Everyday Enchantments

The New Year. Festivities are over, you are perhaps going back to work, you're all partied out... the list is endless of things we lament/regret in January. Therefore I thought that this month's spiritual survival kit would be one of self-care to get our groove back! I have been doing these monthly talismans for a while, but I've not actually featured them on Instagram or the blog before. But with the new decade upon us, I thought it was time. So here's how it works; you gather the supplies, throw a little ritual (don't forget to take a photo/mental note of the setup) with a meditation and stuff most of the ingredients in a small bag which you carry with you. You can then draw on your meditation and the photo of the setup if you need a boost! This month's tarot card is The Empress, you can read all about it on Biddy Tarot . I chose it because it shows you that you can create beauty in your life, and you are allowed to love and care for yourself like you w...

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 Today, that binder has been replaced by Evernote.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!

Love using your smart phone? I do, because it comes with some really good tools for the modern witch! I've been using various apps (decks) from Fool's Dog Software for about 2 years or more. I love how I can take my favourite deck anywhere I want on my smart phone and my tablet :) My current favourite is the below - Crystal Visions Tarot. COPYRIGHT by Fool's Dog Software I also have the 'Book of Shadows Tarot vol.1', 'Shadowscapes Tarot' and the 'Victorian Fairy Tarot'. I started using these on my Galaxy S3/S5, but discovered that these really come into their own on the tablet! The images are high resolution and the programming is very functional. I especially love the fact you can have a 'card of the day' widget - I use it daily to just get more into the cards by reading the description of each new card every day. The app has a great journal, various ways of doing a reading, and they also come with the full instructional book that t...