I recently made a railroad spike protection charm for my house and I'm making some for my Etsy shop, I wanted to show you how I made these and added layers of magick every step of the way.
This railroad spike was locally sourced from railway that
was replacing spikes as part of maintenance, it is very old, You'll notice
some rust and pitting, this is very desirable in railroad spikes
used for magick. It's made from an alloy of mostly iron with a little carbon
added forstrength. This protection ward is handmade by me, filled
with intention, blessed and enchanted in layers as I worked on it, it's a
spell in physical form, fully enchanted and ready for use.
To drive away evil, I've added a bat nut/devils’ pod that's
anointed with my own protection oil blend made just for these wards. It’s
been attached using natural red cord tied in square knots while focusing on
protection energy. The ends of the cord are capped with a bit of red ochre inside,
red ochre is used in some of the oldest magick on earth for protection and
blessing, An eye charm to keep a watchful gaze on your household and a key charm
to open the way for helpful opportunities and lock harmful energy out. I’ve
added a cork back to protect the wall and behind the cork is a matrix of
protective magickal herbs. The red cord ties in the back to make a little
hanger.
You may display it on a nail, over or near your front door,
or in any room in your home that you feel guided to place it. It can
also rest on your altar during protection spells. If you feel it needs
to be recharged at any point you can anoint it with a very small amount of
any protection oil such as olive oil, clove, or frankincense and set it
outside under the full moon to bless it.
There are so many different kinds of mirror magic; divination,
reversal spells, duplication, mirror traps, but one of my favorites is creating
a mirror magick shield, it’s not hard to do and you can enchant one to protect
your energy in these challenging times! You can charge any small
mirror as a Hexenspiegel, transforming it into an amulet that can be used for
personal or home protection.
Hexenspiegel!
Sounds kinda baddass, and it is, but it literally means “witch’s mirror”
in German. It’s a specific kind of
witch’s mirror. It’s usually a mirrored pendant, pin, or other kind of jewelry
that is worn or carried with you, or it can displayed in the home to shield the
user from the evil eye and all forms of negative energy. It’s generally a preventative that you can put
in place to prevent intrusive or harmful magic, the evil eye, or hateful
intentions.The hexenspiegel not only repels harm, but
sends any negative energy sent to you right back to the attacker so this is a
little tiny mirror with some pretty serious magic.
Think of it like this, if a person offers you
a gift and you decline, the ownership of that gift remains with the person who
intended to give it to you. The same is true with in the case of harmful
energy, which occasionally comes in the form of an actual purposeful curse but
more often than not is just unintentionally sent from people who are just not
in a good place themselves and radiate generally crappy energy in your
direction.
The hexenspiegel does set off warning bells to
energetic attackers, ok, not literal bells, basically they’ll get a feeling
that they are better off to just leave you alone to begin with or be on their
best behavior around you. This is something that they’ll only notice on a
subconsiouls level., but If they don’t heed the warning, and then they go ahead
and send their malicious intentions your way the hexenspiegel simply says,
“thanks, but no thanks” letting any sender of ill intentions remain the owner,
they keep their own nasty gift. It doesn’t multiply the energy or add to it,
but it keeps it from getting through to you so that it remains with the sender.
The hexenspiegel is an automatic kind of magic, create it, place it and forget
it, it keeps on doing its job without any further attention from you.
There are a few online sellers that sell
pre-enchanted hexenspiegels, but they’re not always easy to find. I sometimes
make a batch for my Etsy shop and I’ve included a step by step of how I make my version of a
hexenspiegle necklaces at the end of the video below.
Even if you can’t find any pre-enchanted ones,
don’t worry because any small mirror can be enchanted and turned into a
hexenspiegel, If you want a hexenspiegel, you can find both
actual antiques and reproductions of fancy decorative mirror pins and pendants
in many styles and at pretty much any price point. Try checking your local
second-hand store, I know lots of people worry about second hand mirrors, but
we’re witches and we have skills to solve such problems should they arise.
Clear Mirror Energy
Brew up a tea out of clearing and cleansing
herbs, chamomile, peppermint, rosemary, sage, fennel, lavender, bay, strain
well and add it to some white vinegar, about ½ and 1/2 , now you have a mirror
purifier that you can use along with your intention to reset any mirrors energy
and clear out anything left over from the previous owner. You can also cleanse
a mirror with purifying smoke of your choice like frankincense, sandalwood,
bay, or sage, or if it’s small enough bury it in salt for a few days.
If you
can’t find mirror jewelry locally, just try a quick search online, there are
many out there. Some mirror pendants are even inside a locket or a sliding
cover. Yes, the magick still works even if covered.. Another great mirror to make into a hexenspiegel is
a small compact mirror you can keep in your purse, with a little luck; you
might even find one with a magical symbol on it. There are also small mirrors
meant for to be keep in wallets, some of those are acrylic mirrors, and yes,
they will still work.
Some people like to enchant a hexenspiegel for
their home, protecting not only themselves, but their family, property, and
even home business from harm. It can be a fancy sun catcher that’s on display
or a simple small mirror craft tile that’s hidden in the corner of a window
facing out, be creative, you’ll never know what you might find. You can also
find small mirror jewelry components at your local craft store so you could make
a necklace, earrings, suncatcher, or even a charm bracelet in your own style
and even include stones for magical protection to boost your hexenspiegel such
as moonstone, tiger eye, black tourmaline, or labradorite. You could even add
special charms such as an animal energy you like to work with or a personal
sigil, or symbol of your patron deity to make it even more personal.
You can turn any small mirror into a
hexenspiegel. I have two versions of the hexenspiegle spell, one is in my book
The Witch’s Mirror, a simpler version is in the download of The Witch’s MirrorBook of Shadows pages that I have in my Etsy shop which has a lot of additional
mirror spells that I came up with after I wrote my book. I’ll leave the links
for both below.
The one I’m showing you today
is a bit of a combination of both of those spells. You see, you don’t have to
do things exactly as they are written in a book, or exactly the same way you
did it last time. As long as you have good valid reasons for your methods and
they make sense to you personally it will work.
HEXENSPIEGEL SPELL
First purify your new mirror in any manner you
wish. Next make a hexenspiegel mirror wash. Mirror washes simultaneously
physically cleanse and magically program your mirror.Here’s my formula for a hexenspiegel wash,
these are protective herbs that would have been found in and around the cottage
of the witches of Germany and Austria that could easily be crafted into a
method for empowering an amulet of this kind. Brew an infusion using hot water
and any of the following: rosemary, marjoram, holly leaves or berries, rowan, mullien,
nettle, agrimony. Once the brew cools, strain it through a coffee filter or
cloth and mix equal parts of the brew with white vinegar. Wipe the wash over
the surface of the mirror and wipe it dry. Next light a white candle and hold
the hexenspiegel in your left hand, trace a pentagram in the air over it and
push it in with your right hand. Now whisper into your cupped hands three times
“Hexenspiegle now I name you,
My protector now I claim you,
Serve this witch as my noble guard,
From all attacks, their access barred.
Decline and keep curses at bay,
All nasty arrows shine away.”
Leave it next to the candle until the candle
burns down completely. You can bury any remaining wax on your property or
simply state that the spell is complete and throw it away.
If you want to see this spell in action, check out this video, There's lots more info on hexenspiegels in this video too and I'll even show you how to hand craft your own!
It’s been a hard week for human rights, now let’s wrap up Pride Month with something happy. I have these two awesome brand new magical books that I want to share with you! You can enter to win your choice of one of these books! There will be two winners!
Enter now until Thursday. June 30 2022 5:00 pm central time, winners will be chosen by random drawing.
.
How to enter:
1. Subscribe to this blog
2. Comment on this blog post and include “Satyr’s Kiss” “Queer Qabala” or “either” depending on which you prefer if your name is drawn. DON'T FORGET: add your Instagram handle (@yourname) in your comment so that I can contact you if you win!
Today I’m celebrating The Eclectic Witch’s Book of Shadows, Witchy
Wisdom at your Fingertips by Deborah Blake that I illustrated! I found out
that our book is a finalist for 2022 COVR Visionary Awards Best Book
Illustration on June 11 so I made a video to take you behind the scenes of these
illustrations step- by step to show you how I created the illustrations for this book. After that, we’ll bring the witchy snake candle holder that I drew as part of the illustrations in this book to life!
The COVR awards (Coalition of Visionary Resources) Each year COVR gives Visionary Awards to entries selected from among the best new products, electronic media, jewelry, music and books in the Mind/Body/Spirit marketplace. COVR is the only awards of their kind in the metaphysical industry. So when I heard that Debora Blake’s book The
Eclectic Witch’s Book of Shadows was up for an award that will be announced on
June 11, 2022 at INATS I was pretty excited! Then I discovered that
it was in the category of “Best Illustrations” What?!?
I’m not going to be able to attend the awards ceremony, so I
decided to celebrate over on YouTube! No idea if our book
will win of course, and there are many other books that are finalists but it’s
absolutely an honor to be among such good company!
Back when I was working on this project I shot some footage of one of my illustrations while I was working on it, I'm really excited to share it with you in this video. You'll see that I used lots of my personal magickal items as references for the art. I thought
it would be fun if you could own something to, and since I wanted to make a
snake candle holder like the one I illustrated I thought I would show you how I
made it so that you can make one too! Even if you’re not an accomplished
sculptor, this is just so easy and I’ll share my tips to make it absolutely
magickal!
Dan and I had the house to ourselves this week so we did spring cleaning and I decided to do a spiritual cleanse too.
There are lots of ways to do this, I thought I would bring you along to show
you how I did it in a video. I’ll also share how I made a house cleansing and protection
floor wash!
My kid and boyfriend went on a trip this week
so I took the opportunity to get things in order here at home. I really love
how it feels when everything is relatively neat…and while I’m not the kind of
person who needs everything perfect, you can really tell when a home is
spiritually cleansed. Yeah, I’ll always have some clutter around, but there’s
nothing like that feeling when everything is re-organized a bit, dusted,
vacuumed and spiritually cleansed and blessed!
That’s a ritual that I don’t preform all the
time, sometimes I’ll do a quick smoke cleanse or ring bells around the house, or just play some house cleansing music just for magickal maintenance but
a few times a year I like to do a big deep clean of everything and follow it up
with a full cleansing ritual.
You can usually tell when your room or home
needs it. I sometimes notice that when the energy of the house is off people
get cranky and out of sorts more easily. Sometimes little things like several lightbulbs
going one after the other, lots of things breaking, clogging, or a long streak
of nightmares can be a sign that you might need to do a house cleansing
ritual.It’s nothing to freak out about,
sometimes unwanted energy collects and gets stagnant, just like dust or cat
fur, nothing to worry about and an easy fix. You might also feel more tired
than usual when you’re home even to the point of feeling stuck. When it’s hard
to pry yourself out the door to run errands and then you find yourself coming up
with any excuse not to go back home, it’s probably time to cleanse.
A house cleansing ritual doesn’t have to be
too formal and you don’t have to do it exactly the same way every time, I
certainly don’t. I like to change it up, do things in a different order, add
extra steps, or leave some out as the mood strikes me or depending on what
supplies I have on hand. It’s your house and your space, so you don’t have to
do anything other than how you feel inspired to do it. The way I did last time
isn’t exactly the same as how I’m doing it in this video and it probably won’t
be the same next time I do it either. I’ll show you how I’m doing it this time
and that’ll include some tried and true methods for doing a house cleansing
ritual and you can adjust them to fit your space, lifestyle, and supplies.
And yes, because I’m a practical witch we’re
going to do it all with supplies that I already have around the house! The
first thing I did was a short meditation for grounding and centering to get my
head in the right space, being grateful and positive is the energy you’ll want
to radiate while doing a house cleansing ritual. Some people even like to do a
ritual bath before they start, it’s really whatever practice speaks to your
soul. So let’s get started on getting the vibe right in my house!
While I do go through the house sweeping
as part of my house cleansing ritual, the gritty work of mundane sweeping
usually falls to Dan who frankly, does a really good job of getting every
square inch clean, much better than I usually do. When caring for a household
we all should play to our strengths! In some traditions spiritual sweeping
should be done from one direction to another. Some go east to west but that can
be complicated depending on where your doors are situated. Some people sweep
There are other methods
that I didn’t show here, for instance, I don’t have carpet, but if you do, you
might want to make up some carpet powder. I used to mix salt, baking soda, and finely
ground rosemary for a basic powder, but you can add herbs for any magickal
purpose. Sprinkle onto your carpet and allow the powder a few minutes to absorb
unwanted energy and vacuum it up with intention. You might want to follow up
your cleansing ritual by warding your home to seal in all that good energy you
worked so hard on and seal out any astral nasties that might be passing by your
home.
It's been really hard to witness what's been happening in Ukraine, but of course the hardest thing would be living it. I've always hated war, in fact, I've always thought it's an example of the worst of humankind.
Many of us are praying for peace, lighting candles, working spells, and those are all needed, but I'm a practical witch who believes that spell work should be followed up with real world action. We can feel overwhelmed as we're all people who have come through collective trauma of 2 years in a worldwide pandemic, unpacking racial, LGBTQ+, and social injustice, the surges of open bigotry and hate, and now this horrible war can really feel like just too much. Yet as hard as things have been, those of us are not actually in a war torn country still have our homes, our families, and we aren't being invaded by tanks and armed military forces...but we can still feel hopeless and powerless in the face of world events.
While we’re praying for Ukraine and peace I wanted to offer some resources to support Ukraine that can really make a difference for people in need. I stumbled upon ways to help by supporting actual people of Ukraine. My daughter Brittany told me about a Ukrainian artist (https://www.instagram.com/stitchy_princess_black on Instagram)she knows from a cross stitch group who makes beautiful cross stitch patterns (I grabbed some myself) it’s an instant download so no waiting for shipping. In fact it's come to the point that many sellers can't ship from Ukraine right now, so downloads are a great way to buy. My daughters friend was so happy with the sales she made that she reported that she was able to buy supplies for her family, but also for neighbors who were in need!
After picking up her patterns I went down the Etsy rabbit hole and started finding other Ukrainian artisans. Many of them had instant downloads for patterns that I'm saving for future projects. I also found that some sellers who didn't have any kind of products they could offer as downloads had listings for simple postcards you can grab, the idea is that it's a way to donate directly to families, many of whom are struggling because they can't run their shops in the middle of a full out invasion. My Etsy shop supports my family, I can't even imagine what I would do in their shoes, so I made it a point to buy as many of those downloads as I could. I also found out that Etsy is not charging their Ukrainian sellers fees which made
I just love her awesome witchy designs. I wanted to give her a shout-out here and give you the opportunity to grab a pattern or two that we can stitch with our magickal intention to protect the people of Ukraine. When you support small businesses you’re helping an actual person and their family. I hope you love her work as much as I do!
After picking up her patterns I went down the Etsy rabbit hole and started finding other Ukrainian artisans. Many of them had instant downloads for patterns that I'm saving for future projects. I also found that some sellers who didn't have any kind of products they could offer as downloads had listings for simple postcards you can grab, the idea is that it's a way to donate directly to families, many of whom are struggling because they can't run their shops in the middle of a full out invasion. My Etsy shop supports my family, I can't even imagine what I would do in their shoes, so I made it a point to buy as many of those downloads as I could. I also found out that Etsy is not charging their Ukrainian sellers fees which made me very happy!!
Below you'll find links to some Ukrainian Etsy sellers who offer downloads and some other resources as well. Keep those spells and prayers going, by all means, plant sunflowers as a reminder if you can, and if you can, here's some other ways to brighten up a troubled world just a little bit at a time.
I had more of these but a few of the shops are down now, if you feel inspired to make purchases from them, please don't hesitate, your few buck might make the difference for them.
I also suggest that you follow my fellow Llewellyn author Madame Pamita on Instagram as she has Ukrainian ancestry and shares lots of information about ways to help: https://www.instagram.com/madamepamita
