Energy Work - Blog Posts

It's been a while...

Hi, all. I apologize for my absence. I know I went AWOL for what seems like forever. I've been going through a lot of bad stuff these past few years (still hanging on by a thread) but I'm hoping to come back and reconnect with my crafts and witchy communities. I noticed that lot of blogs that I used to follow are no longer active. So, if you're an active blog that touches on any of these witchy paths, I would appreciate it if you could throw a like or reblog this post so I could follow you! ✨Kitchen ✨Green ✨Lunar ✨Tech ✨Shadow work ✨Charms ✨Hexes & Curses ✨Hearth ✨Hedge ✨Tarot ✨Elemental ✨Spoonie I'm looking to expand my old crafts and explore new ones. Thanks all and hope to get reacquainted soon. 🖤

☽ I AM CLEANSED ☾

May you be cleansed, however much you need to be cleansed. May you be cleansed of all burdens that do not belong to you. May you be cleansed of emotions that do not pertain to you. May you know the difference what is your essence and what is tainting it. May you alchemize and let go. May you be cleansed.

Sigil°33

🕯️Like to claim🕯️

🔮Reblog to cast🔮

i did not touch a physical spell component (other than paper and pen for sigil work) for the first year i was a closeted witch as a minor.

i performed multiple spells to varying degrees of success (it's been 10 years no i don't remember details) all with energy work basics i had put together from multiple witchblr sources and a long history of therapy and mediation.

witchcraft is INTENTION. physical components only focus and guide your energy to make your working stronger/easier on you. Intention is the basis of all magic, and can accomplish most basic tasks just fine.

You don’t need to work with anything to be a witch.

Not a thing. You don’t need to work with any spirits.

You don’t have to work any tools.

You don’t have to work with any gods.

You don’t have to work with anything, you just need your own energy. Anyone that says otherwise is wrong or trying to sell you something.

You don’t have to work with anything to be a witch. But… you can. You can work with all the things you like.

But a lot of the things you will probably end up working with the most will be gifts, things you made. Things that came to you in odd ways, spirits that come into your craft when you weren’t even thinking about it.

So many witches get $100 books if shadows and never write in them, because they are afraid to “mess it up.”

Nice things are nice, but they won’t make you a powerful witch.

You said it. 😉

all about intentions~

Your body is sacred. Your energy is sacred—who you share it with matters more than what people realise.

If you are continually surrounded by those who lead with fear, people who bleed stress and anxiety in their daily lives—eventually you will embody this energy too. It will show up in your thought forms and then it will present itself in your body.

It is your responsibility to balance and align only yourself Adjust what needs to be adjusted and remove what needs to be changed.

Your beauty is a living frequency ✨

What lies hidden in the depths of our actions often resurfaces to haunt us when the light of truth breaks through. The webs of deceit and manipulation may weave a temporary illusion, but when they unravel, we must step beyond the victims edge and claim our truth in accountability, so that we may attract the authentic love we seek.

How to Work with Nature Spirits

Warning: Long Post under the Cut!!

Before getting into this, I want to preface that this is heavily based on my experiences and UPG. This is intended to be a helpful guide for anyone not sure on where to start but my Number 1 piece of advice will always be: Just go for it. Your experiences will be different from mine and that's a good thing! Be respectable and figure out what works best for you. With that in mind, let's get into it.

First, let's define 'nature spirits'. Nature spirits may conjure a number of associations and concepts depending on your culture, religion or practice! For the purpose of this post, 'Nature Spirits does not refer to any nature-associated deities or entities such as The Fae, Dryads/Naiads/Oceanids/etc, Elves etc - while many of these practices could be applied, each of these entities has specific cultural and religious etiquette attached that I'm not going to get into!

In this post, Nature Spirits are the spirits of all natural things, following the animistic view that everything has spirit. Plants, animals, rocks, metal, landscapes, etc. This is an incredibly broad definition, that can be narrowed or adapted however you see fit, nature is not an easily defined box. You can create your own categories or definitions, if that makes it easier to understand. For example, I may categorise certain spirits by a dominant element, or biome, or breadth, but these categories will always only ever be guidelines. (Note: at some point I want to make a post about different nature spirits along with some personal experiences. Will link here!)

Which brings us to the next point: accept that nature is not neat, and neither are the spirits. There is a level of overlap between different spirits that cannot be easily discerned - there is no clear, easily drawn line between the spirit of The Forest and the spirit of the Trees. The Spirit of that One Particular Crow is not entirely separated from the Spirit of Crow, but they are also not the same. The Spirit of the Stream will flow into the Spirit of The Ocean and you cannot pull them apart, yet you can still work with one but not the other. It is all a tightly interwoven web of spirit, it mirrors the balance and entwinement of the complex ecosystems all around us. Spirits and energies can shift and change with each meeting because of the changing seasons, the time of day, the influence of the landscape around it, or just because. Some spirits can be particularly variable, and it's important to recognise this! When working with nature spirits you must be open minded and adaptable, meet them as they are.

So how do you actually work with them?

This can largely depend on your goal, so I'll break this into two categories; A one time or "casual" relationship, or building a long-term relationship. I have both of these types of relationships - it would be impossible for me to have a long-term relationship with each individual spirit, but sometimes I want to ask them for help. My long term relationships are with Nature itself, and a handful of plant/animal/land spirits, the rest of my practice is made up of much shorter-term relationships that are made much easier by my long-term relationship with Nature. Again, figure out what works for you!

Working with Nature Spirits Once/Casually

Maybe you have a specific spell or petition that you think a nature spirit would be PERFECT to help you with. Or you want to add an extra bit of oomph to your spellwork by working with the spirit(s) of your ingredients. Or maybe, you just want to give (nature) spirit work a go. Whatever the reason, sometimes we just want a short-term relationship with a spirit. This can also be a helpful approach if you want to take something from nature* (i.e. a tree branch to be your wand, some flowers as spellworking ingredients, etc) and want to ensure it's permitted and you respect the spirit.

The best way to approach this, from my experience, is to be honest with the spirit, and respectful. Some Nature Spirits have no interest in helping someone they don't have a relationship with, and some spirits don't want to help period. Leave an offering for the spirit (expanded upon in the Offerings section further in the post), call upon them and ask them if they would be open to what you need. It really can be as simple as:

"Spirit of Oak, I ask you humbly if you would aid in my enchantment. I give you this offering and ask if I may take one of your many branches. I ask that you may allow your magic and wisdom to stay with it and empower it to be my wand. Thank you."

You may get in an answer through divination such as tarot or runes, through your clairsenses, or you can ask the spirit to provide a sign. If they say no, respect that. Thank them and leave. If you aren't willing to hear no, you should not be working with spirits.

If they say yes, but give certain requirements - i.e. "Yes, but only so much. Yes, but I want an offering of xyz in return. Etc" respect that and consider if you're willing to oblige. If not, thank them and leave. Spirits do have preferences and requests, and sometimes they change over time! I.e. in Summer, Oak may be happy for you to take one of his branches, but in Winter, when he and his wards (Oak, in my experience, is a very protective and familial spirit, often charging himself with protection of the land he lives on) are struggling, he may only allow you to take it if you agree to leave some extra bowls of water as an offering.

This doesn't just have to be a one-off, even for short-term relationships. If you are asking for quite a lot or something significant, you should leave multiple offerings over time before asking for permission - especially if the spirit you're working with might be a bit less welcoming.

*If taking something from nature, always ensure you are taking no more than you need and, if applicable, leave more than enough for that resource to survive (unless it is invasive to your area). Respecting the mundane balance of nature is the most important thing. Also, check any laws in your area regarding collecting feathers, certain plants, bones etc!!

Building a Long-Term Relationship

If you want to build a longer relationship with Nature Spirits, or connect more deeply with nature as a whole, there's a few 'steps' I would recommend:

Research and learn about your local area! What plants are you most likely to find? What animals and trees? How do the seasons change and impact the land? What patterns can you find? Do they align with your personal experiences? Join local Birdwatching or foraging groups, pick up localised wildlife books, take online courses! Learn about the world around you!

Get outside and experience it! Get a nature journal to record what you notice - when do you notice the bees coming back after Winter? What are the first plants to sprout in Spring? When do the first Autumnal leaves fall? What animals do you see most? What trees? Sit outside with no intent other than to *feel*. Sit in the forest and let your energy merge with everything around you; feel how the tree roots stretch beneath the soil, and intermingles with stretching mycelium, feel the flap of insects wings and the wind on your skin. Feel the energy of the spirits around you. Like when trying to befriend a crow or stray cat, you must give them time to adjust to your presence.

Leave offerings on a regular basis. This can be done on your altar at home, but often the most effective offerings are ones that aid the physical side of the spirits of well!

Talk to them (without necessarily expecting a response). Say good morning to the magpies on your way to work, tell the trees about your day. Even if you are trying to build a relationship with one specific spirit, it never hurts to connect to nature and its other spirits - sort of like being polite to the in-laws. All of nature is connected, if you're trying to befriend Lavender but throw litter out the car window, it's gonna be much harder to forge a connection.

Ask the spirit if they want a working relationship with you! And respect their answer if they say no. If they say yes, ask them how you've been doing so far - is there something you've been doing that they don't like? Or that they wish you would do more? Do they have any preferences? Requests? Some spirits don't like to communicate through tarot, others have specific times of day they prefer to talk. Some of this can be discerned through research (i.e. nocturnal animal spirits might prefer nighttime communication) but much of it can only be learned by *asking the spirit*.

Keep it up. This is it. This is what a relationship with spirits is: consistent communication and respect. What you choose to do with this relationship, and how it evolves and changes is entirely up to you! Nature is not a religion, these spirits are not a part of a specific tradition or culture (though you are more than welcome to incorporate your own culture/traditions/religions into your relationship with them) and so there are no pre-set prayers, offerings, rituals etc; it is up to you to build a unique and personalised relationship with them!

If you ever want to end it, be respectful and polite. Thank the spirit for everything, provide them a final offering and say goodbye.

Offerings for Nature Spirits

Here are some suggestions of offerings for Nature Spirits, but they are just suggestions and recommendations from my own experiences; come up with your own and figure it out *with* the spirit!! I've divided them into physical and non-physical offerings:

Water (a classic, hard to go wrong)

Wildlife Safe food (this will require research and will be very dependant on your area. HOWEVER, it should not be done regularly, and ideally should be in your garden rather than a public or "wild" area - bird feeders, feeding hedgehogs etc Feeding wildlife can cause more harm than help a lot of the time).

Coins, tobacco, crystals etc (some 'traditional' spirit offerings in many cultures. These are best for any indoor altars rather than outside.

Picking up Litter or other acts of service (an amazing offering, often highly appreciated)

Removing Invasive Species!

Physical touch (NOT for animals or potentially dangerous plants. Do your research. This may be a hand in the river, a hug to the tree, bare feet on the soil.)

Time (a simple, yet much appreciated offering)

A poem, artwork, prayer

Donating to their conservation/aid

Other parts of nature (laying flowers at the foot of the tree, berries for the crow spirit, dressing a fox skull in leaves)

In my experience, acts of service or creation are often much more appreciated than physical offerings! Art in their name, cleaning the local stream of litter, calling your PM to pressure more conservation policies etc are far better than leaving a - potentially disruptive and harmful - piece of food.

What NOT to Do?

This is also UPG based, but there are some things I would really NOT recommend.

Not doing your research. You wouldn't jump into a relationship with a deity without learning anything about them, why do the same for nature spirits? Just because they don't have specific religious lore surrounding them, doesn't mean you shouldn't learn. Pick up a field guide or book on local folklore.

Leaving human food outside. You baked a tasty brownie and want to share it with the Fly Agaric spirit you're building a relationship with? Great - leave it as an offering but TAKE IT BACK HOME WITH YOU. Let the spirit take the energy from it it wants/needs, and then remove it. Do not leave human food outside. If you INSIST on leaving a form of food offering, it MUST be safe for the local wildlife.

Littering. Doing a spell with Birch? Cool. Make sure you don't leave anything behind. Ideally, use compostable or wildlife safe ingredients (i.e. beeswax candles, toilet paper tubes instead of spell jars etc)

Graffiti/Carvings on trees/rocks etc. Sigils and art can be a great tool/offering but PLEASE don't graffiti or carve into trees/rocks/natural things. It does damage them. Write a with your finger in sand or on your palm or recreate it with branches instead.

Taking more than you need. Don't collect every shell you see on a beach, don't pick up every skull or bone your find in a forest, don't pick every mushroom or herb in a patch. Take what you need, ask permission, leave more than you take.

DO NOT GO INTO FORAGING/BONE COLLECTING/HIKING/LITTER PICKING WITHOUT PROPER SAFETY PRECAUTIONS. Know the laws in your area. Know the trails and paths. Have a map if the area if large enough. Know what plants are safe to touch, if you're not sure - DON'T TOUCH IT. Know what is safe to forage, ideally have an expert to confirm, if you are not 10000% certain, LEAVE IT (and I mean 100000% certain. Not 99%). Wear proper hiking boots, be aware of the weather and any risks in the area. Keep up with weather warnings. Know if there's any traps in the woods. Going litter picking? Make sure you're aware of any local vaccination attempts, as the devices used to help vaccinate wild animals may look like rubbish. Be sensible, be SAFE.

General Tips and Advice

Use common sense and critical thinking.

Notice how I kept saying "local" in this post? That's because it's ideal for a nature-based practice to be localised to your surrounding area! I live in the UK, so whats the point in me trying to build a relationship with spirit of Bald Eagle? It has no roots in my land, nor in my heritage or craft. It is much easier to connect to a nature spirit that you can actually, physically visit, or that has a deep connection to your culture/religion/heritage than one that you thought "seemed cool".

Take it slow, and take it easy. There are no strict rules besides don't be a jerk. The best expert on any particular spirit is that spirit!

However, its important to be safe. Know how to protect yourself and how to banish. Don't call on any spirit you can't get rid of. Not all nature spirits are friendly.

Nature spirits are also not a monolith. They overlap, they blur and twist together but working with Bramble is an entirely different experience to working with Lavender. Be prepared. You can typically get an idea of a spirit's personality through research - it peeks through in the science and ecology, as well as the folklore.

Practice energy work! Nature spirits, in my experience, love to communicate through energy. Sit with yourself for a while, learn what thoughts are yours, what sensations are your own, so that you can differentiate from others. Get used to the feeling of nature and its spirits - they will guide you and help you, they will teach you knowledge you cannot imagine.

You're allowed to say no, and so are they.

Do not be deterred by your circumstances. You live in a city? There's still nature spirits there, a lot of them. (Will link my post about Urban Nature Spirit Work here when posted). Struggle to get outside regularly? Get a Houseplant (will link houseplant post too) watch nature documentaries, find a way to connect to nature and it will find a way to connect to you.

Remember that YOU are a part nature. You are not an onlooker, you are not an outsider, YOU are a part of the ecosystem, apart of natural history and the complex beauty of evolution and change. YOU are an animal and you are so much more similar to the foxes and bears and flies and butterflies than you think.

I hope this post has been helpful to some! Please feel free to add any of your own points/experiences or ask questions/suggest future posts!!

Praise Mother Nature 💚🌿🪲

Well I guess I should introduce myself

Howdy, I’m Roan. I can’t say I have a label for my practice, but I think eclectic is the best one. I practice kitchen and hearth craft, as well as spirit, energy, ancestral work and folk magic.

I have a strong interest in equine magic, as well as magic that applies to my area and connecting with the land around me. With this, I’m also always looking at ways I can incorporate my practice into my daily life, either through leatherwork or with my horses.

Follow along for the journey, I hope to post what I learn and offer it to others✌️

I think this has been my favorite episode to date, thank you for posting! Living in west Texas, which is mostly desert, the Wheel of the Year doesn’t apply to me, and the world around me is brimming with medicinal and culinary food but no one talks about them, locals included.

I’ve been doing my own research about how I can include the local land and spirits into my practice, and it gets tricky!

Hex Positive, Ep. 051 - Weather Witching with Marci the StormBornWitch

As so many of us are watching the weather reports with no small amount of anxiety, I sat down with my good buddy Marci (aka StormBornWitch from tumblr) to talk about her particular brand of weather magic and how a weather witch gets things down in a biome that looks very little like the one upon which the ubiquitous Wheel of the Year is based.

Further Reading by Marci:

Marci’s Weather Witching Tips

The Importance of Understanding Your Environment

Connecting With The Land – Australia

Marci’s Australian Seasonal Calendar Project

Communing With Spirits To Create Personal Correspondences

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⁠Follow Marci on Tumblr⁠!

⁠Register for the January 11th CritWitch Brew event⁠!

⁠Donate to the American Red Cross to aid with ongoing California wildfire relief efforts⁠!

Visit the⁠ Willow Wings Witch Shop⁠ on Shopify and check out this month’s featured items and ⁠Upcoming Events⁠. Make sure you also visit the⁠ Redbubble⁠ page for even more cool merch!

Check my ⁠⁠⁠Wordpress⁠⁠⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as ⁠@BreeNicGarran⁠ on TikTok, Instagram, and WordPress, or as⁠ @breelandwalker⁠ on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠.

Proud member of the ⁠⁠⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠.

MUSIC CREDITS

Intro & Outro – “Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance”

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/⁠

How to Raise, Move, and Throw Energy: A Practical Guide

One of the most common questions I get is "Ash - how do you ACTUALLY, PRACTICALLY move, throw, and raise energy? A lot of those guides seem to be missing some key steps!" I hear you - and I'm here to break it down.

Below is my own method, slowed down piece by piece. Remember - raising and using energy is a personal matter/varies from person to person, so feel free to adjust, change, or discard any part of this guide to suit your practice!

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1. Raising Energy

With a combination of physical action, “psyching yourself up”, verbal action, or psychological methods, raise your adrenaline, emotional, or excitement levels in a way that gets more intense the more you do it. E.g., chanting until the words start to lose meaning or you get into a trance state, dancing around the circle until you get a runner’s high and start laughing/having fun and forgetting yourself, and then basically keep performing that action until your emotional/excitement/adrenaline reaches a breaking point. The best way to describe this is escalating excitement. If you’re into EDM, this is how it feels when a beat is about to drop and keeps escalating. This should feel physical and psychological - literally like hitting a runner’s high when you’re exercising, or getting so excited about a date you start to shake. The easiest way to do this is to raise energy with physical activity or chanting. You can enhance this action by doing it moving in a circle around the object you’re going to put energy into.

Many sources cite a series of ways traditionally used to raise energy, which are practical actions to be used in conjunction with the above, as a focus: Raising power with chanting (sub in your own belief system in what you choose for the chant), dance, or singing is common - you can stick with praying too, just be sure to raise and escalate, just to name a few.

2. When you’re sufficiently pumped, keep going. Now, let's THROW!

At this point, you have two options: Physically moving the “energy”, or achieving “gnosis”. (This is the beat drop.)

A) Gnosis

Gnosis is (oversimplifying) the moment when you fully forget yourself and the energy takes over. Basically, you lose sight of where you are and what you’re doing and there’s a moment where everything snaps into place. A real-world example would be, if you’re raising energy with sex magic, the moment of climax. A SFW example would be - this should feel like, when you’re staring at a magic eye painting, after a long while of staring it “clicks” to form an image. Physically IRL, this should feel like - for a split second, even - you do not have control over your energy or emotion. When achieving gnosis, look at (direct your attention to) the object you are raising energy for.

B) Moving or “throwing” the energy

Moving or Throwing is a little more abstract, but I’m going to guide you best as I can. By now, you’re buzzing with actual physical energy, like before a birthday party (nervous jitters OR excitement), or like when you’ve just finished a workout. Take a moment and feel the physical and mental effects of this. Do a body scan if helpful. (The reason why visualizing is helpful is that you can visualize this buzz as a physical thing, once you sense its effects with a body scan, for the next part.) You’ll now need to “direct” the energy. Try and physically move your body to “gather” all your energy up (moving your arms to see how far-reaching the effects of the buzz are, then experimenting by moving your body to see if it changes the scope of the buzz). Then, physically thrust your hands or arms (or your body parts of choice) at the object you’re directing energy to. Do this by performing a strong, firm, decisive physical action, and, if it helps, visualize the energy flowing from your body into the object like a giant blast of fire/light. If done correctly, YOU should no longer feel a buzz - the buzz should now be entirely within the object. If you still feel full of adrenaline, try again - perform a physical throwing movement or (sorry for the dumb example ahoy, it’s 9AM) Dragonball style kamehameha at it. You know how when you’re really upset or nervous, and you shake it off or primal scream and your energy dissipates? Do that, but this time, using a combo of physical actions (and if you wish) visualization, instead of shaking it off into the air, “shake it off” into the object. Try and repeat until you feel like you can appropriately “transfer” the energy using physical movement, and you are able to reliably A) create the physical emotional buzz, and B) use physical actions to move that buzz into something else, removing it from yourself.

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Over time, you’ll become adept at not only raising that energy, but physically sensing it and acknowledging it, and then you’ll get quite good at being able to move the energy around without using visualization at all, if you wish. It does take practice and it is rather abstract.

A great way to practice this sort of energy movement is (and I’ve seen folks bring this up on witchblr lately!) tai chi (with love, your favorite Cantonese witch). Your local park should have approximately 20 aunties doing this at any given Sunday morning.

Ash

Ash’s Original Witchery Posts MegaIndex!

Below are all my original posts on witchcraft & witchery sorted by subject. I’ll be adding to / editing this post each time I post something new - stay tuned!

BOOKS

Reading List: Secular & Wicca-Based Basic Books

Favorite Spellbooks

The Witches’ Workbook

CHARGING

Charging 101: The Quick Basics

CIRCLES

Three Simple Ways to Cast a Circle

Delineating the Boundary: Ways to Line your Circle

Circle Casting Clinic 101: What’s Wrong With My Circle?

Anatomy of a Circle-Casting: Circle Casting Structures

CHEAT SHEETS

Candle Magic Cheat Sheet

Spell Jars: A Guide & How-To

Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

Expanded Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

Celtic Tree Calendar Cheat Sheet

CLEANSING

A Basic Home & Apartment Cleansing

CONSECRATION

Consecration Basics

The Lazy’s Witch’s Ring Consecration

Consecrating a Tarot Deck

DIVINATION & PSYCHIC MATTERS

Getting Started with Tarot

Dice Divination

Make an Emergency Tarot Kit

The Types of Psychic Power

Herbs for Psychic Ability

ENERGY WORK

How to Raise, Move, and Throw Energy

GREEN WITCHCRAFT

“My Throat Is Trying To Kill Me” Ginger Brew”

A Basic Wishing Spell, Green Witch Edition

Cauldron Tips & Tricks

HELLENIC PAGANISM & PAGANISM

Non-Conventional Ways to Worship Artemis

MEDITATION & VISUALIZATION

Starting Meditation

Exercises for Beginning Visualization

MOON MAGIC

A Witch’s Full Moon Traditions

Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

Expanded Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

The Movement of the Spheres: All About the Moon, its Movements, Phases, and Celebrations

PROTECTION

Simple Methods of Protection

Basic Shielding

RECIPES

“My Throat Is Trying To Kill Me” Ginger Brew

Lemon Cayenne Wakefulness Potion

A Green Witch’s Herb Bread

Things to Do With Rose Oil

…and Tea Tree Oil

Herbs for Psychic Abilities

RITUALS

Ritual of Announcement - for Witches Starting their Path

A Basic Home & Apartment Cleansing

A Witch’s Full Moon Traditions

The Tea Ceremony

SAFETY

Safety Tips for Witches

SPELLCRAFT

Attraction and Banishment in Spellcraft

Charging: The Quick Basics

Candle Magic Cheat Sheet

Cauldron Tips & Tricks

Circle Casting Clinic 101

Spell Jars: A Guide & How-To

Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

Expanded Moon Phase Cheat Sheet

Celtic Tree Calendar Cheat Sheet

Magical Timing: The Sun & Moon in Witchcraft

Amelioration: Using Honey in Spells

Using Dirt and Ash Without Being Appropriative

What to Do With Dyed Glass & Fake Stones

SPELLS

Three Simple Ways to Cast a Circle

Enchanting a Necklace for Courage

Enchanting a Soap or Cleanser to Help Clear Skin

The Lazy Witch’s Ring Consecration

Getting It Done: A Virgo Moon

Simple Methods of Protection

A Basic Wishing Spell, Green Witch Edition

Wards for Resisting the Power

Rapid Fire Summoning

TOOLS

The Athame

Cauldron Tips & Tricks

Athames VS Wands

WANDLORE

How to Fix Up & Set Up a Stick as a Wand

WARDING

Wards for Resisitng the Power

Technomancy Warding for Blogs & Sites

WHEEL OF THE YEAR

Let’s Talk… Imbolc

Let’s Talk… Litha

Let’s Talk… Lammas

WITCHCRAFT 101 / WITCHLINGS

Witch Starter Kit: First Year Supply List

Witching on the Cheap: First-Year Supply List II (Redux)

The Difference Between a Book of Shadows, a Grimoire, and a Witches’ Almanac

The Difference Between Witches, Wiccans, Magic, and Magick

The Difference Between A Hex, a Curse, and a Spell

The Difference Between Magic and Magick with a K (one more time!)

Why Do You Seal Off a Spell Jar?

Making Witchcraft a Daily Practice

On Reading Off Spells

Tips for Newbies Starting Spellcraft

WITCHY TIPS

Recharging Tattooed Sigils

Witchery and Mental Illness

Five of My Favorite Witchy Tools

Holy Crap, Ghosts, Leave Me Alone

Circle Casting Clinic 101

The Science of Spellcraft

[Ask Ash || The Witches’ Workbook]

You guys help me keep TheoryofMagick running and bring major appreciative vibes to this happy Green Witch! :>

Introduction to Shielding

If you haven’t already, check out my lessons on visualisation for the basic knowledge you’ll need to begin practicing shielding.

So what is shielding?

Shielding is a manipulation of energy, used to create a barrier between yourself and unwanted, usually negative or malicious energies. It’s a basic aspect of spellwork that everyone, beginner or experienced, should use to keep themselves safe.

What can I use shielding for?

Some beginner-level uses for shielding are drawing a circle, or casting a spell. A more experienced individual might use shielding in astral travel or spirit work, where there are a lot more malicious energies involved. Personally, I use shielding as often as possible, for instance when I do tarot readings, spells, spirit work, shadow work, and especially cursing. It gives that extra guarantee that you won't flood your personal space with unwanted energies.

Other uses include shielding against real-life dangers, to a certain degree. I often shield when I am walking through town at night for extra protection. But please remember to take other measures too! Call someone, pretend to be on the phone, plan your route, and even carry pepper spray if it's legal where you are.

An easy shielding method:

The easiest way to explain this is to think of your energy as a physical manifestation. Think how power attacks are shown in anime or cartoons - a streak of colour or light, or an element. Make it personable to you: fire signs (Leo/Aries/Sagittarius) might visualise fire, or a red energy or light etc.

Firstly, some people prefer to cleanse before shielding. I don't think its all that necessary but the choice is yours.

Begin by easing yourself into meditation. Get comfortable, and use whichever technique works for you. I have various methods for this in my visualisation lessons if you are struggling.

Attempt to visualise the energies surrounding you in your mind. It might be a swirling colour of light, almost like a cloud of dust. It could be flames, it could be water. Maybe try to see it held within your hand.

Now, attempt to shape this energy around your entire body. You might want to start with a bubble or a cube surrounding you. Feel this shape surrounding and protecting you. Visualise negative and unwanted energies being held back by it.

You can also layer shields, so if you are working with a particularly malicious energy you might want to have multiple shapes surrounding you, all within each other. You can also work with deities or spirits to ask them to shield you too.

Shielding Incantation

When I am shielding, I recite a spell as well as using visualisation techniques.

The shield of protection, I carry it strong, No ill wishes or trouble shall come along, You cannot harm me, or weaken my soul, My light is my weapon, and peace is my goal.

Try it out for yourself and let me know in the comments how it went! Thank you as always for reading. Please message for requests.

Aura/Energy Color Meanings

This list is based off of resources I have found as well as my personal experiences.

As with all correspondences, this is a place to start from, not the end-all be-all of color meanings.

This list generally assumes that brighter colors are healthier and more positive, while duller colors are negative and less positive. Use your intuition to determine the true role a color plays.

Interpreting Colors

OVERLAYS If one color is covering another, this can indicate outer appearance, how others perceive them, or a blockage that is preventing the inner color from shining.

COMBINATIONS If one color is mixed with another in stripes, lines, or spots, the person presents both qualities in equal or similar measure.

MIXING If two or more colors appear to blend together, this can indicate strong balance and intermingling of personal energies.

SOLID If a person primarily presents only one color with no overlays, they are honestly projecting their inner energies.

The Colors

BRIGHT RED A healthy ego. Strong passion. Highly grounded. A survivalist’s spirit, highly realistic. Can indicate a powerful, competitive, energetic person. Indicates confidence. Strong personal power. Related to warriors, battle, and love. Someone who is used to being noticed.

DULL RED If you read the red energies in a negative light, it may indicate an obsession with the physical world, an obsession with the ego, anger, and a poor control of emotions and temperament.

ORANGE Confidence, good health, and vitality. An excited person highly connected with the physical world around them. Productive, sociable, courageous. Someone who makes a good friend. Joy, sunshine, enthusiasm. Happiness, creativity. Strong orange colors indicate good emotional expression.

DULL ORANGE Imbalance; pride, vanity, deceit, mistrust. Low level of ambition, potentially repressed emotion.

SHADES OF ORANGE Red-orange; combined with Red values such as passion and sexual desire. Yellow-orange; More joyful and exuberant. Can denote a scientific mind. Pale orange; Disconnected from physicality and the five senses.

YELLOW Awakening, optimism, easy-going. A sunny person, who is open and makes friends easily. Inspired and intelligent. Good levels of energy. Cheerfulness, mental activity. A person in positive spiritual development, developing wisdom, gaining new ideas, and mental clarity.

DULL YELLOW Over-thinking, highly critical of the self or others. Muddied energies. Fatigue from stress or trying to learn everything at once. Excessive caution.

SHADES OF YELLOW Light yellow: Strong spiritual growth, intellect, freshness, joy, and springtime qualities. Strong positive nature.

GREEN The color of nature. Represents growth and balance. Especially shows someone highly connected with nature. Shows strong Universal love. Compassion and a desire to be a help to others. A color of balance and harmony. A willingness to change and transform. Fertility, creativity, freshness. A restful, healing color.

DULL GREEN Negative ambition, greed, or jealousy. A negative connection with nature. Possessiveness, a fear of being unloved. Sensitive to criticism and lacking personal responsibility.

SHADES OF GREEN Yellow-green; Strong communication, heartfelt emotions, and improved creativity. Emerald green; Very strong connection with nature, good prosperity. May indicate a healer, especially an herbal or natural healer.

BLUE A color of relaxation, peace, and calmness. Indicates a steady and balanced nature. Someone who is deeply relaxed. Caring, loving, and sensitive energies. Easily able to speak the truth; confident authority. A strong sense of purpose, spiritually connected.

DULL BLUE Fear of speaking the truth, fear of the future, fear of expression. Disliking the unknown. Not preferring spiritual activity.

SHADES OF BLUE Light blue; Very strong healing energies, may indicate a healer or someone with natural healing talent. Speaks the truth easily and well. Confident. Tranquility, softness. Royal blue; Deep spiritual connection, understands the mysteries of life. Knowledge, power, integrity, seriousness. Indigo; Deep feeling, intuition, and sensitivity.

VIOLET Deep, two-way spiritual connection. Someone dedicated to their spirituality or the spirit world. Someone with great spiritual potential. Indicates psychic and magical power. A potential for, or an abundance of, strong psychic abilities. Ambition and mystery.

DULL VIOLET Neglecting the spiritual and spirit world. Spiritual greed.

SHADES OF VIOLET Lavender; softness, growing, spiritual immaturity. Seen in those with great spiritual potential. Vision, imagination, daydreaming. Deep violet; Possibly disconnected from reality due to major spiritual connections.

BROWN A rich, ruddy brown can indicate an honest and trustworthy nature. Someone well grounded. Someone who has what they need in life and is at peace with what they have. A good friend, giving and generous.

DULL BROWN Indicates a great deal of negativity, jealousy, greed, and insecurity.

SHADES OF BROWN Earthy tones;  Highly connected with nature.

WHITE Angelic or divine associations, indicating a source of good and pure energies that are manifest in this person’s life. Can reflect or hold other energies. Indicates a person pure and good of heart. A divinely protected person.

DULL WHITE Possible illness. Abusing the gifts the universe gives you. Misguided.

GRAY Can denote a spiritual awakening as the color may be ‘unset’.

DULL GRAY Blockages, unhealthy and negative energies. Unwellness.

BLACK Captures and transforms energy. May be related to psychic vampirism. Related to mystery and death. An unforgiving nature.

SILVER Spiritual and psychic abundance. A spiritual awakening. A gifted person. Nurturing and inventive with new ideas.

GOLD A divinely inspired person. May indicate a strong healing nature. Someone who is advancing and evolving spiritually. Very strong connections to enlightenment. Inner peace, divine guidance, spiritual thinking.

PASTELS A bright, young soul. Many aspects are still in development. Great future potential. A strong sensitivity. A need for serenity and protection.

RAINBOW Can indicate a healer, someone with evolved spiritual gifts, or a spiritually gifted person.

Energy Work: Energy Types and Sources

Independent Energy

Independent energy is a type of energy that never loses it’s charge or can recharge on its own with little to no help from outside sources.

Personal energy is the energy that your body makes by itself. It is most commonly recharged by sleeping and calorie consumption and can be easily used as a source in most aspects of witchcraft.

Organic energy is derived from life. This includes humans, plants, animals, and some entities. These can be used as sources. Personal energy falls under this category but is distinguished for crafting purposes.

Rooted energy is the most common source to recharge from and it has a substantial or near unlimited amount of energy. This includes planetary bodies, the elements, and the weather.

Artistic energy is a non-sentient type of energy created by an artist. Despite being able to affect the emotions of those who view or listen to it, the energy itself is trapped within the original product. This energy can be duplicated and used as a source for other creations and magical purposes. This includes things like music, paintings, movies, or stories.

Dependent Energy

Dependent energy is energy that depends on other sources of energy to prevent becoming stagnant with usage over time.

Natural energy is stored in objects not created by humans. It is limited as a source and has to be recharged to keep its individual characteristics. This includes things like crystals, stones, and dead matter.

Manufactured energy is stored in objects created by humans. This includes things like paper, clothing, and machines.

Spiritual energy is created from organic energy sources or nature itself. They heavily depend on other sources of energy in order to maintain themselves. This includes once-living spirits, thoughtforms, and nature spirits.

Programmed energy is a non-sentient energy that is created for a purpose. It can be crafted from any energy source and needs to be recharged in order to continue doing its duty. It can be a free-flowing energy or it can be stored in a vessel. This includes things like spells, curses, and enchantments.

Emotional energy is a non-sentient type of energy created by emotions, thoughts, and words. If fed into, it can turn into an energy parasite. If not fed into, it will neutralize. It can permeate into the world around it or stick to its creator.

Parasitic energy is a non-sentient type of energy and is generally an outcome of sustained emotional energy. It feeds on and encourages the original emotions it stems from and is stuck to a host.

Consumable energy is a non-sentient energy source that is stored in food products. This includes things like harvestable food and crafted food.

A Brief Introduction to Energy Work

Energy work as most of us know it was heavily influenced by certain beliefs that the body's health depended on a healthy flow or balance of vital force, and that said force could be manipulated through certain practices. The whole concept of qi energy and qigong were pretty big influences here. Other influences included persistent European beliefs in vitalism, the concept of animal magnetism, and a rising awareness of electricity and radiation, which to many people seemed to provide justification for many old paranormal and metaphysical beliefs.

Now of course, we now know that vitalism just isn't a thing and that flickering lights in your house have more to do with bad wiring than ghosts, but energy work itself continues to persist. (Although these days, it's often justified with terrible misunderstandings of quantum physics.)

I also feel that I'd be irresponsible not to mention that there is no evidence that energy healing can be relied upon to heal serious medical issues, and that many people offering energy healing sessions for sale are basically just scammers. If you ever find yourself in a position where you have to choose between paying for an energy healing service and paying for evidence-based medicine, put your money on evidence-based medicine.

With that out of the way, I do believe that energy work can have benefits. Like in my own experience, energy work can't cure chronic depression, but it can sometimes lift some of those heavy feelings. It might not completely cure your flu, but it can most probably help you relax, which will help your immune system work better. And I really can't argue with the efficacy of energy shielding so far as warding goes.

So with all that out of the way, how does one practice energy work?

Energy work is often practiced by visualizing energy moving and converging wherever you need it, often using your hands, fingers, or something like a wand to focus it. Let's say for example that you feel a sense of tightness or heaviness in your sternum area. You might place your fingers over it and visualize a white light clearing away the tension.

Energy work can also include drawing symbols. My go-to for banishing that sense of heaviness is to trace my finger over my sternum in a sun shape (a regular old circle with rays, much like this one 🌞), visualizing the lines in a bright sunny yellow.

It can also include breathwork. Here's one possible personal shielding technique using this: Take a deep inhale while visualizing protective energy from the earth coming up into your body and filling your core. Then exhale while imagining this energy pushing out of your body and forming a protective shield.

Also, while many energy work techniques involve using energy from positive emotions, you don't have to limit yourself to them. You can put your shitty emotions to good use. For example, if you're warding your space by tracing protective symbols on your walls, you might channel aggressive feelings into them to give them some bite.

Now of course, these aren't all the things you can do with energy work, or all the ways you can practice energy work. This is just a quick intro. But if you combine even just this basic comprehension with a broader comprehension of color correspondences and symbology, you'll find that it's pretty versatile.

Happy witchin'!

low effort witchy things ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ

first thing in the morning—take three slow deep breaths (air/sky) more grounding than immediately checking a phone

notice your feet on the ground taking root when you stand up for the first time of the day, take a little stretch (earth/land)

wash or splash your face to get alll the way awake. then chug a big glass. (water/sea)

appreciate any trees, plants, dirt, or clouds you see

place both hands on your heart to feel your own heat and warmth. feel your heart beating. “i am alive” (fire)

wear or carry a rock, hagstone, crystal, talisman, or amulet

in times of stress or dissociation, rub your thumb in small circles on the back of your other hand to ground and soothe. (clockwise for attracting an intention, counterclockwise for banishing)

color magic with clothing

add cinnamon, lavender, or peppermint to coffee according to intention if you don’t want to drink tea

stirring tea/coffee according to intention

sometimes i pick a little affirmation for the day— “may i forgive myself” “the universe is within me/the wild is within me”

visualization—inhale a bright light and let it fill your lungs, exhaling clouds of negativity

or create a shield with breathing. with each breath, imagine a bubble forming around your body, then your aura, growing with strength.

cleansing shower at the end of the day (intending it to cleanse my aura makes me more motivated to take one, idkw)

if taking a bath, add a dash of moon water

sniff lavender essential oil before bed

look at the moon, talk to it. remind yourself that it’s the same one your ancestors knew.