Ask a Question and Find Your Fate: DIY Divinations

Give your tarot cards a rest and create a one-of-a-kind divination tool: a bag of crystals you can use to do readings.  It is very easy to do.  Collect stones you have picked up on travels, and keep your eye out for crystals as you go about your daily business.  You can gather up relatively inexpensive stones such as garnets, agates, amethysts, and tiny citrines at your favorite metaphysical five and dime.  Select a favorite velvet bag, and when the need arises, turn to crystal visions for your enlightenment.  Most of us cannot afford diamonds in our bag of crystals, so substitute clear quartz here; for emeralds, switch to peridots, and garnets can substitute nicely for rubies.  A wonderful crystal and gem web site at www.thenewagesource.com/category/Crystals-gemstone.html has “rough rubies” and “rough emerald” pieces for just a few dollars each, so it is possible to find spiritual stones reasonably priced.

Casting the stones is as easy as one, two, three:

1. Shake the bag well.

2. Ask a question.

3. Remove the first three stones you touch, and then interpret them from the following guide.

How to read the stones:

Agate: business success and notoriety

Amethyst: change is coming

Black Agate: monetary gain

Red Agate: long life and health

Aventurine: new horizons and positive growth

Blue Lace Agate: the need for spiritual and physical healing

Citrine: the universe offers enlightenment

Diamond: stability

Emerald: lushness

Hematite: new prospects

Jade: everlasting life

Red Jasper: the need for grounding

Lapis Lazuli: heavenly fortune

Quartz: clarity where there was none

Rose Quartz: love is in your life

Ruby: deep passion and personal power

Sapphire: truth

Snowflake Obsidian: your troubles are at an end

Tiger’s Eye: the situation is not as it appears

Snow Quartz: major changes

Mother Nature's Skin Healer: Aloe is Magic

Aloe: Skin Soothing Solution

One of Mother Nature’s most effective healers is aloe. When I lived in colder areas that frost and snow, I grew aloe in a wide pot with good drainage and placed it in the sunniest spot in the kitchen where it thrived with very little water. I am truly fortunate to live where it never gets below freezing so I have a towering aloe in the left garden corner that is growing to tree-like proportion. When anyone in the household gets a burn, a bug bite, a rash, a scratch, an itch or sunburn, I march back and grab a stem and apply the juice liberally. We use it as a medicine and as a beauty application for facials, hair gel, skin massage and feel so blessed that all this heavenly healing is utterly free of cost. Aloe propagates through baby plants sprouting off the sides which you can repot into little clay containers and give as kitchen witchery gifts to your circle to share the healing energy as well as protection and luck, a deterrent to loneliness and abets success. Grow in the home to provide protection from household accidents

Water of Life Ritual

Rainwater Renewal Spell

I advise any witchy gardener to have a rain barrel to make the most of stormy weather; you can water your pots of herbs and garden during sunnier days and dry spells. On the first day of the rainfall, place a blue glass bowl outside as a watercatcher. Bring it inside and place on your altar beside a lit candle. Speak:

Water of life, gift from the sky

We bathe in newfound energy, making spirits fly!

Dip your fingers in the water and touch your forehead. Meditate upon the healing work you and your garden can do, thanks to the nurturing rainfall. Pour the water into the ground of your garden, speaking the spell one last time.

Lavender is Love: Self-care Serenity

Lavender is blessedly easy to grow as it is a shrubby plant of Mediterranean origins. It is prized for the lovely scent and is a very powerful healing plant with many other properties, even for making tea, tisanes, infusing into honey and many more practical uses. It can even prosper in dry and drought areas so make sure kitchen garden has at least one of the hardy varieties so you can dry bundles to use in your spellwork as well as in your recipes.

Lavender Self-Blessing Ritual

The time you take to restore yourself is precious. Morning is the optimal time to perform a self-care blessing which will help you maintain both your physical health and provide an emotional boost each and every day. Take a bundle of dried lavender grown in your kitchen garden or from a purveyor of organic herbs and place it into a muslin sack. Knead the lavender three times and breathe in the calming scent. Beginning at the top of your head, your crown chakra, pass the pouch all the way down to your feet gently touching your other sacred chakras: throat, solar plexus, stomach and pelvis. Holding the lavender bag over your heart, speak aloud:

Gone are sorrows, illness and woe;

Here wisdom and health flows.

My heart is whole, joy fills my soul.

Green Witchery DIY House Magic

 We all want to live in an enchanted cottage, a  charming residence in every sense of the word. Several years ago,  I learned that all the chemicals in our cleansing products introduce potential toxins into our lives along with a certain amount of negative energy. Who likes the smell of raw bleach, over-perfumed detergents and those scary oven cleaners? They strip away the natural and are simply too harsh. It is even a danger to have them around young children whose curiosity could lead them into trouble. I think we can all agree it makes a lot of sense to simply not have anything in your kitchen cabinet that is marked “poisonous.” There are so many options that are inexpensive and will make your home and anyone who walks in the door, healthier and happier. \

Creating your own all-organic green witchery cleaners gives you the opportunity to put the most magic into every surface, room and corner of your home. Every time your home is cleaned using these pagan potions, you are bettering the vibrations of your home, creating healing energy, eliminating toxins and introducing a light, bright positivity right where you live. There is no more powerful enchantment than this; it is the foundation for a peaceful and pleasurable home.

DIY All-Purpose Cottage Cleaner

1 Teaspoon baking soda

1 Teaspoon liquid Castile soap

3 drops lemon essential oil or 1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 quart warm water

Pour the above into a bowl and mix well; transfer to a clean spray bottle and shake. If you have a tougher job than usual, add a cup or white vinegar to the other ingredients. Baking soda is a mild abrasive so don’t use it on fine furniture or delicate fabrics.Otherwise, it is quite miraculous for touch stains, rust, ovens, tiles, stain removal, tough greases, smelly fridges and so many other household chores.

Plant Infusions That Heal and Help

Many enthusiasts enjoy several cups a day of their favorite herbal infusion which is a large portion of herb brewed for at least four hours and as long as ten. I recommend placing one cup of the dried herb into a quart canning jar and filling it with freshly boiled water. After the steeping, strain with a non-metallic method such as cheesecloth or bamboo. Herbal infusions can be made with the leaves and fruits which provide  healing aspects of this comforting brew. Many of the favorite kitchen garden herbs contain minerals, antioxidants and phytochemicals including the list herein. 

What do you need to attend in your life now? This list of herbs and associations can be your guide; one of the smartest ways to approach this methodology is to brew right before bedtime and you will awaken to a freshly infused herb. Some of the most popular herbs and fruits used to create infusions are as follows:

Anise Seeds & Leaves: soothes cramps and aches
Caraway Seeds:  aids in romantic issues, helps with colic
Catnip Leaves:  makes women even more attractive
Chamomile Flowers: helps with sleep, good for abundance

Dandelion Leaves: makes wishes come true
Echinacea: makes the body strong
Ginseng Root: increases men’s vigor
Nettle Leaves:  lung function, hex breaking
Peppermint Leaves: rids tummy discomfort, cleansing
Pine Needles: increases skin health as well as financial health
Rose Hip Fruit: packed with vitamin C and can halt colds and flu

Sage Leaves:  purifies energy, antibiotic
Skullcap Leaves: prevents insomnia and soothes nerves

 St. John’s Wort: antidepressant
Thyme Leaves: antiseptic, a protectant
Yarrow Flowers: reducse fever, brings courage and good luck

If Wishes Had Wings: Bird Magic

I am so blessed to have a bluebird duu living in my backyard. They bring me such joy every day. 

Bluebirds are so famous they have given their name to the bluebird of happiness. The robin has been associated with the same signs of cheerfulness and joy. Seeing a bluebird or robin, you should immediately make a wish: it must be something unselfish, and not dependent on anyone else.

As the bird flies off, set your wish ascending. Wish hard for steadily increasing happiness and release from strains. Whether a bluebird or a robin, if you see the bird again with a few days in exactly the same place, your wish will certainly be granted.

Here are some more magical wings and prayers:        

Crow feathers: These indicate loss and mourning. Try not to be frightened but look at them as indicators of the cycles of life, death, and rebirth.

Hummingbird feathers: These bring joy, beauty, and bliss. Take time out to have a good time and to share with the people you love.

Swan feathers: These are the sign of grace. As swans mate for life, a swan feather can also mean a soul mate or good relationship is on the horizon.

Yellowhammer feathers: These are the symbol for hearth and home. Seeing a yellowhammer feather in your path means you will have a happy new home.

Magpie feathers: These are just plain good medicine for any kind of illness. Magpies bring purification.