Any witches here?

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans?

I was raised as a witch- my grandmother was born in 1890 and taught me how to scry, knotwork, many magical activities. She was a dresser of the dead and a lay midwife ( before the NHS).
I now practice my craft with enthusiasm.
A little tricky as my extended family are not supportive.

mrjoepike welcome- and so lovely to have your input.

We smudge too in the UK ( not a native craft to us) but we respect and support the values of the first American peoples.
I grow sage for the very purpose.

And amazing to hear of your healing powers- I love it!
My cat ( my familiar called Kali) had a car accident last year- it was a shoulder shunt ( few visible injuries) but vet said it broke or damaged her spinal cord. She was found at the edge of the road.
She was lame and vet wanted to destroy her or amputate her leg. He said it was a lost cause and I had 24 hours to make up my mind. She was not in pain, but very very tired. I summoned all my energies that week, I sat with her, cast healing spells, used my crystals, everything withing my power. She started walking but her front leg was useless. I refused to give up hope. I sat with her, slept with her, slowly I could see that she was regaining- at first response to touch, still dragging her lame leg. But she responded to touch.
So a year later- you would never have know that she has ever been injured, she climbs trees and walls, jumps over fences. she is 100% recovered.
Except she doesn't wander far! So glad I didn't listen to out vet!

Zapholdbeeblebrox oh lovely.

Yes I am semi resting today too. We need that.
Why do you need your armour for the coming week? Something challenging coming up?

speakout,
I've just seen your earlier reply re being an empath/sensitivity. I think I was cross posting with you and missed it!
Just that really, with the armour. I find it harder to do with someone close to me and get their energies all mixed up with mine if that makes sense. I need to take conscious steps to separate my energy and not be impacted by what's going on for them. Especially hard when they're projecting their pain on me as I am close if that makes sense..
However, I find the empath/ sensitivity thing really useful in my (muggle!) job with people; I can tune in and work (therapeutically) with clients on what feels like an 'energetic' level. I get good feedback and can manage it well now.
I've learnt over time to work out what's mine and what's theirs.
One of the moments that really helped me with this was when I'd been working with a client for some time. I started to feel (out of the blue) like I was falling in love with him! I didn't tell anyone as I was ashamed of my inappropriate feelings! I was also very cautious not to behave differently around him of course and to remain professional. a couple of weeks later he told me that he had a new partner, who he'd been connecting with and falling in love with for some time. He was head over heals!
Within 5 minutes I felt such relief and my 'inappropriate' feelings completely went away. I realised that I didn't have a crush on him but had been feeling what he felt! This was a big turning point for me and I have learnt to question whether what I'm feeling is mine or someone else's.
I'm just still working on it in my personal life, particularly with people close to me with very strong energy.
The rituals/ideas here are really helpful for me regarding that, hence, preparing my shiny armour for the week ahead!
Long winded response, sorry. I can never use 2 words when 10 will do!
Such a beautiful story about your familiar

Some lovely stories and ideas shared today. Thank you so much for your kindness, this thread is fantastic. I’ve just ordered a ‘starter pack’ of essential oils, been inspired once again by your ideas to do something a little bit witchy daily. Am I right I’m thinking the moon is now waning and so that’s the right time to focus on a specific kind of action?

Zapholdbeeblebrox I can totally relate to that situation.
It's about when energies meet/merge.
I have a personal struggle- my 20 year old son has depression ( he lives at home.)
I care at the deepest level, and part of me feels that I too can get washed away, but that is not good for me or him
I have had some counselling this week ( thank you for people like you XX) and feel stronger to be able to continue support, but also not be lost myself.
And my Tarot has provided huge insight and help too.

speakout Kali is so lucky to have you!

zaphod Shiny armour sounds great - I am a very weak empath and it must be hard to be so sensitive. Good luck this week (and leave yourself little messages to polish that armour at intervals )

Thats - you don't need to let the moon phase dictate what you do when. It's all in how you phrase it.

For example the moon is now waning so it's shrinking. If you work with moon phases (and a lot don't) then now is maybe not the time for a working to grow your finances - save that for when the moon is waxing again.

However it's a perfect time for a working to shrink your debts! Similar outcome but different approach to it. Does that make sense?

ThatsNotEvenAWord lovely.

The waning moon has such negative connotations, yet I find it a powerful time.
A time to release, to let go, a great time to loosen ties, let go of negative behaviours, best time to start a diet, to forget about a love lost. The waning moon has as much energy as the waxing moon.

Elphame- perfect sense!!
You have very wise words.
Same reason I work with Neptune, and help others too.
Shadow work, working with darker energies, exploring boundaries and limitations are all very important.

Yes it makes perfect sense, thank you :)

The waning moon has as much energy as the waxing moon

Absolutely! Energy is energy when all is said and done. Any energy can be used to your advantage with a little bit of lateral and creative thinking.

It's nice to meet someone who isn't afraid to use the shadows - I believe in balance. There can be no light without dark, no up without down and a witch that works with only half the resources available to them is missing a trick.

speakout
Thank you for your empathy. Ironically, it's what I needed! I really feel for you with your son, it is similar to my situation. Very pleased to hear that you've found a counsellor you can work well with. Such practical steps I think should be a part of any self respecting empath's toolbox alongside other witchy methods. I'm totally with you on the merging of energies, that's exactly what I feel. Thank you for reminding me of the tarot as a tool today too. To me, mine are confirming that I need to take time out and re- centre my energies ready for the week ahead.

Elphame
Thank you too I love the idea of reminders to polish my armour! The empathy is getting easier to handle as I understand and accept it more. I used to just think I was mad! Now I'm appreciating it for the depth it can bring to my work. As I said, current challenge is to keep on top of it in my personal life! You've all helped me with that today.

Thats
I agree with the others that moon phase should not stop you from working any magic you want to. Your intention is what matters. However, I have grown to love the waning moon for its sense of freedom and release. I like to work with it to cleanse and clear, making space for the new.

Thank you all for the sense of acceptance, support and belonging I feel here

Being new to all this it didn’t occur to me that the waning mood would be perceived negatively, that’s really interesting.

Harvested some home-grown Hidcote lavender today for making salves, cakes and possibly gin.

Any first timers, make sure you use English Lavender Lavandula Angustifolia if you want to eat it, the French Lavender Lavandula Stoechas (with the bunny ears) tastes of camphor.

Thank you everyone for your well wishes. DD is home from hospital and I am focusing my energies on her. Giving her some nice new experiences to balance out the hardship of being in hospital.

I've bought some essential oils and I'm going to make some cleaning sprays for different areas of the house. Do I add the essential oils to s mixture of bicarbonate soda and water?

What are you trying to make sockportal?

The problem is that essential oils don't mix with water so they'll just float on the top unless you remember to shake like mad before you use it (or cheat like I do and add a little emulsifying wax....)

@Elphame I'm just trying to make a general cleaning spray. I planning one with oils containing relaxing properties for the bedroom, one with oils to promote harmony in the living room. I have got some disinfectant/ antiseptic stuff, should I be adding that instead?

You won't get oil to stay in aqueous solution without a hefty addition of alcohol, say a third or so, which is unpleasant as the antiseptic.
Oil and water don't mix. If you put essential oil into water inside a plastic container then the oil will cling to the inside surfaces of the bottle and be lost.

This is the recipe I use for furniture - the essential oils combine with the olive oil so it's easy to emulsify by a quick shake - you can change the oils to suit. I use lavender.

3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white distilled vinegar
30-40 drops essential oil, optional (clove, orange, lemon, etc)

Place in a large spray bottle and shake vigorously. Spray directly on furniture and buff with a clean, dry cloth. This works on wood and non wood furniture.

A very popular surface cleaner in the "green" circles is a mix of white vinegar and water infused with orange peel. Cover the peel in the vinegar an infuse for 2 weeks. Just before use dilute 50% with water and spray on.

If you want to scent a room I'd probably just use oils in a burner or a diffuser (be careful if you have pets - many oils are harmful to them)

I've used white vinegar and lemon juice for cleaning, also water with bicarb and some essential oils.
I haven't got any recipes for this kind of thing though, just things I vaguely remember reading somewhere!
Interesting to read yours Elphame.
Hope everyone has a good day

Following on from the conversation here yesterday about the waning moon, I did a bit of contemplation/meditation about releasing unhelpful energies using the moon's power

Thank you @Elphame and @speakout I'm looking forward to making my own cleaning spray. I'm on a big mission to be more environmentally friendly as well as bring a bit of natural harmony into the house.

I'm still reading through this thread and it is fascinating. I've long felt a sense of being a bit different from those around me and a deep connection to the forest. I do have Romany blood far back somewhere on my grandfathers side. I've tried in the past with tarot but it never really gelled with me so I gave up and never really knew what else to try. Thanks to this thread I now have a long list of books to try and things to read up on so thank you. I've been struggling a bit with stress management etc recently so it's good to know I may not be completely powerless. Would like to try some family happiness spells and self love spells to see if that can help.

Hi everyone, I'm doing some hefty cleansing at the moment aswell. We're moving at the end of the month and so I'm taking the opportunity to have a huge sort out and get rid of anything we don't need anymore.
We have so much old paper work and lots of things related to the past. It's cathartic to be letting go of it all. I'm making sure we only take the things we need and want to the next house. It's surprising how much we've held on to and it's a real weight off my shoulders.
After its all sorted I'd like to burn some oils and cleanse what's left. A fresh start!

Re cleaning products, vinegar is very versatile but personally I only use it for windows and mirrors as I don't like the smell.
For tile flooring I use rubbing alcohol mixed with lemon and orange essential oils. The alcohol is harsh I suppose but our floors get filthy and frankly need it! Also because it's alcohol the floors dry without any marks.
A pot of bicarb kept in the fridge is my other favourite, keeps it smelling fresh. Oh and almond oil (the scented/extract kind) is lovely on wooden floors. I use this especially if having friends over as it always seems to make them feel welcome and relaxed.

It's too hot really to want to do much so I thought I'd finish off a project I started last year.

I found dozens of empty snail shells in the sand dunes and they were so pretty that I collected one or two (OK several dozen!). The colours are completely natural

I saw some silver snail beads at Michaels and the idea of a ritual necklace was born.

Making holes in the snail shells was a horrible job. They are much more brittle than sea shells so I resorted to filling them with beeswax to strengthen them and to hold the hanging pins.

I haven't got the spacing quite how I want it yet but I've had enough for the time being!! Need a shower before heading out with a friend to see Hereditary.

Ooh the shells are beautiful.
I loved hereditary, be sure to tell us what you think of it