ThriftWitch: Home Protection Charm

I came up with this Home Protection Charm a few years ago, when we were feeling a bit vulnerable. I've maintained it since then, which includes refreshing the ingredients periodically. When I did this recently I thought it would be the perfect time to take some photos of the process and share it on the blog. 

  

To make your charm you will need the following:

• A small lidded glass jar
• Some thorns (if you can't get thorns you could use pins)
• Some small pieces of mirror 
• A small square of paper and a marker pen
• A small length of fine wire or yarn, tangled
• Some dried rosemary 

I snipped my thorns off some blackthorn twigs I'd pruned from the hedge. Late winter/early spring is a great time to find thorns, before the foliage has grown back and obscured them. I like using blackthorn thorns as the plant is used in protective spells, and in Ireland it was used to make shillelaghs - a fighting stick or club used for self-defence. Blackthorn is fierce and uncompromising (just the qualities you'd want to be defending you and your home) and its use in the countryside to create impenetrable stock-proof hedges makes it a great enforcer of boundaries. Take care when using blackthorn though as the thorns are extremely sharp and are notorious for causing wounds which become infected.

To assemble your charm, use your marker pen to inscribe the rune 'Algiz' on your square of paper. Algiz is a protective rune, and the square shape of the paper symbolises stability and strength. Put the rune-inscribed paper in the bottom of your jar to create a firm foundation for the energy of the charm. 

Scatter your pieces of mirror on top of the paper. These are intended to 'bounce back' any negative energy that is sent your way. I have a container in which I keep any bits and bobs I come across that I think may be useful for spellwork or art projects, so I had some small pieces of broken mirror and a small round shisha mirror that had come loose from an embroidered Indian cushion, but if you don't have any suitable bits of mirror you could use beads or any small thing with a reflective surface (even cut-up fragments of an old CD, or pieces of a shattered Christmas bauble would do).

Next add your thorns or pins. This adds a strong layer of defensive energy to the charm. Try to ensure the points are all facing in different directions to guard against threats from any source.

Sprinkle in a pinch or two of a dried protective herb. I used rosemary - I find kitchen herbs are just as effective as other magical herbs and they have the advantage of being easy to come by and not too expensive. But you could substitute other herbs if you prefer - consult a good witch's herbal or check an online list such as this one if you're not sure what to use. 

The last item to add is a piece of fine wire or yarn which has been tangled up. This echoes the old folk idea that evil spirits become tangled in such things, or are compelled to spend time unknotting or untangling them. Either way, while they are so occupied they are unable to cause any trouble!

The charm is complete!

Screw the lid tightly onto the jar, and place it by the entrance to your home, or on a windowsill. Mine sits on a small, round mirror (more reflective power!) on the kitchen windowsill overlooking the entrance to my home. I just have the one Home Protection Charm, but you could make more if you wanted to. 

Periodically - say once a year, or more frequently if you feel the need - tip out the contents of your jar and re-make it to keep the energy fresh and strong. When I do this, I put the herbs and thorns in the compost bin and add fresh ones, burn the paper with the rune on and re-inscribe it on a fresh square of paper, and re-tangle the wire/yarn before returning it to the jar.

  

 

ThriftWitch: Creating Personal Oracle Cards

I've been thinking for a while about creating my own Oracle Cards. I've made oracle sets before, mostly runestones from painted pebbles or air-drying clay - some using the standard Elder Futhark runes and others with my own invented symbols etched into them. Last autumn I taught a workshop during which the participants made their own divination sets. Most people opted to make oracle cards and I've been itching to make my own set ever since. The lockdown means I have time on my hands, so I've finally started.

Home made air-drying clay Elder Futhark rune set

I found some blank playing/tarot cards (to decorate yourself) cheaply online - but you could also use craft card or re-use packaging card/cereal boxes, or old birthday or Christmas cards cut to size (if you re-cycle card, you may like to cover the backs with wrapping paper or something similar so they are uniform).The blank cards come in a pack of 100, which is way more than I'm intending to make, but the extras mean I can afford to experiment and make mistakes. Unlike a Tarot deck which has a standard number of cards (78), oracle decks can have as few or as many cards as you like. I imagine I will start with a certain number of cards but probably add to them over time as new images suggest themselves. 

My first step was to give much thought to what my symbols would be. I already had a good idea of my own personal symbolic language, so I started a list which I added to as more symbols occurred to me. I believe the meaning of symbols is a very personal thing, and as I wrote in The Clean-Start Soap Spell the accepted symbolic meaning of something may be completely different to what it means to you (I gave the example that Frankincense may mean 'higher spiritual connection' to one person, but to someone with an oppressive religious upbringing it may speak more of repression, guilt or fear). Symbols are how our subconscious communicates with us, and will be as individual as our experiences and memories. So while books which claim to interpret dream imagery or symbols may be a useful jumping-off point, it is always more important to trust your own instincts and feelings about what things mean. Once you do, it makes understanding messages from the subconscious (dreams, images from guided meditation or trancework etc) much easier!

Starting my list of symbols

For example, in my own personal language of symbols swallows mean joy (and summer). A hand with a spiral on the palm represents power and manifestation. A frog means change and/or initiation. And so on. My symbols are mostly nature-based, drawn largely from observing and interacting with the land around my home, but your own personal language of symbols may be inspired by very different experiences and imagery. Go with what your subconscious knows and understands. You could even use characters, images and events from the canon of a well-loved fictitious world - Hogwarts, Middle Earth, Sunnydale?

I initially intended to draw/paint the images on my cards but ultimately (mostly through lack of trust in my artistic ability!) decided to collage the cards, with some added hand-drawn decoration where appropriate. I had an idea in my head for what I would like for most of the cards, and also did a few preliminary sketches, which helped get the creative juices flowing.  

With an idea of the cards I would be creating, I started to look through old magazines to find suitable pictures. This was instructive as I found not only symbols I'd already listed but also some that spoke to me which hadn't been included on my original list - so that got longer. The images I found also helped me refine or revise the design of each card. For example I'd originally envisioned a 'Tree of Life' to symbolise Ancestors and Descendants, but having found a wonderful photo of an old hand holding beautiful ripe apples I immediately revised my ideas for the card (apple trees in my own personal symbolic language being inextricably tied up with my grandparents and my childhood). I then found a beautiful black and white photo of an old, wrinkled hand holding that of a child, and together the two images sum up the meaning of the card perfectly for me.  


Then - gulp - it was time to bite the bullet and begin putting the cards together. Having cut out the images I intended to use, I laid them out on the cards before sticking them down to check that they'd look as I expected them to. This enabled me to change the composition around, and in some cases I found the pictures didn't gel together the way I'd hoped, so had to find new images or re-design a few cards. Once I was happy with the way they looked, I stuck them onto the card with PVA glue, and trimmed the edges where needed. Using permanent fine-liner marker pens, I added symbols to some of the cards. 

I found the cards had a tendency to curl up slightly after being collaged because of the glue, but this was easily remedied by pressing them under a heavy book once the glue was dry. 

I think this is going to be a continually developing Oracle set, as new symbols occur to me or I find suitable images to use. It may be that I have to draw/paint some cards if I can't find the right pictures to collage. But I'm very happy with how they're turning out so far.

Here are a few of the finished cards.

Top Row, L-R: 

• 'The Moon' - The unconscious mind, dreams, intuition, night
• 'Sparrows' - Community, negotiating with others
• 'Blackbird' - Beauty, pleasure
• 'Snail' - Home, security, 'baggage'

Bottom Row, L-R:

• 'Blackthorn' - Protection, defence, isolation
• 'Spiral Hand' - Power, manifestation
• 'Ancestors/Descendants' - Family, heritage, humanity, past/future, legacy
• 'Snowdrops' - New beginnings, spring

Let me know how your cards turn out if you decide to make some!

ThriftWitch: Candle Magic Part 2 (or How to Get the Most Out of Your Candles)

Pagans tend to be fond of candles, both for ritual and magical use, and for the soft ambience they create in the home. But what to do with the left over candle wax? It's such a waste to just throw it away. Luckily you don't need to. There are so many uses for candle wax, you'll never throw another candle stub away once you have read this post.

A little candle info first. In earlier, pre-gas and electric times people used tallow (rendered animal fat) to make candles but apparently it didn't smell too good and tended to produce a lot of soot! Beeswax candles were available but were prohibitively expensive for all but the wealthiest in society. Those who couldn't even afford tallow candles had to make do with rush lights - strips of the inner pith from rushes soaked in grease. Nowadays there are three different types of wax commonly used to make candles: paraffin wax, soy wax and beeswax. Paraffin wax - derived from petroleum - is the most common and the cheapest. Many people prefer soy or beeswax candles but they are more expensive. Some candles blend wax types - read the label if you're unsure! You can use most types of wax interchangeably in the following suggestions, or blend different waxes together - I have specified where this is not the case.

Make New Candles

This is probably the most obvious thing to do with all that leftover wax. It's pretty simple too, but you will need to buy some candle wick - easily obtained from High Street or online craft suppliers. You will also need a double boiler (bain marie), a mould to pour the wax into (you can buy one, but an old yogurt pot or similar will do), a piece of blu-tack and something like a chopstick or skewer.

First set up your double boiler - this is a saucepan with water in it, in which you place a heat proof container. I use a second saucepan that I got from a charity shop for this, but you could use any heat proof bowl (bear in mind you will have to clean wax off it later!) or even an old (clean) tin can. Heat the water gently - you don't want it to boil - and break up your old wax, dropping it into the heatproof container. Stir it (with something you don't mind getting wax on!) until it has completely melted.

In the meantime, get your mould(s) ready. It's a good idea to first grease the mould with a little vegetable oil to make getting the finished candle out easier. If using something like an old yogurt pot, poke a small hole in the centre of the bottom and thread the wick through. The bottom of the mould will be the top of the candle, so leave enough wick this end to be able to light it! The hole can be sealed and the wick held in place with a small piece of blu-tack or something similar.  

When the wax has melted, pour it carefully into the mould. Lay the chopstick or skewer across the open end of the mould and fix the end of the wick to it to hold it in place while the wax solidifies. Tip: As the wax cools, it will contract a little and you may want to melt a little more to fill any gap that forms at the centre.

Leave the candle to cool completely before releasing it from the mould. Trim any excess wick and voila! New candle from old.

Variations:

Dipped Candles
Making dipped taper candles is a little more tricky and honestly, I've never tried it. But if you'd like to have a go, there's a good tutorial here. 

Sand Candles
Another way of making a mould - and this can be a fun activity to do with your kids - is to make sand candles. You can do this at the beach, or use a bucket of damp sand in the back garden. The method is pretty much the same, but you make the mould by pressing a shape into the damp sand into which you insert the wick and then pour the wax. When it's cooled, gently dig around the candle to extract it. The outside of the candle will have a sandy coating which gives it a rustic charm.

Additions: Colours/Fragrance/Decoration

• You can blend your own colours by mixing different coloured waxes, or grate in a wax crayon (or two) to colour white wax.
• Make striped candles by pouring in layers of different colours - just allow the first colour to cool and solidify before adding the next. 
• Add fragrance with essential oils
• Make spell candles by putting in crystals or coins etc which will slowly be revealed as the candle burns down
• Safety First! - Don't add anything flammable to your candle which could create a fire hazard! For this reason I am not in favour of adding dried herbs etc to wax. They can 'spit' or flare up and could potentially start a fire.

Fragrance your Living Space

I'm a big fan of scented candles and don't want to waste any of that lovely scented wax. I re-use it in my home-made candles of course, but I also use it to fragrance my home. I put any scented candle remains into a heat-proof dish and place it on a radiator from where it scents the house beautifully. You could also make your own wax melts for a burner, if you have one (I pour melted wax into silicon muffin moulds for this). 

Another idea is to break the scented wax into pieces and put it into little hand-sewn drawstring bags to fragrance drawers, airing cupboards or wardrobes. 

Tip: If you don't use scented candles but you like these ideas, you could always make your own fragranced wax from unscented wax + your choice of essential oils.

Firelighters 

It's easy to create home-made firelighters for a woodstove or campfire with leftover wax, which you can scent with essential oils or dried herbs/spices if you like. Here are two suggestions:

1. Take a cardboard egg carton and put a little sawdust or wood shavings in each egg holder. Melt wax in your double boiler and when melted pour into each egg holder. When the wax is cool, cut into separate firelighters. 
2.  Gather pine cones, and make sure they are fully dry (leave them outside in the sun, on a warm radiator for a few days or pop them in a cool oven to dry out). Melt wax in your double boiler and using tongs, dip the pine cones into the melted wax one at a time. Set them to cool and harden on sheets of newspaper.

One of these firelighters added to your kindling will guarantee your fire catches quickly and easily.

Magical Uses

Divination

Did you know you can use wax for divination? It's called Ceromancy and originated with  the Romans. Take a glass or ceramic bowl and fill it with cold water. Take a moment to focus and form your question (if you have one). Speak it aloud. Then melt your wax and dribble it a little at a time into the water. As the wax comes into contact with the cold water, it will solidify into shapes. Take your time to examine them closely, and interpret them as you would when reading tea leaves.

Spells

Wax can be used in binding spells, dripped onto knots etc to symbolically immobilise and constrain an adversary. You could also use it to seal a spell until you are ready to break it by writing your intention on a piece of paper, folding it and dripping wax onto it to 'seal' it. You could personalise this seal by pressing a thumb or fingerprint into the wax before it completely hardens.

Fun Activities For Children (or your Inner Child!)

• Use melted wax to seal letters - you can buy seals to press into the wax or you could make your own by carving a symbol or initial into the cut end of a carrot. Make sure you hold it in place long enough for the wax to harden or it will be smudged. A little vegetable oil smeared over your seal before using helps to stop it sticking!
• Secret messages - use the end of a candle to write secret messages or draw secret pictures on paper. They will remain invisible until you wash water-based paint over them when they will suddenly be revealed!
• Warm wax in your hands until it is soft enough to shape, then mould it into animals, flowers or other shapes. It will harden once cool.
• Home-made batik: Paint melted wax designs onto plain white cotton, then immerse the fabric in dye. When the fabric is dry, peel off the wax and wash the fabric in warm soapy water to reveal the design.
• Decorated eggs: Paint melted wax designs onto hard-boiled eggs then immerse them in water coloured with food dye for 20 mins. 

Household Uses:

Candle wax is great to un-stick stuck things! I have used it before now to help curtain rings that were catching on a wooden curtain rail run smoothly - I just rubbed a candle stub a couple of times along the length of the curtain pole and the problem was solved. You can use the same trick on zips, drawers and doors.

Rubbing a piece of wax over a surface will help it repel water, and rubbing wax onto metal items (such as garden tools) will help to keep them rust-free.

Household Uses for Beeswax

* These recipes specifically need beeswax * 

Leather polish
Combine 4 parts vegetable oil with 1 part beeswax (you can add a few drops of essential oil of your choice if you'd like it to be fragranced). Heat together in a double boiler until the beeswax is melted. Store in a jar and use to polish and nourish leather boots, shoes and bags.

Furniture Polish
Melt together 3 parts coconut oil with 1 part beeswax in a double boiler. Add a few drops of essential oil (I like lavender or lemon for this one). Store in a jar. To use, apply to wooden furniture with a cloth, then use a second clean cloth to buff to a shine.

Food Wrap
Instead of cling film, make your own re-usable eco-friendly food wrap. Cut thin cotton fabric to size. Spread the fabric out flat on a clean baking sheet and grate beeswax evenly over the fabric. Place in a cool oven for a few minutes until the wax has melted. Use a clean paintbrush to spread the wax evenly over the fabric. If the wax doesn't impregnate the whole piece of cloth, grate on a little more and return to the oven for a few more minutes and repeat the process. When it's done, hang it to cool and dry, then store in a clean dry place until you need to use it. If it gets dirty you can wash it in cold water (warm water will remove the wax). You can rejuvenate your food wrap if it starts to lose its 'cling' by repeating the above process.    

Lip balm/Skin salve
Melt together equal parts of coconut oil and beeswax in a double boiler. This is your basic balm/salve mixture which you can then tailor to your purpose by adding other ingredients before pouring it into your container of choice - I suggest a lidded glass jar.

For lip balm, you could add a little honey for sweetness, a drop of red food colouring if you'd like it tinted, and a drop of essential oil to fragrance/flavour (but go easy on the essential oils, they're very concentrated and your lips are sensitive - you don't want to cause any irritation).

For a salve you could infuse healing herbs of your choice in the mixture while it's in the double boiler, or add a few drips of essential oils, depending on what it's intended for. I would suggest adding a drop each of eucalyptus, rosemary and lavender oil for a salve to rub into sore muscles, or a drop each of lavender, frankincense and chamomile oil for a sleep salve (apply to your temples and wrists before retiring to bed).

Cleaning Up Wax
Finally, if you're going to be trying some of these ideas out, at some point you are likely to need to be able to clear up wax! Here's the best ways I've found to (1) clean wax from glass jars and votives and (2) clean wax off textiles (including carpets!)

Cleaning wax from glass jars/votives/candle-holders
My usual method is to use a knife to break up and remove large bits of wax first. When you're down to the last few difficult-to-get-at bits, run hot water into the sink and immerse the jar for a minute or two. Then, wrap the jar well in a tea towel and pour boiling water into it (if you pour boiling water straight into a cold jar you run the risk of cracking the glass, which is why you warm the glass first by immersing it in hot water). You can then stand it back in the sink of water (hot water outside the jar, boiling water contained within). The wax should melt and float up to the top of the jar. Some resistant bits might need poking with a knife or teaspoon to help them along! When the water has cooled and the wax solidified on the surface, you can skim off the wax and then wash the jar in hot soapy water to remove any last bits.

Cleaning wax spills from fabric and carpets
First - don't panic! Resist the impulse to brush/wipe etc the liquid wax. You are more likely to spread it further and drive it deeper into the fibres if you do this. Take a deep breath and wait for the wax to cool and harden. If possible apply ice to the wax which will make it harden and become brittle. Then break up the wax and peel off/break off/brush off as much of it as possible. The more wax you can remove at this stage the better. Finally, get something absorbent like blotting paper or kitchen towel (brown wrapping paper will work too), a tea-towel and an iron. Put the iron on a cool-ish temperature - especially important if you've spilled the wax on a man-made or delicate fibre. DO NOT USE STEAM FROM THE IRON. Put the blotting paper or kitchen towel under  the wax-stained area and a second piece on top (if it's a carpet you'll only be able to put it on top). Fold the tea towel and cover the top layer of paper with it. Apply the iron, then lift. The wax should have melted and been 'soaked up' by the blotting paper or kitchen towel. If there is still wax to be removed, put fresh, clean paper/kitchen towel down and repeat. Continue until the wax is gone - or until no more is being released to the paper. If you're treating fabric, wash it. If it's a carpet, brush the area over with a stiff brush and then vacuum.
Hopefully, it will be as good as new.


Wow, what a marathon post! But hopefully useful. Let me know how you get on trying any of these.

ThriftWitch: Candle Magic Part 1

I was thinking about writing a ThriftWitch post on how to use up left over candles - one thing we Pagans all seem to get through a lot of is candles - when I realised that I haven't written anything about Candle Magic. What was I thinking! Candle Magic can be the very epitome of thrifty magic.

In its simplest form - and I'm all in favour of simplicity! - Candle Magic is about focusing your magical intention into a candle and then letting it burn down to release the spell.

Because you can use any candle, this doesn't have to be an expensive exercise. Of course if you want to buy expensive, hand-poured, bespoke-perfumed, fancy soy or beeswax candles you can - but a tealight will work just as well. 

My usual method of working candle magic is to take a simple white candle and carve or write/draw with a felt tip pen a symbolic representation of what I am working towards on it. A pillar candle works best for this, simply because there is more surface area available to mark. But you can also use a slim tapered candle or even a tealight if you are able to condense your intention into a simple symbol. Bindrunes (overlaying several runes into a single symbol, like a monogram) or sigils work well in this respect. 

Once I have marked my candle with my symbol/word(s) etc., I take a few moments to ground and centre myself and then focus on the intention behind the spell. So if I was doing a healing spell for a friend, I would concentrate on visualising her healthy and happy, laughing in sunlight, and repeat something like, 'Jenny is well, her body strong and healthy'. Keep it simple and remember to concentrate on drawing the outcome you want rather than banishing what you don't want (e.g. 'Jenny is healthy' rather than 'Jenny doesn't have cancer'). 

When you feel the intention strong and clear in your mind and heart, project the energy of it into the candle. I like to do this by imagining it concentrated into my breath and then forcefully blowing it with a strong exhalation into the candle as it is held in my hands.

Finally I light the candle and let it burn down, releasing the energy of the spell as it does. I don't necessarily burn it all in one go, often burning it for an hour or so over successive evenings until it is burned away - all the better if you can tie it into the energy of a waxing moon (for growing/increasing/drawing things to you) or a waning moon (for dissolving/lessening/banishing things). I don't recommend leaving candles to burn down unattended for safety reasons, so allowing them to burn down over the course of several days is a good idea in my book. If you want a really speedy spell use a smaller candle that will burn down quickly. The ultimate quick candle spell would use a birthday cake candle which will burn in minutes. 

The candle pictured at the top of this post is from a Coronavirus Healing Spell my local Pagan group undertook when we were unable to meet in person due to the lockdown. We each carved the healing sigil originated by Laura Tempest Zakroff (or a healing symbol of our choice) into a candle. Then at a pre-arranged time we lit our candles and attuned to the energy of the group. We visualised
* the spread of the virus lessening
* the virulence of the infection fading
* protection for the vulnerable
* good health for all etc.

As the candles burned down, we imagined the power of the sigil being released out into the world. It was a great way to feel connected to each other and hopefully the effect of the spell was amplified by the number of people participating.

Of course there are all kinds of ways to elaborate on the basic Candle Magic spell template. White is pretty much your all-purpose Candle Magic go-to colour, but the correspondences for coloured candles include the following:

• White: Purification, protection, beginnings
• Red: Courage, passion, life-force, strength 
• Orange: Energy, confidence, creativity
• Yellow: Inspiration, communication, happiness
• Green: Prosperity, healing, luck, the environment
• Blue: Intuition, dreamwork, calm
• Purple: Spirituality, leadership, good fortune
• Gold: Abundance, sun/God
• Silver: Psychic power, moon/Goddess
• Pink: Love, compassion
• Brown: Grounding, endurance 
• Black: Binding, banishing, endings 

You can also 'dress' the candles with oils and herbs to amplify your intent. To dress the candle you can either anoint it with ready-made magical oils or make your own essential oil blend (suggestions below). To do this I usually lie the candle on a work surface with the wick facing away from me (you may like to put down something like newspaper first to protect the surface from the oil). Then I pour a little of the oil on my hands and stroke it along the length of the candle, turning it to make sure the whole thing is covered. If I'm working to draw something to me, I apply the oil from the wick down the length of the candle, towards me. If I'm working to banish something, I apply the oil from the base towards the wick, away from me. To dress the candle with herbs, roll it in dried herbs (they stick better if you apply a little plain vegetable oil first). 

Suggested essential oils:

• Cleansing: Lavender, spearmint, peppermint, frankincense, lemongrass, pine
• Healing: Eucalyptus, thyme, lavender, rosemary
• Protection: Frankincense, clove, myrrh
• Happiness: Bergamot, orange, lemon, rose geranium
• Love: Rose, jasmine, ylang ylang, sandalwood

Suggested herbs:

• Cleansing:  Lavender, hyssop, sage, mint, sea salt 
• Healing: Blackberry leaves, meadowsweet, self-heal, betony, yarrow
• Protection: Rowan, nettles, blackthorn leaves 
• Happiness: Daisy, St Johns wort, sunflower 
• Love: Rose petals, primrose, periwinkle, thyme

You can of course use scented candles, and your choice of scent can reinforce the intention of the spell. The obvious example of this would be using a rose scented candle for a love spell, or a lavender scented candle for a cleansing spell.

Of course, all these correspondences are just suggestions. You know best which colours/scents/herbs mean these things to your subconscious so as always, go with what is meaningful for you. 

Well, to quote Bubba in 'Forrest Gump', "That - that's about it". 

Except it isn't! Tomorrow I will bring you ThriftWitch: Candle Magic Part 2, in which I will be looking at what to do with left over candles, in the spirit of "ThriftWitch: Getting the Most Out of Your Pumpkin This Samhain". Waste not want not!

ThriftWitch: Home From Home Charm

As a Cancerian, the concept of 'home' is very important to me. I am a home-loving person, and as I have mentioned before, my natural inclination is to put down roots. However, my idea of 'home' isn't confined to mere bricks and mortar, or that place I lay my head at night. Nor is it merely somewhere 'everybody knows your name' – although it can be all or none of these. I think for me, home is very definitely where the heart is.

I have been lucky enough to live in several different parts of the world, all of which remain dear to me in different ways. There are other places I love that have never physically been home to me. But I feel 'at home' whenever I am there.

This precious feeling of being in a place where you feel you truly belong is at the heart of feeling grounded and centred. The ability to ground and centre yourself is of course a very important basic magical skill, the starting point for everything else. To do effective magic, to enact ritual or ceremony, to move energy, you need to feel sure of yourself, certain of where you are and where you intend to go. This is why you need to know how to ground and centre yourself. The feeling of being grounded and centred is the same feeling you get when you are in your true home - as I said earlier, not necessarily that place of bricks and mortar, but that place where you feel relaxed, centred in yourself and where you can fully and truly be your authentic self. 

The Home From Home Charm is a way of condensing down the essence of the place(s) that you call home and being able to carry that essence with you wherever you go. Your charm can be used as a short-cut way of grounding and centring yourself, or it can be a magical item you carry with you when you are away from home yet want to keep its essence with you. You could also make Home From Home Charms as gifts for loved ones – while they are away in hospital, travelling, or studying. It would be a lovely gift to go in the backpack of a child as a comforter on their first day of school.

As with all ThriftWitch projects it requires little expenditure - just a bit of forethought and planning! You need a container for the charm - a little cork-stoppered glass jar or bottle is cute and looks good on a portable altar. If there's a chance it might get a bit of a batterin g while you're travelling it might be better to use a small plastic bottle or container (with lid), or a fabric, felt or leather/suede pouch. If you're really travelling light you could use a Ziploc bag.

What you put into your charm is entirely up to you, as what means 'home' will be different for everyone. But here are some suggestions to get you started:

• A tiny pinch of soil from your garden or special place.
• A tiny scrap of fabric snipped from the furnishings of a favourite room (curtains, duvet, quilt, cushion). You only need a tiny bit and should be able to find a suitable seam or hem to take a teeny bit from without ruining the item in question!
• Some dried flowers or herbs from your garden (a pinch only)
• Is there a particular smell that means home to you? You could add a spritz of your loved one's cologne or perfume on a scrap of fabric to your container; a chip of scented candle wax; a small piece of joss stick or incense; a chip of cinnamon or vanilla pod; a drip of essential oil or even a spritz of furniture polish on a piece of cotton wool...
• A lock of hair or snippet of fur from your loved one(s) and/or pet(s)
• A piece of twig or bark from a beloved tree
• A small shell or pebble from 'your' beach
• Small photos of a place or loved ones
• Any symbols that mean 'home' to you - either small symbolic objects or sigils or runes inscribed on paper
• A button from a loved one's shirt

These are just ideas to get you started. Only you can know what will be meaningful to you, and bring a smile to your face when you look at your charm. As this is intended to be a small, portable magical item suitable for travelling with, be careful not to get too carried away and add large items/too much. Travelling light is always the best idea! In all cases, if you're travelling internationally, tailor the contents of your charm carefully to avoid attracting the wrath of customs officials - many countries will not allow soil, vegetable or animal matter to be imported.

The only thing that I suggest you definitely include in your charm is a small snail shell, which is a perfect symbol for the ability to carry your home with you wherever you go! You can either put this in your container with all the other items, or glue it to the lid or perhaps thread it on a piece of yarn or ribbon and tie it round the neck of the container.

Once assembled, either start using your charm straight away or consecrate it first in your preferred manner.  

With a little tweaking and some appropriate magic, the Home From Home Charm could easily be adapted into a protective amulet for those beings and places you love. 

ThriftWitch: Getting The Most Out Of Your Pumpkin This Samhain

Oh yes, it's that time of year again. Whether you call it Samhain or Halloween, the shops are full of pumpkins just waiting to be carved into spooky Jack o'Lanterns. But is that all you normally do with yours? The young daughter of a friend of mine expressed shock when she heard me talking about cooking pumpkin recently. "But you can't eat them!" She declared. "They're poisonous, aren't they?" I was even more shocked than her; surely children know pumpkins are edible? Well evidently not. Presumably for some people they are just a Halloween decoration. What a waste! My inner ThriftWitch has decided this just won't do. So here is my list of suggestions, both culinary and magical, for getting the best possible value and most use out of your pumpkin this year.

Firstly, if you do want it as a Samhain/Halloween decoration, don't carve it too soon. Pumpkins really don't last very long once their protective tough outer layer has been cut, so for best results don't carve them more than 24 hours ahead of time. My friend's husband carved her a beautiful Jack o'Lantern that was a work of art - but unfortunately he did it a week before Samhain and it had turned to mush by the time it was needed. 

Keep all the flesh for your favourite recipes. Pumpkin pie is of course the classic dish, though I have to confess at this stage I'm not a fan (heresy, I know). But if you'd like to make a pumpkin pie just Google recipes and I'm sure you'll find something to tempt you. Personally, I usually make Pumpkin Soup, but you could also try converting the flesh into many other sweet or savoury dishes, or even chutney or pickle. If you like the soup idea, though you could try this:

Moonroot's Pumpkin Soup  
Scoop out the flesh of a pumpkin. Separate out the seeds and put to one side. Chop the flesh into chunks, drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and chilli powder and roast at 180°C until it's soft and a little caramelised. Meanwhile, chop and fry an onion and a couple of cloves of garlic until soft. Sprinkle in some ground cumin and paprika, and perhaps some finely chopped ginger, saute for another 5 minutes and remove from the heat. When the pumpkin is cooked, add to the onion mixture, and pour in a tin of chopped tomatoes, a squirt of tomato puree and enough vegetable stock to cover. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow the flavours to blend, then whizz in a food processor to a smooth consistency. Check seasoning and adjust to taste. Just before serving stir in chopped fresh coriander leaves and a swirl of single cream or natural yogurt if liked. Enjoy!

What about the pumpkin seeds? Well they are delicious roasted, and it couldn't be simpler. 

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Just clean off as much of the stringy flesh as you can, give them a rinse and spread them out on a baking tray. Drizzle them with a little oil and soy sauce (give them a quick stir to ensure they're evenly coated, then spread them back out evenly). Roast for about 10 mins at 180°C. Allow to cool and enjoy with a nice cool glass of something.

Pumpkin Magic

What about magically? You could keep back a few of the washed, uncooked seeds and use a marker pen to inscribe them with runes to use for divination. Or choose a rune to symbolise what you want to draw into your life, inscribe it on a seed/some seeds and plant them in spring to 'grow' your desired outcome. Alternatively, you could inscribe what you want to be rid of on a spare seed or two and chuck them in the fire to burn it away!  And of course you can enchant your soup - or other pumpkin recipes - by murmuring spells and incantations over them as they cook, stirring in your wishes as you go. 

If you like you can also save a few seeds simply to try and grow next year's pumpkin. They do need a bit of room to sprawl, but if you can fit one in, try sowing the seed indoors in April, placing the flower pot or seed tray in a warm spot such as the airing cupboard. When it's germinated, keep it on a sunny windowsill and plant out when all danger of frost is past.  

Finally, when your Samhain ritual or Halloween party is over, put your carved pumpkin out in the garden. There are plenty of critters who will be glad of the chance to nibble it, and if you put it in an out of the way spot when the critters have finished it will decompose quickly, returning its goodness to the soil.

Samhain Blessings! 

ThriftWitch: Magical Spring Cleaning

As you may have realised from my Clean Start Soap Spell, I am a great believer in the power of magical cleansings. They clear away the metaphysical cobwebs, make space for new growth and keep the energy flowing. Whatever is going on in our lives there is always some stuff that we have outgrown, got saddled with or need to let go of - and what better way to get that process going with a magical spring clean? And of course at this time of year - the Spring Equinox, as the days become longer than the nights and everything goes into growth overdrive - a good spring clean is most appropriate.

What makes a spring clean magical? As with all things, it's in the intention. Do your spring clean mindfully, keeping your thoughts on those things in your life you wish to clear away, or on making space to draw in that which you desire.

You can also make your own cleaning products, which have the advantage of being cheap, effective, environmentally friendly and can be tailored to your magical intentions.

My favourite natural cleaning products are bicarbonate of soda (mildly abrasive and a natural deodoriser), white vinegar (disinfects, cuts through grease), and a selection of aromatherapy oils (depending on which you choose these can be antiseptic, antiviral, antifungal, aromatic and can have magical associations).

Here are some ways to use your natural cleaning products:

• Use a few drops of vinegar in a bucket of water to clean windows, mirrors or glass surfaces with a damp cloth, then polish dry with a sheet of scrunched up newspaper - guaranteed to give a streak free finish! While doing so you could be asking your deity or ally of choice to help you see clearly that which you need to see.
• Sprinkle baths, shower stalls, sinks or tiled surfaces with bicarbonate of soda and scour clean with a damp cloth. I say 'scour' but though it's very effective, it is actually quite gentle. Rinse clean and polish any chrome fittings with a dry cloth until they sparkle! Take the opportunity to meditate on whatever you wish to wash away out of your life as you do so.
• Use a few drops of essential oil on a damp dishcloth to wipe down surfaces around the home. Almost all essential oils have disinfectant properties and they smell great.

If you're not sure which essential oils to choose, some of the best for killing germs around the home include thyme, oregano, cinnamon, cloves, lavender, tea tree or pine. Tea tree is also antifungal, so can be used to tackle any mould in damp areas like bathrooms or around windows. Do note though, that some of these (particularly thyme, oregano and cinnamon) can irritate sensitive skin, so consult a good aromatherapy book if you're not already familiar with essential oils. If you want to choose your oils for their magical associations, a good magical herbal (such as 'Herbcraft: A Guide to the Shamanic and Ritual Use of Herbs' by Anna Franklin and Susan Lavender) will help guide your choice.

Or, if you'd just like a good-smelling general purpose oil, you could try one of these. The first blend is favourite of mine, a zingy citrus-floral blend, perfect for spring: 

• 10 drops lemon oil
• 10 drops orange oil
• 10 drops geranium oil
• 5 drops rosemary oil

A delicious spicy blend for the winter:

• 15 drops orange oil
• 5 drops cloves oil
• 5 drops cinnamon oil (optional - personally I like the simplicity of the orange/cloves version, but adding cinnamon is a nice variation.)

A refreshing herbal blend for summer:

• 10 drops thyme
• 10 drops rosemary
• 10 drops lavender
• 10 drops tea tree

In all cases mix the oils together and store in a tightly lidded glass bottle. Use a couple of drops on a damp cloth to wipe down kitchen surfaces.

Vinegar is a great non-toxic disinfectant to use around the home, and although the smell is not to everyone's taste it doesn't tend to linger once it's dried. But if you'd like to get a better fragrance you can infuse the vinegar with citrus peel - chop up lemon, orange or grapefruit peel and use to loosely fill a wide-necked jar with a tight-fitting lid (a Kilner jar is perfect). Pour in enough white vinegar to cover the citrus peel and leave in a warm place for at least a fortnight. Strain the vinegar and bottle.

Alternatively, you could try making the legendary 'Vinegar of the Four Thieves'. The story goes that a group of thieves were able to rob plague victims during an outbreak of the disease by protecting themselves with this disinfectant brew. There are many different recipes for Vinegar of the Four Thieves, but the version I've used involves steeping sage, rosemary, wormwood, rue, lavender and thyme in cider vinegar. Garlic is an ingredient listed in many versions of the recipe, but I opted to omit it for house-cleaning purposes as I didn't want the place smelling like a pizzeria!

So throw open the windows to let the spring air in, grab your besom and start sweeping away the literal and spiritual dust and dirt (widdershins, naturally). When you have finished, before you sit down for that well-earned cup of tea, take a few moments to light a candle, naming as you do so those qualities that you wish to draw into your newly-cleaned space. Nature abhors a vacuum after all, so make sure you not only clear away what is no longer needed, but that you consciously invite in those things that you hope to nurture through the coming summer months.

Blessed Be!

         

ThriftWitch: Jar of Blessings

I'm not sure where this idea originated - I came across it on Facebook. It's simple, costs nothing but really appeals to me, so I thought I'd share it here.

Find a clean, lidded jar that appeals to you. You can decorate it if you like - paint it, add glitter, or stickers, tie a bow around it, write 'Jar of Blessings' on a luggage tag and tie it around the neck... or just keep it plain. It can be big or small, but in the spirit of optimism, why not choose big!

Then starting 1st January, every time something good happens, write it down on a slip of paper and add it to the jar. Incidents of serendipity, plans that come to fruition, an unexpected phone call from an old friend, a beautiful sunset, happy holiday memories, unlooked for kindness from a stranger, the mastering of a new skill, some words of wisdom imparted to you, the recipe for the fabulous jam you made, the joke that made you laugh until you cried...

The idea is that at the end of the year you can empty the jar and revisit all your happy memories from the last twelve months. Hopefully there will be many, and even if it's been a tough year you can see that there have been lots of blessings too. But of course if there are rough patches during the year and you need to accentuate the positive, there's nothing to stop you opening the jar earlier than 31st December!

And that's it. I think it makes a very good partner to the Clean Start Soap Spell...

May your jar overflow with blessings in 2013!

Happy New Year.

ThriftWitch: The Magic of Scent

Scent is one of our five senses, yet for many of us it takes a bit of a back seat to seeing, hearing or touch. Nevertheless, despite - or perhaps because of this, it is a powerful link with our subconscious. Just as the taste of a madeleine brought up many involuntary memories for the narrator of Proust's "À la Recherche du Temps Perdu", I'm sure many of us have experiences of aromas bringing forgotten memories and (perhaps more importantly) emotions flooding back. For example as an adult, just walking into a school and smelling that distinctive, familiar, yet long-unencountered complicated mixture that is 'school' brings back one's own schooldays with an almost shocking immediacy. The smell of an old-fashioned kitchen - gas stove, vanilla essence, cinnamon and just a dash of vinegar - instantly has me sitting at my Nanna's kitchen table watching her bake her famous fruitcake.

Sometimes, the link between scent and memory becomes so explicit and well known to us that we no longer need to smell something, just see or conjure up its image to recall all that the scent holds for us. There was a huge lavender bush just outside the kitchen door of my cousins' house in Dorset where we spent so many happy summer days in my childhood. The sent of lavender has always brought those days back to me, but now I only have to see a lavender bush, or the image of one, for the memories to come back just as clearly as they would from the aroma of lavender.

We use this connection between scent, memory and emotion in many ways. For example we choose different scents for the way they make us feel - a zesty citrus shower gel to wake us up in the morning and make us feel alert and energised, a floral scent such as jasmine or rose when we want to feel feminine or seductive, or a comforting smell like vanilla to turn our homes into a relaxing sanctuary. Of course, because smell is a very personal thing, if you hate vanilla it's not going to make you feel relaxed. So never mind what moods people tell you certain scents are supposed to evoke, go with what they mean to you.

Scent of course, can be used in so many magical ways. It is usual to light incense for example, when creating sacred space. This is partly to cleanse the area and create the right atmosphere for the intended working, and thus there are many commercial blends of incense available that are supposed to evoke the energy of a particular deity or Sabbat. But again, I would advise that if you want to invoke Gaia yet think the Gaia incense you bought for the occasion stinks, don't use it! Think instead about what Gaia means to you (abundance? nurturing? the green Earth?) and try to come up with scents that conjure up these ideas - you could try a berry, apple or peach fragranced oil for abundance for example; perhaps vanilla, cinnamon or your mother's favourite perfume from your childhood for nurturing; a patchouli or pine or grass scented joss stick for the green Earth. You get the picture. As always, use the books (or websites or blogs!) for inspiration, then toss them aside and use what works for you.

I would suggest another function of incense is to put us in the right mind for ritual and/or magic. Some incenses do actually have a measurable effect on our physiology. Frankincense for example is known to slow and deepen the breathing, putting one into a meditative state of mind which explains its popularity as an incense over the millennia. With other incenses, I would suggest that if you habitually burn, say, sandalwood incense for your rituals, the involuntary memory thing will eventually kick in so that whenever and wherever you smell sandalwood incense your mind will go into 'ritual mode'.

So why not use this scent-involuntary memory connection to help you 'change consciousness at will' (Dion Fortune's definition of what magic is)? The first summer I went to Witchcamp, I took a new perfume with me and wore it every day. When I got home, without thinking I reverted to my normal 'everyday' perfume. One day I picked up the bottle of Witchcamp perfume - as soon as I took a sniff I was transported back to Witchcamp! From then on I wore the perfume only for Witchcamp-related things: at subsequent Witchcamps, when meeting up with friends from Witchcamp, or (when I started to get involved with organising Avalon Witchcamp) at Witchcamp organising meetings. Later on, after a vision of community as a giant, sacred beehive, I found a honey scented shower gel from Lush that I used whenever I was doing anything community orientated or when I was trying to make connections or draw new friends into my life. I still use both scents when appropriate, and find they continue to stir my unconscious and help me achieve the state of mind I wish to be in.

I suggest you find a 'basic' scent that you use for your generic rituals and magical workings that will help you instantly get into 'ritual mind'. You can always vary things for specific purposes, but having a reliable standby scent can be a great shortcut! My two standby favourites are patchouli joss sticks or Starchild's 'Hecate' loose incense. If you don't like incense you could try fragrance oils or essential oils in a diffuser or rubbed onto the candles you are using. Or apply perfume to your pulse points, use scented candles, pot pourri, fresh flowers, herbs and spices, floral waters in spritzers, floorwashes... the possibilities are endless.

I was thinking that it would also be helpful to choose a series of emotion-linked scents that you could carry with you in small vials to give you a heping hand when you need it. You could choose your favourite soothing scent for stressful situations, a scent that speaks to you of confidence and self-esteem for challenging situations, perhaps something that makes you feel healthy and full of vitality for when you are lacking energy or feeling under the weather. You must be careful not to only sniff them in 'negative' situations though - remember to wear them on your skin when you know you are going to be feeling relaxed and happy, or full of self-assurance, or full of well-being. That way you will make the connection in your subconscious and can then bring them out in times of need. One of my favourite perfumes is Chanel's 'Cristalle', a light summery scent that I usually reserve for special occasions. A little sniff of it instantly brings so many happy memories flooding back and always lifts my mood.

I am also a great fan of essential oils which I use for first aid (tea tree for cuts, grazes etc, lavender for burns, a quick sniff of ginger as an instant cure for queasiness...), around the house for cleaning purposes and just because they smell nice. My next ThriftWitch post will cover the subject of making your own household cleaning products - they're cheap, safe, smell great and are really effective. In the meantime, have fun experimenting with the magical/emotional possibilities of scent...