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My journey as a Pagan has genuinely changed my life. My outlook on life and my perspective on a lot of things has changed and made me happier because my pagan views have taught me to appreciate the smaller things in life. I worship the natural world and the way the universe works. I worship the dirt that holds all of us up. I worship the math used to create a pattern in nature. I worship the way the light from the Moon hits a car's hood and its shine that hits my eye. I worship the path the planets take around the Sun. I worship the homes webbed by spiders. I see everything, all life, all natural phenomena, all science, as divine. My pagan faith teaches me to recognize the beauty in everything. Since I started taking a moment everyday to notice the littler things that we take for granted, its helped me become a happier and better person.
Ritual Gestation and Birth: A relatively low-spoons method (at least I think so) of creating powerful* servitors, enchantments, etc
*Powerful as compared to other techniques that work worse.
A common spellcasting method is to immediately deploy the spell once the casting is complete. In fact, deployment is often a part of the casting ritual in and of itself.
A different option is to keep the spell vessel in a state of magical gestation over a period of days or weeks, so that it slowly matures, gains strength, and solidifies, until it's born into this world, ushered by your hands.
This method is opposed to one where huge amounts of energy need to be raised at once. It's not a technique I'm able to manage in a sustainable way, and I find the results to be a little too... jittery.
If you are a witch who must not, or may not, raise lots of energy at once, this technique may be more manageable. It involves supervising a pot of spell, a bit like a simmering pot of stew, but overall I find it to be less of a draining process. Perhaps other people will find the same.
I believe that creating a magical seed (or embryo, if you like), and tying it to a physical object - such as a candle, crystal, piece of jewelry, charm bag, poppet, and so on - is in and of itself a powerful act of magic. This is why a candle can be enchanted, immediately burned, and still result in miraculous effects.
However, I also believe that giving the seed time to magically gestate can produce deeply powerful, effective, and long-lasting (or perhaps better to say, permanent) results. This isn't the same as completing a casting and letting the enchantment sit until you're ready to use it - it's an active process of nurturing.
Instead of immediately sending a spell to go out and work, sending it to a gestation phase is an easy change. If our spellcasting methodologies are anything alike, all you've got to do (in crude terms) is to swap out your targeting/release portion of the spell with an introduction to the magical womb, or egg, or embryonic sack, (&etc), within which the spell will grow and gain strength.
Examples:
If you direct energy as you raise it, instead of chanting, focusing, writing, or affirming that the spell goes to the target as you raise the energy, instead C/F/W/A that the spell goes into the gestational vessel.
If you gather energy and imprint/program it before you deploy it, send it to the gestational vessel instead of the target.
If you fully enchant a spell vessel (such as enchanting a candle, or creating a poppet), after the spellcasting is complete, instruct the new spell to rest and grow strong within the gestational vessel, until it's time to be fully born.
After the spell is cast, and you have magically moved the spell into its gestation phase, the spell components should be placed securely within the gestational vessel and tended to until they're ready to be born.
The "gestational vessel" is a physical object - in Traditional Witchcraft, this is most suitably the cauldron. But the gestational vessel only needs to meet a few qualifications, regardless of its ability to make campfire stews:
The gestational vessel must have a secure lid, even a makeshift lid, which blocks out the light.
It must be large enough to completely hold the physical components of the spell which it gestates.
It must be able to be stored without disruption, where no unqualified persons may accidentally remove the lid or disturb it.
Additionally:
Moving the vessel doesn't seem to typically disrupt what's growing inside. It can be taken down from a shelf, etc.; as long as the lid isn't opened without due cause.
I do not personally consecrate gestational vessels to that special purpose. I tend to use multi-use vessel which I'll use for other things later.
When the spell is inside of the magical egg (tired of saying gestation), it becomes your job to tend to it by providing energy. This can take many forms, and is an intuitive process.
Feeding the spell can be done in any manner which you usually recharge objects, or provide offerings to spirits. The line is blurred here, I think.
Feed the spell more of what you fed it in order to create it; that is, more of the same energy you raised, more of the same emotion you spent, and so on.
If preferred, feed the spell food, candle, and incense offerings. A general offering of "white light," or another creative energy, also does well here.
Intuition may advise that different foods are wanted by the spell at different times. Do with that as you please.
Those able to "tune in" to the energies of their spells and environment may find it to be very easy to keep track of the embryonic spell's hunger. Otherwise, follow a simple schedule.
I usually do not find that spells need to be fed every day, and when they require feeding, I do not find that they respond to huge amounts of energy or offerings.
Feeding about every three days is a safer bet for me.
I notice that an excess of provided energy just seems to pool up and go to waste.
A feeding may be as simple as placing a bit of your dinner next to the gestation vessel along with an offering charm, or if you're able to, lighting a single tea light.
Persons interested in psychism may have an excellent time noting the energetic change in the spell as the gestation develops.
The lid may be carefully opened to peek inside, especially if normally helpful intuition fails without peeking in; but treat the vessel gently, as if a tiny embryonic baby chicken is inside. Be quiet and gentle, and avoid disrupting the lid unless you really need to.
Ahead of time, before you even cast the spell, you should have decided how long you're going to gestate it for. Three days, or a full moon cycle, or dark to full moon, are a good bet; so is one week if you're doing a planetary thing. I find that even a shorter gestation period provides delightful results compared to doing none at all.
Intuition may advise that the spell is ready to be born early, or would like to stay a little longer.
If intuition is not your ally in these matters, follow the schedule you've set. All will be well.
The appointed time has arrived - the spell is to be born! (Celestial enthusiasts may be wise the the idea of birthing their spell at a special hour, day, or election).
Frankly, popping off the vessel lid, saying, "your time of rest is done, you are now at full power, go now and begin your duties" will perfectly suffice.
But better can be achieved.
If possible, consider employing a birthing ritual. Here are ideas, in no particular order:
Symbols of a gateway or passageway are very good, even something as simple as two stones or two candles to mark a 'gate'.
Using an actual doorway, especially moving from indoors to outdoors (or vice-versa, depending on the nature of your spell).
Using a hag stone to represent pulling the spell from the faerie world into our physical one; the reverse process of how such a stone is often employed.
Using a family tradition, or religious or cultural tradition, to celebrate the birth of a new baby; even if this tradition is only symbolically simulated through key points ("I am the grandpa of this family, and as the grandpa, I announce the new baby's name!")
Doing something celebratory and evocative, like that Lion King scene where Rafiki holds up baby Simba, etc.
In general, the spell should be removed from the gestation pot in a ritualistic way, glistening with the gravity of ushering new life into this world.
The spell may be carefully taken from the vessel and passed through a doorway or liminal space; symbolically drawn through a hag stone or other physically impassable space; held up to greet the first light of the day, or the light of a certain moon phase; be passed over a fire; or any number of ritualistic acts to denote movement into a new phase of life.
At this time, you should magically assert that the spell is born, and ready to do its task.
Of course, you do more. And in these matters, I find that more is better.
A christening ceremony, or a baptism, is most excellently employed to further empower this new life to be a living being in our world, capable of great influence and change - as we all imagine our children will be.
A bit of anointing oil, a touch of holy water, a formal naming ceremony ("I name you, My Paycheck is Cleared. Your name is My Paycheck is Cleared."), whatever you like - especially include a small gift to the spell (perhaps a few coins to set it on the right path in life), or - I suppose this post has gotten long enough. You can perhaps imagine what more could be done.
When all is said and done, employ the spell; light it if it's a candle, whisper things to it if it's a poppet, hang it up if it's supposed to be hung up, and so on.
Do mind that such things, having being born into this world and given real life, do not tend to quit it so quickly as only bornless energies that are diffused just as they were raised; like waves, forming and dissipating.
Things with birthdays and names and birthday presents and baptisms and godparents tend to feel as if this world is theirs, too.
I am generally not very much of a "be careful" sort of poster, but for this sort of technique, I'd recommend being careful. It really does work fantastically, and that's the problem.
Feed the spell with your blood at the moment of conception, and at the moment of birth, for something extra delightful.
Scams, Hoaxes, Conspiracy Theories, & Cults Everyone Should Know About
Jilly Juice: Jillian Mai Thi Epperly claimed drinking sixteen cups of her super salty cabbage concoction each day could regrow missing limbs and cure everything from cancer to homosexuality. In reality, overdosing on so much salt caused followers a host of health issues that Epperley dismissed as "healing symptoms."
Nonhuman Body Hoax: Jaime Maussan attempted to pass off mummified human remains as nonhuman beings to the Mexican government. (This isn't even Maussan's first hoax, by the way. He has a history.)
Love Has Won: Amy Carlson, a woman who'd walked out on her own children, started a New Age cult in which she presented herself as "Mother God," the creator of the universe. She claimed to be in contact with dead celebrities and alien beings, and taught a conspiratorial worldview. As her health declined, she attempted to treat herself with colloidal silver and alcohol, and her behavior became increasingly abusive. When she finally died, her followers sincerely believed she would return to life and kept her body in a sleeping bag. (She did not return to life.)
Seed Faith Offerings: Reverend Gene Ewing came up with the perfect get-rich-quick scheme to prey on desperate Christian believers: tell believers that if they "sowed seed" by giving money to him, God would bless them with even more money in the future. He made millions of dollars from these donations, while most of his followers never saw the miraculous returns they were promised.
William Walker Atkinson: In the early 20th century, William Walker Atkinson wrote around one hundred books, many of which he wrote under various pseudonyms. Some of these pseudonyms included alleged Hindu mystics. That's right - this guy was practicing literary brownface to sell his mystical ideas.
The LDS Church: In the 19th century, a man named Joseph Smith claimed that an angel had told him where to dig up a set of golden plates that were supposedly written by ancient Hebrews who'd come to North America. Smith even had eleven close associates who vouched for the plates' existence. Yet the script they were allegedly written in bore no relation to actual ancient scripts of the Near East, and the the names the locations in the books he "translated" were very obviously derived from placenames he would have been familiar with. (For example, Oneida/Onidah.) Oh, and actual archaeology and DNA studies have discredited pretty much everything from this guy's weird racist narrative.
Fake Cancer, Fake Cure: Wellness entrepreneur Belle Gibson claimed that she'd cured her brain cancer with natural remedies. Gibson never actually had cancer in the first place.
Medbeds: Back in 2020, QAnons and QAnon-adjacent people started circulating claims that a new form of healing technology was about to become available to the public within the next several months or so. Depending on who you asked, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and even the Galactic Federation of Light were involved. The time of their supposed unveiling came and went, and what do you know, there are still no functioning medbeds used in actual medicine.
COVID Vaccine Zombies: Conspiracy theorists have been claiming the government practices high-tech mind control for ages now. One recent iteration of this is a conspiracy theory claiming that people who'd received COVID vaccinations would have malicious DNA code activated by 5G on October 4, 2023, turn into zombies, and riot. The time came and went, and no zombie outbreak happened.
Ms.Scribe: In the early 2000s, a Harry Potter fan known as "msscribe" or "Ms.Scribe" faked her own harassment through a number of sockpuppets, with the apparent goal of becoming friends with some Harry Potter fandom bigwigs. She manipulated the fandom for a few years until the deception was finally uncovered.
“when the blood in your veins returns to the sea,
and the earth in your bones returns to the ground,
perhaps then you will remember that this land does not belong to you, it is you who belong to this land...”
Working with EXTINCT ANIMALS
Extinct animals, like Dinosaurs and prehistoric mammals and creatures, are not the easiest of spirits to work with. Those who work with them say they are not pleasant to work with - they don't care about your feelings, nor do they wish to care. Their teachings and interaction with you is very harsh, not sugar coated. It's like nature: it is cruel and carnal, it does not favor one over the other, and only the strongest or most clever survive. Life isn't fair, you must adapt and overcome to your situations and circumstances or suffer. It's as simple as that, and these extinct creatures know it. That is how they lived. They lived in a world much different from that of their descendants that we live with today. Their "grandchildren" are able to be more carefree and play and live along with surviving. Prehistoric animals only had survival. It was kill or be killed, run, eat, drink water, rest, breed, shit, and flee/escape from the bigger them-eater on the carnivore food chain.
Their descendants have the same teachings but they are like the "grandparents" which lived in harsher conditions and will be more harsh with their teachings than their "grandchildren". Like an Iguana vs and Iguanadon. Different lessons/intensities for different generations.
Many of their lessons are that if you wait for the perfect opportunity, you will go hungry. You have to fight tooth and nail to survive. Work smart not hard, know when to fight and to flee and live another day. They teach the lessons that our homo-erectus and Neanderthal ancestors had to learn the hard way: how to survive in a world that just wants to kill you at every turn. Ancient animals expect you to do it because they know it's good for you but they are emotionally detached. They want results. they don't give a shit about your feelings, if you don't want to do something, or if you think you can put it off. They don't give a rat's ass. They teach you to survive like they did. Don't listen to them and you'll meet your demise or damn close to it. They won't actually kill you, they'll just say "don't come crying to me when you fail, i told you how to do it. Listen or don't, i don't give a care." (not a typo)
So you wanna work with Extinct Animals? Time for some Research!
Researching these animals and what they were, how they lived, where they lived, and more is a VITAL part to working with these EXTREMELY old creatures. They are old as dirt… literally. But they require the same amount of research as any other god or goddess or humanoid entity you would work with (demons, angels, saints, etc.).
1) Research the era in which they lived: Jurassic, Cretaceous, Triassic, Paleogene, etc., for the dinosaur to see how you can build familiarity with them. What plants were around in that era? Where did they live and make their habitat? What did they hunt/eat?
Once you figure this out, you then have to look at their family tree. This, admittedly, takes a bit more work. Which leads me to my next point…
2) What of their descendants are around today? Look at their Phylum, Clade, Family, Subfamily, and Genus to get a better idea of what their "grandchildren" are and how you can build familiarity with them (we will get around to WHY you have to build familiarity in a minute.
Wikipedia is a good place to start for this. Look at these pictures to get a better look. This is for the Tyrannosaurus. See how its Clade is Saurischia? Notice how the Emu is also part of that family, so that would mean BIRDS are part of the same Clade as the Tyrannosaurus. You can do this with any dinosaur, but you have to trace back their lineage to find animals alive today that are related to them.
Finding Familiarity
Alright, we just talked about tracing back their family line to find descendants we recognize, yeah? Well, here's why i tell you why it's important.
When you look at the genus, family, phylum, and clade, see what the dinosaur is related to, you can use this information to gather materials based on their descendants to make them comfortable in YOUR environment, They are long dead and gone. When you petition them and call on them, you are essentially pulling them into a time period that is entirely foreign to them. They have no experience with the world we live in and are strangers to it. We gather materials and learn about them, what they like, how they lived, plants they would have seen in order to bring them a sense of familiarity and grounding (in a way). Think of it like you are Captain America when he got pulled out of the ice. He woke up 50 years in the future and they gave him what was supposed to be familiar surroundings and music to his own time to make him comfortable. Of course it didn't end like that in the movie but that's not the point. The point is that they are a guest to this new, strange, largely-metal world and you have a duty to make them comfortable in it while they are visiting.
If they are an aquatic animal like a Mosasaur or a Plesiosaur, then turn your LED lights on to a nice deep blue, get a bowl of sea water (or just any water will do, especially if you have a fish tank, that will go a LONG way to help), get some of those seaweed snacks, sea shells, and then petition and call on them.
If you are calling on a Carnivore, leave out some raw chicken or beef as an offering (always leave an offering, no matter if they decide to help you or not, always be a good host and give them an offering). If you have some kind of Ferns around, put those in your space to bring in some familiar shrubbery to make them more at ease, if you have a tooth or bone fragment or even an old stone from an ancient riverbed that you think they may like or have been around, use that as well. Do what you can to bring in familiar objects to them. The more you do to make them feel comfortable, the more likely they will help you (but even that isn't a given).
In order to request an audience with that spirit, you need something familiar to them, like prehistoric plants or making them comfortable in a time they don't recognize. Pelts, claws, antlers, plants, etc. Anything helps, and anything is better than nothing. Prepare offerings based on what they would most like based on their lineage.
Communication and Working With Them
They may not want to work with you because they don't know what you are. The vast majority have never even seen a human before and you may be the first. Be a good host, and be respectful. They can say no, and if they do, you have to be okay with that. Like i said before, they are carnal creatures, they don't give a shit about your feelings. You are a stranger, be a nice one.
Another thing to consider is that they don't speak English or Swedish or Cantonese, or any language you use. They communicate through body language. They understand English (or spoken language in general) but they can't speak it. You can ask if they want to speak in your native tongue but the vast majority will say no. The "younger" spirits (grandchildren) may speak in a tongue you can understand but ancient spirits will absolutely not.
This is also why research is hugely important. Research the spirit to understand what their body language is so you can better communicate with them. Look at what KIND of animal they are and how they may communicate by observing the body language and communication styles of their descendants.
Find a communication method that works. You can use liminal spaces to "speak" to them. Shapeshift/energy shift yourself to be like them and look at how they communicate and copy it. It may seem like broken english but it will get the point across
Requesting an Audience
This can be a quick process or a slow one, it just depends on the spirit and if they even want to work with humans at all. Most don't and that's okay, but if it doesn't work, just try again with another animal.
Lay out your supplies and offerings that are familiar to them: LED color, animal pelts, raw chicken/beef, antlers, ocean water, plants, rocks, etc. and call upon them. There's no fancy incantation or summoning ritual, you simply call out to the spirit of X ancient animal and request an audience with them. You may feel a presence that you don't recognize or just sense that something new has entered your space. This is about when you should meet them in the liminal space and begin your communication with them. This is of course the LAST thing you do, after all your research and time spent studying them. Only reach out when you know what you are dealing with and are confident enough to bring them into your space to speak with them and ask them for your help.
I think it's so adorable that early humans took wild gourds - a tiny fruit that hollows out as it dries, making it float - and decided to make something out of it
they thought the tiny fruit was so good that they bred it for thousands of years, making it larger to form into bowls and cups, and different shapes to become bottles and spoons
and musical instruments
And then, people took the hollow gourds they farmed, and they turned them into houses for birds. We adapted them into the perfect houses for birds, and now there are specific breeds of birdhouse gourd just for making into birdhouses
And humans dedicated gardening space and time and thousands of years of breeding to make the gourds so absolutely perfect for birds, that there is a species of bird that lives almost exclusively in them
There's levels to ancestral connection, and you shouldn't skip any of them.
Take this as your reminder to first of all, spend time with your spirits, without expecting anything in return. Heavy on that last part. You don't make and maintain a genuine connection with someone just by showing up to their doorstep every time you need something from them. Treat them as people because they are. Your people. You should care for them as much as they care for you.
Be it ancestors (specifically direct blood lineage or adoptive family, any deceased human relative) or ancestral spirits (in general, that is, all ancestral allies and hereditary connections not just your ancestors). Just make time to hang out. Walk up to their space, a cup of your favorite drink in hand, give them their preferred drink and just chat. Don't ask anything in return. If you have an altar for them, do that. But it can be just going to visit their graves and giving libations and flowers, and telling them how your life's going, sharing memories together, remembrance, or just to listen. It can also be going to the beach or a river, and same thing, pour a drink and talk to them, and listen back. It can be your plant allies, while you're watering them, or putting eggshells or honey or sugar water or other good nutrients and fertilizers on their soil. It can be visiting your ancestors in dreams, and spending time with them there. There's so many ways to do this.
The second level to this is letting them sit in your body too. Listen. Become familiar with how they make you feel. With the signs of their arrival and presence. With the signs they communicate with and what they mean to you. With how they let you know they have a message, or that they're in for a visit. And let them in. Dance to your grandma's favorite beats. Sing your grandpa's favorite songs. Make a family recipe and share a meal with them, enjoy it for them and with them.
Ancestral reverence isn't just the big rituals and they're not the most important aspect of it, it is the everyday coexistence, in your little but constant everyday ways.
Do as you do but also as they did. You're an extension of them and they're an extension of you. They not only walk with you, you carry them within you.
Honor that.
Ancestral Veneration and Why it’s Important
This is going to be a post about a topic that people seem to forget or deem unimportant even fearful about with either good reasons or just never thought about it. I just wanted to mention YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORK WITH ANCESTORS IN YOUR PRACTICE this blog is mostly for those who are interested in it and not sure what ancestral veneration is.
I’m a pagan and a witch that practices Ancestral veneration in my practice, not around it but it’s definitely a big part of why I practice certain paths. I’ll go in beginner tips, what to expect and the myths, the offerings and the recommendations. But let me go a bit into the importance of Ancestral Veneration and worship in human history since it’s still prevalent today.
Historical importance of Ancestral Worship
Ancestral worship and veneration has been at least one of the oldest religions that humans have ever believed in. Archaeological evidence shows the early humans taking care of their dead and burying them for respect and dignity maybe even courtesy to the deceased. It became sacred to them, imagine back then without fully understanding about the world someone that you spoke and saw now gone, it’s a profound moment one’s life that they must believe that their spirit lives on and they themselves wanted a peaceful resting place. It’s a cycle, many cultures and religions believe that life is a cycle, death is never the “end” rather an end of a journey to a new part of one’s life.
To this day people honor their deceased loved ones, visiting their graves, offering them gifts at their resting places, speaking to them, having their picture on a table surrounded by their favorite flowers, etc. Honoring the dead and respecting the dead is a very revered part of human life and something that we all would like to expect when we’re gone from our living family. Spirits also related or not, the dead as well should be treated with outmost respect and dignity like our ancestors did.
Some cultures like the Romans believed that if the spirits especially ancestral spirits (Lares) weren’t appeased they become angry if worshipped improperly or their will have not be been fulfilled. In Ancient Greek tradition they would place a coin in the mouth for the deceased to make sure their spirits would go into the afterlife safely and less traumatic. Each culture and society had a different way of how the ancestors would live in the afterlife.
Even in the Christian Bible shows the significance of ancestors, there is a reason why genealogies are included in the Bible. How Jewish people revere Abraham as their founding father since he is the first Hebrew patriarch which is very important to them and their religion. How even Jesus is related to David on both sides. Even immediate family is important like Jesus’s mother Holy Mary. In Norse Paganism it’s said that the kings were descend from gods like the Swedish Royal family related to Freyr. In Shintoism it is said that the First Emperor of Japan is related to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu. Japan and other many East Asian countries have a strong relationship and traditions regrading Ancestors.
Why Ancestral Veneration?
Ancestral Veneration is generally taken outside of paganism and witchcraft a very sacred thing for families, they can heal, they can come together, grieve together, reminisce together especially if they knew that person in life. But also asking the deceased loved ones for guidance and protection, to help their family in life whom they love the most. Plus this can help especially if you are into past life regression, we reincarnated with our ancestors many times and they have been able to see us in their time and now. It can be really insightful to understand of who we were in those lives.
Whatever legacy they left behind that you admired from them is continued for generations to come as well as heirlooms, a mother passing down her sentimental items to daughters or their children alike it’s a remembrance of what they were known by as well.
“Cows die, family die, you will die the same way . I know only one thing that never dies: the reputation of the one who’s died.” Havamal, Stanza 77.
If you’re going into paganism or witchcraft or both that are related to your ancestry. Your ancestors are the best teachers and mentors especially if they also have been in these specific practices and traditions. If you want to learn Seidr for instance a magical practice rooted within Scandinavian traditions and you have said Scandinavian roots you can contact a ancestor that practiced it in life and willing to help and teach you. What’s unfortunate about ancestral veneration looking down upon for many centuries making people turn away and against the practice is that it’s said that spirits can become lost if they aren’t being honored or remembered that makes them fade and lost.
Five Myths about Ancestral Veneration and what to expect. This is not going to be sugarcoated, I’m being honest and this what I’ve experienced in my own practice and how many others have experienced as well. I would add on if I forgot anything but these are most common misconceptions I have heard. The red are the myths if you are wondering.
Myth #1: All ancestors on the other side have my best interest and support all what I’m doing This is a common misbelief, now there is ancestors that will support you no matter what and your actions. But if you’re a pagan and a witch there is going to be Christian ancestors who won’t support you at all. Their human spirits with still human functions and beliefs. Not to say you can’t communicate but set your intentions and boundaries before meeting them, some will tolerate and some will make their opinions and beliefs known possibly even try to convince you. I know it sounds like fear mongering but it’s to what you would expect. This doesn’t mean you cannot make contact or venerate them because of it. It’s a choice that is a two way street, even spirits in the other side have freewill just like we do.
Myth #2: All Ancestors are well in spirit No, not exactly, when humans on earth do horrible things or experience horrible things it will take affect in the spirit world no matter what. Keep in mind time works very differently in the other world that it will take centuries for those who are healing to fully recover and those to actually realize their problems, messed up life on earth if they choose to recognize it. Again as I said just humans in the physical world human spirits also have free will and choices.
Myth #3: Only Human spirits are ancestors Nope commonly yes when we think of Ancestors we think of human beings that lived either with us or before us. But this isn’t the case, pets for instance that became our beloved family members and part of our inner circle are our ancestors. My cat that recently passed I had him since I was nine years old, I always thought and treated him like family because of that he merged into my family circle. Also animals can symbols of family, like a bear, an owl, an elephant, etc. that they can be represented as your ancestors as a whole.
Myth #4 : Ancestors are limited to just blood family Also a misconception, close friends and even adopted family members are considered to be close family. Some people won’t have blood relatives in life and find their found family which is just as valid and meaningful like a blood family is. This also goes to if you’re a person that likes to write you might venerate your favorite author, if you like to draw or paint you can venerate an artist that you admired a lot. Your family might have patron saints, deities, or local heroes and spirits that have been part of your family for generations. That’s why it’s nice to know where your family originated from what country, village, city, etc.
Myth #5: No Ancestors of mine did anything wrong Everyone’s ancestors did something horribly wrong in their lifetime, some were messed up people. But there are good ones that aren’t like that anymore, if you want to venerate them that’s up to you and your practice. I personally don’t do it because especially if they did something wrong and have no remorse for it I ain’t venerating none of them.
There is no reason to be afraid.
I know I seemed to be fear mongering in the previous part that’s because I don’t want to sugarcoated of which is most likely to be expected.
The Bottom line when contacting (if you want to have contact with them) and venerating your ancestors is that their no different from a human person in this physical realm. They will have personalities, likes, dislikes, opinions, beliefs like any other human being BUT from my experience a lot of my ancestors are very wise, humorous, kind, and non-judgmental. My advice if you really want to contact someone who is going to be supportive and helpful in your paganism and witchcraft, ask specifically for that person I usually ask for ancient ancestors pre Christian wise but there many folk witches and pagan ancestors that are more modern and recent that can most definitely help you! Speak to them like any other human interaction would be as if you’re talking to a living friend, family member or complete stranger you’re meeting for the first time.
How to Communicate with your ancestors
I have mention “contacting” your ancestors you can speak with them it’s not impossible.
1. Meditation and dream work: Most common and effective way to really get them to communicate you and send signs is through dreams. Meditation for a clear and close connection with them.
2. Tarot: Very common and just as effective, my most recommended first step when communicating with your ancestors. Using a tarot deck can help with putting your foot through the door. There is a great book which will recommend at the of the blog that does ancestral and tarot together.
3. Pendulum and a spirit board: This is more in depth but it has been very effective for me and many others to really connect and communicate with my ancestors. It’s good to state your intentions and boundaries before doing any of said above, but this is where you really need to set it. Before starting grab the pendulum over the board don’t let it swing and say, “I ask of the good and supporting ancestors that have me in good intent and support of my path and practice, I would like to meet you”. Of course you get specific like “I would like to meet an ancient Roman ancestor” that’s just an example of how it would go safely and respectfully.
4. Just talking to them. Yep sounds easy enough, you would just get something that represents ancestors or even a specific ancestor. For instance your grandmother’s rosary and just talk to them or pray to them. It’s a very simple and comforting way to bond with your family.
Offerings
This is going to be a “it depends on the ancestors” but there has been a universal notion of what ancestors do really like. From items, food, drink, etc.
Rosaries for catholic ancestors or the cross for Christian ancestors generally speaking
Pagan symbols for your pagan ancestors
Statues of ancestral gods or saints or other important entities
Sweets: Cookies and cakes are very popular
Alcohol: my Germanic ancestors love it when I offer beer, mead, ale. But also wine and other alcoholic beverages for others.
Regular libations like water, coffee, tea. juice, etc. good substitute if you cannot use alcohol.
Their meals from their home country, my Italian ancestors, recent and ancient love it when I make them pasta.
Incense some cultures call it the food for spirits
Heirlooms
Family photographs
Candles
Coins
Book of the dead, if you meet an ancestor you can record them down into a book that is solely for your family and to be passed down on and on. It’s a memorial service to them that someone knows their name and who they were.
Specific traditions that your ancestors came from for instance libations of wine for your Greek ancestors.
Good ancestral veneration books that personally helped me a lot and I know a lot of others to get started.
Ancestral Tarot by Nancy Hendrickson she helps how to contact and connect with your ancestors and ancestry using tarot
Ancestral Grimoire by Nancy Hendrickson like Ancestral Tarot she goes how to connect with your ancestors but this time how to really work with them. One of the exercises is to work with an ancestor for a month and a different for the next one.
Honoring your Ancestors by Mallorie Vaudoise she gives good information on different ways to connect with your ancestors, the different types of ancestors, she does have a Southern European and Catholic folk magic take to it which is fine but it’s not the sole focus of it but she does put good information in the book to help someone get started. 
Badass Ancestors by Patti Wigington also good beginners guide to ancestral veneration and how to connect through meditations and develop relationships with them even how to deal with problematic ancestors. She goes into how to research your genealogy and useful tips!
I've studied basic witchcraft, Hoodoo, and Heka as well as the general anthropology behind magic development in Western nations. One of the biggest reassurances that magic is real has been the fact that, regardless of where it originates, it requires:
Intention (what do you want to have happen?)
Direction (where do you want the energy to go?)
Materials (what do you want to use raise energy?)
European nations arrived to this conclusion. The Egyptians arrived to this conclusion. Enslaved Africans arrived to this conclusion.
And, sure, forces are more intertwined than we think. Chances are they were all inspired by one another somehow. But they all reached similar conclusions that we can manipulate the fates of the world through a few common steps.
Isn't that cool?
A Word on Plants
I wanted to make this post to talk a bit about associations and replacements in spellwork, particularly with regard to plants because they serve as an easy example. For instance, originally coming from the South, my first recommendation for keeping someone faithful would be Magnolia - it’s widely available where I’m from, easily accessible, local, and I’ve worked with it in the past so I understand its uses. However, a practitioner living in California would likely be better served replacing Magnolia with something like American Licorice, a fidelity plant which is local and available to them.
Understanding your local area is important so that you can understand and use local ingredients. Why is an ingredient included in a spell? Can it be replaced or improved on? Why is this ingredient associated with X and does that hold up to your own experiences with that ingredient? If I suggest an ingredient (or if you see something listed on a massive correspondence/association list) it is always worth your while to think about what that ingredient’s job in the spell is to be, why it’s associated with something, and what might work better for you based on your own experiences (which might very well differ from what some list tells you) and what is local and available to you.
This may not always be the case, of course, and you may well encounter spells that absolutely require a specific ingredient over another (particularly if you’re practicing in a specific tradition). However, for my own suggestions and for my belief that your practice should derive from your locality and your experiences, it is so necessary to think more actively about why you’re using one thing over another. Consult local guides. Consult other local practitioners. Ask the plants themselves! But if you’re putting together a spell for faithfulness and I suggest Magnolia, just know that that is always coming from my own practice and experience and that you are certainly allowed and always encouraged to rethink how such a suggestion might better be adapted for your own practice, which likely won’t look like my own.
A Word on Plants
I wanted to make this post to talk a bit about associations and replacements in spellwork, particularly with regard to plants because they serve as an easy example. For instance, originally coming from the South, my first recommendation for keeping someone faithful would be Magnolia - it’s widely available where I’m from, easily accessible, local, and I’ve worked with it in the past so I understand its uses. However, a practitioner living in California would likely be better served replacing Magnolia with something like American Licorice, a fidelity plant which is local and available to them.
Understanding your local area is important so that you can understand and use local ingredients. Why is an ingredient included in a spell? Can it be replaced or improved on? Why is this ingredient associated with X and does that hold up to your own experiences with that ingredient? If I suggest an ingredient (or if you see something listed on a massive correspondence/association list) it is always worth your while to think about what that ingredient’s job in the spell is to be, why it’s associated with something, and what might work better for you based on your own experiences (which might very well differ from what some list tells you) and what is local and available to you.
This may not always be the case, of course, and you may well encounter spells that absolutely require a specific ingredient over another (particularly if you’re practicing in a specific tradition). However, for my own suggestions and for my belief that your practice should derive from your locality and your experiences, it is so necessary to think more actively about why you’re using one thing over another. Consult local guides. Consult other local practitioners. Ask the plants themselves! But if you’re putting together a spell for faithfulness and I suggest Magnolia, just know that that is always coming from my own practice and experience and that you are certainly allowed and always encouraged to rethink how such a suggestion might better be adapted for your own practice, which likely won’t look like my own.
Are there any specific paths you follow beside animism and Mother Nature worship? Something wide? Maybe, something specific?
Both as in religious path, as well as magical one.
I don't really label myself beyond "Mother Nature Devotee", "pagan" or "witch" and I don't actively follow any specific paths.
I'm sure my practice is very similiar to "green witchcraft", and there are certainly elements similiar to modern druidry and english/irish folk magic as that's my heritage, but I don't follow those paths specifically.
My craft and practice are directed by nature, by my studies and my intuition. I'm not really on a path, I'm in the middle of the forest stepping over nettles and thorns because I think I saw something cool in that direction.
I hope that answers your question, and feel free to ask any follow ups :)
Practicing discernment: Some ways of testing and ruling out the mundane
As many folks in the witchcraft community say, "mundane before magic." That is, before assuming that your problems have a supernatural cause or require a magical solution, look into mundane causes and fixes first. So, I made a list of stuff to consider and try out before committing yourself to something supernatural/magical. This of course a generalized list, so not everything is going to apply to everyone. (The kind of people who get mad at a bean soup video because they don't like beans are advised to skip the rest of this post.)
(This is inspired by that bit of advice going around that's like, "If you hate everyone, eat", etc, which is very good advice.)
I know some of this stuff might sting the ego a little bit, but in all of my experience these problems really are super common among people who feel or suspect certain things. And a little kick to the ego is a lot easier to deal with than the fallout of completely detaching yourself from the real world.
If you feel like the apocalypse is near: examine your living and financial situations (are they stable?), cut down on your consumption of bad or politically-charged news, examine your childhood religious/political indoctrination, and socialize with normies more.
If you feel like you're under spiritual attack or you're constantly sensing bad energies: examine your unresolved tensions with people, work on your social skills (especially your ability to set and maintain boundaries), and examine whether you might have PTSD or C-PTSD (such as from childhood trauma).
If you're stuck on the idea of meeting your soulmate: work on your self-image, work on your social skills, and socialize more.
If you feel like a supernatural or divine being stuck in a mortal body: examine whether you might have autism and/or ADHD.
If you show symptoms of trauma but can't think of a reason you'd be traumatized: examine whether you might have autism and/or ADHD, whether adults were more supportive or invalidating when you were a child, whether you were more often included or excluded at school, and how stable and relaxed your home life actually was.
If you feel like you have a purpose presently unknown to you: build a skill or get into a hobby. Also socialize more.
If you feel called to be a spiritual healer or teacher: examine whether adults emotionally neglected or invalidated you as a child.
If you feel like the gods hate you: examine how your parents treated you when you were growing up, and examine childhood religious indoctrination.
If you feel like you've been cursed for a long time: examine whether you might have ADHD, autism, some form of mental illness, some form of chronic illness, poor social skills, or shitty doctors.
If all of the spells you cast seem to be weak: work on your self-image (including your faith in yourself) and work on your social skills (including your ability to set and maintain boundaries).
If you feel like there has to be a massive conspiracy or global deception: examine whether you might have some form of mental illness, consider childhood indoctrination (were you raised with highly polarizing or conspiratorial beliefs?) and socialize with normies more.
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼 Wild Plant Lore 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼
Some notes from my BOS of weeds / local plants that can be used in one's craft. Includes magickal correspondences, traditional uses (medicinal and culinary), and some of their folklore.
Disclaimer at the end !!
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
Acorns- the nuts of oak trees. They're made of one seed covered by a tough shell with a cap on top. These nuts can be eaten and are turned into flour to make breads and pastas. Much about acorns are unknown as they are mainly unused in everyday life, but we do know that they contain a high fiber content which has been used to treat bloating, diarrhea, stomach pains, and other digestive issues. Because these nuts come from oak trees they’ve been a symbol of great wisdom and longevity in many cultures such as Celtic and Nordic. Many people have worn necklaces with acorn charms on them to bring protection
• Protection, prosperity, growth, wisdom
Bull nettle- Thick stock and toothed leaves with stiff prickly stinging hairs, the flowers are small, white, and covered in hispid. The seed pods are lightly coloured and cylindrical, containing ~3 seeds. Touching this plant will cause a stinging, burning, or itching sensation that will last for hours. The seeds from the seed pods are edible and taste nutty but need to be harvested with extreme care as to not sting yourself. The seeds can be roasted or ground into a "cornmeal." The root of bull nettle is edible, it's similar to a potato but tougher and the core is so tough it should be discarded.
Binding, banishing, warding, baneful (to cause pain)
Cattails- Cattails are semi-aquatic plants that consist of multiple long spiked leaves with one center spike holding a sausage-shaped head that is filled with cottony seeds. Their rhizomes can be turned into a flour with a high protein content and the shoots can be cooked and eaten. The stems and leaves can be turned into paper. A poultice from the roots can be used as an antiseptic, for burns/cuts, and to reduce inflammation. When harvesting this plant please do not overharvest, it’s a very important part of a wetland’s ecosystem ! Also, always make sure the water near the cattails is clean because cattails filter pollutants out of the water so if you plan on consuming the plant, you could also be consuming those pollutants.
Fertility, growth, prosperity, peace, water-associated magick, cleansing
Catchweed- Also known as cleavers, hitchhikers, goosegrass, or sticky weed. Catchweeds are branchy, square stems that latch onto other plants and buildings with small hooked hairs on their leaves and stems. They have tiny, star-shaped, green or white-ish flowers with four petals. They also have small burrs that contain a few seeds that are covered in hooked hairs so they can latch on to animals to disperse seeds. For those who want to risk getting pricked, catchweed is edible. Young leaves and stems can be cooked and eaten like spinach. This plant is also in the same family as coffee, meaning that you can dry and roast the seeds in their burrs to make a lower-caffeine coffee substitute and teas. Poultices have been made with the whole plant, as with tea washes from dried leaves, in many cultures for light burns, small wounds, and eczema. It has a cooling effect so it’s also used in infusions for bug bites, stings, and poison ivy.
Energy, binding, commitment, protection during travel
Chickweed- Also called chickenwort/weed, winterweed, and simply ground cover as that’s its primary use in modern society. Long stems with pointed, oval-shaped leaves and tiny white star-shaped flowers that resemble carnations. Its star-shaped flowers earned it the botanical name “Stellaria media”. Its flowers and leaves are both edible and are very popular in salads, soups, and stir-fries. It has a taste similar to sprouts that you’d use in a salad. Chickweed salves are used for skincare, poultices for poison ivy, and teas for digestion. Historically, it's been used for skin ailments like itching, dry skin, and even bruises or bug bites from a tisane/tea of the stems applied to the affected area. In European folklore, it was said to help promote a happy, balanced family and love life. This is believed to come from how chickweed grows so closely with all its stems intertwined but in a way that promotes each part to grow healthy, so it promotes everyone in a household getting along with one another while having their own sense of individuality. It’s also associated with perseverance (like most weeds I’ll admit), this is because chickweed is seen growing everywhere, in yards, in forests, on piles of dirt. If it sees an opportunity, it’ll take it and thrive year-round.
Love, stability, loyalty, communication, lunar-associated magick
Clovers- white, balled flowers with three to four small, round leaves. Every part of this plant is edible, the leaves and flowers are sweet and vanilla-y so they are good in teas and sweets. Clover has been used to ward off fevers and used in tisanes/teas for inflammation. Clover has been associated with good fortune for centuries, especially four-leaved clovers. A shamrock is a symbol of a three-leafed clover representative of the Christian Holy Trinity, it’s also believed that the Celtic druids thought shamrocks to be significant because they had three leaves possibly representing the underground, earth, and sky.
Luck, prosperity, happiness, faith
Creeping Speedwell- Teeny tiny violet/baby blue flowers with light yellow middles, it is incredibly fast-growing and can be found in most yards. Speedwell is edible and good in salads, pestos, and smoothies. Tea is made from the leaves and flowers to help clear congestion, allergies, and coughs. Some add it to their baths to help with their allergies and inflammation, inflammation is also helped by a poultice. In some folklore, it’s said that a tea or ointment from speedwell could help one with psychic visions and faerie sight. Before I truly knew the folklore behind speedwell I had this sense that it would help with your clairsenses.
Abundance, divination, psychic/clairsense work
Creeping buttercup- Buttercups are toxic and will leave blisters when raw so they must be cooked or dried before being consumed, even then it's not recommended to eat. A poultice of the (boiled) leaves is used for inflammation and wounds and a tea from the plant is used for its analgesic properties, but be wary of the blisters that may occur. Buttercups used to be used to ward off faeries, many farmers would plant these around their cows to prevent them from being stolen from the fae. There are a lot of stories relating buttercups to cows which is very very cute but ironic because buttercups are actually toxic to many animals! For its many associations with children, fairies, and coyotes across various cultures it can also be related to mischief
Youth, happiness, love, protection from fae, mischief (jinxes/hexes/glamours)
Creeping charlie- Also known as ground ivy. Creeping charlie has square stems with dark, rounded or fan-shaped, toothed leaves. It has small blue or lavender, funnel-shaped flowers that grow in clusters of two or three in the spring. Creeping charlie is edible and has a long history of being used in beer and cheese, it tastes subtly minty as it's in the mint family. Young leaves are good in salads to freshen them up and it's also really good in teas and sweets. There is a risk of it being toxic if consumed in large quantities though. For centuries now it's been used in teas to calm a cough, been said to help with headaches, and has been used on the skin to reduce pain and soothe inflammation. Some have turned it into a snuff and used it for congestion, kind of like Vaporub. It was actually brought over from Britain to the Americas for its medicinal uses, now it’s one of those weeds people will spend tons of money trying to get rid of. Alike creeping buttercup, it’s said that some may have used this to ward magick from their livestock and themselves. Some say it’s good to use to find out who has cursed you or sent the evil eye your way and in some stories, people would drink it as a tea to get rid of their shyness.
Protection from magick and spirits, divination, clarity, courage
Deadnettle- My favourite weed :) Square stem, fuzzy leaves that occasionally are red/purple at the top, with tiny tube-shaped light pink flowers. Despite technically being a nettle, it’s not a true nettle so very few people will have a reaction when touching this plant. Deadnettle is part of the mint family and every part of it is edible, despite that though it's not very minty and is floral and sweet. My favourite parts are the tiny pink flowers which have sweet nectar in them and are good in teas, syrups, sweets, and jams. The leaves are good in teas, smoothies, pestos, and salads. A poultice or salve can be made from the leaves for wounds and teas can help with allergies. This plant is sometimes called purple archangel because it pops up around the Feast of the Apparition when it was said St. Micheal appeared. It’s associated with determination because this lil dude will grow anywhere, even in spots with the worst quality soil.
happiness, determination, peace, healing
Dandelion- Dandelions are bright layered yellow flowers with toothed leaves that grow pretty much anywhere there is enough dirt to get their roots in. The entire plant is edible, the flowers are slightly sweet making them good for salads, syrups, and sweet. The leaves are slightly bitter but that can be lessened when harvested young or boiled, they're good as spinach replacements and can be dried for teas. The flowers can also be turned into dyes. The plant's name can be literally translated to 'healing herb' as it has been used in many cultures for it's gut health and detoxifying properties. Teas and tinctures from leaves are made for a diuretic and flowers are made into salves or beauty products to treat acne/eczema and to reduce inflammation. About dandelions being diuretics - the name dandelion comes from the french name dentdelion (tooth of the lion) but there’s actually a second French name, “pissenlit”, which means piss the bed !!
luck/wishes, communication, balance, courage, youth
Daisy- Daisies are low-growing flowers with thin, long, white petals and yellow disc florets (middles). Common daisies are edible, these are really found growing anywhere even in your lawn. Leaves can be used in salads or stir-fries and flower heads can be pickled or used in salads. Wines, soups, and teas are also commonly made from daisies. The flowers have a slightly bitter taste but look pretty in dishes. Daisies have been used in teas for coughs, bronchitis, and common colds. It's also been used to "stimulate the digestive system" to promote appetite. Daisies have been into lotions and other skincare products to treat rashes, eczema, and other skin issues. Daisies came to be associated with love and motherhood through it being the flower of Freya, innocence/purity through the story of Vertumnus and Belides where the flower gets its scientific name, and purity the popular phrases like “fresh/clean as daisies”.
Happiness, cleansing, love, purity (cleansing), motherhood/childbirth
Feverfew- Feverfew are daisy-like flowers with bright yellow middles and white petals, with yellow-green leaves in a feathered arrangement, that grow in small bushes together. Feverfew is edible but many will steer clear of it as it has a very bitter taste. It’s often made into teas and used in pastries. Although feverfew isn’t used to reduce fevers anymore, there are still many health benefits and medicinal uses of the plant, some people even calling it ‘medieval aspirin’. People will take feverfew pills or apply a poultice to relieve pain from arthritis and inflammation. A poultice can also be applied to minor cuts, scrapes, and bug bites. Teas can be made for headaches and some use it to help with menstrual pain. Feverfew is also known to show some skin benefits by reducing redness and inflammation. Feverfew may increase bleeding as it acts similar to an anticoagulant, because of this it is advised that if you are taking a blood thinner like aspirin, Dabigatran (Pradaxa), Heparin (Innohep), or others, you talk to your doctor before taking feverfew. This plant has more medicinal uses than references in mythology but I did find a few references to it being believed to be able to save the life of someone that had fallen from the Parthenon, a temple to Athena, which gave it the scientific name parthenium.
Healing, curse-breaking, love
Lesser celandine- Also known as pilewort or sometimes fig buttercup. Pilewort is a plant on the buttercup family that has dark, heart-shaped leaves and bright yellow flowers with glossy petals. Despite its pretty exterior, touching the plant could cause rashes or blistering especially when the plant is crushed. Ingesting the plant can cause dizziness, vomiting, and worse. While there may be ways to cook out the toxins, I cannot advise anyone to consume this plant without proper experience. This plant is also known as the spring messenger as it's one of the first plants to bloom in the spring. Lesser celandine was referenced a lot in literature, most being about love and foreshadowing happiness alike how it signals spring.
Joy, love, Spring associated magick
Maple seed pods- Maple seeds, also known as helicopters or samaras, are the seed of maple trees, as one would assume. These are winged pods consisting of a papery tissue surrounding a single seed that is usually joined together in pairs of two. The seeds are edible once the outer covering has been removed and taste better while young, becoming bitter as they mature. Some say that smaller pods taste sweeter and larger ones taste more bitter. They're good in roasts, stir-fries, and salads. They can also be dried and pounded into flour ! Much of what we know about maple seeds are simply culinary and there's not much information on their medicinal uses. The majority of the correspondences of maple seed pods come from maple trees which represent balance and longevity. They also are associated with childhood after the many many years of children playing with these helicopter-like seeds.
Longevity, growth, balance, youth
Mulberries- Mulberries come in three different colours which are red, white, and black. Different mulberries grow on different mulberry trees. Black mulberry trees have an orange-y-toned bark with toothed, heart-shaped leaves. White/red mulberry trees have a greyish bark with large, deeply lobed, oval-shaped leaves. Mulberries look very similar to blackberries but longer with each cluster of fruit containing a seed. Mulberries are edible, black ones taste the best and can be both sour and sweet and the white/red ones are duller in flavour but sweet. These are made into jams, syrups, wines, sweets, sorbets, really anything sweet and it tastes great ! These berries are more known for their culinary uses but some studies suggest that they can help reduce cholesterol and improve digestion. In Greek/Babylonian mythology, red mulberries came from white mulberries that were stained red from the deaths of the star-crossed lovers Pyramus and Thisbe which gave them the association of love and death.
Love, death, faith, wisdom
Osage oranges- Also known as horse apples or hedge apples. Osage oranges are a yellow-green fruit with a very rough and bumpy peel. These oranges grow on trees called Maclura pomifera. The wood of these trees are used for very good firewood and yellow-green dyes. The Osage natives would use the wood from the tree for many things like bows and boats as it’s very flexible. The roots of the trees are sometimes made into water infusions to help with eye conditions. People have also used the wood, or even sat out the fruit, to deter insects. Osage oranges are edible but most people, and even animals, will avoid eating them due to their dry and bitter taste. They taste like very bitter and citrus-y cucumbers. These oranges can cause skin irritation to some.
Warding, protection, strength
Pinecones- Pinecones are geometric cones that come from conifer pine trees that produce pollen or seeds depending on their sex. Pinecones symbolize fertility and life in many cultures and have been used in artwork for centuries. The pineal gland in the brain was named after pinecones because of its shape, this gland is sometimes referred to as the “third eye” and some believe that it acts as a witch’s eye would; this is how pinecones were tied to the idea of enlightenment and rebirth as well as the fact that they have been around for so long. Some conifer cones are edible (some aren't!) but they are very tough to chew so you must boil them before eating, pinecone jam has been commonly made from young cones. Pine has been used in teas, tinctures, resins, and many other things to treat coughs, allergies, and help with sinus infections.
Fertility, creativity, prosperity, enlightenment, rebirth
Prickly lettuce- a quite tall, red stem that contains latex with large tooth-shaped leaves that have prominent veins and spikes lining its edges and main vein on its underside. When it blooms it has small, pale yellow flowers. This plant is edible and is pretty much used like normal lettuce while having a slightly bitter taste, as usual, this gets less noticeable as it matures. Leaves can be eaten in salads or cooked/steamed and the root can be made into a tea. The latex substance that comes out of the leaves and stem when injured is called lactucarium which is known as lettuce opium due to its sedative and pain-relieving properties; the process of harvesting this substance is tedious. This can be used to help people sleep, relax, and relieve pain. Lettuce in general has a great amount of significant historical usage. Lettuce came to be associated with sex because an Egyptian fertility god, Min, was associated with lettuce as it was known as an aphrodisiac that was ritualistically ingested before sex. These effects were due to the lactucarium. In Hellenism, when Adonis died he was laid on a bed of lettuce along with other fast-growing plants. In festivals for him, they would burn withered lettuce and mourn his death, this related lettuce to death.
Necromancy, offerings for the deceased, fertility, sex
Queen Anne's Lace- Also known as wild carrot. A tall flowering weed with a thin, stiff stem and tiny white, clustered flowers. The flowerhead consists of a bunch of separate flowers, some plants may have a singular purple/pink flower. Queen Anne's lace's root is edible which is actually where it gets the names wild carrot and Daucus Carota, it's good steamed and boiled. It is pretty stringy and if you wait too long to harvest it can become very hard and woody. This plant is NOT safe to consume for those who are pregnant ! The stem is known to cause skin irritation and rashes to people with sensitive skin. Despite being edible, most wouldn't suggest eating it because it looks almost identical to poison hemlock which if consumed could be fatal. It also looks a ton like wild celery but that's less of an issue. Historically, the seeds of wild carrot were used as an abortant in a "morning after pill" type of way. Wild carrot was named Queen Anne's Lace after Queen Anne of England who was a great lace maker, there is a legend that when making lace one day she pricked her finger then a single drop of blood fell on it and that's why the flower has a single purple flower. Because of the association to Queen Anne, some would use it to try to attract love or make themselves look more beautiful. Wild carrot is also called bird's nest or the bishop's flower which ties it to themes of safety and sanctuary.
Beauty, love, glamours
Rosebay willowherb- Also commonly known as fireweed for its appearance or bombweed because it began to heavily grow in bomb craters/sites in WWII around the UK. The rosebay willowherb has tall reddish stems and willow-like leaves with long magenta flowers. Traditionally it's been used in teas, jellies, and salads. It has a pretty bitter taste so you need to harvest it young and cook it before eating. It's used in teas for its demulcent properties, to treat certain stomach conditions, and has been used in skincare because of its astringent properties. There’s not much folklore about this plant but it’s well known for appearing after events that devastated an area, it was one of the first plants to start growing after Mt. St. Helens, after colonizers burnt down forests, and after bombs dropped in WWII. I’ve also heard it’s bad luck to pick its flowers, either stating that a storm will occur or your mother will fall ill.
Courage, perseverance, change, bad luck
Stinging nettle- tall, heart-shaped, toothed leaves. The leaves are covered in small stinging hairs that when touched will inject chemicals into one's skin and cause slight stinging sensations. Young stinging nettle has widely been used in dishes as soaking/cooking it takes away the sting. It is very similar to spinach in taste, texture, and nutrients. Ointments are made to treat arthritis and inflammation, teas are made from dried leaves and flowers to treat allergies and hayfever. Poultices of the leaves were used for stiff joints and muscle pain by helping blood circulation in that area. Be wary of using stinging nettle on your skin as it can cause rashes and blisters. Some Native American groups used it in teas as a stomach tonic. In Celtic folklore, it was said to keep evil spirits and illness at bay, it also says that when you see thick strands of nettle it means that faeries are nearby.
Binding, protection from baneful magick and evil spirits, strength, curse breaking
Sweetgum seed pods- Also known as witch’s burrs or witch balls. Sweetgum seed pods are hard, spikey seed pods with small holes where the seeds once were. These fall from sweetgum trees after they mature and disperse their seeds. These aren’t edible nor really used for any medicinal purpose. They’re often placed around plants to protect them from animals. Magickally, you can place them around your space to ward off unwanted energies and entities or even grind them into a powder for banishing or protection. These things hurt like hell to step on so they’re also good to use in baneful protection magick, like baneful wards or return to senders.
Protection, warding, binding, baneful protection
Violet- There are many species of violets so I'm going to cover them in a broad sense. Violets are usually small, light purple flowers with short stems, little shrubbery, and heart/kidney/scalloped leaves. In many species of violet both the leaves and flowers are edible and contain high levels of vitamins A and C, but make sure to properly identify your plant before consuming. These can be made into teas, sweets, salads, etc. Violet syrup is my favourite ! Some leaves in wild violets will taste quite soapy, so try them out before cooking them into anything. Violet leaves have cooling and anti-inflammatory properties so they are used in poultices, salves, compresses, and oils for scrapes, burns, and bug bites. Violets have traditionally been used in teas or tonics for coughs and swollen lymph nodes. There is a lot of folklore and mythology that this flower is a part of. Violets are largely associated with modesty and innocence and this stems from two main stories; Persephone was said to be picking violets when Hades kidnapped her to live in the underworld and in Greek mythology when Apollo pursued a nymph, Artemis/Diana turned her into a violet to protect her. There are also stories in The Bible that associate violets with modesty like when Archangel Gabriel tells Mary she is pregnant, violets bloom around her. This is why sometimes when a child dies, violets are put on their grave as a representation of their innocence. There are many other popular stories of violets turning to tears when someone is crying. They’re also associated with love from a story of Venus and Cupid and were believed to be an aphrodisiac in the Middle Ages.
Femininity, respect, wisdom, modesty, divination, love
𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
Disclaimer !!: Before you consume or use a plant medicinally, make sure you are 100% sure on the ID. Speak with a doctor before using a plant, especially if you’re pregnant, and make sure you aren’t allergic and that it won’t interact with any of your medications. Do not substitute legitimate medications with herbal remedies, this is not medical advice. Always do your own research before consuming or using a plant medicinally. Some of the plants, while generally safe for humans, are not safe for animals and children. As a general rule of thumb, younger greens will taste better. As the plant matures and bears fruit it will typically become more bitter, so the best time to harvest most of these is before it bears fruit. Make sure to avoid areas treated with pesticides and always wash your takings before use. And make sure you're never over-harvesting, always make sure there's another 'patch' of the plant your taking !!
What is "Negative Energy?"
If you're someone who uses this term in your practice, I want you to really think about what "negative" energy means to you and how you perceive it.
Is it always harmful? How does it feel? Is it heavy and suffocating? Is it always like that? Is it something that needs to be "dealt with"? Or is it just a different sort of energy; a natural fluctuation? Does positive energy exist? Neutral energy? How do they interact with each other? Why do you think this?
There's no right answer, it's just important that you know how you identify it and what it means for you.
In a lot of New Age belief systems, "negative" energy is viewed as bad and something to be removed but it's also associated with normal human experiences like sadness and anger and general disagreement. If someone tells you that your anger/sadness/shitty situation etc is "negative energy" - that is spiritual bypassing and it helps no one.
Reminder that humans are also a part of nature. We are not some outsiders looking into this world - we are a part of the world. We evolved alongside every other creature and plant on this planet, we are no better and no worse than them, we just are.