Phew. Who woulda thought I’d be this nervous about introducing myself online? First off, I’ll start by sharing that I am using an alias as I am in the broom closet— although can you really consider it a broom closet if you’re on a spiritual journey and not sure if this is where you will ultimately land? So I’m Ruby here. I am drawn to the moon, nature, meditating and crystals. As a child, I collected rocks and even though I was scared of EVERYTHING, I would find and play with salamanders. It was only recently I learned that salamanders are representative of fire spirits. I am agnostic, but I have always believed in the spirit of Mother Nature or Mother Earth. I’ve recently been feeling like I needed to connect with the Divine on a spiritual level… but I don’t know who my Divine is.
I am interested in essential oils and herbs, and I’ve recently been itching to put together a protective home spell jar. Not sure where that feeling is coming from, it’s just distracting my soul to the point that I can’t stop thinking about it.
So, a little more about me. I am married. We have two daughters and two dogs. We live in the US, and I work in healthcare. I am a Cancer Sun, Pisces Moon, Cancer Rising. I have tracked the full moon for years, but now I’m starting to track the rest of the phases. The energy of the full moon honestly knocks me off my feet mentally and emotionally.
Anyways, that is all that I can think of now. Happy to be here and I am hoping to make some friends!
Blessed Be!
Merry Merry @ruby.in.the.water and welcome!
I’m Kat and I practice eclectic green magick and am interested in tarot, runes, ogham, herbalism, and moon magic.
If you haven’t already found them, Online Witchcraft Courses: The Easiest Way to Learn Magic – Spells8 is a great place to start! Also the search function is amazing and will help you dig for more information in the forums!
We’re glad to have you here. 
Make yourself comfortable, explore, and feel free to ask questions!
Hi, @ruby.in.the.water! I’m Amethyst from Southern West Virginia. Welcome to the forum! 
It’s great to have you here! Your intro was great, despite your nerves! I think you’ll enjoy being here! We have great Courses, wonderful Witchy Weekly Challenges that help us spread our wings, and Group Rituals on Thursdays that help bring us together!
If you have any questions, just ask and someone will be there to help. I look forward to getting to know you.
Merry Meet @ruby.in.the.water ! So glad you joined us! I’m a chaos voodoo witch from Minnesota. I’ve been practicing many aspects of the craft for 35+ years. I spent a lot of time in the broom closet as well. I was worried about what my boyfriend would think and how he would react. I slowly crept out the beginning of this year and he wasn’t one bit concerned about it. It was a big weight off my shoulders!
This is an amazing group with a wide variety of practitioners. There are so many different discussions and fun things going on here. Feel free to check them out and join in wherever you feel comfortable!
If you ever have any questions don’t hesitate to ask. Someone will pop in and help or guide you in the right direction.
Look forward to learning from and with you!
Blessed Be!
Hello @ruby.in.the.water Welcome. I’m Tracy from England. My patron deity is Loki. I practice Nordic Witchcraft Runes and Chaos Magick . This is a beautiful coven make yourself at home Lovely 
Hello and welcome @ruby.in.the.water I’m Amanda from Oklahoma We’re so excited you have joined us
Hello 
and welcome home @ruby.in.the.water
It’s nice to meet you, Ruby, my name is Marsha. I am an eclectic solitary witch from Colorado. I’m in the broom closet too peeking out the door! 
Welcome to the family! 
With love 
and magick 
always
In a family of very conservative Christians here, and even my husbands family (practicing and non-practicing) are really reserved. I don’t personally believe in the Christian God or the world origin story so I’m an oddball here. I’m a little tired of my sister in law telling me I “need Jesus”. I can only imagine HER reaction if she was to find out about this.
@Artemisia So, I’ve seen the term ogham pop up a few times and I have it on my list of things to look up. But if you’d like to offer me a quick explanation, I’m all for it.
I’m not sure it’s a quick explanation 
but it’s the best one I’ve read!
@Artemisia That actually helped a lot!
Hello and welcome. This is a great site with loads of help and info. I’m ‘quietly’ finding my way too, I never seem to get the privacy to do what I need but what I can do makes me feel so much better, I’m sure it will you
Hello @ruby.in.the.water,
Welcome! I’m Bry, one of the moderators and an Eclectic Witch. Thank you for sharing your introduction, it’s a pleasure to meet you 
Sounds like your intuition is telling you that it’s time for some spell jar crafting! Do you perhaps have a spell recipe already in mind? If you’re brainstorming options, there’s a handy guide about protective witch bottles/jars that I recommend.
Wishing you all the best with your crafting, exploration, and studies. Make yourself at home here, Ruby!
Blessed be 
@BryWisteria I do not have a plan yet. I was going to research protection in crystals, herbs, and essential oils maybe? Those are what I’m the most comfortable working with right now. Then I was going to put together my own mixture with whatever felt right.
I am curious though. There’s a lot about sealing jars with wax and I’m wondering if someone could link me to a resource as to why this is done? Why it’s sealed with candle wax instead of something else? Or just closed like a regular mason jar and lid? I’m curious about the origins of that.
Thank you for the link!
Hi I’m John from Chicago iv been practicing for over 30 years need anything just ask
In my understanding, the wax being used to seal the jar is one of the ingredients in the spell - it brings in the magical correspondences of the color of the candle wax. These associations, like all ingredients in the spell, help to boost and guide the spell to align with the caster’s intentions.
Here is a handy chart of magickal color meanings:
From Spells8: Candle Colors and Their Meanings
That sounds like a great plan! I hope you were/are able to find some crystals, herbs, and oils to help you in your protective magick. Whatever you choose to do, wishing you all the best! Happy casting, Ruby
@ ruby.in.the.water welcome to the witch family!
there are many paths to explore
I’m Airram from Greece and I’m glad you’re with us! 
you have a beautiful smile 