:third_eye_open: WITCH CHALLENGE - Memory Magick

Activities
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Merry meet,

Thank you once again to all those who joined in for the previous Witch Challenge - Passion in Your Practice :heart_on_fire:

After embracing fiery and heartfelt magick, we’re moving from the heart to the mind to explore a very memorable topic.

The theme for this week’s challenge is…

Memory Magick Witch Challenge
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:thought_balloon: :books: Memory Magick :thinking: :framed_picture:

Your magickal journey, powerful moments, and magick with memory

Memories are how the mind stores the past. Not every second of every day, of course - the brain doesn’t have the room, and it doesn’t need to! Our minds are magickal spaces able to collect and treasure the moments that mean the most to us. Some memories remain crystal clear while others seemingly vanish, only to reappear when we need them (or least expect them!). Other memories fade quietly with time.

The world of memory is vast and deeply personal. When we summon them, memories can bring us sadness, hope, fear, delight, melancholy, peace, and any other emotion we’ve ever experienced. They are a powerful resource unique to the person who holds them. What memories are most influential to you and your Craft?

From explorations of the past to magick with memories, reflective journaling and more - you’re invited to open the libraries of your mind! :brain: :books:

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This challenge is about memory magick - how you choose to take on this theme is up to you. So are you ready? Because it’s…

CHALLENGE TIME! :bell:

Book of Mirrors
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From Book of Mirrors - Keep Your Mind Open

Memory Lane

Not sure where to begin? To help you get started exploring this theme, here are a few suggested spells and other ways in which a witch might approach this challenge.

Please make sure you are logged into your Spells8 Account so you can view all of the resources shared!

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Review the Past :hourglass_done:

Past-Life-Tarot-Spreads-750x500
Tarot Spread to Remember Past Lives

Related discussions and recourses:

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Magick to Control Memories :pendulum:

Wiccan-Spell-to-Forget-an-Ex-750x500
Spell to Forget an Ex

Find-a-Lost-Object-750x500
Spell to Find Something You Lost

Spell-to-Find-Lost-Objects-750x500
Emptiness Reversal Spell

Related discussions and resources:

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Honoring Memories :candle:

Rainbow-Bridge-Prayer-for-Remembering-a-Pet-750x500
Rainbow Bridge Prayer for a Departed Pet

Ritual-for-a-Dead-Loved-One-750x500
Spell for a Loved One who Passed Away

Related discussions and resources:

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Reminiscent Reflections :mirror:

Book-of-Mirrors-Wicca-Witchcraft
Book of Mirrors: A Witch’s Reflective Journal

Related discussions and resources:

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Journal Prompts :open_book:

The following prompts are an optional way to explore your magickal memories. Feel free to do one, all, or come up with your own prompts.

  • When did you start to believe in magick?

  • At what point did you consider yourself a witch? (or pagan, practitioner, etc)

  • Do you have a favorite memory in your magickal practice?
    It could be a spell that went well, a useful tool you crafted, something important you learned, a fun moment with a coven member, etc.

  • Looking back, what are you most proud of/happy about in your practice?

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…And More! :raised_hands:

The suggestions above are just a few ideas to help kickstart your creativity. If you feel called to explore the challenge theme in another way, you are welcome to do so.

Six of Cups
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Spells8: Tarot: Six of Cups

How to Join the Challenge :trophy:

In order for your entry to be counted, all you have to do is write/share about your experience and label it as your challenge entry. There is a lot of chatting here (which is awesome- chatting and discussion are very welcome!) so please clearly write that it is your entry so I know to count it! :pray:

Where Do I Share My Entry? :thinking:

Click here to learn where to share your challenge entry

You are welcome to post it right here- just click “reply” :repeat: to this post and write your experience in the text box that pops up!

Alternatively, you could create a new post in the forum (this is good for when you have a lot to share and/or would like to discuss aspects of your entry not related to the current theme)

Note: If you do choose to create a new thread, please add the “challenge-entry” tag and/or add a hyperlink back to this post so that it can be easily found- thank you! :bowing_woman:

Click here for a note for our lovely lurkers

Everyone is welcome to join the challenge. For those who would like the challenge prizes, please know that you will need to share your experience if you want to receive a prize and a public shout-out.

Don’t feel comfortable sharing? No fear! For lurkers and those who are shy, it is absolutely okay to follow along with the challenge on the sidelines. At the end of the day, these challenges are here to help you help yourself by expanding and enhancing your personal magickal practice. I hope they can be helpful for you!

Deadline :spiral_calendar:

:exclamation: This challenge will close in 13 DAYS :exclamation:

To join in, please share your experience by:

Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 AM EDT (Eastern US Time)
2026-08-18T11:00:00Z

(Note that the time zone is ET- if you don’t see your time displayed above, you can use this time zone calculator to check for your time zone!)

Prizes :gift:

For their efforts, all participants will receive a special shout-out and a small prize! :gift:

Acknowledgments will be given in a Props and Presents Post that will appear in the forums the day the challenge closes.

After the challenge closes, you are still very welcome to post but please be aware that no additional prizes will be given. This discussion will remain open for about a week after the challenge finishes.

Wiccan-Ritual-For-Honoring-The-Dead
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From Spells8 Ritual for Departed Loved One

A warm reminder that the challenges are designed to be very open - everyone is encouraged to participate in a way that honors and reflects their unique practice :open_book:

If you’re not sure whether or not something is acceptable to post, please double-check with the Forum FAQ and/or reach out to your friendly Moderator Team.

And for those new to challenges - welcome! :heart: Know that the goal of these activities is to help you further diversify and strengthen your abilities. The challenges hope to bring together the Spells8 forum family in ways that inspire and support one another. I hope you have fun with them!

Past Lives Tarot Spread by Starborn
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Photo by @starborn shared in Past Lives Tarot Spread

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Laughter and tears, moments held dear
All that you love and all that you fear
Memories reflect the essence of you
Weave them into your magick and all that you do!

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Blessed be :third_eye_open:

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Witchy Challenges :sparkles: A Complete History!
Witchy Challenges :sparkles: A Complete History!
Merry Meet Monday: Witchy News of the Week (Aug 10 - 16) :black_circle:
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Pick the Challenge Badge

The tradition continues! Let us know - which title do you like the most?

(Poll is anonymous)

  • Memory Mage
  • Nostalgic Witch
  • Keeper of the Past
  • Holder of Memories
  • Sentimental Sorcerer
0 voters

The option with the most votes will be awarded to all challenge entrants. Thanks for helping us pick the challenge badge! :sparkles:

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Challenge Entry

I remember learning that our experiences make us who we are. The second I read it, I thought about all those who have lost their memory through injury or illness. They are not themselves. We have lost that original being, nevermore to be retrieved. Forgetfulness became a form of mini death for me, and the giant black bird sat upon the half statue of the Goddess of Wisdom while the poet remembered his lost love.

My mother often accused my grandmother of “selective memory:” remembering things only when they served her own purposes. It was the height of insult.

No one in my family ever claimed to have forgotten anything. If one person forgot or wasn’t there at the time, it simply didn’t happen, no matter what anyone else claimed to remember.

This collection of attitudes then called into question my identity, if I am my memory, and helped to create a form of narcissism which denied anyone else the right to be or to think for themselves. If everyone else has no applicable memory, they are nothing more than “blank slates” to be written upon, rag dolls to be tossed around or beaten, and robots to serve immediately and perfectly.

It then became very important for me to remember as much as I could- even the painful things. I didn’t dare forget anything, not even when my own family called me insane for holding onto things no one else had in mind. This was soon recognized as high intelligence, complete with tricks which created a photographic memory. At the same time, acting on or repeating what I remembered landed me in a psych ward when it wasn’t supported by a parent who wanted to keep “family secrets,” even from those who could help. I was accused by shrinks of having my mother’s illnesses rather than anything of my own, so I built a life which made the best of the situation.

All of a sudden, our church decided to redefine forgiveness as part of forgetting. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. This didn’t sit well with what I was taught, but the other path, not forgetting, wasn’t working in my life, so I decided to try it. This “selective forgetting” seemed dangerous in that a person I’d “forgive and forget” could walk back into my life and recreate the same events which created the need to “forgive and forget” in the first place, using my generosity to their own advantage to ultimately harm me. Others did not use the second chance to improve themselves. I had to learn that this was their choice, not mine. I had no control of it, and thus I needed to remember in order to protect myself until the people I would have forgiven proved that they had learned from their experiences.

When I was told that abused people end up abusing others, I decided the buck stops here. I learned to avoid any form of depth in relationships so I wouldn’t do unto others what was done to me-silence until I had a better understanding of this path. I realized that patterns are only repeated when experience has not revealed another way to handle a situation. Every alternate path is a way out of the trap of ignorance.

The lessons I have attempted to put into my memory and depth of being have been coming to the fore, lately. A youth witnessed a phone call. When I asked adults around me for confirmation of what I thought I heard, he volunteered that what he heard was completely different from what I intended or thought I said. Happily, it happened via text, so he never saw or heard my initial reaction. This was a scary revelation for me, with which I had to come to terms. I dared not reveal my original intentions or the child would be unwilling to express personal experience in the future. My feelings had to be carefully contained, and I felt very alone. Thus, I have ended up harming myself in an attempt to avoid harming others or passing the buck. Still seeking some middle ground, still learning the path of memory.

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I so need this. I got the doctor to laugh today. I told her I have CRS. I don’t think she’d ever heard that before!

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It sounds like you’ve had a long and challenging journey with memories and their role in your practice, Georgia. Sending big hugs to you :people_hugging:. It can definitely be disorientating when our memories don’t align with the memories of others (or, rather, their memories the way they choose to share them).

Still, you’ve been able to keep and store memories of importance to you and either hold them or record them in places such as your beautiful books - I think that’s amazing! Those memories and experiences are valuable. I’d encourage you to keep treasuring memories and to keep sharing the ones that bring you and light to others :candle: :folded_hands: :books:

I’m going to need to phone a friend on this one, I’m not familiar with CRS either! :grin:

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Umm, yeah. Can’t Remember Shit.

I’m awful that way. :smiling_face_with_horns:

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Amethyst,

CRS :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Lady Gene :phoenix:

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I didn’t come up with it; I read it on a mug! But that’s one term I’ve never forgotten!

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It was really popular in the mid to late 1980’s. You know- back when electric dinosaurs roamed the office buildings, a computer filled a closet, a phone was connected to a wall and long distance calls cost an arm and a leg, there were only 5 free TV stations, people still listened to transistors and crystal radios, there were 4 food groups, typewriters still clacked, aluminum foil was made into hats, we could still buy penny candy, and kids were still taught to write by hand- before the internet hit, when stamps were only a quarter, and gas cost less than a dollar a gallon! :rofl:

If you remember any of this, you definitely don’t have CRS! :purple_heart: It’s all S, now! :joy:

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7 posts were split to a new topic: Area 51 :alien:

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Aha, I see! Thank you for explaining it :wink: :+1: :heart:

What a memory to have! I don’t think gas has even been under a dollar while I was filling up my car and driving it. Sounds like those memories are treasures! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

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When Mom and I traveled across the Desert Southwest, here, in the early 70’s, it was horrible that gas hiked up to 35¢ a gallon! There were lines at the stations when the stations actually had gas. That was one of the big reasons we didn’t continue traveling that year. Thankfully, she stopped driving before gas hit $2.50 a gallon. I think the last time we got gas, it was $2.11, and that was the time she sprayed a bunch all over me!

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You’re very welcome!

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Yep, Georgia, in the 70’s we always took road trips from Vegas to Texas around Dallas for my Greatgrandma, or Northern California to my Aunt…Love those road-trips-:automobile:

Yup, I remember gas :fuel_pump: about 60-75 cents a gallon. But, hey, remember the Stuckeys???

Lady Gene :phoenix:

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Wow! $2.50 a gallon is indeed a distant memory these days. I feel like partying when it drops below $4 a gallon! :laughing:

:hugs: :two_hearts:

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One week to go!

Don’t forget to remember - the clock is ticking, but the past grows ever larger. Thank you to everyone who has joined in to reminiscence and discuss memory magick so far!

For those still pondering about the theme, rest assured that plenty of time remains on the challenge clock. There is one more week until this challenge closes.

Looking forward to reading your entries!

Blessed be :sparkles:

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I always enjoyed shopping there. They had such beautiful Native American dolls with all the beadwork! That was before the Natives felt so badly as to shove away those who wanted to honor them.

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Hi Bry, sorry, got a little off topic :melting_face: I don’t really do “memory magick”, just been talking about memories. Ooops,

Lady Gene :wink:

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I’m at a bit of a loss as to what to do for this challenge. My brain still isn’t operating at full capacity, I don’t think. So I will probably wait and have a go at the next Witch Challenge.

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No worries, Lady Gene! :heart: Not every theme will resonate with every practice, and that’s totally fine :blush:

Always an option! Hope you’re resting up and that you feel better soon, Greenbriar :pray: :green_heart:

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