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..

Hi QueenRollo that is actually spot on. Setting the table for one, not buying the food he liked but I didn't, listening to a different radio station,not having to meal plan, the realisation that I can do what I want,when I want without discussing it.
But equally,being bed bound today with a fibro flare in a silent,empty house with no one to help me.( that last bit sounds dramatic - I'm ok, I just mean bring me a cup of tea or something)

Hello, I'm mostly a lurker on this thread, but thinking of you, Hedjwitch. And speakout, your research sounds fascinating. I love the stone painting idea, too, and might use this to celebrate the September harvest.

I do have a question which I wondered if any of you can help with. My sister is struggling with insomnia at the moment and has asked me whether there are any rituals she could do which might help with sleep. I can and will write an invocation she can use to ask for rest, perhaps appealing to the Moon. And I will make her a lavender bag to put under her pillow. But I wondered if anyone has any other ideas? I always feel I'm fumbling a bit writing my own words, which is fine when it's for me, but feel more of a need to "get it right" for others.

She could try a "sleep" circle. Basically cast a circle of blue energy around yourself in bed. Then get it spinning and rotating around you.

Greetings sisters. I’ve just popped on to send love to those of you navigating grief. Time is the only balm, which is no comfort I know. It’s a rough path to tread. Love to you ❤️

Hey @reallyalurkerI would recommend she takes a magnesium supplement, runs herself a lovely Epsom salt bath before bed and listens to sound bowls on YouTube with some deep breathing. Try to ritualise bedtime as something to look forward to rather than be anxious about. I always like a dreamcatcher by the bed and amethyst under the pillow as well. I do feel for your sister as sleep problems can really wear you down.

On another note, I am excited for the total eclipse later today but not quite sure how I will mark it. I wonder if some more experienced sisters like @speakoutare doing anything special? I know many say not to practice spellwork during the eclipse (but I’m not sure why) so I think I’ll just have a relaxing night.

I hope everyone is doing okay. I have made blueberry and banana loaf today - anyone is welcome to a slice.

@HedjwitchI hope you are doing okay today. I am
sending you a virtual cup of tea!

Mysteise I have not planned anything for this solar eclipse, and have a rotten cold. I may take a short drive to higher elevation, trees block the horizon from my home.
I know there are some views about spellwork during an eclipse, that manifestations intensify or bring about chaotic results.
One thing that led me to my magical path was the absence of dogma, of rules. I am not great with authority and that applies to wiccan or witchcraft " rules" for me too.
Historically our ancestor shave feared eclipse time- although would question even that. I know world wide there are ancient legends about sun god and moon gods going to battle, various sun eating dragons and monsters.
And that still exists in egregores, rituals, so I can see the argument of not wanting to dip into that lake of negative emotion.
I undertand the fear, but for me the eclipse also gives messages of survival, of resilience, of fortitude. Dark moments can cause us to hope, and emergence celebrates life.
How you want to view te eclipse is a personal choice I think. And if you are not sure then your subconscious certainly will know. I find a little divination gives clarity. Pause , ground and look deep, I like to useTarot or Oracle, meditaite with a crystal or any one of the tools which will aid your vision.
Having said that it is very cloudy here, and rain looks imminent,I hope it clears before evening.

Thank you for your amazing articulation @speakoutand hope you feel better soon. I love that you don’t pay attention to the ‘rules’ of magic.
It makes sense that some people don’t practise the craft at this time because of old fears surrounding eclipses. I suppose they must have been quite frightening events for some of our ancestors but the witches before us would have been wise and not afraid.
I feel the energy around my home over the last month or so has been very heavy so I hope that the eclipse helps to clear the way for a fresh start. I hope everyone marks it in whatever way feels right for them.

Mysteise I am glad you feel a little more emboldened and make a choice that is right for you. You hope that this eclipse will clear the way for fresh energy.
I question everything in my magical journey and outside it too. I take no comfort in rules I don't understand or agree with and it usually takes only a tiny bit of digging to see the truth.

My take on the eclipse is similar to yours Mysteise, the eclipse heralds a new start,.but also brings fire to our innermost treasures. Aspects that are often exiled to the darklands, bedfellows of our shadow can come out to play, step into the light, and welcomed into our self integration. The eclipse is a homecoming event, a salve to mend the ruptures, the fissures, and bathe ourselves in healing energy. And we don't even have to see it! These energies can affect us even if we are inside nursing a cold !

I hope you feel better soon @speakout . I'm also inside, nursing day 3 of a stomach bug.

I love all the eclipse talk. I might see what can be seen from the garden, later. It feels like a new start and I also hope it can blow away any heavy energies - I need some healing energy.

Thank you for the cuppa and the blueberry banana cake was delicious. I am.having better days, slowly rising back to the surface and the light. Tomorrow a sea swim in the tidal pools up the coast.
The eclipse was nothing more than a brief gathering of gloom. Quite the anti climax.

hello all.

I hope you don’t mind if I pull up a chair and join you.

i have dabbled in witchcraft for many years but felt a big pull back recently to take it more seriously.

@Hedjwitch I'm glad you're having a better day. The eclipse was an anticlimax here too, sadly.

Welcome @DropEmOut take a chair and grab a brew.

Hedjwitch I hope your ocean dip was revitalising. I am in awe of those brave enough !

The sky was too cloudy to see the eclipse here, so no great show. I am just back from spending an afternoon with my friend at her farm. Also a bit of research for my local witch trials invesigation. We walked over fields of stubble to the old ruined church and graveyard. The area is teeming with wildlife, we saw deer,, a hare, stoat, lots of birds. A demonstration of power from Gaia, showing who is really in charge.

Hey! New to MN really just looking to chat, and find out more about wicca and womens paths into witchy life. I am mostly interested in goddesses, and the divine feminine. Female collective power and if anyone has created a coven!

A warm welcom Arcati85. Always good to have a new face. Many of us work with goddess energy, and like me the connection between feminism. The world is so out of kilter, male energy has its place, but masculine energy is such a dominant force, we need to find balance. There is so much material to work with, pantheons from ancient Greece and Rome, early Neolithic, Germanic, Norse, Celtic, and further afield.
I have ttwice been a member of a ccven, never started one, I'd love to hear more if that is your plan.
I do enjoy women's circles, although not a coven work with simllar energy. Some do have a spiritual element, I attend one led by a female Brazilian Shaman, and that is heavy with ritual.

If you already have friends who are aligned with your path then starting a coven sounds a great idea, but could be challenging. I didn't manage to find one that felt comfortable for me, but I am sure they exist. These days I am a happy hedgewitch !

Sweet rain ! I have had to go into my garden in my pjs just to inhale the beautiful petrichor !

Oh thanks for getting back to me! Ive been on a few places and even tried reddit to see if I could connect with any women. Thats seems to have flopped. I got rid of my other social media for my sanity! Its been great!

If anyone wants to share their path story's with me, id be grateful!

I have forever been interested in 'witchcraft'. I can remember as a pre-teen, my friend and I pretending we were the girls fron the movie 'The Craft' 🤣 I was brought up Christian, kind of. We never really practiced or had community. My childhood was basically chaos, for multiple reasons. I know my mum had an interest in it, but didnt really do anything about it, and would brush it off really. My aunt is into shamanic drumming and other stuff... but I havent felt a pull to connect with her on it.

I lost my mum in December, and it has brought up lots of stuff for me. One of them being meaning and and faith. I feel like some kind of personal spiritual path would help me, across my life. So I am kind of on an existential crisis, damage control path lol and trying to make sense of the world and why we are here... bla bla.

I am very much a believer in the divine feminine and want to look more into what that means for me and how I can incorporate more of that into my life.

I am getting married in September, and I have only just recently got my a tattoo of my abusive exes name covered up. Not sure why it took me so long. Ive been out of that for nearly 14 years, and with my man now for 10! Lol! I got a beautiful big Isis tattoo to cover it. I am really drawn to her. Also to moon goddess imagery, I got a moon goddess pendant and earrings for my wedding lol!

My friend actually knows a woman, who lives quite rurally, and she follows the Dianic tradition but is quite elderly now. We are hoping to speak to her soon!

Sorry, I have written a big babbling essay!

Blessings to any sisters who have taken the time to read it all! Lol!

Looking forward to chatting with you all!🧙‍♀️

Welcome new sisters. This is a safe and supportive place, full of kind and knowledgeable people.
I can't help with Covens as I am a solo green witch or hedgewitch( clue is in the name) but I enjoy learning about other paths.
I have home made granola bars for elevenses and today's teas from the garden are lemonbalm,mint or chamomile.

That sounds lovely... I am in my office today, had coffee and porridge and I think the moon did me dirty this week and my hormones have been wild!

Its very dull here in Glasgow, but sticky warm. I'd be happy with a lovely wine and my feet up. Instead - I have some spreadsheets to work through 🥲

Arcati85 thankyou for sharing some of your magical journey. I started learning the old ways from my grandmother, who was born in 1890. She was a Speywife, a local healer and midwife- long before the NHS and many women could not afford a doctor. She dressed the dead, read cards, tea leaves to earn a little income. As a 5 year old it all seemed very normal to me. My granny taught me knot work, protection spells and how to see salamanders in her fire. Thankfully my immediate family were sit on the fence christians, so no worship or prayer at home.

It's very overcast here, rain is coming, in my excitement I have bought ingredients to make cock a leekie soup- aslo a favourite of my gran.

Aw I love this!

My soup today is a 59p can of scotch broth from asda 🤣🤣 I believe my lentil, is superior to anyone else's lol x

My granda always said my gran was witchy. I feel like my sister is quite intuitive.

Do you do spells? I feel like calling it a spell, doesnt feel right for me. I might get used to it. I havent started to practice any kind of rituals etc. My friend and I are looking to do something nice for Samhain

I do spellwork, but understand your reluctance to use the term. many of us carry out little rituals in daily life- blowing out birthday candles for instance. You don't have to do spellwork, some do on this thread, others not.

I am doing some local historic research, trying to pull pieces of a jigsaw together, from lots of sources,- and a bit of guesswork! Information can be a little patchy, but as this is just for personal interest I am using my intuition too-so the feel of a place is important to me too.. and have come across this door, situated in an old building near where I live. It is firmly locked and although I am exploring ways of gaining access

I wondered if any of my sisters here have a feeling about the door, what is behind it, any ideas, imagery, vibes?

I have been finding solace in my plant work recently,and the house is full of things drying,macerating or steeping. I love seeing the jars of oils on the windowsill,or tinctures tucked in dark cupboards. Tonight I had a bit of a pamper night which reminded me of how easy it is to make our own toiletries and cosmetics,with no added chemicals or plastics. A salt scrub of sea salt,lemon verbena leaves and sweet almond oil had my skin glowing,followed by an oil of calendula, Vitamin E,and castor,with rose essential oil. Plenty left in reused jam jars for the next few baths too!

I have a feeling there are a lot of beings around that door. When I look closely at it I see two figures , one seems to be seated and the other is standing behind and around the seated figure. I also began to see faces in other places too but stopped myself as I thought I was over dramatising. The energy around it is quite ancient and not good. I saw two men dragging a woman by the hair and dunking her head in a container of water . It isn't a place I would much like to be . The grills over the window or whatever it is are a bit sinister.