Your House Smells Of Leather And Lavender And Cinnamon. Your Fingers Are Ink-smudged And Weary From A

your house smells of leather and lavender and cinnamon. your fingers are ink-smudged and weary from a long day of writing, and when you step outside the evening air touches your cheek like a kiss, and you lift your face to the darkling sky, letting the gloaming breeze tousle your hair. you stretch deliciously from the tips of your fingers to the rock of your heels, and the evening swaddles you in tender light. 

Cottage Witchcraft: Magic in Cleaning

****THIS POST CONTAINS MY PERSONAL THOUGHTS, OPINIONS AND VIEWS ON COTTAGE WITCHCRAFT AND ENERGIES IN ONE’S LIFE AND HOME.****

I thought I might take a moment to talk about cottage witchcraft, keeping one’s home clean and how this creates clean/positive energy. Cleaning, to me, is a form of magic and I use it daily. I am well aware that there is both bad and good, light and dark polarities in life and in regards to energies. I get tired of being in a bad mood though so I thought I might share this one way I try to get rid of the negativity that creeps in on me.

I know that I am uniquely me and my thoughts may not work for you. You may have no issues with stuff lying all over the floors and dishes piling up, but for me I get anxious, upset and agitated if my home is not clean. Those are all negative emotions brought on by a messy house. Cleaning my home brings in a more positive or clean energy for me. It helps me relax and gives me an outlet to get rid of any negative emotions or energies I’m holding onto within. When we first moved into our current home I found myself repeating, “A clean home is clean energy” as I cleaned. I’ve seen similar variants of that in books or online since. I feel like this is important to cottage witches (and perhaps even hearth witches, but I’m making an assumption here). Our homes contain all of our magic. For some of us our entire home is our sacred space so we should treat it with the respect we’d treat a sacred area for an altar or magical working surface. One would keep their altar and the immediate area around it clean and tidy, change out the seasonal decorations and take care of any tools so a cottage which might consider doing the same for their home.

So let’s get onto the fun stuff. I hope I haven’t rambled too much and everything has made sense so far. To sum it up, our homes can sometimes harbor negative energies in physical and spiritual or emotional forms when one lets it get dirty. This post will address how one can get rid of the internal negativity (even if it wasn’t caused by a messy/dirty home) by cleaning the physical.

- Washing the dishes: When I’m washing the dishes I visualize any negativity being washed away and going down the drain. I strongly dislike handling dirty dishes and I get pretty cranky when it comes time to do them so I reserve things that are really bothering me and stir up negativity in an instant when I think about them for the task of doing the dishes.

- Wiping down counters and other surfaces: A counter is like one’s altar table. You want to keep surfaces clean and make sure it’s a work space that’s always ready to use. Rushing around trying to clean things up right before a task (or ritual/spell work) can bring in negative or chaotic energy. Don’t forget about end tables or coffee tables. They need some cleaning too. You never know where you may decide to work on a whim. So when I’m cleaning these things I’m not only cleaning away the physical, but I also imagine myself wiping away negativity or energies that aren’t helping me out. For instance if I’m having a rough time with anxiety I may see myself wiping it away. This section also applies to shower walls and bathtubs as well as anything else one might wipe down.

- Cleaning mirrors: Mirrors generally need a good cleaning every so often so when I clean off the mirror I visualize myself wiping away any negative thoughts I have about myself or any negative ways I may see myself when I look at my reflection.

- Cleaning the toilet: Well, there’s not much to say about this. We all know what a toilet’s purpose is. When I clean it and flush away any cleaning solution for the bowl I visualize negativity being flushed away with it. One could also see it as getting rid of the build of up of waste in their life in the form of negativity.

- Vacuuming: Carpets can keep all sorts of dirt, pests and the like deep within. So when one vacuums they might visualize any deep rooted issues causing negativity being sucked up right along with any physical particles of dust, dirt or what have you.

- Sweeping: This is one most already do on the physical and astral level with brooms for the mundane and besoms (or designated brooms for magical use) so I won’t go too in depth. When you’re sweeping up all the dirt, dust, animal hair that’s been shed and so on imagine yourself sweeping away any negativity. I throw whatever is in the dust pan right into the trash and visualize it being thrown out of my life, but one could also sweep the negativity and dirt out of the front door as well and visualize it being pushed out of one’s life.

- Dusting: This is much like sweeping. One could visualize dusting away any negativity that’s been hanging about for a long while that’s settled into their life. As you dust visualize that negativity lifting and being cleared away.

Once one’s house is clean the energy improves and the energy within them improves as well. At least I notice the improvement within my own home and within myself. Perhaps someone else might find working a bit of magic through cleaning helpful too.

I envy the silence of the night. I am such a stirring thing, always heart-beating, eyes blinking, stomach turning– I will never know stillness like the dark. But with the sun comes a chance to sound. When the dawn comes I will speak the words that the night has never known, let light spill like trumpet-call over my lips, a revelry of reveille. I envy the quiet of the night; and, perhaps, the night envies me my song.

Pisces Full Moon ♓️🔮

(Sepmember 1 - 2, 2020)

[Tarot Spread by: @thewitchoftheforest]

[Full Moon/Ritual Info: @samthecosmicwitch on IG]

Magickal Uses for Kisses

A kiss is a very powerful thing, even in fairytales and lore of the past the power of kisses are told of (true love’s kiss, siren/mermaid kiss, first kiss, etc). a kiss can be a powerful tool for any witch. Here are a few suggestions for using kisses and the power they hold.

Use a kiss to charge objects: crystals, tarot cards, charms, amulets, etc etc. Use it to send your emotions and energy into the object. Love is a good emotion, but any positive energies you wish to charge the object with can be transferred this way. Adding your love to something can really give it a boost as well! Especially if it is for another to use. (Note: do not kiss toxic stones please! Be safe and smart)

Spell Sealing: Use a kiss to magically seal spells such as jar and bottle spells or use it to strengthen a (cooled!) wax seal. Imagine placing the kiss its like placing an invisible seal upon it, stamping in energy to lock th spell inside. 

For Air and Wind spells: For all of my fellow witches who use air and wind spells, blowing a kiss after a chant or spell to summon a wind in the direction you wish it to blow is a good way to guide the wind but also show it positive reinforcement. Use it to show your gratitude for the wind’s cooperation. It is best for gentler wind spells.

Glamour and Beauty spells: Kiss the mirror after a beauty or glamour spell. Thank the mirror for its aid and seal any negativity into it. It also a wonderful way to reflect love back at yourself!

Love Spells: Kisses are great for powering up love spells! Kiss a candle before lighting it (careful if you are using essential oils be sure not to kiss where they are), kiss the written name of the one you desire, kiss a charm or amulet to help bring love into your life, and finally blow a kiss when finishing the the spell to close it.

Kitchen Magic: blow a kiss to finish a dish (don’t be too close though, don’t want to spread germs) to put a final charge of love into it before serving it to others. Good for with tea and coffee spells too!

Public Magic: Want to remain discrete while casting a spell in public? Blow a kiss! Its much subtler than pointing or hand motions, especially if it is a positive spell you are casting on another or a friend but it is also good for curses, either way its a wonderful way to send your intentions. Whisper the words or chant needed for the spell (if any) under your breath, imagine them them gathering in an orb of energy at your lips as you do so. Then do a subtle kiss motion on your lips (no hands and no ‘fish lips’, you are trying to be subtle). Then release the energy and words towards the target with a gentle blow of breath, sending the ball of energy in that direction.

Mourning/Remembrance Rituals: Ending such a ritual with a blown kiss to close it can help release your feelings in a positive manner and close the ritual with love and sincerity. 

Thanking tools: As someone who uses tarot cards and many other divination tools, I like to place gentle kisses to the sides of the decks after using them to help bond with them. To show them my gratitude for assisting me in not only readings but also in my spell work. I also before days where I know i will be doing a lot of divination work, I will kiss them to help charge them up (as said above). It is an excellent way to bond with your tools!

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