My new primary blog: @tattooed-fairy-bread
The Cat Returns (2002) dir. Hiroyuki Morita
When Tarot’s Court Cards are Referring to You
KING OF WANDS
Past: You used to be more passionate than you are now.
Present: You are feeling very passionate at the moment.
Future: Your passion will soon be reawakened.
QUEEN OF WANDS
Past: You think someone had more passion for you than now.
Present: You know there is someone very passionate about you.
Future: You believe someone will soon feel passion for you.
KNIGHT OF WANDS
Past: You have experienced a passionate connection in the past.
Present: You deeply wish to be able to express your true passions.
Future: You are waiting for someone to feel passionate about you.
KING OF CUPS
Past: You used to be kinder and more loving than you are now.
Present: Your emotions are overflowing at the moment.
Future: Your pure and strong emotions will start flowing again.
QUEEN OF CUPS
Past: You think someone loved you more before compared to now.
Present: You know there is someone who is in love with you.
Future: You believe someone will soon fall in love with you.
KNIGHT OF CUPS
Past: You experienced a worthy connection in the past.
Present: You deeply wish to be able to express your love.
Future: You are waiting for someone to fall in love with you.
KING OF SWORDS
Past: Your mind used to be much sharper than it is now.
Present: Your intelligence seems to be at its peak.
Future: You will soon feel powerful and influential again.
QUEEN OF SWORDS
Past: You think people thought more highly of you then than now.
Present: You know there is someone who admires your mind.
Future: You believe someone will soon realize how clever you are.
KNIGHT OF SWORDS
Past: You have experienced acknowledgment of your intelligence.
Present: You deeply wish to prove your worth to people.
Future: You are waiting for someone to realize your worth.
KING OF PENTACLES
Past: You used to be far more stable than you are now.
Present: You have never been this stable before.
Future: Your abundance and prosperity are about to come in.
QUEEN OF PENTACLES
Past: You think more people respected you then than now.
Present: You know there is someone who respects what you represent.
Future: You believe someone will soon recognize your achievements.
KNIGHT OF PENTACLES
Past: You have experienced what it is like to be solid and stable.
Present: You deeply wish to be abundant in more ways than one.
Future: You are waiting to experience true and lasting stability.
Click here for the Pages.
A Crash Course in Warding
Let’s just start a series of crash courses in witchcraft, since sometimes we need to learn things the quick and dirty way. Today, let’s talk about wards.
What are wards?
Wards are protective energy barriers. They keep things out. You can place them around your home, certain rooms, even on certain objects. With practice and clear intentions, you can focus the wards to block out everything or only certain things. We’ll get to that in a bit.
Why should I ward my space and my things?
Wards can keep out all sorts of things you don’t want in your home. They can block out negative entities, wayward spirits, mischievous entities, demons, and (if you’re really good at what you’re doing) even gods. Some people ward their divination tools so they know there are no spirits tampering with the results.
So what do I need to do first?
Cleanse. This is very important. Wards are kind of like walls, or perhaps more accurately, bubbles. If you don’t clean the space first, you might trap things inside your ward bubble. You do not want that. There are lots of methods of cleansing, from burning sage to spritzing oil-infused water. Find a method you’re comfortable with and cleanse everything you’re going to be warding.
I’ve cleansed my home/item. Now what?
Now we ward. I’m going to give you a couple methods. Let’s start with my favorite, incense warding.
Incense warding can also be done with spritzes of water/essential oil blends or herb-infused water if you can’t have smoke in your space. Whichever you’re using, you want to have a blend of protective herbs. Bay leaves, cinnamon, ginger, mustard seed, and salt are some great options that you can find in the grocery store, no fancy witch shop necessary. If you’re using incense, make sure you’re using natural incense and not super cheap stuff that’s artificially scented. The magic is in the herbs, and you won’t get that from fake scents.
How to Incense/Spritz Ward an Item
- Smoke or spray item.
- Visualize the smoke or spray clinging to the item and wrapping around it like a tight blanket, protecting it from anything that would cause harm (or interference, etc.).
How to Incense/Spritz Ward Your Space
- Pick a place to start. I always start at my altar, but it’s up to you. If you’re doing multiple floors, start either at the top or bottom floor.
- Moving continuously to your right, smoke or spray along the walls and door frames. As you go, imagine a barrier being formed around the walls, ceiling, and floor, pushing outwards to fill the room. Visualize the smoke or spray forming the barrier to keep out anything that will do you harm. [If you have a hard time with visualization, you can simply focus on the intent of the smoke or spray keeping things out.]
- Keep moving right, following the layout of your home, making sure you get all the closet spaces. You basically want to outline the entire area you’re protecting, whether it’s you’re room or your whole house.
- For multiple floors, repeat on each level.
- For big layouts where there are rooms in the middle, go around those rooms as well.
- I like to reinforce the wards over outside doors, windows, and mirrors. These are all passages of sorts, and when I reach them, I use the incense to draw a pentagram in the air over them. This is entirely up to you.
- You’re done when you’ve reached the point where you began.
So why do we go to the right? Is that important?
Kind of. Going to the right is like going clockwise. It’s about making things and progression, where going to the left or counter-clockwise is about deconstruction or reversal. [I read this idea in a witchy book a long time ago and will try to find a source when I can. If you honestly don’t feel it makes a difference, do whatever you’re comfortable with.]
Can I place wards that keep out certain things but not others?
Sure. When you’re going around your space/warding your item, your intent is what’s important. I like to ward out entities that mean harm - it’s nice and general and doesn’t keep the fae out. Some people might want certain spirits and not others. Have your intentions clear in your mind as you place your wards.
That’s neat and all, but what are some other ways to ward?
Let’s list a few.
Symbol/Sigil Wards
- Choose (or make) a symbol or sigil that has protective properties. I’ve done this with Pluto’s astrological symbol because I worship him and it’s my way of being like, “Hey, Pluto. Please protect me, kthanxbai.” Pentagrams are nice and basic witchy/pagan symbols if you like them.
- Draw the symbol over doors and windows. You do not literally have to draw it. It can be in water, incense smoke, or just your finger against the surface if you want.
- As you’re drawing, make sure you have your intentions in mind - that nothing harmful can pass through this door, that the windows remain closed against entities, etc.
Energy Bubbles (if you have control over your energy)
- Pick an item - any item.
- Get your warding intentions in mind.
- Channel lots of energy into the item. Visualize it emanating from the item in a bubble to fill your space.
- If you’ve got mad skillz, you can form the bubble to the walls and be super exact with where its barriers are.
Vocal Wards
- If you like spoken (or thought) spells, come up with a small chant to protect your space.
- You can repeat this chant as you focus on your item being protected or as you walk around your home, protecting every room.
- This is really great to incorporate into basically any other form of warding and gives your magic an extra bit of oomph.
I’ve heard wards can “fade” over time. True or false?
Wards are just energy. Like all energies, they can disperse and weaken over time, or if something particularly nasty puts effort into destroying them. Redo your wards every so often (I do mine every few months, but it’s up to you), and especially before spiritual interactions. I also like to do mine after I’ve had lots of company, to kind of clear out family’s lingering energies and reinforce what I don’t want in my house.
In general, the intent of your wards is the most important part. Know what you want to keep out. This concludes our crash course on warding. Now go forth and protect some stuff!
Witchcraft Series - Warding FAQ
What is Warding?ย
Warding is considered an energetic field one creates through ritual and other means to protect themselves, their home, and their scared places. Warding is used to keep out negative and malicious intents or things specific to your intentions.ย
Do I have to learn how to Ward as a baby or intermediate practitioner?ย
You donโt have to learn anything you donโt want to. However, warding is a major staple of protection work. Learning how to protect yourself magically, I believe, is one of the first things someone should learn. I say this because you donโt know who might be unhappy with you and try to throw a curse your way or what malicious spirit might attach to you. Your wards will act as your first defense, as a wall between you whatever negative energy is trying to come to you.ย
Do I have to Ward everything I own?ย
No. Generally, one ward over your home can protect most within it and protect from things try to come in. However, warding is something that should be kept up with and maintained often. Energy dissipates and those who do not practice energy work often, might struggle with the long term up keep.ย
Okay, Iโm convinced I need Wards. What now?ย
You start by grounding yourself and your magic. You always want to ground yourself before doing any kind of spell work. Next, you want to cleanse your space, self, or object that you want to protect. You donโt want to trap negative energy or anything you donโt want inside the wards. The next step is to figure out a method that works the best for you. Over time, Iโve taken bits and pieces from different methods and that is what has worked the best for me. This may not be the case for everyone so, please experiment and figure out what works the best for you.ย
The method I first started with was Incense Warding. With this, however, I created a sigil that was specific to me and my cause for warding. I drew this sigil by doors, windows, and the main corners of my home to create a ward that would match the shape of my house. I put emphasis on there I needed the wards to be the strongest.ย If you cannot use incense, you can use water and essential oils to spray VS walk the smoke around.ย
Now, for a small object youโll want to spray or hold over the smoke of the incense. Reach out and feel the object and try to connect with it. Youโll want to begin to imagine a field of energy incasing the object snugly, protectively. Youโll want to put your energy and intent to protect from XYZ into the ward. Be as specific as you can be - warding from negativity may not necessarily ward you from danger or from mischief. Repeat until you feel your message has gotten through the ward is staying put.ย
The method for something larger stays about the same but you walk around and spray or walk the smoke around multiple parts. If youโre warding your home or something large, be sure to ward not only a wall barrier but create a floor and ceiling for it. Completely incase the object.ย
Donโt be afraid to do layers! Layers are good and will provide more of a defense.
Warding and Protection During Spirit Flight
ย ย ย This Post is for and dedicated toย @ivycrownedwitch, who generously commissioned me for research by way of donation to the CvltSqvad Fundraiser, to gather together spells or talismans on warding, and protection during spirit flight. NGL, This was a bit of a tricky ask, and I honestly wasnโt sure where to start to find historical examples ๐ However, the search was not entirely fruitless at least from an operative witchcraft angle, and I found a few solid examples, and enough related information that anyone interested should be able to build out a warding method from a variety of materials for a variety of use cases.ย
In The Viridarium Umbris,ย Daniel Schulkeย lists a variety of plants that could be allied to suit the purpose with a little ingenuity:
ย ย ย ย Of further interest to the topic of protection while outside the body, are these sections of Roger J Hornes Folk Witchcraft: A Guide To Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner::
ย ย ย โMallow is often prepared as an unguent and applied to the body in order to protect against harm and cushion the wearer from metaphoricalย โbarbsโ he or she may experience.โ
ย ย ย ย โ[โฆ] Simple talisman is made of rowan berries, pierced and dried, then strung on a red thread. Over it, the following charm is spoken to awaken its protective qualities:ย ย
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Rowan Berry and red thread,
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย Bring all evil to its sped.โย
ย ย ย โ[..] charm of defense and blessing was used againstย โelf-shotโ a kind of attack from the spirit world that could be performed by faeries or by witches during spirit-flight.ย
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย I charge thee against arrowshot,
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย against doorshot, against wombshot,
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย against eyeshot, against tongueshot,
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย against livershot, against lungshot,
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย against heartshot, all the most.
ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย In our Ladyโs name, I pray it.โย ย
ย ย ย In Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways, Author Gemma Gary Provides the following:
This recipe, apparently intended to be employed as a sprinkling powder:ย
โTo raise a protective boundary in preparation for potentially dangerous, harmful, or unfamiliar situations and in cases of suspected ill-wishing:
Clove Oil - 5 drops
Dragons Blood - 2 tsp
Fern - 3 tsp
Frankincense - 1 tsp
Holly - 1 tsp
Horehound - 1 tsp
Juniper - 1 tsp
Mint oil - 3 tsp
Mullein - 1 ยฝ tsp,
Pine needles - 1 tsp,
Alum 1 - 1 ยฝ tsp
As well as the following charm:ย
โAn old iron key, tied to a red cord that passes through a hag stone, is another charm that employs the holed stone to bestow otherworldy protection upon the home and all who dwell within it, whilst also making use of the potent protective qualities of ironโ
In The Black Toad, The same author provides these examples of protective warding talismans, which could likely be put to good use for the purpose*:
The following paper talisman found in the Black Toad is an interesting example of talismanic magic, and several variations of this seal exist, a version also appears in Reginald Scotโs Discoverie of Witchcraft:
ย ย ย ย Within The Galdabrok, (Flowers translation) are found a number of talismans for similar ends, which could also be leveraged specifically for the purpose of astral travel:
ย
ย ย ย ย
ย ย ย ย ย
ย ย ย ย The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells Byย Judika Isles is likely my least favorite texts to source, but does list the following:ย
โROLOR Squareย
This magic square allegedly enables you to fly like a crow. Write the following onto parchment, preferably using Ravenโs Feather Ink [Typo?]ย
R O L O R
O B U F O
L U A U L
O F U B O
R O L O R
Pin this paper to your chest. Close your eyes, relax, and see whether you fly.โย
The same text recommends an incense for spirit flight,ย
originally authored byย Dion Fortune:
โBenzoin
Dittany of Crete
Sandalwood
Vanilla bean
Grind all the dried ingredients into a fine powder,
burn on lit charcoal [..]โ
As well as another incense, composed of Mugwort and Dittany of Crete, also employed as a powder, and recommends petition of the Goddess Artemis:
โDittany of Crete and Mugwort, two herbs closely associated with Artemis, offer assistance with accomplishing astral projection, and protection during the journey.โ
- Burn the Herbs as incense to accompany your journey
- fill a pillow with the combined herbs
- Simultaneously appeal to Artemis for assistance with your goalโ
And recommends maintaining Air Potatoes (Dioscorea bulbifera) on your property to prevent uninvited witches from reaching your home through spirit flight.
Again, thanks to @ivycrownedwitchโ for commissioning me for research by way of donation to the Cvltsqvad Fundraiser for Sloth!
If you would like me to dig up some spells in a similar vein from these and similar texts, please read the pinned post on my blog and make a donation to our fundraiser!ย
Lokean Links - Rebloggable Version
Myths Featuring Loki:
Shortcut to poems from the Poetic Edda featuring Loki:
- Völuspá: The creation myth, Ragnarok, and such
- Þrymskviða: Loki and Thor crossdress to get Mjolnir back
- Reginsmál: Loki pisses off a dwarf and inadvertently causes the Volsung Saga
- Lokasenna: Loki crashes a party and challenges the gods to a rap battle
- Völuspá hin skamma: Loki eats a witch’s heart and becomes the “father of all monsters”
Shortcuts:
- Skáldskaparmál: The abduction of Idunn by Thjazi, Loki tying his balls to a goat to entertain Skadi, the creation of Mjolnir, the seal fight with Heimdall over Freyja’s necklace
- Gylfaginning: The birth of Sleipnir, Loki’s binding, the visit to Útgarða-Loki
Other:
- Loka Táttur: Loki rescues a kid from a giant
Keep in mind that these translations are public domain due to their age, so a lot of the scholarship in the annotations is outdated. We recommend a newer translation of the Eddas if at all possible.
Other Primary Sources:
- Icelandic Saga Database
- Sacred Texts
- Northvegr (defunct but archived)
- Thorraborinn’s List of Primary Sources
- Recommended Edda Translations
- Audiobook versions of the Eddas
Various Retellings:
- The Theft of Idun’s Apples - a retelling
- The Abduction of Ithunn (audio)
- That one time Loki cut off Sif’s Hair
- The continuation of that ^
- The Building of Asgard’s Wall
- Loki’s Flyting and Binding (audio)
Articles, eShrines, and Useful Loki Posts:
- Wikipedia Entry on Loki - Surprisingly accurate for Wikipedia. Go nuts!
- Loki in Scandinavian Mythology
- Loke in Younger Tradition
- Loki, the Vätte, and the Ash Lad
- Lokrur, Lóðurr and Late Evidence
- A Little Bit of Lokrur: A Portion of an Old Icelandic Mythological Poem and a New English Translation
- Lokean Book List
- Loki in the Archaeological Record
- Loki as a Queer God
- Dealing with Nokeans
- Temple of the Flea
- Lokaheim
- Lokean Playlists
Info on Heathenry and Norse Myth in General:
- GLE’s Frequently Referenced Posts
- Lokavinr’s Master List
- Hedendom’s Resources
- Fuck Yeah Norse Mythology’s Resources
- Thorraborinn’s List of Secondary Sources
- Heathen Terms and Concepts
- Jackson Crawford’s YouTube Channel
- Huginn’s Heathen Hof
- Books to Avoid
- Old Norse Pronunciation Basics (text)
- Pronunciation of Old Norse (video)
- Pronunciation of the Gods’ names (video)
- Homosexuality and Gender Roles in the Viking Age
- The Valkyrie Squad’s List of Non-Folkish Heathen Blogs
Other Lokean Blogs:
- Grumpy Lokean Elder - a truly awesome resource!
- Lokavinr - another awesome resource!
- Lokisday - great insights from a new Lokean
- Skytreaderdances - Miscellaneous Loki-related goodies
god i hate how aesthetic-obsessed we have become. i'm not talking about cottagecore or dark academia or any of the other -cores, i'm talking about everything being so glossy and pretty and perfect and smooth and one-liner hot takes and feel-good own-the-conservatives progressivism and Top 10 Company Tweets We Laughed At and ring lights and young vloggers with pastel-perfect colour-corrected lives and carefully curated messy title cards and perfect montages being called "photo dumps" and bookstagrams or booktoks or bookblrs who buy every book they read, not a library edition in sight and "that girl" and this is how you age when you're unproblematic and glow ups and "clean" "inclusive" beauty and earth tones and minimalism and filming random people without their consent and definition of the self through consumption of goods and ggrgehwrgehrgehrgehrgehrrerg
It’s infuriating how so many women were (and still are) discriminated against for being female
cat-lover-s
