I see Nessie in that first fire photo!
I hope you like that book.
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One week to go!
There’s something very bracing about exploring Earth Magick - it feels like a strong hug. Thank you to everyone who has shared their entries so far!
For those still pondering what to share, no fear - plenty of time remains on the challenge clock. There is one more week until this challenge closes.
Looking forward to seeing and hearing about your Earth Magick (and please don’t forget to vote in the poll if you haven’t already!)
Blessed be 
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Oops. I forgot to mark this as my challenge entry. The editing pencil has vanished over time. Sorry about the confusion, @BryWisteria! I can update, since it is daytime, though.
This is Albus’ planter: bird seed to sprout. He enjoys eating from it (He’s hiding in the corner by the mirror at the moment). Fresh seed was put into the planter day before yesterday.
The “daisies” are actually mums, but they are sprouting. Only two lavender plants are up, but they are doing well.
And here is my pear tomato. It seems straggly, but is growing like a weed. A couple of tomatoes are starting to grow on it, with lots of flowers yet to ripen.
Albus wanted his picture taken.
He’s so tiny he’s hard to see, but he’s sitting between the second and third food cup, under the right side of the swing.
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Inspired by @Cosmic_Curiosity, here is my entry:
Ayé - the spirit of the living earth itself. 
- “Ayé l’agbára” – The Earth has power.
We are diving into the Yoruba cosmology here. Ayé, also known as Ilé Ayé or Mother Earth, is not strictly speaking a part of the Yoruba Orisha (or always considered part of the Orisha), but she is revered as a goddes none the less. She is the embodiment of the earth herself — the soil, the land, the vegetation, the minerals, and the cycles of life and death. As such, Ayé is considered alive. She can feel when the people are hurt or disrespected or blessed upon her body.
The orisha themselves descend upon Ayé to perform their work. She is the canvas for all magical, spiritual, and physical action. Without her, there is no manifastation. She is, for all intends and purposes, the foundational plane of existence herself.
Names & Identity
- Name variations: Ayé (or Ayé Ile), Ilé Ayé, Aiyé.
- Meaning of “Ayé”: The word “Ayé” literally means “world”, “life”, or “earth” in Yoruba. It is both the physical earth and the material realm in which we live.
- Gender: Feminine. Often addressed as Mother Earth, a living being, nurturing yet powerful.
“Ayé kò gbọ́ ẹ̀sùn ọ̀fọ̀” – The Earth does not accept false accusations. (The Earth knows truth.)
Spiritual Attributes
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Element | Earth |
| Colors | Brown, green, red clay tones |
| Symbols | Soil, stones, plants, bones, trees |
| Day | Any day, but especially connected with harvest moons |
| Sacred spaces | Forests, fields, gardens, sacred groves |
| Offerings | Libations (water, wine), food placed directly on soil, flowers, leaves, grains, millet, kola nut, and heartfelt prayers of gratitude |
All life springs from Ayé. And all life returns to her eventually. She is fertile. She is abundant. She is destructive or even deadly when disrespected. While the orisha contains deities responsible for drought, earth quakes, storms etc. nothing is possible without Ayés will.
"Ayé ni í gbà" – *It is the Earth who receives all things.*
Worship & Rituals for Ayé
How to Honor Ayé:
- Daily gratitude rituals – place your feet on the bare ground and thank her aloud.
- Libations – pour clean water, palm wine, or herbal infusions directly into the soil.
- Gardening or earth-keeping – caring for the land is worship.
- Create an Ayé Altar :
- Use terracotta or wooden bowls.
- Include soil from sacred places, small plants, natural stones, and water.
- Light brown or green candles.
- Drumming or singing to the Earth – Yoruba songs often praise Ayé as the nurturer and giver of wealth.
The pictures were rendered by chatgpt to give a better impression of Ayé. I hope that is alright.
Resources & Links
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She’s beautiful! I can easily see her in the mountains near me.
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Witch Challenge for Amethyst:
Hey y’all! I was looking through the plant magic and decided to adjust a spell bag for protection. Instead of using sage, I used rosemary, with lavender. I charged it with protection for when I have my hand surgery in a couple of weeks.
I wish I would have added a crystal, but I didn’t think of it until just now. LOL! Oh well. I’m sure this spell bag with do the job!
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For my Earth Magick challenge entry, I chose to spend some time caring for my new pothos. It had some yellowing leaves, which is normal, but it also had leaves with blackening spots. I looked it up and, while not 100% certain, that could be a sign of bacterial infection in the plant.
It also had some new growth, so I know the plant isn’t dying 
which is a good sign!
So, for the sake of the plant, I pruned all of the vines that had those spots on them. It no longer has hanging vines, but it should grow back much healthier!
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This is the last day to join the challenge A big thank you to those who have brought the grounding and growing energy of Earth to this space with their lovely magick 
This is your heads up that the challenge is approaching its end. It will close to entries tomorrow: Tuesday, June 17 at 7:00 AM ET (Eastern US Time)
If you haven’t already shared an entry with the coven but would like to join in, this is your friendly reminder that you still have time left to do so.
Blessed Be! 
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Six day update:
They are all really growing! I can’t see the pic from the base of the tomato, now that no preview bar is available and the pic was taken in such bright light that the screen was too dark, but there are two yellowing pear tomatoes near the base and several green ones higher up. Looking forward to a sweet harvest, even if they are just one at a time.
Meanwhile, unseen baby birds cry for food almost constantly, now. I put seed and water out on my balcony, but it seems there is more evaporation and gnat drowning than feeding going on. Today’s high is expected to be 102°F. The heat seems to roll up the side of the building and into any crevice or open window, so I have to turn on the A/C earlier each day and leave it on later each night. I think I had the windows open about 1 hour, this morning. Not looking forward to the next three months: no comfortable access to Nature or the Earth outside until the weather breaks next Mabon.
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Challenge Entry - Earth Magick
I was so excited for this challenge and my first week blew by in a cloud of good busy. The second week had been full of bad news and difficult challenges, I won’t burden or bore anyone 
I’ve run out of time, but I’ve included photos of my earth magick connections over the past two weeks.
Yucca flowers, Fish Crow, and mud pouring into the lake from heavy rain.
Fish crow, catnip from my garden, Lemon balm from my garden, and fungus growing on a stump that I use as a platform for the crows’ food.
Hosta flowers, hot peppers, bronze coin, moss in a stone staircase, and green beans are favorite toys.
The only thing I wish I could add but can’t figure out how to share a sound file but I recorded both a Fish Crow and an American Crow, both calling in the trees in my backyard. 
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Consider saving to YouTube? I’d enjoy hearing your neighbors “sing.”
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Challenge Entry
I have been feeling pretry ungrounded for the last week. So I decided to make a spell jar for grounding and protection.
I used a little spell jar
oregon sunstone
amethyst
chamomile
fennel
Rosemary
A fresh rosebud
Red Clover buds
Then put in High Above , Low below oil in it and then sealed it with my Ostara candle .
I asked my ancestors and guides to help me to feel grounded, protected and guided.
Today I have noticed I have felt less activated, more present and grounded.
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CHALLENGE ENTRY
When I think of Earth, I think of my favourite gratitude/awestruck song…What a Wonderful World.
Since the first time I heard it as a child, I was mesmerised and I still am. Aside the from the way the musician in me flutters every time those dulcet tones start, it is the simplicity of the song, and yet it’s complexity which keeps it in my soul. I’ve never heard a truer or more beautiful expression of gratitude for this precious planet.
Over the last week, I’ve been taking K to the park after school when the weather was good, and I snapped a few pictures which made me think of the song:
I know that last one isn’t a bird, but I found it interesting that at that precise moment, there was a random guy in the park and all I saw was the word Phoenix across his back 
Anyway, after listening to the song on repeat, I decided to do a very mini thematic analysis of the song, to see how many worlds within this one I could identify…turns out, there were quite a few! The lyrics are italic (hopefully), the specific world is in bold (e.g. instead of ‘world of identity’ it’s ‘identity’), anything else is a snippet of the random musings which form my favourite part of thematic analysis…what does the subject make you think about?
I see trees of green, red roses too
Identity, Self, ownership i.e. saying “I see” instead of “you see”; Vision (ability to see), Sight (seeing with more than eyes), reality; Nature, life, deep roots; Colours, primary, vibrant; Love, weddings and/or funerals
I see them bloom, for me and you
Identity; Vision; Growth; Humanity think about it, right now you’re breathing without thinking about it, your body is filtering and processing all at the same time how is that not magic, enjoying life with others
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Identity; Cognition; Internal Dialogue; Beauty; Earth soil, roots, fertility, life, oxygen, animals including us
I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
Ownership; Vision; Air (birds, planes); Water underwater community; Colours
The bright, blessed day, the dark, sacred night
Happy; Divine; Balance; Darkness, shadows; Divine he could have said evil night or scary night but he didn’t; Opposites like balance, can’t have and appreciate one without the other; Night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Identity; Cognition; Internal Dialogue, private thoughts; Wonder; Planets, the solar system
The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Colours; Spectrum, different shades/versions; Magic; Beauty; Air
Are also on the faces, of people going by
Reflections; Races; Coexistence; Gravity someone needs to explain gravity and why it doesn’t pull us flat to the floor at all times, how is it we’re magically strolling on the huge ball which is spinning in space, not falling or floating, just chilling like a spinning planet isn’t magic
I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do
Identity; Vision; Friendship; Greetings, shaking hands is probably most well known but how many ways do we greet each other, positive or not?; Speech;
They’re really saying, I love you
Truth, Unspoken, listening vs hearing; Love, unconditional
I hear babies cry, I watch them grow,
Identity; Audio; Newborns, new life, new potential; Observation; Modelling (learning by watching others); Pride pure innocent joy of watching children grow and learn
They’ll learn much more, than I’ll ever know,
Education; Learning; Wisdom; Smarts; Evolution; Expansion of Knowledge which increases with each generation, gathering and dispersing of generational, societal and cultural knowledge to drive humanity forward…ish.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.
Indeed.
x Blessed Be x
PS Love the contributions everyone! 
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A Props and Presents post will soon appear with shout-outs and prize details for everyone who submitted an entry. Please keep an eye on the main page of the forums.
Note : To avoid confusion, this discussion will be locked until the Props and Presents post appears. At that time, this thread will reopen for discussion for a few more days- comments are welcome during this time, but please note that no additional prizes will be given.
Thanks again for joining in the challenge 
Blessed be
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The challenge deadline has passed- badges are being sent out now
This topic is reopening for continued discussion and comments (feel free to respond to entries that were shared, chat about the challenge theme, etc!)
The Props and Presents award post for this challenge is now live in the forum and badges have been sent to all entrants! 
→ Award Post for the Earth Magick Challenge
Thank you once again to all those who joined the challenge! 
I hope you enjoy your new badge 
While no additional badges will be given out now that the challenge has officially closed, this thread has been reopened for discussion- feel free to comment on the theme, ask questions or reply to entries.
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The only way to do this would be to upload it to YouTube. If you’d like to do it but don’t want there to be an image, YouTube’s “Short” editor can put a picture over whatever you recorded so you can only see the image and hear the sound
I love all the pictures you shared! 
You make me want to get outside more – now, I just need to find the time!
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I already tried. 
YouTube only allows video files and this is an MP3 (sound only) file. shrug Oh well. Edit I’m not sure I have the extra oompf this week to try to create a video with it as the sound to upload. I’m all about easy since this week is going to be anything but
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No worries! If you ever want advice for doing things like this in the future (I have an app for that… lol) just let me know!
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