šŸ• Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Catch-Up!

My :sparkling_heart: Giving Gratitude (Blessed and Grateful) challenge is now done!
I finally cleaned off my altar and decorated it with artificial orange leaves, pumpkins, acorns, and pine cones, and one of those small brooms that smell like cinnamon for Mabon.

Unfortunately, the screw in part on one of the legs broke off. :cry: I think thatā€™s from my tightening them too much. But some Gorilla Glue fixed the problem. Iā€™m hoping the table will last for a few more years. I only paid $15 for it when I got it last year.

Anyway, after I was done decorating, I said a Draconic Gratitude Prayer that went something like this:

Tonight, I give thanks for all that I have.

I give thanks that I am healthy and alive as the pandemic rages on.
For my family.
For my job.
For my kitty.
For my best friend.
For the roof over my head.
For the food that nourishes me.
For my eyesight that allows me to admire the beauty of a autumn leaves each year.
For the Infinite Roots coven and their support.
For my talents of drawing and writing.
For all who have a hand in the creation of books, movies, TV shows, and video games, thank you for the entertainment your hard work has provided me.

And most of all, I give thanks to the Great Dragons, named and unnamed who continue to lend me their wisdom and strength.

To Veaug, I thank you for your assistance in helping me decipher the meaning of tarot and oracle cards and giving me a glimpses into my past lives.

To Tysteal, I thank you for the protection you provide me during the lunar cycle.

To Morthan, I thank you for your abundance of motherly love, protection, and wisdom.

To Grael, I thank you for Earth, the planet that we call home.

To Sairys, I thank you for the clean air I breathe.

To Fafnir, I thank you for the sun that gives us warmth and life.

To Naelyon, I thank you for the water that sustains that life.

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2nd Challenge Entry

My final entry for this challenge is for the :dove: Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE- Earth-Friendly Witchcraft!

~Re-use materials~

  • Think back to last weekā€™s challenge about Thrifty Witchcraft- instead of buying something new, maybe you can think creatively and re-use materials you have on hand in new ways. In addition to saving money, reusing is one of the Three Rā€™s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) to help reduce climate change and save the planet! :earth_africa:

I actually do this on a regular basis, I reuse jars/bottles. More specifically mason jars or spice bottles to hold my witchy apothecary items. Then I put labels on them & reuse them over & over to hold a specific item/herb/oil. The most recent one that I saved when we were finished with it in the kitchen was a Paprika bottle & a mini jam jar. (My daughter will also save pouches or jars for me when she comes across them).

Most of the items bottles/jars for my witchy herbs are reusable & I keep any extras of things that I have in my cabinet. I do have some things that are store-bought, but they were either on sale or I had some kind of coupon for them or they were originally a decoration!

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My first challenge.
Elemental mastery

An elemental healing spell

Come foreword to observe the rite I will now ply

A ritual bath to bless and purify.

Bless this small altar, & if it please thee,

4 stones, the size of a 25 cent piece.

Paint them bright colors,

Red for the fire, Blue for water,

Yellow for air, and Earth is Green.

1 for each element, now should be seen.

Dress a candle of white to brighten the night

Lit with great ceremony, and also with love.

Incense of Dragons Blood For protection and healing.

A night sky full of stars & Goddess above.

Calling the elements
I call with my Heart, Will & Love.

The strength of the Elements I call to you.

The Earth that turns & Water that flows -

Fire that burns & Air that blows

Lastly the 5th element, the one who knows.

Some call you Spirit , I call to you Soul

And the strength of the elements to give my words power.
For those who are damaged & in pain that makes you sour

Crash mighty thunder awaken the sky

Lightening brighten the night so I can see with mine eyes

Send strength & endurance to those who have fear or need

I pray that you send healing to wounds & psyche that are torn .

Iā€™ve called upon your power & your good graces too.

I send thanks to all elements, my beloved Goddess too

As I bring this rite to a final conclusion.

Your presence has blessed us & we feel no delusion.

I release one & all go blessed into this night.

As it has been spoken, so shall it be.

As above, so below

Allow candle to burn for an hour.

Then Put it out.

Wrap it in a clean white cloth Put it in your supplies for

the next time to use.

Clean your altar and make sure incense is out.

Cover your altar and retreat with a bow.

This is an older spell revisited. I tore it apart 5-6 times and rewrote it. So I guess it is new.
Always practice fire safety!

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My second submission is on
Elemental earth healing

I speak to the Earth and Mother Goddess,

Man is destroying the world with neglect and greed

I plea for a healing to renew what Earth needs

For its wounds and scars, from mining and gain

Crisscross the land and it screams out in pain.

Earth, you shake in your pain, tremors that turn into quakes.

Trying to shout out your need for surcease.

Let it be so, Mother, let Earths pain ease

Remind man the Earth is only on loan

And that we must take care or our children.

Will inherit but dust and the powder of bone

I ask for renewal and that it harm none.

As I have spoken, let it be done.

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@Garnet this is beautiful spellwork and powerful. I get a chill and high vibration through my body just reading over it great job

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For my first challenge I chose Salty spellwork
I used salt, fractionated coconut oil, lavender and rosemary oils to create a cleansing scrub. I plan to use it every day when I get home from work and also when I shower to rid myself of all the dayā€™s negative energy

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For my 2nd challenge, Iā€™m learning about IxChel
Let me tell you, she is quite the lady! From goddess of birth/fertility/midwives to goddess of the apocalypse :flushed:
Sheā€™s also considered a triple moon goddess, however her story varies due to loss of records lost during the Spanish invasion and conversion to catholicism, especially when it comes to who she was married to and her children. Some of whom created the universe. Thereā€™s just so much information! I also learned that there are over 200 deities in the Mayan pantheon. Most of what Iā€™m finding, though I havenā€™t dug too deep yet, is based mostly in Mexico. There are Mayan ruins in CopĆ”n Honduras and I would love to visit however, I am too gringa and it isnā€™t safe, makes me sad. Here is one site that I came across. Ix Chel loosely translates to lady of the rainbows :rainbow:
Incidentally they are not good omens in Mayan culture
Ix Chel

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Okay gonna do it. I am submitting my entry. This is just more of mentioning a personal achievement than anything else. I have been working on getting a little astral travel miles. I am not good at that sort of thing at all. Last night I completely know that I took that trip to where I meant to go and interacted with the one I had in mind to meet there. Now of course I was asleep. So dreams is the answer for the rational mind. The thing is though I am not a person who A ever wakes up from dreams, and B never remembers dreams. Just not something I do. Since I am so generally resistant to inducing the state in anything close to a wakeful state I believe that my subconscious decided to help me. Of course I also wouldnā€™t be surprised if my one that I met there wouldnā€™t have helped as well. They are one I know would if they could. Of course it can all be explained away. It certainly isnā€™t something I would have expected nor did I really initiate it. As I said just mostly to share. It is a travel I would do any time. It is a place I would gladly stay at. All that said I am sure it is also a place I will rarely visit without a lot of luck.

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The timing is perfect for this to be included in the White Magic Catch-Up.

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Mmm just realised I donā€™t have the Astrology badge or the Word Witch oneā€¦ :woman_facepalming: should probably fix thatā€¦ :rofl:

Edited to link entriesā€¦

Word Witch Entry :bookmark_tabs:
Astrology Entry :sparkles:

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This is for my Astrology badge. (EDIT: This was moved to A Sacred Space.)

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For my second catch up challenge entry Iā€™ve decided to do something for :mountain: Of the Element Earth - Earth Elemental

I created a small terrarium a few months ago that has been sitting on the window sill in my office. Iā€™ve already had to replace one of the small sempervivum ā€œhouse leekā€ plants as it wasnā€™t thriving and they were starting to look a little sad again.

An advert happened to pop up on my Facebook or Instagram feed with an app for diagnosing problems with plants that had a similar succulent. It suggested possibly over watering and not enough sunlight, to be fixed with removing the dead leaves with tweezers and relocating to a sunnier spot.

So this is what Iā€™ve done. My terrarium and a couple of other small plants have been relocated to a sunny window ledge upstairs, and in the process I seem to have accidentally created another small altar space :rofl:

Iā€™ve also treated the plants with this disgusting looking concoction which was inspired by a this post by @phoenix_dawn Herb Hack & Small Update on Me - #19 by phoenix_dawn

Itā€™s made from broken down aloe vera leaf which has been sat on my bookshelf since July. Iā€™m hoping the chlorophyll dose will perk up the plants and Iā€™ll report back on progress.

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Its beautiful - thank you for sharing :heart_eyes:

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I LOVE your outdoor space! You have totally inspired me.

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Awww thanks for the shout out @IrisW I had completely forgotten about that post as I was still brand new to the coven at the point

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So this lil Bit of Earth is one of my favorite Sacred Places : For Earth Magic and Reflection/Meditation and the occasional spell.
I also have an ongoing Highway that I have Adopted (itā€™s my route to work) so on my way home every day - if I see something that doesnā€™t belong to The Earth Mother I take it with me and trash it. It has been one of my favorite things to do every now and then with my kids ā€˜lolā€™ picking up trash doesnā€™t sound fun ā€˜ but when your in Nature and doing something that benefits her ā€˜ itā€™s all worth it !

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Kristy darlinā€™, your window terrarium is scrumptious. It could certainly pass for an altar. As always, you bring joy to my heart.

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Steph, How could anyone could call this precious garden anything but sacred.

Thereā€™s a song on your tube by Home Free, Called My Church and it essentially says where I am is my church. Thatā€™s the first thing I thought when you shared this lovely photo.
These 2 videos are by an acapella group that I love, if you hate C&W, ignore the song, but listen to the words objectively.
Home Free

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My :skull: The Veil Between Worlds - Witch of the Veil challenge is done!

Since the original post had a trigger warning, Iā€™m goin to add one here.

:warning: TW: The remainder of this post will talk about dying and death. If you think this subject will be too upsetting, you might want to stop reading. :warning:

I cast a circle and called Veaug, Dragon God of Obscurity, for his assistance in helping me understand death more.
On a side note, I could sense him saying to me, ā€œYou can just say my name and what you need me for and I will come assist you. Thereā€™s no need for long invocations.ā€

Anyway, I lit a purple candle and held an amethyst to connect with the higher planes of consciousness and for inner wisdom and started mediating.

One of the reasons I love Halloween is itā€™s the only time of the year when we donā€™t really fear death or run from symbols of death like skulls :skull:and ghosts :ghost:.

Returning to the state before we were born after we die is hard to comprehend. The concept and belief of an afterlife makes dying and death much less frightening.

However, the afterlife that Christianity presented to me didnā€™t provide much comfort either. Am I being a good enough person? Will I be sent to Hell when I die? The thought of being sent to Hell for eternity by an all-loving, all-merciful God just didnā€™t sit well with me.

Going to Heaven didnā€™t seem like a much better option either. You will spend eternity praising and worshipping God. Our lives on earth are just a preparation for all that.
I canā€™t help thinking to myself (sarcastically): so meaningful!

My family and I have all talked about what we want done with our remains. We donā€™t want funerals or anyone viewing our bodies. Personally, I want to be ā€œplantedā€ in a biodegradable bag of dirt with along with a treeā€™s seed (doesnā€™t matter what kind). My remains will put nitrogen into the soil, creating a healthy environment for that tree (and any surrounding plants) to grow. My energy will be converted into heat and dissipate into the air. Like The Law of Conservation says: ā€œEnergy is neither created nor destroy; it can only be changed from one form to another.ā€ Iā€™ll become part of the earth, the Goddess and God. So, in a way, Iā€™ll still be experiencing the Universe. Just in a different way.

And that is perfectly fine with me.

I had some difficult writing this post because I wasnā€™t sure if I was expressing myself properly, but this was one of the best meditations Iā€™ve ever done because I donā€™t fear death as much anymore.

Lastly, I want to share a reading I did to close out the meditation.

I drew Rebirth - Giving Yourself A Second Chance and Knowledge (note that there are five cards in the deck called generals, they are extensions of the cards from the main deck and donā€™t have to be included in your readings).

Iā€™m not afraid that I wonā€™t be famous enough for my names to appear in the history books, but I do worry if Iā€™m actually doing anything meaningful.

Rebirth tells us that yes, we havenā€™t succeeded at everything, but that doesnā€™t mean that you should give up. Reroute the course of your life. Search. Discover. Try new things. Change your outlook on life. See these failures as a lesson and learn from them. When you do, you will feel like a new person and experience a rebirth.
Knowledge, as extension of Rebirth, tells me that I should continue learning more about drawing and writing to hone my talents so that I can, hopefully, make a career out in them someday.

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Kitchen Witchery - Kitchen Witch

Please see my healing recipe

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