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.
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
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!
Happy Pride everyone! It’s the rainbow time of the year again… This will be the first time for me where I will incorporate Pride month actively into my witchcraft practice. As I’ve written about before, self-discovery and self-love is a big part of my daily and monthly practice and exploring gender- and sexual identity has dominated that over the past two years or so. I learned a lot, not just about myself but about queer history and the queer community as well. Which is why I decided that this year, in a year where everything still sucks, I will take Pride month as a sacred celebration, not only to celebrate my own identity and the journey that I’ve made, but also to celebrate how far we’ve come, as a community, and the things that we’ve already achieved.
But there is still quite a way to go. Homophobia and especially transphobia is on the rise again. There is a lot of infighting in the community as well with the rise of TERF ideology and purity politics based on white, Christian values ingrained in our societies and cultures. Which is why a friend commented that for her Pride had a very double feeling this year. We talked about how we both looked forward to it, and didn’t, because of these issues and struggles. We also talked about doing some community magics, where we as a community practice our witchcraft to better the queer community, which I will talk about below.
So, what are my plans for Pride? (My Pride bucketlist, if you will)
Celebrate
Journal about what Pride means to me and the journey I went through
Shop locally and in small, queer owned businesses for some queer merch
Finish my “acceptance” tarot spread, and use it
Read/watch/or listen to something related to queer history, -people or -education topics every day
Donate to a queer cause
Join an online queer event
Read Arcane Perfection, an anthology by queer, trans and intersex witches that is now 0.99 on kindle!
Do a binding/banishing spell (see below)
Do a community protection spell (see below)
Watch some fun queer shows and movies
Celebrate some more!
So let’s talk about the community magic. We invite everyone to join us on a witchy Pride weekend! June 18 to 20 we will be doing various spells to help the queer community, and the more people who cast them, the more powerful they will be! We’ve also chosen this date because we can harness the potent energies of the Summer solstice into our workings.
Binding and banishing On June 18 we will perform a binding and banishing spell to bind queerphobia, harmful laws, and any other personal things you might want to include. Use your own binding/banishing method, or use the following, which is my preferred method. Take a piece of black paper, or paint one side of a white paper black (protection/banishing). Write down the things you wish to banish, think of things like homophobia, police brutality, job inequality, the names of certain laws, TERFs, or more personal things like people using your deadname or the name of a homophobic uncle (for example). Make sure the black side is on the outside. Focus on binding and banishing every point as you write them down. Now fold it up in a way that the black is the only colour that’s shown. Wrap your folder paper in some black twine, wool, thread, laces, whatever you have. Focus on binding the things you’ve written, say some words if you wish. I like to bury my bindings/banishings, but you can also dispose of them by simply tossing them in the trash where they belong.
Protection Sigil On June 19 we will cast a protection spell for the queer community. I designed a sigil for this to function as a focal point for your magic. You can print it out or redraw it yourself. Place a candle over it, use it as a base of a crystal grid, place it on your altar and meditate, make it the centre of a (digital) moodboard, whatever feels right for you. The centre of the sigil is the Pride flag, symbolizing our community (you can redraw the sigil and place a different flag inside, if you wish to focus on a specific part of the community). Around it is a circle (protection, community) which is made by five stickfigures holding hands (people, community). Around them is a square (protection) and then a ring of intertwined briar branches with the thorns pointing outwards (again, protection). On the right side I also snuck the rune Thurisaz (briar, protection) into the ring of briar branches. The pentacle in the centre stands for magic as well as, surprise, protection. Customize this for whatever you need, the pentacle is optional, place more stickfigures, change the flag, whatever makes it work for you.
Celebrate and Remember On June 20 we will celebrate! Celebrate our own identities as well as the community and all we’ve achieved so far. Watch a fun movie, shop for some fun merch, eat and drink something rainbow, dance to music of queer artists, whatever you want! We do also want to acknowledge and remember those who we’ve lost, those who have paved the way before us. You might want to do this by making a toast to your queer ancestors (by blood or – more often – not). By saving a place for them at the table and inviting to join you. Or by using a Beloved Dead sigil and burning a candle in remembrance. I will also be making a list of names of those I wish to honour, which is at the same time a nice excuse to dive deeper into queer history!
So please join us for a witchy Pride weekend! Share your thoughts and experiences with #PrideWitchcraft and share this post far and wide so we can have as many witches adding their magic and power.
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