Any Witches Here? Part 7.

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans? Or anyone who is interested in a magical path or feels some magical stirrings.

A place for support, learning, swapping ideas and magical inspiration

All welcome.

Well I don't think The Green Witch book I bought will do me any good.
Went out to find my heather and it was dead. Who can kill heather off? You can't stop it growing and it needs nothing.
I think I'll try a simple potion, what could go wrong

Meant to ask, is anyone from Wales?
Me and dh are going on a road trip in a few weeks before dd breaks up for summer.
We are going from Snowdonia to Cardiff through Monmouth, all B roads, too. I've been going to do this for so many years
I'm looking for some ideas for wild things to pick, that I can probably manage to kill off.

RomanyQueen1

What do you need? You are looking for wild things to pick- with what purpose in mind?

hello my love, I don't know tbh.

I would like to grow heather as it's lucky in itself.
Anything that would be nice and useful.
I know I sound a bit pathetic, but up until now it's all been theoretical.
A bit stuck where to start tbh.
I told my dd, spoke to her today she said brilliant, go for it mum. But don't you have to know what you are doing.

Um. Worried about outing myself. But want to ask something of the group please? My foremothers were midwives in the Preseli hills. Generations of them probably. Then my mother's family left Wales. Fast forward to now - people make jokes that I am a witch. I am quite a strong personality on the surface, but an introverted empath. I find it easy to counsel and so people seek me out for advice. I'm not always comfortable with the level of pressure that brings. I found some years ago that I could read runes very easily and recently I wandered into Treadwell's after many previous visits just lurking and bought a Tarot pack. The cards speak to me. The natural world speaks to me. I can read faces and some people trigger a strong reaction in me. I often know what people are thinking. Genuinely. I live in the South East and have a very very conventional social circle that I am not entirely at home in - but I'm not sociable and can't see myself joining any group. I just feel isolated and weird and I think I might be a witch but not one that does spells- does that make sense? This is a genuine enquiry and it's taken me a very long time to actually ask outright - thank you for reading.

Listen to your daughter Romany, she speaks words of wisdom

Hi BCBG Welcome sister! You're a very perceptive person, work on developing those skills within your comfort zone until you're fully confident, then push yourself a little more.

It may help you to learn to say no to people who want you to listen if you're not comfortable doing so, remember that just because they ask, it doesn't mean you're obliged to do anything.

As women, we're brought up to be compliant and always say yes to many things we don't really like in all areas of our lives, learning to say no is empowering.

You already have many talents, we all practise self-care a LOT to get us through, I'd suggest you do the same, it will give you strength and perspective when you need it.
Don't know if you've read any of our former threads, there are links at the beginning of this one, there's a lot of shared wisdom there, things like self-protection which you may need as you're so receptive, do have a browse if you haven't already.

Good morning magical friends.

I have woken to a blanket of frost outside, skies are cler, so hopefully sunshine today.
BCBG A warm welcome.
*Blanktimes" has given you good advice.
Self care is so important, work of self acceptance and self compassion too.
There is no need to tell anyone of your path.
Most of us here work alone, you can follow a pagan ath and never join a group in your whole lige time.
You don;e ever have to cast spells. if that does not call to you.

THis is your path- there are no rules.
You own the direction and the speed. You can stop, paise, change direction. You are in charge.

You dan't have to bae a witch or call yourself a witch, that doesn't need to matter.
Learn about things that interest you- none of us are experts in every area.
It may be Tarot, or Runes, or working with herbs or art magic or making sigils. Read and learn, follow your interests, follow your heart.
Guard yourself from those who are negative towards you

You don't have to "come out" or tell anyone of your path, but neither is it something to be asahmed of.

I have worked alone as a hedgewitch for 30 years, I tell only those people that understand.
I dress live a "normal" person, most of the people I meet have no idea that I practice the craft. You have no obligation to tell them.

You will find a lot of support here, we welcome newcomers and quiestions. So pull up a chair and enjoy the fire with us.

Romany I echo your daughter's words and throw in the caution that a lot of native species are protected. You will get fined if you remove heather from my local environment. I am not saying don't collect stuff from the wild I am saying make sure you know what you can and can't collect and arm yourself with knowledge.

Also I am regularly in North Wales. They have a rather good fabric shop. Do rather like a walk around the slate mines but tend to avoid over Easter as there are too many Grockles and I need my space from people.

Oh and heather is actually very easy to kill! Some species are more hardy and resilient than others.

I wish to grow lavendar. But I have many failed attempts under my belt. and yet I manage to keep my poinsettia alive until March. go figure.

HillsBesideTheSea

Good point.

I take sparingly fom the wild, I don;t dig things up- I take only a few leaves or berries or material that I need, often just feathers, stones, leaves.
RomanyQueen1 if you feel drawn to plant magic or want to use herbs in spellcasting or any other purpose you could try grwoing your own. Have a think about which herbs you may use, look at their uses and magical correspondences and plant what will be useful. Many herbs are easy to grow from seed or little plug plants.

Magic doesn't have to be dramatic, it can be low key. I like to use a lot of spices in my magic, cinnamon, cloves, anise etc. I buy them from Tesco in jars.

Going to be honest, I mostly thought of it because it was present in my mind that forraging in the New Forest is subject to a heafty fine these days. I know why it is so, but it gets filed under commercial idiots who spoil it for everyone.

I am still trying to figure out if I can sneak a mushroom log into the garden without getting into huge trouble with the other household residents. I am sick of mushrooms packaged in plastic (paper folks it should always be paper bags only) which go off in a blink of an eye.

Good morning,

Just flying by to say hi 👋

It’s chilly here but the spring flowers are blooming cheerfully 🌼

Today’s a day of meetings and business for me, new ideas to be explored.. I’ll sprinkle some magic where I can- colours chosen to match what I want to achieve, an oil diffuser in the meeting room, and a crystal friend tucked in my bra! I’m experiencing some resistance so my mindset needs to be sure and confident (as opposed to petulant and argumentative which is my default when things feel like this! )

Glad you joined us BCBG, it’s good to have you here. I agree with BlankTimes and speakout’s wise words about self care and walking your own path. Working on practicing being a ‘conduit rather than a vessel’ has helped me in terms of working with empathy. I’ve found it a useful reframe to feel less burdened.

Romany that sounds an exciting trip you’re planning. Like with spellwork, I always like to enjoy the planning and anticipation- adds to the magic IMO. I think Elphame is sometimes in Wales- she may know something and the flora and fauna there

Have a magical day sisters ✨

YashmisCrone

Lovely to see you here today, good luck with your meetings.

BCBG
Welcome to the thread, lovely to have you with us. For me, being a witch is a something I feel that I am, but I wouldn't say to people irl that I am a witch. I don't really do spells, I'm not a member of a coven, I have a very normal, corporate job and dress pretty normally (although I do have red hair and wear quite a bit of black!) I do tarot, I'm a fledgling medium, I sit in circles and make contact with spirit, I'm very in tune with the moon cycles, I go to women's circles and do meditation, chanting, set intentions, etc. I'm interested in astrology (though I don't know that much about it).

As others have said, do what feels right for you and don't let someone tell you what is right and what is wrong (in my experience, these types of people seem to be driven by ego and a desire to control). You don't have to do everything, pick the bits you feel drawn to, which will probably change over time.

As others have said, self-care is very important. Most of us are empathetic and people ate drawn to out energy when they need help and support. This can be lovely, but also draining, so it's important to protect yourself. I do lots of yoga and getting out into nature is very important to me.

It's worth reading some of the previous threads if you have the time to do so, there's a wealth of information here 😊

Great to see you Yashmis. Sending positive vibes your way for your meetings 💫

Thank you for the welcome [pulls up a beanbag, holds third strong coffee of the day.]. Some good advice too - I am really aware that I need to learn to self protect as I have felt some disturbance around me. I think of myself as a solitary, I suppose, but it's the connection to the past that I feel very strongly. Anyway, glad I've found you!

Thank you for the lovely, much needed and gratefully received good wishes sisters xx

Hello all! I had typed out a long post this morning but clearly didn't press send. About sums up my day!
*
BCBG* others have since said what I was rambling on about much better but I hope you enjoy this path whatever you choose to call it.
*
Yashmis I hope your day went well.

Hills* you are my growing opposite! My lavender is currently looking very healthy again this year but I seem to be able to kill a poinsettia in record time!

We’re glad you’ve found us too BCBG Glad you’re settling in. I’m enjoying the input of your energy

Thank you for the good wishes Loyaul

I’ve had a funny old day (not in a ha ha kind of way)

An emotional stack I’d let build up toppled (more of a startling crash tbh) in response to a tiny nudge resulting in conflict at work..

I’m a bit confused by myself (and have certainly left others a bit dumbfounded!) and curious as to why I let this happen- there’s an irony in the contrast with how I help others deal with things ‘in the moment’ through my work.

I do know I’ve been spinning too many plates recently and feeling depleted. There’s fallout to deal with and something I’ll need to address in myself. My tarot gave me The Tower this evening- gives a good flavour of the situation!

But for now, I’m tired so will be heading to bed with a calming tea- soothed by the comforting energy of nighttime. 🌙
Tomorrow’s another day!

I haven’t listened to it yet, but thought this looked interesting:

rewildingforwomen.com/shadow-work/?fbclid=IwAR3oVLNiW1vhkFaZaZrSiSTCtmQuImy9fB0F1vmnfAUtBQJ77wuqp1Wwc4Q

Wishing everyone a restful night ✨

Yashmis sorry to hear that, once those emotions go there's no stopping the fallout sometimes but yet in a way that can also be a good thing as something had to give to make some changes.
Sending you lots of support
I loved that clip about shadow work if I get some peace and quiet later (unlikely in this house when I can't go and hide in the bath!) I'm going to listen to the full thing as it really struck a chord.

It's another beautiful day here the sun is shining and I am watching 2 jackdaws who are oddly very fond of potato and listening to a thrush while Dh takes a lamb to visit dd2's nursery. Any minute one of the workforce will appear and need instructions but for now it's a very peaceful few minutes.

Wishing you all some peace today

Noon candle 💫

Thank you Loyaul for your support, very much appreciated

Yes, once they go it’s all out there and needs to be dealt with, which is probably the point for me tbh. I do like the energy of the tower in the everyday witch deck- the witch’s expression indicates she had something to do with the destruction and has a plan for what the site will be used for- I find that encouraging

Beautiful sunshine here today too, I’m taking a bit of time to stay home and potter- back to the roots work and a bit of mundane magic I think.

Apparently Jupiter went into retrograde yesterday, I’m not sure what this means- I plan to find out later on.

For now I’m going to focus on my pottering and take in some solar energy 🌞

Hope everyone has a good day 💫

Thank you for that beautiful photo and the candle. YashmisCrone
Those hares stretching up to meet the spring sunshine lift my heart.

Have a blessed day everyone.

I meant to attach the ‘everyday tower witch’

That’s the vibe I’m working on today

YashmisCrone

Nine of swords for me today.