Ghost-Be-Gone Powder

Ghost-Be-Gone Powder

Intent: To banishing interloping spirits.

Ingredients:

2 pt Angelica Root

2 pt Basil (any type)

1 pt White Oak Bark

1 pt White Willow Bark

1⁄2 pt Bloodroot**

1⁄2 pt Black Salt

1⁄2 pt Sandalwood (if desired)

Note: Powdered versions of most herbs are available online. I recommend Starwest Botanicals and Penn Herbs for quality products at reasonable prices. Also, if you can get your hands on a good electric spice grinder, you can make your own powder from dried herb products.

If you don't have premade powdered herbs, grind each ingredient separately to produce fine powder. Sieve the material through a mesh strainer into a collection dish; this removes the larger unground pieces and gives you cleaner powdered herb. (Pro-Tip: Putting a funnel under the mesh strainer reduces lost material and makes collection much easier.)

Combine the component powders in the collection dish, mix well, and bottle immediately. Label with the name, date, and ingredients for future reference.

Use in magics intended to remove troublesome spirits from your home. Sprinkle in the corners of each room, and across thresholds and windowsills to banish unwanted spirits and prevent their return.

Cast a few pinches of Ghost-Be-Gone Powder out your front door or on your doorstep after performing a home cleansing or banishing ritual to help keep your home free of uninvited spirits. Keep a bottle of the powder in troublesome areas to help reduce problems with mild to moderate hauntings and make any spirits who wander in easier to remove. Including the powder in regular cleansing rituals also helps to keep out all but the most determined metaphysical pests.

Add a small amount of Sandalwood or your preferred incense powder to create a burnable mix for smoke-cleansing purposes. Be sure to ventilate your home well after censing as part of a spell or ritual. (Censing or heavy smoke-cleansing are not recommended for homes with pets, small children, or persons with respiratory ailments. Always let caution and common sense prevail when planning your workings.)

-adapted from Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils, (c) 2017 by Bree NicGarran

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Hearth & Home Witchcraft That I've Learned

One of the biggest things that stands out to me when reading about hearth & home witchery is that everyday items are considered magical. Everyday moments, tasks, and chores as well. Its a beautiful way to live, if you really think about it. Big rituals are great, but as someone who is disabled, they rarely are doable. Here is a list of Hearth & Home Witchcraft Tips that i actually practice.

-Enchant a blanket by embroidering a sigil in the corner and using its color correspondences for your needs. It also helps me feel shielded from negative energy during meditation.

-Play music that makes you feel safe and AT HOME. This is almost like grounding, but also can be cleansing to the environment and especially the listeners. For me, its smooth jazz. The chill sound of the standup bass and the wandering piano notes that always seem to find their way to a comfortable key... its soothing to my soul.

-Talk to and about your home (kindly). So often its easy to complain about your living space. How you wish it looked or functioned differently. The house (in my belief) hears you. Treat it with kindness and gratitude for the shelter it provides. I say thank you to the house spirits and my home every morning.

-Find a convenient home protection ritual to do each month. I say convenient because if you overcomplicate things you'll feel less enthusiastic and less motivated to do it, and might even skip several months.

-Make a home cleansing spray using essential oils mixed with an appropriate amount of moon water. I like using a few drops of lemon, rosemary, lavender, and cinnamon. DO NOT spray this in the vicinity of your pets. I only use this spray in rooms where there arent any animals, to avoid complications with their health.

-Wash your bedding as often as you can and say a short incantation before you put it in the wash. It could go something like this. "I cleanse this bedding of all negative energy, from bad dreams, and from and all stress." Sleep is so important to your sense of safety and wellbeing at home.

-Open the damn windows when you can! Stagnant energy is known for dragging down people's moods. And there's nothing quite as uplifting as fresh air. This provides a healthy flow to your house's energy.

-Don't bring things in your home unless you want to incorporate their energy into your environment. This is something that's often overlooked. I especially advise heavy consideration when it comes to thrifting items and bringing them home. Try practicing sensing the energy of items so you can easily tell whats good to bring home and whats not. Thrifting is great! Im not discouraging it btw.

-Fresh flowers work miracles. Not only do they aesthetically brighten the room, but their correspondences and magical properties apply to the room that they're in. Sunflowers are a great example of a flower that encourages positivity, and are extremely affordable to get lots of them. Roses are a bit more expensive usually, but they invite that loving vibe. And African irises are great for psychic enhancement.

Thats all for this post! Reblog it if you found it helpful, or have any of your own cool practices for hearth & home witchcraft to share!

witches don't gatekeep knowledge or little aids, so I hope this cheat sheet is as helpful for you as it is to me.

All Saints' Day [2022]

all you holy men and women, saints of god, make intercession for us – litany of the saints

The ancestors lend their altar to create a space to slava our collective saints on All Saints’ Day.

Offerings this year include: a homegrown palm leaf, red wine, water, handmade monastic incense, appropriate hymns and litanies, and a simple but nourishing meal of homegrown apples, a pumpkin Pfeffernüsse cookie, cep-stuffed potato pancakes, and hamburger steak stroganoff (which was made using a variety of local and/or homegrown vegetables, meat, and even more locally foraged ceps).

Featured Saints: George (top), Nicholas, Thérèse, Magdalene, Christopher, Andrew, and Ivan (roebuck antler fragment)

Featured Frog: Жаба (‘Froggie’)

see also: #all saints’ day, #altar, #saint

Kitchen Staples and Their Properties

If you're any kind of kitchen user, there are a few things that are usually present. Things like bread, cheese, beans, and vinegar are all things that many kitchens keep in stock. So, here is a list of some staples you may have in your kitchen, and what they mean.

Bread: health, abundance, the hearth, kindship

Beans: wisdom in choices, luck, money, divination, prosperity

Butter: peace, friendships/relationships, spirituality

Cheese: goal completion, happiness, moon magic, health

Eggs: feminine/goddess magic, fertility, mysticism

Honey: joy, love, sex, wisdom, lust, purification, health

Milk (Cow's): feminine parenthood/guidance, love, sustenance, spirituality,

Rice: fertility, protection, luck, money, growth

Salt: purification, protection, grounding, cleansing

Sugar: banishing negativity, love, affection, invoking kindness/sweetness

White Vinegar: cleansing, purification, protection

Adding some things together melds their properties! Cooking in butter for your friends can strengthen your relationships with them, and baking bread can bring abundance into your home.

As always, do your research, practice safely, and blessed be!

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Types of Ancestors

We're approaching Samhain so a good time to resurface this one because every year people ask - but what if my ancestors were terrible people?

So a quick rundown of other types of ancestors that we can work with. (The terms aren't mine but rather used in the community. They should help if you want to find more info on a specific type to work with.)

Ancestors of Flesh and Blood are biological ancestors (shared DNA)

Ancestors of Milk and Honey are those who nourish us (adoptive ancestors)

Ancestors of Bone are the ancestors of the land (bones of the earth connection)

Ancestors of Breath and Bread are those we share a vocation, craft or interest with.

Ancestors of Spirit and Soul are those who we share a spiritual path with.