The Franks Anglo-Saxon Casket, depicting Roman Myth, Germanic Folklore and Early Christian Motifs, 700CE, The British Museum, London

The same goes for peppermint oil. Be especially careful not to touch near your eyes if you get either on your hands. The skin around your eyes is extremely thin and your eyes are sensitive.

Witchcraft PSA - Cinnamon Oil

Once again, I’m seeing witchcraft recipes being posted that call for cinnamon oil, often out of proportion with the other ingredients. Honestly y’all - 10 drops of cinnamon and 2 drops of rose oil for a perfume? WTF. That is just going to cause pain.

Now, cinnamon is a useful spice and great for cinnamon toast. But white cinnamon essential oil has some medical benefits it is also very strong. It can cause severe allergies and skin burning that may require hospitalization. You must be very, very careful when using cinnamon essential oil in any preparation. Or better yet, just don’t.

People posting on social media are often not using the recipes they post and have no real world experience with the ingredients.

Look, here’s a medical article on burns caused by using cinnamon oil. It has unpleasant pictures at the bottom.

Personally, I don’t even go for the “make sure you dilute it with a carrier oil” caution. If I have a need for cinnamon oil, I make my own infusion. It’s easy enough to do. Pour some vegetable, olive or other oil into a small pan, add a good quantity of cinnamon (not essential oil, The stuff you put on your toast), heat gently, let it cool then pour through a coffee filter into a jar. This oil can be used to add the warmth of cinnamon to your spells. But it must still be used with caution because it will still cause a reaction in those with cinnamon allergies.

Ordered another new tarot deck. This one should fix me for sure.

New witch tip:

Practice is more important than study.

You need to fuck up in your path in order to learn and if it doesn’t work try again or try a different way.

Witches of the past majority of the time learned from their spirits so while it’s nice that we have a large community to learn from, pay attention to your spirits and learn from them first and foremost.

Broom closet cleansing

Cleansing and spiritual hygiene in general are important parts of a practioner’s craft. And one of the easiest to be done when you’re in the broom closet. Here’s a few of my favorites. Feel free to add more if you want in the comments

Just plain old mundane cleaning. Vacuum your floor with the intention of sucking the bad energy away, dust your stuff, wash your floors with some added essential oils if you don’t have any pets, or herbs in the water. Use water charged in the moon too.

Room sprays. Use water, a bit of alcohol as a fixative, and herbs/oils to create an easy cleansing spray. You can just say its an all natural air freshener.

Sound cleansing doesn’t just have to be Tibetan singing bowls or specific frequencies. Think about songs you like, that make you feel good. Play those. Sing along, dance around, just vibe. Your energy will cleanse the space.

Don’t underestimate the power of just opening your windows and letting in some fresh air,

What are your favorite ways to cleanse?

October is nearly here! This month we are following a semi conceptual trick or treat theme, that will be both sweet and sour. Starting off we are looking at the spirits lurking in your house (metaphorically).

If you are brand new here we release these weekly, as a month long tarot challenge. You pick a card a day, with the prompt, or you can pull them all at once following the prompts.

Pick a deck and follow along! If you post them, be sure to tag us or use the hashtag #cactarotchallenge

New wand I made.

Made of white birch branch I found at my best friends wedding. Its a healing and protection wand or so it told me in a trance I did with it.

Literally just gonna follow a big mix of witchy and hardcore aesthetic blogs because that’s what makes me happy about tumblr. Twitter made me so unhappy all the time but even in its hay day tumblr was always my peaceful spot. I plan to keep it that way.

🌙💫💥 New Blog Post 🌙💫💥

Tobacco, the Traditional Practice from Latin America, and "Why indigenous witches and brujas are always smoking tobacco?"

•Whimsigoth interior•

Gritchenwitch

☆Planetary Rulership☆

♢ One of the first things you learn in astrology is what planet rules what sign. If you're learning in the modern day, you are likely running across the modern rulership scheme which puts Uranus as the ruler of Aquarius, Neptune as the ruler of Pisces, and Pluto as the ruler of Scorpio. Did you know about which planets ruled those signs for over a thousand years before the discovery of these planets, or the logic behind it?

♢ A beautiful part of traditional astrology that is lost in modern astrology is the symmetry of it all. Everything works in perfect geometric harmony. Everything is even. Modern rulerships have lead us to forget this symmetry and harmony.

♢ Pictured here we can see the traditional rulership scheme. The Sun and Moon, the brightest objects in our sky, sit in Leo and Cancer, during the brightest and warmest part of the year. This aspect adds to their qualities. They are flanked in order on both sides symmetrically by Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and finally Saturn.

♢ The planets flank the luminaries on either side in order of speed. It is clear when looking at them in this way that there is always the same symmetry. Remembering a few keywords can help you to remember where planets are most happy (at home) and least happy (furthest from home in the sign opposite from it).

♢ The Sun and Moon, as we already stated, are the brightest objects of the seven traditional planets, in the warmest part of the year. Opposite them sits Saturn, ruling Aquarius and Capricorn which mark the coldest and darkest part of the year. The moon is the fastest moving planet, while Saturn is the slowest. The Sun is hottest, while Saturn is coldest.

♢ Mercury and Jupiter also oppose each other. Mercury is quick-moving, ever-changing, and often given the archetype of the student while Jupiter is often given the archetype of the teacher. Jupiter is generous, well-established in his position, while Mercury flits from one idea to the next, never fully tying himself down and often revisiting previous topics and ideas.

♢ Venus and Mars are opposites. This is your classic feminine/masculine dichotomy, but there is so much more to it than that alone. Venus gathers together through poetry, art, fine goods, crafts, trades, and religious stations. Mars cuts, severs, burns, screams, and violates. Venus welcomes while Mars drives away.

♢ Now, don't mistake the benefics (Venus and Jupiter) for being entirely good, or the malefics (Mars and Saturn) for being entirely bad. There are ways to utilize a sword for good, and there are ways to use beauty and religion to harm. Each planet has its own unique characteristics and should be understood individually to have a more full understanding of astrology. However, armed with these keywords you will have a solid foundation to continue forward in your study of astrology.

September 2022

PSA For New Heathens

For any new heathens out there or those looking to get into heathenry: the Asatru Folk Assembly is an explicitly bigoted group. Racism sexism homophobia transphobia, you name the bigotry, they support it. Steer as clear of it and anyone who supports/follows it as possible. The same goes for the Odinic Rite, and many affiliated groups.

These two groups also have a code of ethics they developed called the Nine Noble Virtues. Anyone who pushes these ideas, especially the versions specifically created by these groups, is supporting white supremacy.

Being familiar with hate groups and dog whistles will be one of the most important things you do as you start on your heathen path.

everything is rich and dark after the rain.

coming to you October 1st:

esocollected

the podcast where we chat about everything from spirituality and personal practice to studying and writing a book.