Everyday Enchantments

When I was teaching witchcraft back in the mists of time, #1 question was, hands down, "Can I see your Book of Shadows?". If you're Wiccan, you know this is how Wiccans refer to their grimoire, spell book or whatever you want to call it. I had a really shit system back in the day - literally it was a massive ring binder with print-outs from the internet, photocopies (who remembers those??) and clippings pasted onto paper. I'd show it to students and they'd all be like.. They clearly thought I had this huge, leather-bound tome of calligraphy and detailed mystical illustrations. No. Maybe I should take it out of the loft and do a video?! Today, that binder has been replaced by Evernote. Yes, Evernote. Cuz ain't nobody got time for paper in this day and age. And also, Evernote goes wherever you go, on your laptop, tablet and phone (not sponsored, haha). You don't need to have a physical journal, it can literally be Evernote or just a giant W...

My Harvest altar This is one of the 8 festivals (Sabbats) of the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, more commonly known as Lughnasadh or Lammas. In my personal path, I've chosen to call this the Festival of the Harvest instead as my path is not wholly Wiccan. It is a festival of the first harvest, not of fruit or vegetables but of grains; Mabon (or the Autumn Equinox) is considered the '2nd harvest', the harvest of fruit, vegetables and meat. As it is the festival of grain, bread is usually the main festival food offering! Lore I suggest also checking into more traditional lore of the Sabbats in books on Wicca, the below is the 'lore' from my personal path. Everything in Nature is now ripening from bud and blossom to fruit. Everywhere you look are fruits of the fertility sown earlier in the year. The golden fields of ripe grain are swaying in warm sunlight! Some soft fruits are also ripe, such as raspberries and blackberries. Make bread and sacrifice some of ...

I started off the week with a short (I work full time) moment at my garden altar this morning, burning some Purification incense and having a mindful moment. It only took 5 minutes, but I feel much more refreshed and ready for the new week after clearing out all those spiritual/energetic cobwebs! RECIPE: Purification Incense Chamomile Lavender Peppermint Bay leaf Benzoin Mix equal parts of herbs in a jar, crumble in one bay leaf, and then add some grains of benzoin resin. Benzoin resin smells very potent; don't get too heavy-handed or your blend will be too strong. This mix must be burned on charcoal discs!

Phew. No, honestly. Phew... I am soooo looking forward to the New Moon and the ending of the Mercury retrograde. Emma Mumford talks about how not to 'manifest' the negativity of the retrograde but it's so hard because the energy really affects me, and the people I work with. I find myself wearing black tourmaline and trying to bat away crazy sh*t all the time... Anyway today marks an easing of much of this cosmic crap, as the moon enters into its 3rd Quarter, and moves into Taurus. The 3rd Quarter moon is the moon for re-evaluating and releasing; I take this time to start working on what I want to put into my New Moon intentions. I also sometimes have a little mini-declutter of a small area of my home, or maybe my emails. Somehow it seems to just be a good time for me to do that! When the daily moon is in Taurus, it is a time to relax and practice some self care, plodding about the house, eating and just chillaxing. It's not a particularly good time to do ur...

Admit it, you think of the Wicked Witch of the West ... It's been a while again! I decided I wanted to get back into blogging about my witchy life again, after feeling a bit disconnected from it all being super-busy being a new mum in the last year. I'm also getting back into blogging about beauty and lifestyle over on my other blog ; I just want to get back into more creative and spiritual stuff (and not just changing cloth nappies and trying to stop my little witchling running around and hurting herself on stuff). I will be posting one post a week to start off with, but I toying with the idea to set up an Instagram account for daily witcheries... As much for me, as for you :) See ya all soon!