😊 Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - The Magick of Happiness

[BryWisteria]

@Susurrus Gratitude work absolutely goes hand-in-hand with happiness, that’s a great idea, Siofra! I just looked back over the challenge and I can’t believe I didn’t add in anything about gratitude work- thank you for mentioning it here! It sounds like you have some great plans in mind for the challenge- have fun with it!

@Kasandra If “jarring” wasn’t a word, it is now! Seems like a perfectly fine verb to me, and easier to say than “jar work”. Enjoy your jarring and journaling, Kasandra!

@Christina4 That is so sweet, Christina- I’m so glad that you and your family enjoyed such a happy moment together The holidays can seem much darker with recent losses on the mind, so I’m glad you are still finding moments that bring out the twinkle and warmth. May you treasure the happy memories from the past as you all make new happy memories to look upon in the future- wishing all the best to you and your loved ones!

@Garnet Sorry about your old mp3 player, but awesome that you were able to get a nice new one! Reading your post made me smile- you have such a fun life story, Garnet! I think you are amazing for achieving your goals and finding happiness in your own unique way, you are an inspiration! And hooray for the recipe- I’m in the same boat, anything with chocolate = happiness to me too Wishing the same to you, Blessed Holidays!

[christina4]

Thank you so much

[Artemisia]

Oh, what a great challenge and perfect timing. I always have a hard time at the end of a year with being disappointed at things that I did wrong or being upset with myself for not doing more. Perhaps ending a year with happiness is the better choice.

I’ve got a few things that caught my attention so we’ll have to see what I end up picking or perhaps combining to try my hand at the Magick of Happiness.

(love this card from my new deck!)

Thank you for this wonderful challenge

Kat

[mary25]

Seasons Greetings! For this challenge, I made a witch ball for my son to add to his Christmas presents. I wanted it to have protective elements in it as I won’t be with him at Christmas but I also wanted it to have a sensory aspect. I put a note with it that it’s meant to be held and smelled rather than hung as it is kind of heavy and the top comes off when I try to hang it. But it smells wonderful!

I had a lot of fresh ever greens on my mantel and I added the artificial red berries for color. The solar salt I made last week smells so good! I was going to add a lock of my hair to the ball as a taglock but I decided to just insert it and swirl it around and then I removed it to be on the safe side. I blessed it and put it in his gift bag. I made a jar like it for myself - for happy mood.

3 citrine crystals - happiness
Cedar - protection, healing, purification
Chamomile - love, healing and reducing stress
Cinnamon - healing, protection and prosperity
Cypress - healing, calming, overcome grief
Fir - protection, prosperity, Yule
Juniper - protection, health, attracts positive energy
Orange peel - love, joy, abundance, spiritual connection
Pine - blesses home, strength, repels negative energy
Rosemary - health, memory, remove negative energy
Sage - healing, cope with grief, repels negative energy
Solar Salt - (Kosher and Himalyan pink salt, cinnamon, chamomile, orange peel)

[Athena]

@BryWisteria

How you pursued/explored happiness in magick this week

This week, happiness was explored through magickal baking. Every year, I bake numerous amounts of Christmas cookies while listening to retro Christmas music. This time of year is difficult for me, as this was a time when my family used to gather and create cookies and tamales by hand, but as I have gotten older, many of those relatives passed (most due to old age). I continue the tradition, and have passed it onto my children. This act of keeping memories and spirits alive always makes me smile (and sometimes cry because I long for those who have left this plane). I can always feel my ancestors with me as I create our food. This, to me, is one way in which I pursue happiness and feel magic around me - and it is most certainly present this year

[BryWisteria]

@Christina4 You’re very welcome, Christina!

@Artemisia I’m sorry this time of year is usually a hard one for you- and you aren’t alone, there’s another thread called Yule and a Lazy Witch where many folks have said the same- it can be a really tough time for a whole bunch of reasons. I think you are very strong for hanging in there! And choosing to end the year with happiness is so inspirational, good for you for taking the power into your own hands! That is the perfect card- I feel happy just looking at his cute little face and the bright flowers. What a great interpretation of The Sun, thanks for sharing Katnabis!

@mary25 Seasons Greetings to you too, Mary! Wow- look at that witch ball! That was brilliant to include the solar salts, and from looking at the ingredients I can image just how amazing it smells That is a gift worthy of a king, Mary- your son is very blessed indeed! Thank you so much for sharing both your experience and the recipe!

@Athena Beautifully written, Athena- it sounds like a happy time mixed with the bittersweetness of nostalgia. I hope you enjoyed your magickal baking (any cookies left? I’m on my way! ) as you honored a special tradition. May those who have moved on continue to watch over and guide you- it is a very beautiful thing to connect across time through beloved family traditions Great job and thank you for sharing!

[Garnet]

I’ve got to admit that my whole life has been an adventure. I just thought of simple, mundane things as an adventure. “Let’s go to the grocery store.” And it can be, it’s just a matter of attitude. A trip to Europe…oh yea.
A walk in the woods? Yep. Mom and I used to “walk the land” every night, talk about the day. (Those were nice adventures that I had forgotten. Thank you kindly Bry.)A cruise to the Caribbean…you betcha.
Life is what you make of it. Fun or Foul?
Garnet

[Ostara]

I love this challenge! Self love is my new year resolution. I combined today’s daily ritual with the weekly challenge. I hope that’s ok. I made a self love bottle. I included white sugar, rosemary, hibiscus, bay leaf, lemon peel, rose petals, pink tourmaline, and garnet. Then I sealed it with pink candle wax.

[Artemisia]

Oh, I absolutely love everything about this idea! It looks beautiful and can imagine how amazing it must smell! What a wonderful gift. Well done!!!

Kat

[Amethyst]

I usually try to write something of my own on these challenges but there’s nothing more perfect this week than sharing this video with y’all. It’s a tradition in my family to watch the Christmas Carol. Every version you can find. This comes from one of my favorite versions and is so fitting I just had to share it with you.

Muppets- Bless Us All

Happy Yule everyone!

[Athena]

[quote=“Garnet, post:12, topic:17613”]
Life is what you make of it
[/quote]Such a good point @Garnet Adventures can be found every where, and in the most unlikely of places! Life is beautiful and you never know where or when your next adventure may be!

[Athena]

That is such a great idea, and it is very beautiful!

[CourtneyTann]

I’ve been here all of 5 minutes and this is exactly where I should be! Happiness is where I was lead in the first step of my journey to evolve. I stumbled onto this site searching for more involved shadow work! WHAT A BLESSING!
To start the happiness change/challenge I am going to shadow journal and color vibrant!
So Mote!

[jessica72]

Yes! The Muppets are a treasure on this earth!

[jessica72]

@Ostara what a beautiful self-love bottle. You have an amazing talent there!

I had the same thought line with adding some New Year’s resolutions with my own spell jar. I’ve had itchy witchy fingers since making my emotional healing spell jar for a previous challenge and I’ve been wanting to make another.

I wanted to try and incorporate some joy and happiness in 2022 after the disaster of 2021 so i used:

Mint
Rosemary
Fennel Seeds
Cinnamon
Basil
Sea Salt
Bay Leaves
Star Anise
Oregano
Thyme
Yellow Rose Petals

Charged with a Citrine crystal.

I think maybe I was a little heavy on the wax. I’ve never sealed a bottle with wax before and this is only the second spell jar that I have made.

If any one is curious as to what the purple and white layers are at the bottom. It’s amethyst and clear quartz sand. I’ve discovered a new thing and I kind of want to use it in as much of my spell work as I can. I very much had an “oooooo” moment in my favourite crystal shop.

[LadyAuld.ofChico]

There has been a lot of rain over this week. As lovely as it is to have the rain, it does mean very little sun for us. By some beautiful miracle today, Christmas Eve, the sun came out in full force! My dog and I hit the park and spent some quality time with the Sun. I sat for a long time in meditation feeling the Sun beaming onto my face. I could feel my cheeks turning rosey. I was able to consider how blessed I am this year and what makes me most happy. If I may, I will keep my list of blessings to myself, but it was extensive and I feel like that is the best gift I could have ever gotten this season. Thank you for this challenge. I feel like it helped me feel a little extra glitter and magic this week.

[Ostara]

That is beautiful!

[Amethyst]

@jessica72

Yes! The Muppets are a treasure on this earth!

They always make me smile!

@jessica72

I think maybe I was a little heavy on the wax. I’ve never sealed a bottle with wax before and this is only the second spell jar that I have made.

It looks good I think! And I’m oooing with you! Quartz and amethyst sand. Neat!

[Jewitch]

I’ve really been slacking on the Weekly Challenges lately, but I made sure to do this one! It’s a dark time of the year, both in relation to sunlight, and to the fact that many people (myself included) suffer from seasonal affective disorder. There are also many, many people who have negative associations with the holiday season because of family troubles.

For the main part of this challenge this week, I wanted to invoke happiness within myself and to try to spread that happiness to others. To do this, I baked some spritz cookies using the recipe from one of my late grandma’s cookbooks. I chose the recipe because even though I don’t have any memories of her making these particular cookies, it had a note written in beside it in her handwriting, so I figured she’d made it at least once. I also used her measuring cups and measuring spoons, as well as her “cooky” press to shape the cookies.

[Side note: The cookie press I have that belonged to my grandma is old enough to have been made back when the word “cookie” was spelled as “cooky” before the spelling shifted to the current spelling through popular usage.]

While I was mixing the cookie dough, I visualized some of the wonderful memories I have of celebrating Christmas with that side of the family, and then channeled my happiness into the dough as I mixed it. After baking the cookies, I made up a couple of plates of them and delivered them to some friends to share my happiness, love, and appreciation with my friends.

As a second component of this challenge, I’ve been trying to focus on finding positive aspects in negative situations. This was put into (hardcore) practice this morning when we were woken up at about 3 o’clock this morning (on Christmas Day, when I was trying to sleep in!) to our fire alarm going off. Fortunately, it was just a false alarm! However, we often forget to test our smoke detectors regularly, so I took it as a sign from the universe that (1) the smoke detectors work, (2) we need to test them regularly, and (3) life is precious, and we need to appreciate and be happy for all that we have.

The past few days of really focusing on how to bring more happiness into my life has really helped me fight off the wintertime blues!

[Amethyst]

The cookies sound lovely @Jewitch! So much love and caring went into them, they had to be special. Sorry about your fire alarm waking you up but I’m so glad it was a false alarm!