- Joined
- Aug 22, 2024
- Messages
- 77
- Reaction score
- 106
- Awards
- 1
In another post under a post of someone else I made the promise to make in Wichtcraft & Folk Magic a new post about methods that worked for me in the past. Some are about protection, others about healing, some about making allies with plant spirits. These are my own methods, I have my own kind of Folk magic born out of things I experimented with and/or things I read. (maybe in future I will add more things)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plant ally:
A plant can be a very good ally, if you take time to build the relationship between you and the plant spirit. It is a good thing to work this first out as an exercise with a herb-plant that you would otherwise plant for using it in the kitchen. Why? It is a damn good thing to practice things first before you start to work on magic that will make changes in your life. I started years ago with a lavender plant from the supermarket and learned along the way.
First of all: visit the plant every day. See how the plant changes from day to day. Enjoy that! Feel the weather circumstances around the plant and see how it's affecting the plant. In the meanwhile you take in your cupboard a small teacup that feels precious en special for you. Every time when you visit the plant, you take your precious teacup with you. Fil it with water and give it to the plant. Make that water literally EVERY day very special: cooled down diluted herb tea AND charged with a psi-ball that you let absorb in the water. (And yes, offering a few drops of your own blood once in a while can be a part of this)
Talk with/to the plant. It feels in the first period silly perhaps, but you will prime yourself and the plant to a longterm relationship. Take notes of it (almost) every day in a notebook that you dedicated for this occasion/this plant.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connecting with land spirits:
how to start to work with land spirits. Choose just one tree or rock in your neighborhood and visit it every day. Or do a every day walk with three or four trees and/or rocks and one crossroad. Stand still on those places, stop your daily running thoughts, knock softly with your hands on it, whisper a few words as a greeting, ground and center on the crossroad you choose, offer your attention, listen and be open for communication. Feel the wind, listen to the sounds over there, absorb everything. Accept that it takes time to build a good relation and that it needs daily attention. Perhaps you won't notice things in the first period, but over time everything will remember you and start to communicate with you. Keep notes of it.
Don't be surprise if you start to find local folklore because you start to meet people with all kinds of knowledge, because you find unexpected books or things in newspapers, because you hear things about local history, because you start to find things about local biology. Just offering your time and attention causes more than you can imagine. It is a start of a puzzle. This is how you build allies and local witchcraft. With all these ideas in your mind you can shape your witchcraft and the land itself will feed you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talisman from Rowan:
The rowan tree which haves a tradition of protection. I start visiting the tree long before the berries grow: in the end of the winter to be able to watch the complete growing process. I bring with me attention, intention and maybe some water or manure to help the tree growing, The moments of the visits can be daily, but it is possible to carefully choose those moments. (Under influence of planets, or chosen by divination, use your own method) For harvesting the rowan berries I pick a special moment too, but it can be that nature chooses another moment: every growing season is different and you need to accept that, Doing so, you will develop a relationship with that tree also. After harvesting I dry the berries and after that I chain them on a tread with a little help of a sharp needle. You can add dried root parts of mandrake too, preferably a home grown plant.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tutorial about making a talisman from blackberries:
choose blackberries in your neighborhood to harvest from and harvest some blackberries itself and the thorns. Choose the thickest and prickiest thorns you can find. If the plant makes scratches on your skin and you bleed, it is a plus and maybe even a prio. Dry the thorns. Cook the berries till you have the black juice. Cut 3 branches of the bramble and make a hoop from it. If it cracks you need start over again with everything with another plant! Before picking the blackberrie stuff you have find some white sheep's wool. Clean it, spin a thread of it and make a little pooch of it in your preferred method. Paint the pooch with the blackberrie juice and vinegar of urine. Handwash it, dry it. Then take all those thorns you collected, put them in pooch and close the pooch by sewing. On full moon lay down the hoop (your circle) and place the pooch in the middle to make it gain more power. There you have another strong working talisman. Needless to say that you have your intention in mind the whole time in this whole process. Make sure you choose blackberries from a place that is not so cultivated by modern humans. I have some special places: a bronze age burial place and a place where there is a folk story about a giant who lives behind a thorny hedge. If you are open for folklore and history you can find places like that yourself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old Belgian enchantment against scalds:
"in the Belgian Dion-le-Val is an old woman who is able to cure scalds. With great caution and subtillity someone of our staff obtained the enchantment which she says three times while making three times a cross above the burned skin:
Brulure, arrete to chaleur, comme Judas a perdu sa couleur quand it a trahi Notre-Seigneur an Jardin des Olives"
(Brabantse Folklore, folklore bulletins from the years 1925-1926)
Yes, I did use it myself on myself. While making the cross I visualized a cold blue bandage on the scald for minutes long: started with a psi-ball made with one hand (the other was injured) and reshaped it to a flat thing. The only problem is how to focus intensely and murmur the enchantment very slowly when you are in pain, but the method was successfully. I tested it by just doing the visualization till halfway the wound. The other half got no treatment and stayed one day longer red and swollen. Magic or a real case of autosuggestion? It doesn't matter, it worked.
I used the same technique before while chanting parts of the Merseburger Charms. For inspiration about how they could sound, search on YouTube.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Divination with incense:
First off all: when you want to understand the smoke trails of incense, burn your incense in a room where are no strange hidden air-streams and where the room temperature is quite stable. Just to be sure that there are no mundane causes of changing the smoke stream.
Burn your incense every day around the same time. Take your time to watch the smoke trails. What do you see? Is the stream going straight up high? Are there spirals? Are there cirkels? Is the smoke flowing downwards? Left? Right? Is it moving away from you or not? Do you see figures? Make notes, do that with great precision! One day later make notes of everything that happened the day after you observed to incense smoke. Make notes of your feelings. Do that for weeks or much better, for months. Compare the notes of the smoke with that what happened from day to day. You will find patterns and learn from it. And you will be friends with the smoke. Those patterns give you ideas how you can interpret the smoke.
Later on try to use different kinds of incense and make notes about it to learn from it. In such a way you can customize and refine your divination technique. I did this in the first year of living the witching ways and it was an absolutely fascinating process! For people who can't stand smoke because of asthma: I heard people doing this with water damp from boiled water. And they were getting pretty good results with. And it is interesting because of working with another element. They infused the water with herbs. Use your creativity, it is all in your mind.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plant ally:A plant can be a very good ally, if you take time to build the relationship between you and the plant spirit. It is a good thing to work this first out as an exercise with a herb-plant that you would otherwise plant for using it in the kitchen. Why? It is a damn good thing to practice things first before you start to work on magic that will make changes in your life. I started years ago with a lavender plant from the supermarket and learned along the way.
First of all: visit the plant every day. See how the plant changes from day to day. Enjoy that! Feel the weather circumstances around the plant and see how it's affecting the plant. In the meanwhile you take in your cupboard a small teacup that feels precious en special for you. Every time when you visit the plant, you take your precious teacup with you. Fil it with water and give it to the plant. Make that water literally EVERY day very special: cooled down diluted herb tea AND charged with a psi-ball that you let absorb in the water. (And yes, offering a few drops of your own blood once in a while can be a part of this)
Talk with/to the plant. It feels in the first period silly perhaps, but you will prime yourself and the plant to a longterm relationship. Take notes of it (almost) every day in a notebook that you dedicated for this occasion/this plant.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Connecting with land spirits:how to start to work with land spirits. Choose just one tree or rock in your neighborhood and visit it every day. Or do a every day walk with three or four trees and/or rocks and one crossroad. Stand still on those places, stop your daily running thoughts, knock softly with your hands on it, whisper a few words as a greeting, ground and center on the crossroad you choose, offer your attention, listen and be open for communication. Feel the wind, listen to the sounds over there, absorb everything. Accept that it takes time to build a good relation and that it needs daily attention. Perhaps you won't notice things in the first period, but over time everything will remember you and start to communicate with you. Keep notes of it.
Don't be surprise if you start to find local folklore because you start to meet people with all kinds of knowledge, because you find unexpected books or things in newspapers, because you hear things about local history, because you start to find things about local biology. Just offering your time and attention causes more than you can imagine. It is a start of a puzzle. This is how you build allies and local witchcraft. With all these ideas in your mind you can shape your witchcraft and the land itself will feed you.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Talisman from Rowan:The rowan tree which haves a tradition of protection. I start visiting the tree long before the berries grow: in the end of the winter to be able to watch the complete growing process. I bring with me attention, intention and maybe some water or manure to help the tree growing, The moments of the visits can be daily, but it is possible to carefully choose those moments. (Under influence of planets, or chosen by divination, use your own method) For harvesting the rowan berries I pick a special moment too, but it can be that nature chooses another moment: every growing season is different and you need to accept that, Doing so, you will develop a relationship with that tree also. After harvesting I dry the berries and after that I chain them on a tread with a little help of a sharp needle. You can add dried root parts of mandrake too, preferably a home grown plant.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tutorial about making a talisman from blackberries:choose blackberries in your neighborhood to harvest from and harvest some blackberries itself and the thorns. Choose the thickest and prickiest thorns you can find. If the plant makes scratches on your skin and you bleed, it is a plus and maybe even a prio. Dry the thorns. Cook the berries till you have the black juice. Cut 3 branches of the bramble and make a hoop from it. If it cracks you need start over again with everything with another plant! Before picking the blackberrie stuff you have find some white sheep's wool. Clean it, spin a thread of it and make a little pooch of it in your preferred method. Paint the pooch with the blackberrie juice and vinegar of urine. Handwash it, dry it. Then take all those thorns you collected, put them in pooch and close the pooch by sewing. On full moon lay down the hoop (your circle) and place the pooch in the middle to make it gain more power. There you have another strong working talisman. Needless to say that you have your intention in mind the whole time in this whole process. Make sure you choose blackberries from a place that is not so cultivated by modern humans. I have some special places: a bronze age burial place and a place where there is a folk story about a giant who lives behind a thorny hedge. If you are open for folklore and history you can find places like that yourself.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Old Belgian enchantment against scalds:"in the Belgian Dion-le-Val is an old woman who is able to cure scalds. With great caution and subtillity someone of our staff obtained the enchantment which she says three times while making three times a cross above the burned skin:
Brulure, arrete to chaleur, comme Judas a perdu sa couleur quand it a trahi Notre-Seigneur an Jardin des Olives"
(Brabantse Folklore, folklore bulletins from the years 1925-1926)
Yes, I did use it myself on myself. While making the cross I visualized a cold blue bandage on the scald for minutes long: started with a psi-ball made with one hand (the other was injured) and reshaped it to a flat thing. The only problem is how to focus intensely and murmur the enchantment very slowly when you are in pain, but the method was successfully. I tested it by just doing the visualization till halfway the wound. The other half got no treatment and stayed one day longer red and swollen. Magic or a real case of autosuggestion? It doesn't matter, it worked.
I used the same technique before while chanting parts of the Merseburger Charms. For inspiration about how they could sound, search on YouTube.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Divination with incense:First off all: when you want to understand the smoke trails of incense, burn your incense in a room where are no strange hidden air-streams and where the room temperature is quite stable. Just to be sure that there are no mundane causes of changing the smoke stream.
Burn your incense every day around the same time. Take your time to watch the smoke trails. What do you see? Is the stream going straight up high? Are there spirals? Are there cirkels? Is the smoke flowing downwards? Left? Right? Is it moving away from you or not? Do you see figures? Make notes, do that with great precision! One day later make notes of everything that happened the day after you observed to incense smoke. Make notes of your feelings. Do that for weeks or much better, for months. Compare the notes of the smoke with that what happened from day to day. You will find patterns and learn from it. And you will be friends with the smoke. Those patterns give you ideas how you can interpret the smoke.
Later on try to use different kinds of incense and make notes about it to learn from it. In such a way you can customize and refine your divination technique. I did this in the first year of living the witching ways and it was an absolutely fascinating process! For people who can't stand smoke because of asthma: I heard people doing this with water damp from boiled water. And they were getting pretty good results with. And it is interesting because of working with another element. They infused the water with herbs. Use your creativity, it is all in your mind.