Any Witches Here? Part 12.

[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.

It's been a good day. I've knitted most of a baby hat (three due to friends in the next month!) and found bits and bobs in the shed that I need for a miniature pond plus went to the garden centre for the water plants (and got jasmine as well).
The cat is home safe and well after her trip to the vet.

Rivierliedje I love the idea of the miniature pond, what a great way of nurturing our wild life

I love all the ideas and the wisdom shared on this thread, so this evening I'm hoping we can put our heads together around the fire. I have a friend who is desperately worried about her younger sister. I'm being mindful of not sharing too much of her story on here, but this young woman (early 20's) lives on the side of the world. She's been though some terrible things, she's not eating or engaging with family and says she has nothing to live for . My poor friend is, of course, beside herself. She had been desperately trying to help her for some time, but she won't take the help. My friend wouldn't call herself a witch but she's very spiritual and connected and would be open to using magic. I'm calling on you sisters, for some wisdom on how she can protect her sister and support her to build strength and resilience. Thank you 🙏

So sorry to hear this Violet. Reading your post I really feel for this young woman and of course for your friend who must feel so worried and helpless.
I’m sure your friend has done/is doing whatever she can from where she is practically speaking in terms of contacting whoever may be appropriate/possible locally (eg at work we will contact the person’s gp if we are concerned there is a suicide risk- of course I don’t know if this is even possible where she is) perhaps some kind of ‘safety plan’ with regular check-ins at set times, a plan of who she would contact if she felt worse or at risk etc. I know these things are easier said than done when the person can not/will not engage by the very nature of feeling so low and the hardest thing a family member sometimes has to do is to deal with the helplessness of this. I know this from experience and have empathy for your friend.
Magically speaking, for distance protection work I will use a cloak in my mind’s eye, wrap it around the person and feel that protection around them.
I would also maybe use a photo or something that represents the person and spend time visualising her in happier times, full of hope, lifted, the wounds of her experience soothed. I might also ‘visit’ her in a meditation, comfort her as though I was with her- perhaps leave her with a gift- again focusing on protection, healing, uplifting her, whatever feels appropriate. I think there’s a lot you can do energetically in this way across distance. I hope also that your friend is able to take good care of herself at this time, I know how draining worry can be. Wishing them both well

Violet it's really hard even trying to advise in situations like this.

Do think about this yourself, but do not mention it to your friend, we all know she's coming from a place of love and concern and she wants the absolute best for her sister. That's absolutely natural.
BUT, and it's a massive but - right now, her sister doesn't want any help.

Sometimes in life, people have to go through ghastly experiences and cope with it themselves, if they are helped, then they don't learn all the lessons that the dreadful times would have taught them and they have to endure even more awful things until they can grow strong enough to cope.

Sometimes, the hardest thing we can do is to accept that our offers of help are rejected whilst the person we love chooses to take actions we don't agree with, actions that are to their detriment, actions that can harm them.

All we can do is send them our love and hope that they can make good choices.

What we can't do is use any means to influence their free will to make the choices we think they should make. We need to put our egos away and send them as much love as we can, without intention or constraint. That's often the hardest part.

Welcome to September sisters,
My favourite month for it’s autumnal feel, cooler air and still the possibility of sunshine. I love autumn sunshine. It always feels a magical time to me, full of possibility and manifestation energy.
Like many of us I’ve been feeling under the weather and weary recently but today’s cool crisp air is refreshing and rejuvenating.
I hope everyone has a good day 🍂

Happy September to you all - YashmisCrone I love that picture - what a beautiful way to capture autumn.

Rivierliedje a garden pond sounds amazing! Keep us posted on how you get on!

Violet that sounds like such a hard situation. I agree with all the advice so far, particularly about not being able to make someone get help when they don’t want it.

For what it’s worth, I remember learning as part of my Reiki training that in situations like that, you can send love, light and acceptance to a person’s higher self (rather than directly to them) so that when they are ready for it, it’s there for them. Other than that, visualising protection and healing for them is about all your friend can do.

And of course, I hope your friend is taking time to look after herself in what must be a very stressful time.

Autumn is beautiful here today in my little part of south London. We’re lucky to live near a park so my DD, Ddog and I are going to go on a walk to see the colours and sniff the air (and Ddog will no doubt be sniffing other, stinkier things as well).

We went out for the whole day yesterday to a wonderfully wild heathland and the autumnal light was stunning. I loved seeing the blackberries and hazelnuts and some very busy squirrels.

A big hello to everyone around the fire - wishing you all a mellow start to the month

Another Autumn lover here- possibly my favouite time- although I love all the seasons.
It is cool and sunny here too, my garden is still full of berries and butterflies.
I think autumn feels very magical, brigt colours, spiders, beginning of frosts, Samhain around the corner, the air has the familiar sparkle.

Autumn feels like pure magic to me.
I always loved summer best, but that is because I feel the cold so in my bones. But as I have grown it is the energy in the air and soil, the changing colour, the feeling of nurturing and gathering and a preparation for quiet growth under the surface. The preservation of energy for what is to come. I think I am moving into the Autumn of my life, still one foot in Mother but embarking on the steps to Crone and so I am shifting with the seasons too.
My youngest is back to school next week and I have a frission of excitement at the solo forgaing and jam/syrup making that I can do.

My life is difficult right now and I feel as much as externally I am being pulled in different directions I need to root myself even more firmly with the Goddess.

Thank you Yashmis, Gin and Blanktimes for your advice. I do understand what you mean when you say her sister needs to live through this experience herself, that does make sense. I think my friend would find this very hard to do though, as she is desperately worried about her, especially as she is so far away. The county she lives in has very limited mental heath care, very different to here. My understanding is they are also in very strict lockdown with army on the streets.

I like the idea of focusing on protection and healing and reaching her energetically, rather than trying to give her self- help techniques (which is what she's been doing). I think my friend will find comfort in using visualisation as a way of sending her love to her. Thank you both again.

Yashmis September is my favourite month too! As a child I used to love the autumn term at school and collecting sweet chestnuts, conkers and acorns to make displays in my bedroom (building altars without knowing it!)
I always try and book some time off in September, it's a great time to visit places as the schools are back and everywhere is quieter.

Gin I love the description of your walk. Your dog sounds rather like mine.. always on the look out for anything stinky!

@queenrollo @speakout @VioletCharlotte Fall was my mother's favorite time of year and I try to honor her during this time (even though it's not her bday or Memorial Day). I've done dried flowers wrapped in dried vines with a small candle lit and invoke her memory. Then I like to bring it to a special place we shared and leave it there. It's not based on any tradition
I learned, but my grandmother and mother dried flowers so there's that. I feel the ritual makes it magical.

Autumn is wonderful. Yesterday was beautifully sunny and warm later in the afternoon.
This morning it is absoluterly bucketing it down. I had planned to maybe cycle in to work but I would get soaked in the first 5 minutes. At least I'll hopefully gather enough rainwater to fill the tiny pond.
I found a container (old washing up bowl) and bought an underwater plant and a tall reed which stands at the edge, have somegravel and compost and various logs and stones.
If the rain lets up later, I might dig it in to the patch I have in mind.

queenrollo such beautiful words about Autumn, and how you relate your own life changes to the changes of the seasons- makes it more significant doesn't it.
VioletCharlotte I was thinking the same about "nature tables" too recently, many schools to inadvertently set up altars in classrooms- many will have a nature table too. I guess we use that symbolism of the altar in may other ways too- on christmas eve we hang stockings, put out offerings of food and drink on the hearth, harvest or thanksgiving displays in schools, even setting up a buffet for guests, many of us like to adorn the table with food, seasonal items, candles etc- the heart of the pagan still beats within many of us!
Delphinium20 that sounds a very special thing to do to honour your mother- indeed magical.
It is a dull, overcast and rainy day here, a day for lighting candles, and I may make some soup. I have some veg in the fridge that needs used up, so a good thick lentil soup is called for I think. I may make it in the slow cooker, as whenever I make lentil soup it seems to catch at the bottom of the pan so easily.
Have a magical day sisters.

Good Morning all

Another Autumn lover here. I practically leapt out of bed yesterday at 5.30am, out into the garden, standing bare foot on the cold, wet grass and tuned into the scent of damp earth and fennel, and listened to the birds singing. I day dreamed of russet coloured apples, of cosy evenings lit by candle, of bonfires and celebration of festivals, nourishing warm food. I felt very happy. The temperature is perfect, the sun warm rather than scorching, the nights cooler so sleep comes easier, the cat nearly fainted with delight when the duvet came out and she could once again snuggle with me at night.

I have a couple off days of next week, I feel the pull to create soup and jam and tuck it away in storage for the months ahead. I also feel the pull to start settling the garden for its long sleep, although probably a bit early. Wasn't a great year for fruit and veg, I did get blackberries, strawberries, herbs, a few tomatoes and a handful of raspberries. The runner beans were tough and stringy this year and sparse, the French beans have been left to dry on the stalks and I am picking them as they dry to store the black beans. I finally managed to grow sunflowers - they are stunning. Caterpillars ate all my Kale, but I don't mind sharing! As always I was provided with enough for me, so I am grateful for what the garden gave me.

Have a wonderful Autumn day everyone :)

That should have read "a couple of days off next week". I have had 3 cups of tea, you would think I would be awake by now .....

I wish!

I have a big huge hardback book on Celtic witch practice as i'm up north and have always found this stuff fascinating and grew up surrounded and playing in nature every day :)

Recently I and my other half have been going through a very rough patch and it felt like we were cursed! (2 miscarriages, 2x aunts death in the family, another cancer diagnosis of a loved one, and other half has had months of medical worries involving numerous hospital visits which flamed his anxiety as he's a worry-wart at heart)

Anyway I was ranting to a friend about all this and without me asking she sent me some things in the post! So sweet! She sent me a REALLY nice smelling piece of wood from South America to smoke in every room, a little branch of foliage to put into something to infuse (i put it in a pimms bottle!!) some dried roses to put by my front door, and a packet of hot chocolate to drink, that last one might just be a nice add on!

Anyway I thanked her profusely, she's always been into this stuff but I never felt wholesome enough to do it myself. She's very kind and was a bit if a hippie child when we were kids! I'd be the one climbing the tree and she'd be the one hugging it sort of thing

Though we were different growing up we've always had a very very strong connection that I dont have with any other friends, like I feel bound to her sometimes as if theres no way she'll ever be out of my life, which i'm fine with!

Good morning all,

I am checking in during a quiet moment in my home before DD starts to be a tornado and I have to deal with work. My cats are asleep and my dog is snuffling in the garden and I am drinking my much needed tea.

As I type, I can see my grapes turning from green to a deep red and the pyracantha berries looking like little fiery sparks in the morning sun.

I love all the talk of inadvertently creating altars ... that’s so funny and definitely what happened at my schools all the time. We have lots of accidental altars in my house thanks to DD. There’s a window sill in her bedroom with owl feathers and acorns on it that has to be my favourite I think.

Also loving the collective need to cook soup. I think I might also get my slow cooker out and do something with squashes and lentils ... thanks for the inspiration!

Medjuel how funny about sharing the kale with the caterpillars ... we did the same. When lockdown started, I got DD planting all kinds of things to keep her busy and we’ve had so many cabbage white butterflies on our brassicas this year. We don’t mind at all as they kindly fluttered about our garden all summer so a few leaves of cavolo was no price at all to pay for that!

Rivierliedje your pond plans sound great! Can’t wait to hear who turns up to visit it.

Delphinium what an amazing way to use traditions to echo through the ages - I hope the dried flowers bring you connection and magic.

VioletCharlotte how are you doing today? I hope your friend and her sister are moving towards a better energy. My Ddog did find something to roll in ... fortunately it was just a puddle. I managed to keep her away from anything too stinky!

Ginger I’m sorry to hear about the difficult time you’ve been having. On top of everything else 2020 has brought us, that sounds very hard indeed. What a wonderful friend you have - I hope her symbols of love and friendship help to bring a fresh energy to your home. May autumn bring healing, comfort, and a be the start of happier times for you.

I’ve never heard of a kitchen witch but I love the term! It has inspired me to go and see what I can gather from my (very small!) garden to make into tea ...

Wishing you all a wonderful day!

Flying in for a quick cuppa, afternoon everyone. Hope your days are filled with wonder.

If anyone's in the Avebury area anytime, looking for these hares in the stones may enhance your visit.

www.nightfolio.co.uk/night_photography_avebury/Avebury_051.html
www.nightfolio.co.uk/night_photography_avebury/avebury_hares.htm

Good morning everyone, I have only posted here once before and had a lovely welcome and I would love your thoughts on this idea..
On the first day of Autumn I woke up full of energy and joy almost like a weight had been lifted. As I mentioned in the last post I read Tarot for my friends but I have recently been drawn to The Old Path Cards.
I will take some time to take in the symbols etc but I feel at home with them,
Anyway, sorry for the ramble. This morning I have thought that I should read cards for those who would like a reading and ask for a token donation. I am thinking the RSPCA. I would contact the charity and ask for a collection box or something similar so that the donation can be private.
Is there something I have missed? Is this legal etc. I think this is a great idea as I cannot work due to health and I am on benefits.
Also I know that a lot of people are struggling at the moment and cannot afford to pay for a professional reading. I wouldn't mind if they only had £1.
Thank you

GingerCalico a warm welcome- glad you feel at home here.

Many of us identify as "kitchen witches" here- even the act of making a meal is done with intention, love and nurture.
BlankTimes those hares are amazing! How old are the carvings?
buggeroffvirus good to see you again, I am glad the Autumn is energising you. I have no experience of charging for Tarot readings I'm afraid, hopefully someone may come along to help.

A blustery day here, very wet overnight, still a chance of rain, but laundry magic is full on here.
Busy working too today, so not much time to play- doesn't stop the magical sprinkles along the way though- I'm never too busy for that!

I'm currently working my way through all of the previous threads...what a treasure trove of wisdom and such a lovely energy about them!

At the moment I'm with you in August 2018 with Poundland hares

In the meantime I wondered if you could PM me the link to your shop speakout?

I know it wasn't your intention to use this as a promotional tool but I'd love to have a look!

I'll be back on this thread once I've caught up because I'm really enjoying reading through the previous threads....

Welcome Ginger and welcome back buggeroffvirus

Speakout no-one knows, but it's thought that the carvings are ancient. There's been a lot of work done over the last few decades by Terence Meaden and others about the play of light and shadows at ancient places and a few things like this have emerged and more is in the pipeline.

Still on the subject of stones, acoustics this time, this article's pretty interesting, wildhunt.org/2020/09/new-research-offers-soundhenge-discoveries.html

Good evening, popping in to sit by the fire for a bit. For me, it's that time of the month when many of us as women are called to go inwards, slow down and rest. I'm grateful for home working and being able to work quietly alone in my cosy cave, with little interference from the outside world!

I've had a busy few days so I'm looking forward this evening to curling up with a cuppa and reading all of your posts, this thread moves so quickly!

I just wanted to say thank you again to those of you who gave me advice for my friend. I passed on everything you said to her and she tells me she's feeling happier now and is putting her trust in the universe. Blanktimes your reminder that this is her sister's journey to live was particularly useful, as it gave her a new perspective and helped her to see it is not her role to 'save' her sister, just to stand by her side and to love her. Thank you all all again 🙏

Good Evening sisters.
Well my mood and feeling and life are reflected in the weather at the moment which seems to be all things in one day. Rain and blustery winds, grey skies and then sunshine and warmth and peacefulness.
I'm having to work very hard to stay grounded.

I'm going to sit with my tarot in a little while. I'm not naturally good at it, but sometimes feel very much that I need to look to the cards for guidance. I have had several very strong hints today that I am missing something which needs attention and so I am hoping the cards can guide me a little.

@wheresmymojo I'm doing what you are - starting with original threads and slowly working my way up.

I love checking in here too as all you lovely witches seem to provide me needed balm. Thank you!!!

Good morning everyone!

violetcharlotte thanks for the update, I’m so pleased your friend is feeling in a better place.

queenrollo I hope the cards give you what you need. It sounds like you are riding a bit of a tornado at the moment - I am sure the tarot can help.

I’m just stopping in by the fire quickly this morning. My little one is back at school - I’m delighted for her to be with her friends again but also very nervous about the threat of covid. I’m trying to be breezy about it around her as I want her to enjoy being her little, energetic, playful self and I’m channelling my nerves into finishing all he tasks I need to do around the house before my work kicks off again next week when I’m expecting a new project to land in my email.

I’m grateful for the work and want to show my gratitude to the universe by being a diligent kitchen witch today by prepping good, hearty food for the family for when I’m too busy at my computer to spend time at the cooker.

I just wish I was a more gifted house witch in general. My cleaning and tidying skills are definitely not magical!

A happy Friday to you all and may autumn’s mellow fruitfulness continue to bless us with calmness and bounty