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.

shartfantastic

Hi, lovely to see you.

As Elphame suggests there is no one book that covers all aspects of paganism/witchcraft/wicca.

The subject is huge and you have to pick a starting point and dive in.
So whether you are interested in divination or Tarot, or runework or herbalism or colour magic or spell casting or working with deities or 100 other topics, just choose an area you are iterested in and start reading.
As you read you will find questions appear in your mind or other subjects become interesting and you start to reseach that too.
And your journey begins.

There is no "right" way of starting off, we all have individual springboards we all have a unique path.
There is lots of expertise on this thread- not one of us is an "expert" in all areas, but collectively we have a lot of answers- so ask away if you need help.

Bright blessings.

MrFMercury

Hi, just a point about retrograde planets- when we view planets from earth they will normall track the sky in a linear direct way.

Once in a while the motion appears to reverse- for a time, weeks or months, before continuing in a forward path again.
The direction of the planet does not actually change, it just appears that way from our vantage point- it ois a product of two orbiting bodies with differing orbit speeds.

A short video will explain.

In astrological terms it means that the influence this planet has in our lives will be muddled, confused, turned upside down.
So in the case of Mercury- the planet which rules communication, thinking processes, in retrograde then letters may be delayed, emails lost, confusion, misunderstandings etc.
Retrograde does not always mean a negative thing, it can often mean letting go of old habit, breaking of destructive cycle etc. So nothing to fear!

I can't help with any up to date books on astrology I'm afraid, my first course was in 1983!, Long before computers- so charts and tables and long mathematical workings were required to construct a natal chart.
That is so much easier thanks to computing.

Maybe someone else will be along with book suggestions.

My advice would be to study the planets and their meanings. A useful resource in many pagan subjects. From a mythological perspective, influence, correspondences etc.

Good luck!

MrFMercury
Mercury rules all types of communication - spoken, emails, phones, computers, legal agreements contracts. When it is in retrograde, these things can spin out of control. You may find that mis- communication can lead to disagreements and misunderstandings with people and decision making can be harder. I find that life generally just doesn't run so smoothly, mistakes happen, electrical applicants stop working, that kind of thing.

Mercury goes into retrograde on Tuesday 5 March and stays there until March 28. This is the first of three retrogrades this year. The star sign you were born under will also influence the impact it has on you.

Crossed posts Speakout

Morning everyone (just!)

Welcome to our new people, there's a list of previous threads at the start of this one if you fancy a long read They all contain loads of information.

Yes MrFMercury our Magic Teapot will brew your own blends as well. Chamomile's lovely as a tea and has lots of therapeutic properties.

@HillsBesideTheSea so sorry I missed answering your question yesterday, I remembered when I got into bed.

This is the salt-pipe, to relieve tight chests and blocked sinuses and general breathing difficulties. Use in short bursts throughout the day.
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EDUDGOA/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?psc=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8
It's the next best thing to sitting in a salt-cave apparrently, so being as we don't have salt-caves nearby, I thought it'd be a good idea to have one in for the asthmatic in our family. I keep it beside the aga, but any dry place should be fine.

I'm a big fan of salt anyway, salt lamps help remove the dust and debris from the air and drop it to the ground, the first one I bought is still going strong 18 years later. The replacement bulbs are the ones that light a fridge, so easy to get. There's a great selection around these days, both in the electric ones and t-light holders.

Thank you for the welcome! I'm interested in crystals, runes and spell casting. Also, the historical context.

@speakout @VioletCharlotte @blanktimes thank you all so much. That's exactly the kind of starting point I was after. When you say my star sign will also impact on the effect it has it means if I google Leo mercury in retrograde and I've got a starting point. It also makes my user name doubly appropriate

Thank you for the tea. When DD1 and I went witchy shopping a couple of weeks ago the place has a lovely little nook with a rug burner to eat cake and drink tea. The chamomile tea was dried flowers in a cafetiere so when I unexpectedly found dried flowers in a market yesterday I ordered the cafetiere too.

I've been busy setting up and alter and collecting items that feel helpful. A few videos and blogs and books is read included tea as part of a ritual. I spotted a gorgeous tea cup which perfectly site in my hands and I'm starting to use sitting with tea as part of my grounding and tuning in process.

@speakout I imagine studying the way you did in the early 80's at least had the benefit of giving you a really thorough understanding of the subject. It's great being able to Google specific questions and finding books anywhere seems so easy now but I can also see how easy it could be to on my find out various bits of information on a subject like astrology but miss the wider context of that makes sense?

They other thing we've found is there's plenty of wood and plants in the nearby wood. A lot has been cut back and left but we still ask before we take anything. I love the fact that we live in a very industrial city but I'm less than 5 minutes from lots of beautiful, natural peace

*wood burner. Burning rugs would be very smokey and also smell awful I'd imagine!

Rug burner is what happens when you clean it out and drop a bit of hot ash on the rug, so your description isn't wrong!

Chamomile tea is made from the dried flowers, commercially they just grind them up first to put them into teabags presumably as that makes it easier to portion up exactly per bag, but it's fine and much more natural to use the whole dried flowers in a pot.

Usual advice is not more than 3 cups per day as it can cause constipation.
A very old friend who grew up in Germany where dried herbs are sold in their markets specifically for self-medicating said the dosage everyone there uses is
One cup three times a day for an adult,
One third of a cup three times a day for a child
I have absolutely no idea if that's still current practise.

Tea-strength, cooled, it makes a lovely rinse for naturally blonde hair and will enhance the highlights. It can also help with an itchy scalp.

One mug of three times tea strength with half a teaspoon of bicarb will make an antiseptic soak, it may stain the skin brown. It worked well with a deep cut on the foot for one of my family.

Try growing some strongly flavoured mint in a pot on your windowsill, the varieties with the red stems are good, then you have a source of fresh mint-leaves for mint tea. The vibrant colour when the hot water hits the fresh leaves is amazing every time.

At the first sign of spring, I collect the fresh nettle tops from the garden and make tea with them. If there are enough, I use them as a veg and pop them in soups. They are a real spring tonic.
Don't collect any on farmland or public land where they may have been sprayed as a 'weed'
Don't use the larger leaves, they are toxic unless boiled for a good 10 minutes.

Enjoy your individual journey into all things new, some you will resonate with, some you will think 'not for me' that's exactly the way it should be.

@Longnight great to see you back, your diploma course sounds great. I started one but as you know, family life can get in the way!

You mentioned SN, don't know if you've found them yet but MNs SN boards are really great for advice and support. They don't show up in Active (because of so many NT parents telling everyone what they 'should do' to parent their children sigh) so you may not have seen them.
SNChat and SNChildren are the busiest ones.

I bought a moroccan mint plant specifically to grow and harvest for mint tea the way my husband likes it.

One of my favourite drinks is to pick a sprig of lemon balm in the summer and infuse it in hot water. I drink it either hot or let it cool.

I am exhausted today. I was supposed to go out last night but stayed home instead as I just feel so sleepy/tired.

Have spent the day baking.

Thank you blanktimes :) I have had a look but haven't posted.

Hello.

I was reading back through all of the threads and then realised I should probably say hi and introduce myself.

I'm not sure how to define myself but 'witch' is a label that seems to stick, while others, such as 'Wiccan', have faded over time.

I'm interested in tarot, runes, herbs and astral travel. I tend to keep quiet about my interests in real life but I'm keen to connect with others who are similar.

I've done a fair bit of spell casting over the years but I've reigned in it as I've had a few bad experiences - perhaps I haven't protected myself adequately. I'm not sure.

Looking forward to chatting some more.

1potato

Hi, glad you could join us- welcome.

It's a wet blustery day here, not too cold, but not a day for outside activities.
I'm sitting here enjoying a mid afternoon coffee, watching the rain batter the windows. Feeling warm and cosy with my two familiars curled up asleep at my feet.

@BlankTimes thank you so much! Lots of things to try out. I'll bare the constipation advice in mind. It tends to be a one cup at the end of the day deal but I do not need any help on that score
I just love the sharing of wisdom in these threads, thank you

Saw this lovely quartz crystal on the shores of the lake this morning and thought of @BlankTimes. It was a bit too big to carry home!

The weather has now really closed in so it's tea and cake in front of the woodburner

Hello 1potato and welcome

Elphame, that's beautiful. I do miss being near "old nature". I felt such a connection with the old oaks and nature in general where I used to live. Now I'm on the coast, and don't get to see ancient trees and rocks. It's like feeling disconnected with the old magicks I was so used to :(

Elphame that's stunning :) I live in a city so not much chance of seeing things like that but I take my youngest to the park when the others are at school. She's only little but I enjoy pointing out the signs of seasons changing have done it with them all so far. My oldest dd says she's a witchling and is planning on decorating my altar for the equinox.
I finally tidied it up today after not getting around to it for months. It's an anniversary of a very close relatives death this month so changed up my ancestor altar. I found an ornament in a charity shop that's identical to 1 they had when growing up so placed that on it.
I don't follow the wheel of the year as such I feel more connected to the solstices and equinoxes and celebrating when I actually see signs of the seasons changing.

MrFMercury you're very welcome, it's the sharing that I enjoy too, the whole thread is so much more than individual knowledge, it grows and is added to all the time.

Thank-you@Elphame that's an absolute beauty of a piece of natural quartz. I love quartz in all its forms and it has so many.

I've friends in Cornwall who live near Bodmin Moor, most locals appear to have "rockeries" in their gardens made of large lumps of quartz like the one in your image.

Duloe Circle is made from white quartzite, as far as know it's the only white circle in the UK.
www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showpic&pid=108838

Dimsumlosesum you'll soon see the magic in the place around you, it looks different but it's there, something so special about being in a liminal place, standing between two elements, the land and the sea and the boundary of that shifts with the moon.

longnight that sounds lovely, so good to get the littlies involved.

Dimsumlosesum I agree with Blanktimes about the coast being magical.

If you are used to woods and rivers it may take some time to find the magic, but it is there.
The power of the water, the wind, and the sky -you are there at the line where earth and water meet, skies at the ocean are huge and you can see the distand horizon, not always possible in wooded, hilly or city landscapes.
The sea gives up her treasures on the shore, the strand is full of stones, crystals, hagstones, shells, seaglass, driftwood lots of items than can be used in magical practice or for decoration.

Thank you Blank, Speakout. It's certainly a much different kind of energy here. I hope I can come to a good partnership with it all over the years :)

Longnight congratulations, how exciting

MrFMercury snap I have been experimenting with herbal teas this week in an effort to heal myself (in fairness I'm probably doing more for the mental side than the broken knee but it counts towards self care!) and today's offering will be chamomile

Elphame how beautiful! I must admit I am really missing being out in nature

Morning everyone:)
I'm doing what I always tell dc n it to do and drawing on walls today. In the middle of decorating so putting protective and harmony sigils and painting over them. Trying to do it discreetly as i dont want to give the dc ideas.

Loyaultemelie When I had a broken knee, I drank a lot of yarrow tea - I swear by its healing properties!

@BlooDeBloop and @Loyaultemelie

@anyone reading who is pregnant

Whoa, please be aware Yarrow is abortifacient (causes abortion)

Herbs are lovely, but not all herbs are to be assumed safe to drink at all times. Always, always, always check.