do your research, and know the runes by the names you feel are best! (And preferably historically accurate.)

As always, if you have any questions regarding runes and how to read them, please ask me! My ask box is literally always open and almost always empty.

ᚺᛖᛁᛚᛚ ∙ ᛟᚲ ∙ ᛋᛇᛚᛚ