Any Witches Here? Part 21

[speakout]

Just settling into the new place, plumping the cushions and opening the windows. Welcome to n everyone, newcomers, old friends, the curious.
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..

@CailleachGhlas I'm not sure how long it will last when I use it properly. I haven't actually got round to using it as my son is now ill.
I did before he was ill though bring in lovely plants from outside, hazel Watkins, gwenllian flowers and purple marsh grass which all looked wonderful. I made a temporary imbolc altar and did a meditation from my book which was lovely and I planted nasturtium seeds and intentions in front of my altar. I also wondered around my garden in the rain to admire my snowdrops and spotted some winter acolytes had come in to bud over night. So I really enjoyed my first year celebrating imbolc. I had planned on doing more meditation and use my ice candle holder but not to be.

@CailleachGhlas oh I don't really know anything about smudging but making a smudge stick from rosemary and sage from my garden was one of the first things I tried at the end of this year. I enjoyed picking them and drying them and the smell and then I read a bit more about it and wasn't sure about appropriating a native American custom and I also thought burning it would smell bad so I haven't done it. I have the smudge stick still hanging up in the house not sure what to do with it.
I have since read about cleansing your house with candle light or scented water and I think that might be a bit more pleasant than burning the sticks. But I'm sure others here will have more experience.

Oops two autocorrects there. Hazel catkins and winter aconites.

I use several methods to cleanse my home- smoke, bells, salt, water, voice,
I understand the idea of cultural appropriation when smudging with sage, I think there are arguments on both sides that have valid points. White sage is being over -picked in California and China, destroying habitats and ecosystems. For me that is the biggest concern.
Smoke cleansing is a worldwide practice in many religions and cultures, including the land we live in. Our Celtic ancestors had a similar practice called saining- also a ritual and practical cleansing.Traditional plants such as yew, juniper, heather, pine, fir, oak.
Once dry these plants can be used in the same way as smude sticks. I do make my own, but only with materials I have grown in my garden

Anyone deeply into manifestation?

Depends what that means Musicalchef .
I know that manifestation has become popular in recent years, as have vision boards. On the whole don't seem to be connected to witchcraft or magic. I do use intention and manifestation, but only in spellwork really.

Are you deeply into manifestation Musicalchef ?

I mentioned it because I recently realised that manifestation is basically spells for the masses. I used to think it was just about nonsense about thinking positive, but I realized that for it to actually work, you need that physical anchor, like the repetition of affirmations or physically writing it down. Without that direction, thoughts are just noise. Writing down affirmations for example, is basically just a modern sigil or incantation. Repetition of sentences is chanting. It’s funny how people who would never call themselves witches are essentially doing the exact same thing under a trendier name.

I'm curious if I'm thinking too much or anyone else sees manifestation as essentially rebranded spellwork, or do you view the mechanics of it differently?

I agree we are all witches Musicalchef even our mundane tasks are acts of magic. I do however think spellwork is much more than just hoping for something.

I agree; hoping is passive, but manifestation is active. I’ve realized that thoughts alone are too scattered to do much, they need a physical direction, like writing or speaking, to actually manifest into reality. To me, that makes it a form of witchcraft by default. I’d love to hear if people find that distinction helpful, or if you think the two are completely separate practices?

@GreenSageBlueTopaz @speakout thank you so much for the information on smudging. I didn't know about any of these issues, but I really like the sound of some of the other cleansing methods as well. I used sage bought with my weekly shop, which could be one of the issues! However the smell was enough to put me off so I'll do some research to find another way.

This thread is so valuable

CailleachGhlas I also make smudge sprays- I know not everyone like the smoke. I use rose water as a base, add a few drops of essential oil and a few drops of sage, junioer or rosemary tincture made from my garden. I pop in a small quartz crystal to energise and also to help mix before spraying. If you use essential oil it won't mix, but given a good shake before spraying allows enough to be dispersed for a short time in the mixture just before spraying. There are many ways of cleansing, I mostly tend to choose a non smoke method, but find smoke very effective.
I have been dealing with a very challenging family situation in the past month, rendering me in a deep state of sorrow and fear. But we received good news this week, and the drama/situation has been resolved, we can all now move forward. I am still dusting down my feathers, I have been living on adrenalin and cortisol for a month, so allowing time now to find calm and grounding in my core.

How do you make the tincture out of interest speak out?
So sorry about your family situation and glad it has been resolved.

Mayhemabounds you can use a liquid to make a tincture or infusion of sage or any other botanical.

To make an infusion chop up the herb or plant, then add water- hot or cold, leave a couple of hours or a day or two in the fridge- strain will keep up to a week, pour into a spray bottle - you can dilute or add other components.

A tincture is usually stronger and lasts longer- similar process but use alcohol- vodka is good or gylcerol. Tinctures will keep a lot longer in te fridge- several months.
Light and energy feels so much softer as we move towards spring. Dawn is earlier, birds are louder, so wonderful to watch regrowth.
I am off for a herbal bath, then off to a yoga class. I have to work later, but that's OK, Mr Speakout doesn't work weekends, and deals with all the food and domestic stuff so I can focus.

Enjoy your herbal bath and yoga @speakout . I'm having a restorative weekend, as I feel I'm fighting something off, my asthma wasn't great earlier in the week but is ok now. I'm just tired and achy - unfortunately I have quite a bit of SEN admin and meetings that I can't get out of. I've made some elderberry syrup and veg soup and mostly rested.

Thank you @speakout that sounds like a nice way to cleanse, I might try that.

@quirkychick I wish you luck with all your admin and meetings, and I hope your weekend was restorative. I'm currently chasing up sen meetings that the school don't want to have. I'm hopeful midterm will be restorative, and will bring about a positive change for my dc's school situation.

Does anyone do spells/setting intentions?

@CailleachGhlas thank you and I wish you luck with your meetings too. My dd is 16yrs and there's a whole lot of admin associated with that.

I'm feeling rather housebound and going stir crazy. The markets don't really kick off until March, we have had relentless rain so every walk around here is a sea of mud.

Today there is a howling gale so I daren't even walk down to the village and it seems a waste to take the car for such a short journey.

Yes,the relentless rain has curtailed outdoor activities to a degree,and fibro put paid to the rest. Lots of bed time.
However,feeling better today and in less pain and sunshine is forecast for a couple of days at least.
I also have a massage booked for Saturday with a new therapist who comes highly recommended,so fingers crossed. I'm going to skip yoga this week as I dont have the energy and bee keeping class is cancelled tonight so I shall just chill. I am trying a new plant based medication which I hope is going to help in the long term.

I enjoyed the sunshine yesterday and went to yoga in the morning. Today started with torrential rain which morphed into snow. We went out for brunch and got caught in it on the way home. My yoga class this afternoon was cancelled, as too many people didn't want to drive in thick snow - fair enough.

I hope those with discomfort find some healing.
I am still reeling from a very challenging month, and although mostly resolved still have some things to deal with. I have been supporting family members through difficult times, and given more of myself than I should - but the circumstances needed my energy.
Now the adrenalin has dropped I feel so bone tired, and in need of my own restoration.
Tonight is the Balsam Moon, the night before a new moon, there seems no moon at all. Such a beautiful time to rest in the shadows, release and let go, allow our inner instinctive wisdom to soften and soothe us. I plan an early sleep tonight, and let moon magic carry me in my dreams.

Morning all. And a Happy New Year for the year of the fire horse. Hopefully the painful negative energy and shedding of the last few weeks has gone now,and brighter days are coming.

I have relented and this afternoon bought a walking pad so I can still get in some easy, gentle movement when the weather is awful, or I don't want to put a bra on!
I'm so very tired. I hope some easier times are around the corner for all of us

I hope the brighter days bring some restorative energy CailleachGhlas and Hedjwitch.
February can be a difficult time for many. My week has been quieter as of late, and I welcome that. I have discovered a lovely youtube channel call Of Hills and Hearth. It is so soothing, a woman talking about her life as a middle aged mother and her daily life.. Very soothing, very real, witch adjacent and trips to Lidl. Reminding me that rest and quiet times are crucial, that self care is not a luxury.
I have started a 12 week block of counselling/therapy to help me deal with big ongoing life challenges.I have had a fair bit of therapy in recent years- maybe 90 hours or so with a Gestalt therapist. It was totally transformative, the therapist was incredible and we formed a good working relationship. This is a free counselliing service provided by a local charity, so I can't choose the modality, although I have the choice of 2 or 3 individual therapists.
I had my second session yesterday, I did have some anxiety about working with someone new, because my old therapist came to know me so well.
But she is lovely, the therapy so far seems a lot gentler then Gestalt, I had a look at my new therapist's web site and seems she is also a woman's spiritual counsellor. I had noticed a tiny pentacle tattoo on her finger, so that makes sense. The charity is mainstream, works with government agencies and is mostly funded by local government, so unusual to find a therapist like this within the organisation. I am delighted. She is very wise and warm, and already feel at great ease talking to her. I don't do gratitude but I feel very fortunate to have this healing opportunity- and less than a mile from my home! It's a work day today, with a yoga class later this morning, again I feel very fortunate to have so many yoga classes so near to my home, run by the council with a very affordable monthly fee.
I have an outing planned for this weekend, to gather river stones, for my new craft project. Chat Gpt has been useful, looking at underlying geology, distance, accessability, not far, maybe 15 miles or so. I only need a bag and a flask of hot chocolate! Off for my spa shower- geraniumand rose I hope everyone finds some magical support today.

@speakout that was lovely and calm but also real. How did your weekend plans go? We had a very relaxing weekend before the school rush again tomorrow. Great to hear you've clicked with your therapist, it can be hard to find the right person

CailleachGhlas I hope you survived the school run!

I had a quiet weekend, no rock hunting, I tripped on Friday morning in a car park as I was going into yoga. Builders have been patching up the surface of the car park,after some building work, and I didn't notice a large piece of set asphalt several inches higher than the rest. I was on autopilot having walked that way hundreds of times in recent years. I came down with a bang, skinned my hands, twisted my ankle, put holes in my leggings at the knees.
Saturday my ankle was very swollen and black with bruising. I phoned 111 for a chat, but decided not to go for x ray, I took some arnica tablets and massaged the area with arnica cream, did some healing magic with one of my healing stones. Sunday morning my foot felt so much better. No redness, all the black and blue bruising had disappeared overnight, no pain.
This morning it feels good, only a little swelling, no pain, but it feels a little stiff.
I will give yoga a miss today, it can be quite demanding of the ankles. I have never known bruising to disappear so quickly, most of my outer ankle was literally black and blue, over a large area.
I will be mindful today however- I need to keep my exuberance in check.

Does anyone use wax melts? I haven't really understood them before, but was given some handmade as a gift. Such a clever way to deliver fragrance. Using essential oils on a burner with water can be a bit messy they need to be watched closely as the water can evaporate quickly, leading tio acrid burning oil smoke.
And so easy to emulate at home- you don't need to even buy wax melts. I use an unscented tea light, and add the oils of my choice.

How didn't I know of this!