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..

That sounds absolutely amazing Hedjwitch . I am glad you are nurturing yourself.

It's so good to hear you are finding healing in plants Hedjwitch . small things like these are so important, especially if things are hard going. I would love to know some of your cosmetic recipes if you would like to share. I haven't made any cosmetics, but I did make some wood polish a few months ago- walnut oil, beeswax and coconut oil. So much nicer than products containing nasties,and smells divine.

Mayhemabounds thanks for the feedback, so interesting. I would love to hear what else you could see. I hope the photo wasn't upsetting.

Hey @Arcati85

I’m a closeted solo witch and have been practising for around 7 years. A life event was the catalyst for my awakening and since then I’ve developed a strong connection with astrology and the moon, as well as herbs, cooking and all things magical.

My interest in witches began when I was young, after visiting the Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle on a family holiday. I also absolutely loved the ’90s witch explosion too. The Craft, Sabrina and the beautiful celestial aesthetics. They’re some of my fondest memories growing up and that fascination stayed with me.

I have some Romani, Irish and Scottish heritage. Although my mother isn’t a witch she is incredibly intuitive. I’ve always felt that she has some kind of gift for foresight so perhaps that’s where some of my skill comes from.

My practice is something that feels very private and personal to me. I’ve never felt as though I completely fitted in anywhere, although I’m good at masking and carrying conversations, especially because of the nature of my work. In reality, I’m very introverted and need a lot of alone time. That’s when I’m happiest reading about magic and the history of our sisters.

I really loved reading about your tattoos and your new phase of empowerment. One of the things I love most about being a witch is that it’s something that belongs entirely to me, in a world where I tend to pour so much of myself into other people. My magic is mostly for myself and my home.

Anyway, hello and welcome! I also tend to lurk a lot but I absolutely love reading this thread. In fact, the regulars and the conversations here have helped me so much over the years, often without you even realising it. It’s lovely to finally say hello and properly join in.

@Hedjwitchthat sounds lovely! There’s no better feeling than having a gorgeous bit of self care and even better that the products are natural. I also love making olive oil and sugar scrub it is often a much more effective potion than anything bought from a shop.

@speakoutI am drawing a blank with your image of the door! The energy feels very hidden and protective. Intrigued to know what secrets lie behind it.

No it wasn't upsetting but I doubt my own abilities really. I started to see a line of faces along the front of the door but then thought, 'no those are just studs' . It feels like there are a lot of energies around it to the point it feels a bit overwhelming. I would love to know where it is. The more I look at it the more I start to think i see things if you know what I mean.
I would love to know what you feel about it and why it intrigues you.

Mayhemabounds thanks for that. I think studs changing to faces is often how "second sight" operates- a bit like Marley's door knocker. I had another look before going to sleep last night, and could definitely see the faces in the studs, but also a scene at the bottom of the door, and human images to the left side. I zoomed in tight so definition became a bit fuzzy, and when I zoomed back all the iimages came to life. I think my sleepy brain drops usual filters or reason, so more in tune with other realms. I will visit again today and take more pics. Unfortunately the area with the door is locked, so I am already having to push my phone through gaps in the metal door to get a shot. I really want to get closer, and ideally open the door. But not sure if that is possible. When I was a child in the 1960s it was possible to get close to the door, and I had a deep fascination as a 6 year old of what was behind. I could peer between te bars, but it was very dark, all I could see was a dusty floor, and I didn't have a torch at the time. I will give more info after my visit this afternoon, if anyone else would have a look at the image I would be grateful. I'm not being deliberately mysterious, but wanted to know if others could see anything, without being clouded by actual history or whatever. My current local history research does involve a little guesswork, a little fey, so the feelings or genious loci of a place are important to me.

Thank you for sharing that!

I really love that your magic is for you and your home, and thats exactly what I plan to use any ritual etc for. For protection of me, and my power as a woman. For my son, and my soon to be husband. I want to bring us a safe environment, full of love and I want to embrace the phase of my life I am in, as I am in mother phase. I didnt get to embrace my younger days due to circumstances and it saddens me, a lot. My past is something that has brought me to want to find this path - so I am going to put effort and love in and hope that I can find the magic to bring me peace, more love and bind my family together.

I think solo witching is brilliant, it sounds very empowering to have that. Blessings to you, for more powerful female energy, peace and happiness!!!

I have been discussing a coven with a friend of mine. I feel like it is likely we will practice separately and wont manage to build a coven. But you never know. My main focus just now is getting to a point where I bring my path to the goddess into my daily life and routine. I want to change my mindset, as I can be very inward and negative. (I feel as a result of trauma, and i am working on it).

I listened to a man called Arthur Brooks on a podcast, then his book - The Meaning of your life. And it gave me so much and I realised a lot about what was missing from my life, personally. I have a lot to be grateful for. But ai have never truly focused on myself. Like you - always pouring. Never re-filling. Not in any meaningful way.

I have been given some links to The Temple of Diana website. And the Fellowship of Isis. So going to read up on them. And I really want to get my hands on the book, Grandmother Moon, by Z Budapest.

Ultimately though, I will carve my own path, and go where I feel drawn.

Here is my Isis tattoo - she is beautiful and I feel power from her.

@Hedjwitch your oils and pampering sound amazing. I agree and use mostly natural products: I love almond oil, rosehip oil and castor oil and have recently started using sea buckthorn oil. Interestingly, I often get asked what I use on my skin by others, so they must be working! I had a great book on natural beauty as a teenager, which I'm sure influenced me.

@speakout I also feel the feeling from the doorway is quite enigmatic. It is quite intriguing, as if the meaning is being hidden somehow.

@Arcati85 love the tattoo, I have actually been watching Ancient Egypt documentaries, while I've been unwell this week (though, feeling a lot better today). I did visit there many years ago and the temples are very special.

Good evening.

I have just started creating a Grimoire to keep notes of everything I am learning along the way.

do any of you keep one?
if so, is it organised into sections, or just a bit random (chaotic)!!

I really would like to keep it fairly organised and wonder if any of you could help me with the main sections.

I have done some googling and feel a bit more lost than i did to begin with.

thank you. ♥️

I am in the process of hiving off from my parent coven and am excited and terrified in equal measure...

I would suggest then that you try a loose leaf binder. You can arrange that as you like and it will evolve with you.

My personal preference is a simple diary. I'm not drawn to the "art project/scrapbook style" so my notes are very much working tools and a personal record. I use my own correspondences and write my own working so I don't need to include reams of other people's work. The current one was a giveaway at an investment seminar. I seem to have acquired rather a lot of these. They aren't pretty but they work perfectly well.

I have ordered a fancy binder for the new coven as some of that will have to be more formal. I'm not sure how I'll get on with that but we will have to see!

So are you leading your own coven? X

Thank you so much - some very good advice here! X

TheWytch your own coven sounds amazing. Can I ask is this because of large numbers or a diverging of ideology? How is it organised structurally? Decisions about activities and the nature of the Coven- its path, type of magic?

I was only recently reading through one of my very first Grimoires- now over 40 years old ! I remember treating it with huge reverence, using only inkand a nib, my writing neat, but confined and careful. I have kept all my books over the years, and interesting to see progression.
It may help to decide what to include- my first Grimoire was full of facts, lists or herbs, spells I had created, correspondences. This was a time before the internet, witchcraft books were hard to come by, so I felt it necessary to gather information. I was also doing an in person astrology course at the time, learning how to construct a chart using an ephemeris, tables of houses etc, hours of callculations and drawing out conjunctionsin red and black ink. Incredible how that work can be done in less than a second, however hand drawn charts can be very beautiful.
I digress!
I now keep several Grimoires,one is a place to document my healing journey, another magical recipes for incense, tea, food etc. I keep another for spellwork. The distinctions between books are fuzzy, and I am ok with that. I am not big on rules anyway! I do like to include creative stuff, so I choose my books carefully, I like beauty. I often write poetry, do sketches, include little bits and bobs, dried flowers, small meaningful things that I across. I would just jump in to your new Grimoire and see how it develops. There are no rules, and you can't get it " wrong". if you feel it is not happening then you can start a brand new one.

I love the idea of keeping a grimoire, I might start looking for a suitable notebook!
I've started collecting the feathers dropped in our garden by our local birds. I'm not sure what to do with them yet, but it feels right to do.

I am thinking of making a witches ladder. You could use some feathers for that, or something similar x

Arcati85 I love tte suggestion of a witch's ladder- what a great idea. Always lots of feathers lying around where I live too. I have been collecting bits and bobs to make a wall hanging recently based on a quipu idea, but a ladder sounds good. So far I have a collection of twine, cord, old keys, crystals driftwood, ribbon, magical charms. I usually have too many craft projects on the go at any one time
Right now I am decorating a duster coat to attend a wedding. My recent awakenng and integration has led me to some lovely places, including finding my style in clothes. In years gone by I would have been wearing heels and spanx, but that just isn't me. Ilove this outfit in the pic, been looking for a similar coat for a while and ended up buying a plain dark chocolate coat- which I love. But I am not trying to find an applique embroidered trim. I know style isn't usually a subject for this thread, but like a witch's ladder it feels like a manifestation of my cronehood, my healing, my return to sellf.

@CailleachGhlas I picked up several feathrrs yesterday morning in the garden. It's quite often do journalling, so have put them in between the pages of the journal and sketched one.

@speakout I love the duster coat and that you have found yourself and style. I love clothes and jewellery, I really feel it's a source of pleasure and expression. I turn into a bit of a hippy in the summer months - currently wearing a pair of harem pants with purple palm leave print, accessorised with the neighbour's black cat!

I love your trousers quirkychick, and the neighbourly cat.

Just sitting here with one of my rescue cats- Cindy B. and having a lovely coffee. I am looking for applique embroidery to fancy up my duster coat.
So the door photo I posted is part of a local church. Folk memory call it "The Black Hole" and yes it does contain secrets. Behind the door is a prison room, with a trap door leading to an underground chamber which was used to hold and torture suspected witches. During the height of the burning times the local minister of the church went on a crusade to find and kill witches. He is quoted as saying he wanted ""a town where all witches were burnt", and during his tenure he arrested, tortured and murdered around 80 women. Of course extremely lucrative for the church. The torture room was underground to conceal screams. The torture was brutal, I try not to dwell on methods as they were so horrific, but documented online for the curious. I feel that there needs to be some reckoning for this brutal time. We need to remember the victims, their stories. which is why I am digging up the history- so I can bring truth into the light.

Its lovely! I cant comment on style. I dont feel I am particularly stylish lol! I like band t shirts and joggy bottoms lol

Yeah I feel like the more I am thinking about these things, and wanting to bring more goddess/nature/love to me, its happening.

Things have felt quite serendipitous the last couple of weeks.

@Arcati85 I think you can comment on styles you like. Band t-shirts are pretty cool (in my opinion) and I often pair them with Bam bamboo joggers for yoga.

@speakout that's very interesting about the door. The feeling of obscurity makes sense now. It would be amazing for you to be able to tell the stories of these women.

Wow that is fascinating and horrifying @speakoutI am so glad you are doing the work to remember these women and their stories. Amazing how accurate @Mayhemaboundsfeeling about the picture was.

It’s sad that witches are still treated by some as nothing more than Halloween costumes, childhood nonsense or a bit of harmless fantasy. It can be easy to forget the very real persecution and suffering that women experienced in the past under accusations of witchcraft.

Do you think some of the women who were persecuted as witches actually practised what we might now call the craft (working with herbs, spellwork and intuition) or were most simply caught up in accusations and fear? I know a fair bit about the history of the trials and persecution but it’s never been entirely clear to me how much genuine folk practice was involved versus completely unfounded accusations. I know you may not have a definitive answer but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Yeah I suppose. I have always just worn what I like. And as I get older, I wear more of whatever I like.. and it tends to be comfort over fashion lol!

I do love my band tees tho, and usually steal my man's to wear. 🤣

Speaking of bands actually - I would like to share this song with you all, the full album is unreal actually. But this one is for all of you here who have taken time to chat to mehttps://open.spotify.com/track/25CvVup41Sd2dUOoFkJnIY?si=j_jtV4XvSEG8jtbcRzA3Ag&utm_source=copy-link&sci=spotify%3Acard-config%3A61q8xgLi904xsxxAsKSGXi

I think a mix of all of that, plus a huge pinch of misogyny. Women who chose themselves, women who other women didnt like, women too many men liked, women who liked other women, outspoken women..... I think they could have found any excuse.... and actually that any actual practicing of anything holistic, with herbs or growing things was probably minute, compared to just 'burn the witch' when someone decideded they were one. I need to read more on it all. I only know basic things. But I think given I have chosen to follow this now, I should be knowledgeable about the sisters who came before me. 🤍🌙

Thanks @Arcati85 I will listen to that later. I've just got dp into band t-shirts - they're currently drying all over the house!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/m001mc4p?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

I've shared this before, but it's interesting.

I loved the series, listened to it three times.