spell

See the truth

~ marjolijnmakes ~ Leave a comment
A soft coloured photo of a pair of glasses. The frame is oval shaped and the lenses are a soft pink. The background is soft pink and yellow
Photo by Dids on Pexels

Sometimes our own perception of people can be (rose)coloured because of nostalgia, or the expectations that we have wrongfully placed upon them. This poppet spell helps take off those rose tinted glasses and let go of the person we built in our heads, to instead see and accept the real them.

You need:
– paper and scissors
– pen
– pink coloured pen (optional)
– string or twine

Fold your paper in half and cut out a gingerbread person shape, so you have two separate poppets. On one poppet, write (with rose tinted ink if you wish) your coloured view of this person. On the other, write what you know to be the truth. Make sure these line up on both poppets. So, for example, on your one poppet you write “kindhearted” in pink ink on their left arm. On you other poppet you write “mean” on their left arm.

Lay the poppets on top of each other, writing facing up. Your coloured view will be the top one. With the string, tie their wrist, ankles, waist, and neck together. Take a moment to look at the things you’ve written and see this person in your mind as you see them now.

Over the course of however long it takes (do not rush this!) take the poppet and read one of the qualities you’ve written. Focus on this, why did you think this? Let any thoughts or memories come to you and sit with them for a moment. When you’re ready, cut the thread and fold the limb over until your top writing is no longer visible. Look at the truth you’ve revealed. Why is this the truth? Reflect on what it makes you feel and whatever memories or thoughts come up.

At the end you’re left with a crumpled up poppet. Toss that one out in the trash, you no longer need this twisted view of this person. The other poppet you can keep as a reminder, or simply toss it away as well. Whatever feels right for you.

Be aware that this can be a pretty emotional spell, so really take your time, and let whatever emotions come up sit with you for however long you need. Take your time and take care of yourself.

Binding and Banishing jar

~ marjolijnmakes ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday there was a pretty unique event. We had a partial solar eclipse, which coincided with the peak of the new moon. A perfect time to do some powerful and heavy-duty spellwork. I’ve had the idea for this jar in my mind for a while, and this new moon/solar eclipse felt like the perfect time to make it. I had to make some black salt, as well as the banishing powder that you see as the layer on top of the sand, and I had supplies enough to make some pretty big batches, so I feel I have some pretty powerful new stuff added to my witchy toolkit!

The Concept

I call this jar my binding and banishing jar. Whenever I perform a binding, like we will next week during the Pride Witchcraft event, I like to use a simple spell format. I write whatever I wish to bind on a piece of black paper, fold it up and bind it with twine, wool or cotton cord. After leaving it on the altar to charge for a period of time, I would do the banishing part and toss it in the trash. Lately I’d been toying with the idea of burying it, interring it into the ground so it can decay, desolve, and its energy used to grow something new. However, I didn’t want to keep digging holes in my (overgrown) garden and litter, even if it is biodegradable. So, the idea for this jar was born! I will bury my bindings and banishings in here, and when I feel it is time to renew the energy, I will toss out the old and remake it anew.

What you need

  • a jar
  • sand/dirt/(potting) soil/salt, something you can bury something in
  • Bree’s Banishing Powder, make your own or buy it here
  • chains and a lock (optional)

What you do

  • create sacred space in whatever way you prefer
  • fill your jar with your sand/soil, focussing on its function: to bind, to banish, to decay and dissolve the things you have bound so something new can grow in its stead
  • add the banishing powder, focussing on its function: to banish and pack that extra punch of fire and power
  • close the jar and add the chains and lock if wished
  • charge and bless your jar in whatever way you prefer. I sat with it outside in the sun and spoke to it. Told it what its function was, what I wanted it to do. Visualised the things I would put in there dissolving into the ground and a seed of something new, better, more positive, stronger, growing in its place. Then I left it charging in the sunlight until the eclipse was done and moved it to my altar space.

Now it is ready for use, and I’m excited to start using it for the first time next week, to banish and bury the things that negatively impact our beautiful queer community!

Unearthing your True Needs

~ marjolijnmakes ~ 3 Comments
Photo by Ksenia Yakovleva on Unsplash

When preparing for a spell, we ask ourselves what do we want to accomplish? What will the theme of this spell and ritual be? But what I realized is that I need to ask myself more often: what needs to happen before I can work this spell?

I’m struggling right now, physically and mentally, with a new chronic illness. What I want is help in accepting this, accepting the reality of my situation and accepting that things will never be the same again, no matter how much improvement I’ll make. So this was the theme I had in my head: acceptance. I’m having trouble accepting, so I will make a spell and ritual to aid in this. Simple, right? Except it didn’t feel right. I realized there were things holding me back from my acceptance, things that a ritual with me chanting “I accept” while focusing on a sigil that I made would not take away. Things that would block that magical work before it even began. So there are things I need to do before I can do the spell that I want to do.

I needed to unearth my true needs. What do I really need to get to a place where I can start working on acceptance? I’m a journaling kinda witch, so I grabbed my journal and started braindumping. No thoughts, just write it out. Start with what I am feeling about the subject and use that as a kickoff point for the rest. For me this often starts with “I feel…” because this gets me to the root of the problem. The things I have to address before I can go on. And through this work I realized that underneath that need for acceptance, there were a lot of other things:

Anger
Grief
Betrayal
A sense of injustice
A need to be understood
Feeling lost
A need for tranquillity, wholeness and calmness
Self-esteem issues
People pleasing
Toxic bonds with certain people
PTSD

I cannot gain acceptance until I deal with these underlying issues. I can make the most beautiful and powerful ritual for acceptance there has ever been, but it will crumble if it doesn’t have the right foundation. Because I looked deeper and tried to unearth my true needs, I have a list of eight magical workings that I need to do before I can do one for acceptance.

So when you are dealing with something big in your life, something you want to do spellwork or other magical workings for, ask yourself: is there something else I need to do first? Is this what I truly need or is there something deeper that needs to be dealt with? Unearth your true needs, then work towards what you want.

Yule Spell Ornament

~ marjolijnmakes ~ Leave a comment

I think I’m not the only for who December and the holidays are a strange and sometimes difficult time. So this year I decided to try and bring some light and warmth, joy and love into our home with this Yule spell ornament!

Disclaimer: I used whatever I had in my house which spoke to me of warmth, homeliness, joy and comfort. You don’t need all these ingredients, and some of the things that I have these associations with might not speak to you. Use whatever feels right!

What you need:

  • Glass ornament
  • Wool or twine in the colours of the hearth or Sun
  • Charm that represents warmth and home, in my case the bonfire
  • Salt (cleansing, snow)
  • Cinnamon stick (warmth, comfort)
  • Different types of tree bark and twigs (yule log, hearth)
  • Chios Mastic or a different yellow coloured resin (Sun, warmth, energy)
  • Juniper berry (ancestors, ancient)
  • Sun charm (Sun, warmth, joy)
  • Citrine (happiness, joy, creativity)
  • Yellow Aventurine (happiness, warmth, joy)
  • Rose quartz (love, self love, comfort)
  • Chamomile (Sun, comfort, joy)

What you do:

  • Create your space in the way that feels right for you
  • Cleanse your ornament
  • Add your salt, charging it with intent
  • Add your small herbs and crystals, charging each with intent while you add them
  • Add your big pieces, placing them in a way that looks good to you, charging them with your intent
  • Put the cap back onto your ornament
  • Wrap the top with the wool and add the charm to the outside, charging it with intent

Things I thought about adding: glitter (fun, joy, sparkly lights), cocoa powder (comfort, warmth), holly (winter, everlasting, yule), red apple (comfort, homeliness, yule), sugar (sweetness, love), fake snow (winter, joy, snow)

What would you add to your ornament of love, joy, and warmth.