A Ritual For Yule

A Ritual for Yule

Winter Solstice is a time of new beginnings. It’s the darkest time of the year, but it also marks the time where the light begins to grow. Rituals dedicated to new beginnings - such as personal growth, business, new love - are particularly powerful at this time. In the darkness we sow the seed and nourish it so it can burst forth strong in the Spring.

Here is my ritual for Yule.

You will need:

green altar cloth

red fruit or flowers, pomegranate is perfect but whatever you can find will suffice

charcoal and banishing herbs, such as dragon’s blood, garlic (beware, stinky!), nettle, dandelion, rosemary, juniper, sage

paper and pen

bayberry candle if you can mange it, otherwise a green candle will suffice

a chamomile tea bag - empty the contents and grind to a powder. If you don’t have chamomile, mint can be used instead (which is what I’ll be doing as my pantry is more bare than I thought!)

vegetable oil

Open a circle if that is your custom.

Cover the altar with a green cloth to represent the growth you intend. The red represents the life blood, and pomegranate represents Persephone, the goddess of the Spring. 

If you like to work with deity, call upon Persephone as she is the Queen of the Underworld and the Spring. She will help destroy what no longer serves you and grow your intentions in the Spring. Hekate is another great option, as is Hades or Osiris.

First, you will banish bad habits or energies you no longer want in your life. Take a moment and really think. Write each thing down on a slip of paper. 

Now light the charcoal and the banishing herbs. Throw each slip of paper into the fire, one at a time, and say “I call to the darkness of this night, banish _______ from my life”. When you have finished, with all your bits of paper, say “the night takes and I am released.”

Now you have made some space, best fill it with some sunshine!

Take your candle and cover it lightly with the vegie oil and roll it in the chamomile. Chamomile is a herb which protects against psychic attack, is considered lucky and to attract fortune of all kinds. 

As you do this, say “With this herb and with this light, I set my intention this dark night: into my life love and luck will come, growing now as does the Sun. May happiness and love increase for all I see. This is my intention, So Mote it BE!" 

Winter Solstice is an excellent time to undergo a vision quest to find your magical name, a totem animal, a mantra, or other empowering insights. While your circle is open you may wish to ask for messages from your deity or guide, or to send healing energy to the planet.

When your candle is burned down, close your circle. Cast your ashes into the garden and bury them - they are gone!

Yule is also a time for friends and family, and a nice warm glass of mead. Yum! A great way to ground yourself, if you want my opinion. Happy Yule xx

Time For A Witchy Checkup

Hey you! Stop scrolling for a moment, it’s time for your checkup. Take a moment to check each of these things and fix any problems you might find.

Wards and Shields

Are your special spaces still warded properly? Are the barriers still strong? Are there any holes or damages?

Are your personal shields still there? Do they need refreshing? Are there any gaps in coverage? Can you still do your work through the barrier?

Altars and Tools

Are the altars clean and organized? There’s no dust?

Are there any offerings that have been sitting out that need to be refreshed or disposed of?

Is there any unusual energy in any of your consecrated items?

Does everything feel charged and ready?

Your Body

Have you taken all of your meds that you need today?

Have you been eating/hydrating properly?

Getting enough sleep?

Does your body need anything from you right now to feel a bit better?

Entities and Other Things

Are there any regular offerings you give that you could/should check off?

How are things with your familiar? Your companions? The local land wights? The spirit(s) of your house? Do they need anything from you to keep the relationship strong, if you have one?

Are there any unexpected entities hanging around/taking up anchors? (Give your knickknacks a good check for this, as well as any old toys and jewelry.)

Do you have any promises, dedications, or oaths you’ve taken up? Have you been maintaining your end of the deal/is there anything you can do to be progressive about it?

🪐What In The World Is Warding?!🪐

Howdy! It’s your friendly neighborhood witch here: Let’s talk about warding!

Warding is any form of magick intended to protect a person/place/thing from a negative entity/energy

Warding is most often used in either a personal sense, or a spatial sense, let’s do a deep dive into what that actually means

SPATIAL WARDING ~~~~~

Spatial wards are put on SOMETHING or a PLACE/SPACE/NON HUMAN THING with the intention to protect it. This could be warding your room or entire house by contacting the egregore, this could be casting a circle when you are about to do a spell, etc etc. This is not the same as warding a piece of jewelry though, that goes into the next type of warding: Personal Warding

PERSONAL WARDING ~~~~

Personal wards are created with the intent to protect a person (most likely YOU, the practitioner). These are most often portable/wearable like jewelry or in some cases crystals! A lot of the time, you can create some wards to be both personal and spatial, in essence killing two birds with one stone

Keep reading

dysphoria & witchcraft masterpost

sigils: 

dysphoria be gone

i am not trapped in my body

ward off & heal from misgendering + to keep from dissociating from dysphoria

i am full of masculinity

protection from dysphoria and trans positivity

my body is an agender body

i am free of dysphoria

i am in control of the severity of my dysphoria

i will not feel dysphoria

i control my dysphoria

protection against dysphoria & transphobia

i am not misgendered

i will not be misgendered today

non binary sigil

shapeshift sigil

increased femininity

confidence in gender expression

my gender is validated

i do not have gender dysphoria

i am immune to gender binaries (for dysphoria in non binary people)

spells:

dysphoria candle

anti dysphoria emoji spell

to alleviate gender dysphoria

dispelling dysphoria

gender (& sexuality) affirmation bottle

magic clothing

glamour to prevent misgendering

a masterpost for trans witches (not all spells are for dysphoria though)

voice dysphoria glamour

to stop chest dysphoria

menstruation dysphoria tea

hope this is helpful and you can always add some more if you’ve got anything helpful!

- mod ivy  ✨

blessed samhain! the veil is thin and so is my damn patience