How to Handle Burnout

Recently, I have been feeling a bit worn out with my craft, and have noticeably decreased my practice. This makes me sad, because I really enjoy my spirituality, but I also understand that it can take a lot out of you, and that burn out is something that witches and Pagans can face regularly. So, I have created a list of things that I believe would help someone who is experiencing spiritual exhaustion:

• Get back to basics. I think that once people start practicing, it can be easy for them to want to progress quickly, without focusing on the basics of it. I think this happened with me, because lately whenever I do practice, I feel very drained of energy. I think this is because I never really focused on grounding myself, so going back to this could help me keep my energy.
• Meditate. This is another sort of basic, but I think it can help with any kind of burn out. I briefly mentioned an app in another post called "Stop, Breathe & Think" which is free on Google Play,and probably Apple as well. This app is great because it lets you adjust how you are feeling physically, mentally, and emotionally, and then makes suggestions based on how you are feeling.
• Find what made you happy in the beginning. For me, it was forests. I realized that what I felt in a forest was definitely a sense of worship, and that is what drew me into Paganism. So for me, getting back to the elements made me feel that same joy that I felt pre-burnout.
• Relax. I personally don't think that you should force yourself to do anything spiritually that you don't want to do. If you force yourself to do a Tarot reading or a spell when you aren't feeling up it, it becomes a chore rather than something you love. The flip side of this however is that forcing yourself may remind you of how much you love it, and it could kick you out of your slump. I guess this is a choice you have to make yourself, but I would rather not do the latter.
• Work with others. Something that is helping me with my burnout is planning the Beltane Gathering with my friends. Seeing like-minded people makes me feel better about my practice. If there is no one near you who you could work or practice with, reach out to other Pagans or witches on the internet.

That's what I have so far. I hope this helps people who are going through a similar phase as myself. Tomorrow I should be doing a post on my Beltane altar, since its coming up on Friday.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Birthday Witchy Haul

Here is a list of all the witchy stuff I got for my birthday! I always like seeing all the pretty stuff other people have in their collections, so I thought I could do one for myself too.

That little gold thing is a tiny incense burner that was a gift from one of my friends who has recently explored Paganism with me. I haven't quite figured out how to use it without accidentally putting out the incense, but I'm sure I'll get it right eventually. I also picked up some Night Queen incense to go with it.

These are two new crystals I got for my collection, but I'm not quite sure what they are. The one on the left is a low-grade Tiger's Eye (or so I was told) and the shop said the one on the right is a jasper, but it doesn't look like a jasper to me. I'll take these to the rock shop in my home town to get a better identification

And my new pendulum collection! The one on the right is carnelian, and I already kind of talked about that one. The one on the left is probably rose quartz, and the one in the middle was supposed to be bloodstone, but it doesn't look like it. It's black, so I'm thinking it might be onyx?

Finally, I got a Marimo moss ball! This isn't witchy or Pagan related, but I think its adorable and wanted to share it. I named it Carlyle, and its my favorite.

That's it for this week! Talk to you on Tuesday!

New Moon Gathering

Saturday night was the New Moon, so my friends and I came together and celebrated! It was my first official spiritual get together, and it was a lot of fun, so I will definitely do it again.

I was little out of it, because I wanted to try fasting on the New Moon, and it drained me a lot more than expected. I may not do it again, I haven't decided yet.

Before people came over, I wanted to make sure my place would be protected, so I created a super brief protection spell. I hung a twig star on my door and focused on it protecting my home, and I also grabbed some stones that I felt were appropriate (sodalite, amethyst, shungite, jasper, and Botswana agate) and I placed them in five candles. As I lit each candle, I again focused on my home being protected.

We spent the evening doing Tarot and pendulum readings, and just generally discussing our spirituality, beliefs, spirits, etc. All in all, I think I had about ten people come out, and I would have had a few more people, but they were busy. I am going to invite them all out to my Beltane gathering as well.

It was really great to celebrate with everyone, and I am so grateful to everyone who came out. It's fun being a solitary practitioner, but there's something about practicing with others that feels better to me. I'll be sad to graduate and leave my group behind.

I will be having another Beltane/ Full Moon gathering next Saturday, so I will make a post about that once that happens.

Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

My Favorite Online Resources

Hey, for today's post I thought I would share some of my favorite online resources for Paganism and witchcraft. Sometimes I feel like their can be a bit of a 'shun technology' vibe in Paganism, which is fine, but I personally think it can be great for those who can't afford books, or who want to talk and meet like-minded people.

Here's my list:

http://www.paganforum.com/activity.php  -  Pagan Forum was one of the first places I found as a Pagan, and I loved it because its all info from other real Pagans and witches. I didn't need to worry about finding little Harry Potter spells or anything, and the discussions were also very helpful in helping find my path.

http://www.witchywords.com/  -  This blog is run by a woman named Marietta, and she was one of my main inspirations for creating this blog. Marietta makes witchcraft and Paganism feel very approachable, and she herself is very likeable. I find her Sabbat posts to be very helpful.

Pinterest  -  Pinterest can also be a good resource. I found a lot of good posts and inspirational quotes on their about Paganism, but you also have to be careful because a lot of it can be Halloween stuff. Just follow what feels right to you, and check your sources.

Tumblr  -  Tumblr to me, is my greatest resource right now. It has a wide network of Pagans and witches, as a result there is a lot of information. A lot of the users are also very friendly, so I think its good for people who are just starting out because they can ask questions to others who have been practicing for a while.

YouTube -  YouTube is a lot like Pinterest in that they have good resources, but they also have terrible ones. I go to YouTube for the more 'New Age' -ey stuff, like crystals, meditation, divination, etc.

There are a lot of other resources, I just can't think of any off the top of my head.  There are also some good apps, I just downloaded a meditation one called "Stop, Breathe & Think" which allows you to adjust your mood, emotions, and physical state. I haven't used it yet, but its got good reviews.

Let me know if there are any resources that you think I should check out! Thanks for reading!

First Pendulum and Dedication

So myself and my friends have recently begun communicating with spirits via pendulum work. I used a Ouija board a lot as a kid, and talked to one spirit in particular: Reg. I had a feeling that he was still around, and sure enough, he is. I wanted to get a pendulum that I would use exclusively for speaking with him, and this is it:

It is made of Carnelian, and I got it from the same place I get all of my crystals from. I had it for about six hours, and then it fell on my floor and the tip snapped off. Reg said he liked it better broken though, and the brokenness has kind of grown on me.

After I got it, I did a little cleansing/ dedication ritual for it, and I thought I would share here since I couldn't seem to find any on Google.

Materials:
Pendulum
Incense
Incense Burner
Sunlight/Moonlight
Bell (optional)

I started by going out into the woods with my pendulum. I sat and lit the incense and offered it to the God and Goddess, as well as to Reg.

Then I rang the bell (my Tibetan singing bowl) and said:

I call all spirits who wish to help
I banish those who wish me and mine any harm

I said that three times, and then set the bowl down by the incense.

I passed the pendulum through the incense smoke, and focused on cleansing it of any negativity.

I held the pendulum in my hands and said:

I dedicate this pendulum to myself and my spirit guide, Reg.
It will help me communicate and understand Reg better.
It shall be used as a tool for the good, and shall not be used by anything that wishes harm on me.

If you do not have a spirit guide to dedicate it to, you can use your deity, or just dedicate it to yourself.

After that, I kissed it, and set it in the sun to charge (make sure your pendulum will not fade in sunlight. If it does, you can use moonlight instead, or a charging method of your choosing). I hung mine in a tree to catch the sun:

It was a lot sunnier when I actually did the ritual

When I felt like it had charged enough, I took it down, and said thanks. I love my pendulum so far, and have been carrying it around with me so I can ask little questions when I need to.

I plan on getting another pendulum for my birthday (this Friday!) and I will more than likely do a witchy haul post. I am also hosting a New Moon Gathering for some friends and myself, so that's another post to look forward to.

I hope this post helps anyone looking to dedicate their tools!

To Those Who Feel Like They Have To Hide

I have been fairly open about my spirituality from the beginning. I never felt the need to hide from my friends and most of my family. I have been extremely lucky in that everyone I have told has been very open to my beliefs, and a few have even begun to practice with me (the reason why this post is late is because myself and some friends were up very late last night doing pendulum readings).

Because everyone has been so great when I tell them about my faith, I kind of forgot that not everyone is that understanding.

So this week, when a friend of mine told her parents about how she is exploring paganism, I was very upset to find out that her parents had acted very negatively to her.

They scolded her for looking into silly 'new age' things, and for turning away from her upbringing. Naturally, she was very upset by this.

I realize that many people have stories like this, and I think it is terrible. You should never feel bad for believing what you believe. Whether that's Christianity, paganism, or whatever other belief system. As long as it makes you happy, and nobody is being hurt, I don't see why you should feel bad for practicing.

So I guess this post is mostly me trying to give people who are scared about paganism or witchcraft a pep talk. It's OK to practice these things. If this is a path that you enjoy, and want to take, you should. Don't let anyone make you feel bad or stupid for making a choice that they would not have chosen, and even worse, a choice that they likely do not even understand.

This is a safe blog, and if you feel like you need to talk to someone in a judgment free zone, I am here.

Thanks for reading.

DIY Negativity Banishing Doll

I've been talking about this doll for a few weeks, and I was finally able to finish it. I wanted to wait until the waning moon, to get some of the banishing energy from it.

I forgot to take pictures of the early part of the process, so I will explain to the best of my abilities.

Materials:
Fabric (I used black felt, or something like that. It's really soft.)
Two buttons
Ribbon
Thread
Needle
Doll Stuffing
Three tealight candles

Sachet:
Fabric
Thread
Black candle/wax
Black Pepper
Salt
Cloves
Basil

Instructions:

First, I traced a doll pattern on the fabric, and cut two pieces of it. I positioned the two buttons on the doll for eyes, and stitched them onto the right side of one of the pieces.

Then I put it right sides together, and stitched it most of the way around, leaving an opening for the stuffing. This meant that I stitched around the body, and left the head open. Once that was sewn, I flipped it inside out, so that now the right sides were facing out.

After that, I made the sachet to put inside of it. I took a small bit of scrap fabric I had, and placed a bit of the salt, pepper, cloves, and basil in the fabric. I chose these herbs because I have read about their properties in repelling/ preventing negativity. Then I pulled the fabric up and wrapped thread around it to keep it shut. I burned a black crayon for the wax over the thread to secure the thread didn't come undone.

Once that was done, I waiting for the waning moon to come into cycle, then I went to my circle. I took my three tealight candles and called upon the God, Goddess, and my own Spirit to help me with my work.

I took the doll, and filled it with stuffing and the sachet:

The dark blue thing in the middle is the sachet

Now stuffed, I stitched the rest of the doll shut:

Then I cut a length of ribbon, and wrapped it around his neck. I tied it in a bow, and then cut to where I wanted it. I put a small stitch on the back, to make sure the ribbon stayed secure.

I made sure the ribbons were even in the front. Then I untied the ribbon, and on the inside of the back of the ribbon, I wrote "Banish Negativity" to sort of cement my intent.

I wrote his name on the other side of the ribbon. Then I re-tied the bow, kissed it, and thanked it for fighting off negativity from me.

I had a lot of fun doing this, and may make some for my friends. I hope you liked this too. 

Here he is, watching over my room.

What a cutie!

It's Always Something

I have mentioned my friend L in several posts, as being my main witchy friend. Today she asked if I wanted to hang out, and so we went to check in on our circle. Whenever we do that, we always end up doing this grand project without meaning to, and today was no exception.

A few weeks ago, L left some candles in our circle and when we came back, they were gone. We assumed someone had practiced in our circle, since a pentacle had been left there, and then taken them. I left a note saying I didn't mind if they practiced there, but I wanted the candles back, Today, we got a note back! This was really cool to me, because it showed that there are more witches on campus; people I could possibly invite to the Beltane ritual I am planning with L. Anyways, it said they did not take the candle, and it thanked us for letting them use our circle.

L found one of the candles around the circle, so we kept looking around for the other, Well, we never found the other candle, but we did find a complete animal skeleton that had been cleaned over winter. L collected the bones, and she is now gently cleaning them. Since the bones were already very clean (there was no flesh on them at all) she is cleaning them with warm soapy water and baby toothbrushes.

So like I said, we can never just check up on the circle without some project popping up.

Today was also cool because we were talking to one of our friends about what we do, and she joined us at the circle. So that's another person who may join our kinda-sorta-not really coven.

I did a courage spell this week, but because it is very personal to me, I have decided not to share that here. However, my negativity repelling doll is nearly complete, and I will post that here once it is finished.

Another thing, I do not feel that I am able to keep up posting here with the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule I am currently at, so I will now be updating it on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

So I will post again on Tuesday! Thanks for reading!