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VISUALISATION, CONTINUED.
A continuation from lessons in visualisation.
In this lesson, we will explore further techniques, how to maintain regular practice, and alternatives for visualisation for those who might find it harder than others.
Alternatives to visualising
Some people will struggle to visualise, whether that is because of their mental or physical health, an inability to sit still or to focus, or they cannot picture an image in their mind.
It is important to remember that we have other senses. Visualisation doesn't rely on sight alone, and though it may sound that way, it instead makes the basics of spellcasting and meditation inaccessible.
☆ Forget trying to picture things, that's not the be-all end-all. Try to feel things. To smell and hear and taste, to love and hate. Consider raindrops falling on every inch of your body, moving slowly from your head down to your toes; let the water cleanse you as it rolls off your skin. Even if you cannot see them, your body knows the sensation and the smell of rain on your body.
☆ If any type of sensory imagination is too hard, play music in the background instead. It doesn't have to be calming music in particular, just something you can enjoy and zone out to. (I have been known to meditate and even nap to breakcore). Let the rest of the world fade away as you absorb the music fully, listening to every note individually and as part of the whole. Alternatively, you can try counting. Just start counting, out loud or in your head, up from 1 or down from 1000, and let that be the only thing your mind focuses on - the steady rhythm of the numbers.
☆ Consider using white, brown, pink or green noise to help you focus too. White noise doesn't sound good to everyone, and the various types use different frequencies which can be soothing for some.
The whole idea is to move away from the focus of seeing things in your head, while still allowing you to build up energy when concentrating on an end goal like meditation or a spell.
How do I practice regularly?
Methods of visualisation can very easily be simplified to make them faster and easier for regular practice.
☆ You could try seeing or feeling the energy around you or around an object such as a crystal or a tree, or the energy moving through your body.
☆ Try closing your eyes when it’s sunny and recalling the feeling, smell and sound of rain. Or the other way around. Feel the warm sun on you in the winter, or a cosy fire in your hands.
A good idea is to practice during meditation as often as you can. Remember, being able to visualise in some form is incredibly useful for energy manipulation. (Including but not limited to shielding, centering, grounding, manifestation and wider spellwork).
As always, thank you for reading. Please drop a message/ask if you want to see anything particular in future lessons.
Introduction to Shielding
If you haven’t already, check out my lessons on visualisation for the basic knowledge you’ll need to begin practicing shielding.
So what is shielding?
Shielding is a manipulation of energy, used to create a barrier between yourself and unwanted, usually negative or malicious energies. It’s a basic aspect of spellwork that everyone, beginner or experienced, should use to keep themselves safe.
What can I use shielding for?
Some beginner-level uses for shielding are drawing a circle, or casting a spell. A more experienced individual might use shielding in astral travel or spirit work, where there are a lot more malicious energies involved. Personally, I use shielding as often as possible, for instance when I do tarot readings, spells, spirit work, shadow work, and especially cursing. It gives that extra guarantee that you won't flood your personal space with unwanted energies.
Other uses include shielding against real-life dangers, to a certain degree. I often shield when I am walking through town at night for extra protection. But please remember to take other measures too! Call someone, pretend to be on the phone, plan your route, and even carry pepper spray if it's legal where you are.
An easy shielding method:
The easiest way to explain this is to think of your energy as a physical manifestation. Think how power attacks are shown in anime or cartoons - a streak of colour or light, or an element. Make it personable to you: fire signs (Leo/Aries/Sagittarius) might visualise fire, or a red energy or light etc.
Firstly, some people prefer to cleanse before shielding. I don't think its all that necessary but the choice is yours.
Begin by easing yourself into meditation. Get comfortable, and use whichever technique works for you. I have various methods for this in my visualisation lessons if you are struggling.
Attempt to visualise the energies surrounding you in your mind. It might be a swirling colour of light, almost like a cloud of dust. It could be flames, it could be water. Maybe try to see it held within your hand.
Now, attempt to shape this energy around your entire body. You might want to start with a bubble or a cube surrounding you. Feel this shape surrounding and protecting you. Visualise negative and unwanted energies being held back by it.
You can also layer shields, so if you are working with a particularly malicious energy you might want to have multiple shapes surrounding you, all within each other. You can also work with deities or spirits to ask them to shield you too.
Shielding Incantation
When I am shielding, I recite a spell as well as using visualisation techniques.
The shield of protection, I carry it strong, No ill wishes or trouble shall come along, You cannot harm me, or weaken my soul, My light is my weapon, and peace is my goal.
Try it out for yourself and let me know in the comments how it went! Thank you as always for reading. Please message for requests.
want a free tarot reading tomorrow? send me an ask, and include if you want a general reading or on a specific theme or topic. 1 card only <33
Grounding and Centering
If you haven't already, visit my visualisation lessons for the background info needed for this lesson.
Being able to ground and centre your energy is very useful in meditation and spell work. Using basic visualisation techniques, you can change and manipulate the energy you are putting out, raise your vibration, or bring yourself back to reality after spellwork. Let's go over the specifics and how to do them, but the TLDR is that grounding is connecting to the energy of the universe around you, and centering is aligning this energy with your intention.
Grounding
Grounding can be done before or after spellwork, and it depends on what feels right for you. The idea is to draw neutral energy from the earth and the universe, as the energy within ourselves can often be unstable because of our emotions or other external influences. It can also be used to send excess energy back into the earth, preventing feeling wired or unable to sleep after spellwork. Here are some easy ways to practice grounding.
Visualise tree roots spreading down from your legs, connecting you to the earth, and branches spreading up from your arms into the sky connecting you to the universe. Consider the energy of the universe being drawn into you through these roots and branches.
Consider your energy as running water, perhaps from a tap or a river. To prevent excess energy, visualise this tap being turned off, or the flow of the river being stopped.
When I practice divination or dreamwork, I sometimes visualise my third eye opening before and then closing again after to prevent using this energy constantly.
Eat something or take a shower after spellwork to quickly ground yourself.
You can try standing barefoot in the dirt or even rain as a quick and more literal way to ground.
Centering
Centering involves drawing energy inward before spellwork, allowing us to align this energy with our intention and the mentality needed to carry out magick. It prevents passing thoughts, feelings and distractions from making our energy and spellwork less effective. Where you feel your energy centering is different for everyone - it might be behind your third eye, in your heart, your stomach, or in the palms of your hands. Wherever it may be, the point is to draw this scattered energy inward. Here are some methods.
Visualise your energy fragmented around you, as shattered glass, water droplets, or whatever feels right. Consider drawing this energy towards your centre, as though you are a magnet pulling these fragmented pieces back into a whole.
As you are drawing your energy in, meditate on your intention and the end goal of your spellwork. Or why you are centering your energy - is it to have better control over the existing energy in your body, or to set an intention for the neutral energy drawn in through grounding? The aim is to have a concentration of energy with a specific intention.
Centering can be used for changing your vibration specifically for different kinds of spellwork - where a protection spell would require a different type of energy to that of cursing.
Note: Some people will use these terms interchangeably or to mean one overarching thing, and others will specify whether they mean centering or grounding as I have done here. The two practices are very similar and can overlap, so don't worry about getting them confused. The important thing is to do what feels right for your practice and whatever helps you.
As always, thanks for reading! If you have any questions or suggestions for future lessons, feel free to message or send an ask. Visit my tags for previous lessons!
devotee vs deity! with brigid
saw someone else do this and thought it would be cute <33 i don't necessarily know if devotee is the right word but i feel what i do is more than just work. ✴️
UK friends. Things are very very scary right now. Thoughts on any way we can give some energy to protecting ppl being targeted here? Like a group spell or prayer or anything? Could it be effective? idk how else to help at this point but I can't bear to see it get this bad.
Protect my siblings of muslim faith,
Shield from harm and keep them safe.
Let those opposed by religion or race,
Flourish unharmed within this space.
✴️🌟🔄🫂☪️🌟✴️
A spell to help protect your muslim and bipoc local communities during the islamophobic riots in the UK.
Likes charge, reblogs cast.
A big misconception I see come up a lot is that tarot can predict the future. In a sense, it might, but it's a lot more nuanced than that.
There is no 'THE future'. There are lots of different futures and lots of different paths you could be led down, but not all fates come to fruition based on the choices we make.
Tarot should be used to gain insight and reflect on your current and alternative paths. You can't necessarily predict how something is going to go, but you can use them to look within yourself and see what might need to change to get on the path you want to be on.
This is one of the earliest things I learnt when beginning tarot, and learning this can open you up to different paths and possibilities, as well as allowing you to ask the right questions to get where you want to be.
A Guide to Graveyard Work
One of the earliest introductions I had to spirit work as a baby witch was graveyard work. In short, this practice involves building relationships with the deceased spirits of a graveyard, by communicating, leaving offerings and being mindful of their space. It is part of a wider practice known as death work, but this focuses specifically on how to enter and respect what is essentially the 'home' of the spirits you are working with. You can further build on your practice from this.
This is a handy guide to the different aspects of the practice, looking into the appropriate offerings and etiquette, written with a lot of love.
⋆˖⁺‧₊☽◯☾₊‧⁺˖⋆
Graveyard Etiquette
There are rules you must follow in graveyards, whether for your personal safety, out of politeness, or following the law of your country. Sometimes these overlap. But sometimes, the rules you hear might be no more than baseless superstition, which there is a lot of concerning graveyards. There are way too many superstitions to list, however -
Some good rules to follow are:
Don't begin this work with the intention of taking from the graveyard or using the spirits in your practice. In the same way you wouldn't take from a stranger, it's important to build a relationship before you ask for things.
Try not to stand on graves where possible, out of respect for the dead but also those mourning them. Sometimes, graveyards are set up so that it is impossible to go anywhere without stepping on something, which is okay so long as you're not intending disrespect. However, do be wary that headstones can fall and the ground can shift.
Some people believe you shouldn't take any photos of the graves. I personally think that if the grave is old enough, it doesn't matter too much. If the grave is modern, it might be inappropriate for those in mourning to see you taking photos.
You can clean up trash, but be mindful of what might be considered trash. Obvious thrown-away food and drink packaging might be appropriate to clean up, but what if someone left a deceased one's favourite food at their grave? Or what if you decide to get rid of a toy or letter left there? Try to avoid cleaning up around the actual graves and focus on cleaning near the gates or in empty areas.
Don't trespass! If the cemetery has set entry times, enter and leave only within those times. Don't jump the fence, and don't enter any areas that are clearly gated or off-limits.
Leave an offering when asking to take something from the cemetery grounds. I don't feel it necessary to leave an offering each time you enter, especially if you plan on visiting often. But, if you want to take something like graveyard dirt or plants growing there, leave an offering for sure. And make sure to ASK. If you feel wrong, it's a no.
If you EVER find anything askew in a graveyard, such as vandalism, theft, or even dug up bones (it happens, I've found them before) PLEASE report it straight to the groundskeeper, associated church, or relevant authorities. It is not your responsibility to attempt to fix these things, or take things for yourself.
Offerings
You can leave offerings at the gate, or on specific graves if you want to work directly with that spirit. You don't always need to leave an offering, but it is a good thing to do when building a relationship and especially when asking to take from the site.
Some good offerings are:
Coins, especially two coins. There is a belief that the two coins are placed on the eyes of the deceased to pay the ferryman taking them over the river Styx. This has been maintained as a tradition.
Flowers. Even better if you look into Victorian flower symbolism for older grave sites and base your offering on this.
Origami. I would often fold multiple tiny cranes and leave them as offerings on individual graves. The best part is they are biodegradable.
I would be wary of leaving any kind of food or drink, as you might attract animals or even cause harm to the ecosystems living there. The same goes for anything made of plastic or that could hurt an animal.
Natural items such as seashells, feathers or stones are great, safe options for offerings.
You could also burn a candle or incense, but remember to stay with them while they burn and make sure they are extinguished when you leave.
Offerings don't have to be physical - you could say a few kind words, sing to them, or even just dedicating time to sit with the dead or talk with them can be an offering in itself.
Protection
I personally don't go into my practice thinking I could get possessed or followed by a demon at any given moment. However, I do think it's important to remember that graveyards can be full of a lot of upset, angry, and occasionally malevolent energies. Even if you don't intend to, these energies can attach to you or be taken home by you and can make you feel off.
Here are some ways you can protect yourself:
Cleanse yourself before and after entering a cemetery, even just by meditating and visualising or by using incense.
Check out my post on shielding techniques, and try to familiarise yourself with the visualisation techniques until you feel comfortable doing them.
Charm an item of clothing, such as a piece of jewellery, as an amulet to ward against negative energies that you can wear.
Find or create a protective sigil or rune that you can draw on something or on yourself.
You can pray to any deities you work with to ask for protection, especially if these deities are associated with death or spirits.
Communication
People who practice death work might communicate with the dead in different ways. They might be clairvoyant, use divination, feel energies or sometimes even just know what the spirits are saying. In any sense, spirit communication is a skill that is very much required in this practice. @koscheys-skull said it best here. You need good communication skills, in the sense that you are still talking to PEOPLE. And you need to go in with good intentions. If you are going in purely with the intention of using the dead for your own benefit, you won't get very far. If you can't talk to and actively listen with some semblance of empathy, you won't get very far. Death work is not an aesthetic, it is not for you to take your emo photos and be disrespectful. it is a serious, difficult and tolling practice that takes a lot of time and refining.
If you have gotten this far, I wish you all the best. It is a difficult but ultimately fulfilling part of spirit work, and if you are ready to dedicate the time and effort to it, you will get a lot out of it.
Thanks for reading! Please visit my tags for more guides, and feel free to reach out with requests for more information. Lots of love.
brigid — celtic goddess of healing, smithing, poetry, fertility, divination, fire and water.
brigid bless this hearth and home, keep us safe from harm. no matter how far we might roam, guide us safe and sound. heal me with your sacred water, shield me with your flame. your love is my sword and shield and so it shall remain.
terms like white vs black magic really make me uncomfortable. by whose standards are we measuring what is 'white' witchcraft and what is 'black' witchcraft? societies, who sees all witchcraft as somewhat 'other' anyway? the content of what is being practiced, or where those practices originated from? whether it is socially acceptable to do certain things in the west compared to practices from other parts of the world? what exactly do we mean by this? my practice is neither, and I won't be boxed in by even more made up rules for what is or isn't acceptable.
my manifestations for this autumn 🍁 left to right
healthy eating • abundance and prosperity • new creative job • emotional and spiritual healing • self love and growth • write my novel • weight loss • make music with my band • see my friends
I think we need to bring local shrines back. Not in the sense of like, a church, but somewhere in a local community where offerings to the spirits, fae, deceased loved ones, can be left. not too dissimilar to community shrines to local spirits in Japan.
🌙 Simple Everyday Things You Can Do For Protection Source | https://www.instagram.com/mariathearcane/?hl=en
What are some simple things that you do that you think would help another witch? 🌙 My list of daily or easy practices requires little to no prep-work •Use a protection plant ally like a witch’s burr, cloves, thorns, motherwort, black pepper, garlic, or onion. Close your eyes and place your plant ally in your hands. Ask the spirit of the plant if they will offer you protection to see you through the day. Carry it with you. •Alternatively, you can also use crystals. My go to combo is black tourmaline and red jasper! •Use a protection archetype tarot card like the Nine of Wands. Nine of Wands, for myself, symbolizes boundaries and protection when it comes to our growth/life path. Place it on your altar with intention since it is a portal to our intentions, our guides, and the liminal, or carry on your person. •Smoke cleanse the thresholds in your home, yourself, and your loved ones. I personally like rosemary and lavender for this purpose. •As you leave an offering for your guides/ancestors/deities during your daily conversation with them ask them for their help when it comes to protection. •Write the word protection or a symbol of protection on a black candle with intention and light.
Introduction
Hello I'm Roxie !
I'm 20 years old and I've been practicing witchcraft since I was around 15 but I've been communicating / engaging with spirits since I was much younger; I'm a hedge witch and am trying to build up the confidence to finally do deity work. I aim to build up my homemaking skills, femininity, and the love between me and my boyfriend ultimately through my craft :)
I made this blog to document and talk about my journey growing as a witch and practicing witchcraft, my experience with a 6th sense and premonition dreams, and my familiar
If you're an active witchblr / pagan or witchcraft blog please feel free to each out or become mutuals with each other 🔮
Across the Veil
I've been seeing frequently around the web of people looking more into spirit communication and working with spirits with spooky season rolling around so I thought that making a series on my blog talking about safety and how-to's would be a good idea and get a bit more engagement on my page :) If you're interested and want to know more before you get started click the 'keep reading'...if you dare
1. STOP GETTING ADVICE OR TELLING PEOPLE TO GET ADVICE FROM TIKTOK
I genuinely cannot express how DANGEROUS this is. I deleted tiktok nearly a year ago now, and to give credit there are respectful and knowledgeable practicers on there that do warn people, but for the most part people are giving harmful advice on what to do because they want something and want it now or they are teenagers with very little experience (respectfully) There are plenty of very old and wise websites that are run by very wise and in-tune witches or psychics that have been doing this for years and will give you real tips on what to do if spirit magick or communication is what you want to dive into The best way in my opinion to learn (at least for me) is to buy or look for older books on rituals and spirits but always double check the authors credibility and use your own intuition to know if they're spitting possible BS before you buy it
2. Never actively reach out or try to provoke a spirit.
When I was younger and realized what I was frequently seeing were spirits, I became obsessed and wanted to see them all the time or really test how close I could get and if I could possibly even talk to them outside of when I was sleeping. More often then not though, what I learned was that the spirits that you'll end up reaching out to the most, especially without wards or protection on you, are ones that are miserable, upset, or are looking for someone to latch onto to share their pain with or to not be lonely anymore. Spirits are shy and sometimes more afraid of you then you are of them. I often see them more in the reflects of smaller mirrors in my room that I have cleansed or lingering in isolated areas just observing; I once however had a spirit latch onto me for almost 2 weeks to the point I slept with my door locked and my familiar in my room and had to actively avoid dark zones in my mom's home for it to leave, and when I was much younger I had a spirit tormenting me at night for a year so much that I slept with a bible under my pillow and a cross in front of my bed to keep it away. 3. If you hear something talking to you in the woods or at night in your home outside of your protected place like your room NEVER talk back to it
In the part above I mentioned a spirit that latched onto me and made me lock my doors at night. I was probably 17 at the time and still living at home with my mom and younger sister, I was getting water and it was around 11 pm when I hear something around the corner and into the dark hallway outside of the kitchen where I had the lights on saying "What are you looking for Roxie?" in a distorted voice that sounded like my mom's but gave me the chills since I knew that it wasn't her. I looked around and she was in her room with the door shut, and it was just me and my familiar in the kitchen where he was eating before I promptly turned away and turned the lights off before heading to my room and calling for my familiar to also come to bed. For the next two weeks it became more and more persistent, hiding and watching in the dark corners of rooms to the point I could nearly see an outline of it. I had to lock the door because at night I would hear something touch the handle, or knock into the door and I would even hear a faint distorted meow that sounded a lot like my familiar but I knew it wasn't him because he was already in the room with me, often sleeping at the foot of my bed or sitting in front of the door just watching it. I never spoke to it or engaged with it, and only in my room where I knew I was safe I would lock the door and say, "I'm not going to share your misery with you, you need to leave." very firmly or would actively force myself to be positive and stay away from negative thoughts because that's the energy it was feeding off of.
Unless the ritual or spell you're performing is actively needing spirit guide or help to work or be strengthened, leave the other ones alone and it is just my personal preference and advice to only work doing the evening or early in the morning when there is still a bit of day light out just incase the wrong spirit tries coming to you
divider by @saradika-graphics ⛦
missing my familiar a bit more than usual tonight :( divider by @strangergraphics || none of these pics are mine !
𝐎𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐌𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 🍂🎃
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October is a time of deep spiritual connection, transformation, and preparation for the darker months ahead. For witches, this month holds powerful energy as the veil between worlds becomes thinner, allowing for a deeper connection with spirits and their energies. During this time, we prepare for the colder season, readying ourselves for winter. The vibrations throughout the month are strong, making it the perfect time to practice our magic and align ourselves with the stillness of the approaching winter season.
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Celebrations:
Samhain/Halloween
(Samhain, meaning "summer's end," marks the end of the light half of the Celtic year and the beginning of the dark half. It's a time when the boundary between worlds grows thin. According to legend, on this day, the Dagda, the father god, and the Morrigan, the "phantom queen," unite to ensure fertility for the land, people, and animals in the coming year. The Morrigan, often described as a goddess of war, begins the ritual as an old woman but is restored to youth and beauty through their union.)
Planet:
Moon
Flowers:
Angelica, Marigold, Heather, Chrysantemum, Dahlia
Herbs/Plants:
Sage, rosemary, witch hazel, catnip, garlic, allspice, bittersweet, patchouli, bay leaves, pumpkins
Tarot Cards:
The Death, The Devil
Fruits:
Apple, pomegranate, grapes, pears, cranberries
Deities:
Nephthys, Hecate, Hel, Banba, Durga, Kali, Hades, Loki, Odin, Badb, Arawn, Belenus, the Dagda, Demeter, Persephone, Cernunnos, Morrigan
Colors:
Dark green, black, orange, deep red, purple, brown
Runes:
Wunjo, Hagalaz
Crystals:
Obsidian, onyx, carnelian, amethyst, opal, citrine
Animals:
Raven, crow, bat, spider, stag, scorpion, owl, cat
Trees:
Beech, willow
Symbols:
Acorns, pumpkins, raven, skull, broomstick
Magical powers:
Garden magic, communicating with spirits, connecting with other realms (otherworld), scrying, death (letting go of the old and welcoming the new), connecting with ancestors, shadow work, fertility, transformation, balance, inner peace.
ACTIVITIES TO DO:
🎃Celebrate Samhain and Halloween
🎃Connect with your ancestors or the spirits of your loved ones
🎃Bake autumn recipes
🎃Use cinnamon essential oil in your practice
🎃Practice pumpkin magick
🎃Light candles and relax
🎃Do daily tarot readings
🎃Honor your ancestors or loved ones who have passed away by creating a special altar or offering them gifts
🎃Read about the history of witches
🎃Collect pine cones or acorns
🎃Decorate your home to welcome the spooky vibe
🎃Try rune divination
🎃Connect with the elements of Water and Fire
🎃Watch Halloween movies
🎃Include October elements in your practice (such as apple magic, manifesting with bay leaves, or using pumpkin seeds in spells)
🎃Experiment with new magical skills. You could try a new spell or explore different types of magic, like faerie or draconic magic
(Even though I wasn’t a huge fan of autumn before, this time of year—especially October—is when I feel the busiest, most inspired, and most connected to my craft. I’m especially excited to communicate with dragons! :D)
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tip jar🎭
