The Crafts: Wixes, Spells, and the Weaponized Placebo Effect

So I did a simple chaya of gin for Pachamama on New Years, and collected materials I felt would be appropriate for a... warding. I chose queñua branches since it is a hardy Andean tree with orange flaky trunks that sprouts in the crags of the mountains, and I associate them with eking out spaces for oneself, and a Puna (highland) grass, which I associate with tenacity and survival. This is my first actual attempt at witchcraft, so I've been running on instinct and interpreting ideas and associations. It's been pretty interesting. I've brought these with me back to sea level, so I think they might lose some of their power, but I also kind of tried to "bind" an Andean wind and my breath into ropes for flexibility and clear minds free of obstructions so... who knows.

I've also been thinking of making spells through drawings. I suppose the idea is something like drawing runes or seals on paper, but in a way I could work since I have a feeling I won't be able to connect with runes at all. They'd be more labor intensive, so I think they'd have to be for big things, and I'm not sure how I would go about activating.

Partway through the trip with my friends, we stopped at Yungay to visit the campo santo (a... cemetery, basically). Yungay is a town that sits at the foothills of the Huascaran peak. In 1970, a strong earthquake caused the collapse of part of the northern face of the peak, and the resulting landslide/debris avalanche the town in three minutes. There are videos of the event, there really was no time for anybody to do anything. The survivors were those who were visiting (or in the case of the only surviving police officer, guarding) the original circle cemetery, since it was set up on one of the taller hills of the area, and those in the stadium. It was a huge disaster and tragedy.

The whole expanse of the original town was declared a national cemetery, and is now surprisingly lovely, full of flowers and nicely tended pathways, and some memorials to the people who died giving aid (Russian officers, the Peruvian police officers who parachuted into the area to provide the first aid, etc), and to those who died from their surviving family members (not a lot...). It was sunny and pretty, and a lot of people visit and take photos and take guided tours to see what little emerges from the ground as it settles and new debris becomes uncovered (a completely mangled omnibus, the rooftiles of one building which are slowly emerging from the ground... one essentially is walking on top of the building that was completely buried), the huge rocks (they must be taller than 15 meters, considering how big they are above ground, nevermind the part buried...). I saw many butterflies fluttering around and visiting the flowers. It was rather unnerving.

It's a bit odd to me that it is... a tourist attraction, mostly from national tourists, with the grandchildren of survivors telling you about how the omnibus was scheduled to leave town by 3pm, but was delayed and didn't escape, or pointing out the only four surviving palms of the 37 in the town plaza... I can't tell if it is disrespectful. They charge a small fee for entrance, and that goes into the upkeep of the campo santo.

I didn't want to enter at first, I was uneasy at the idea of entering such a powerfully charged area, treating a place of so much pain and trapped souls as a tourist sight, but I also felt it was disrespectful to stand outside the door and refuse to go. Our guide was an 11 year old whose grandpa was one of the children who survived in the stadium. She was lovely and cute and confident, and answered our questions with small smiles and telling us honestly when she didn't know something instead of making something up ("I haven't studied that yet"). She was completely at ease, even when she answered D's question about ghosts by saying that nobody is allowed there at night but that sometimes people hear things in the cemetery.

It really was a lovely place on top, a bit like a park and memorial, with families winding around and some climbing the bigger rocks. It was surreal to know that a whole town was buried underneath us.

Our guide took us up to a point, and didn't go any further despite the clear path and debris of the original church there. After we walked up more, we reached a stone... altar, so to speak, it made me think of the stone table from "The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe". We stopped there, and nobody dared go further, despite a clear, pretty arch built to look like a nice church a few twenty meters ahead, following a path framed by young trees. Nobody wanted to go further, nobody stepped further than two meters from that point. I think we all felt that it would be too much to keep going. I didn't have any spirits (alcohol) to offer for them, so I did two chayas of the gatorade I have: one on the altar itself, and another on the ground just past it. It was the least I could do for the people who died here. I wish I had brought flowers.

The others understood, one asked if I was doing it for "the homies", and the other muttered about the Pachamama. After that, the visit was done, we turned back and left to the next part of the trip.

It was nice, and pretty, and a good visit but... I was glad to leave. It is a sad place. That I could feel it, as spiritually dense as I think I am, says something.

 

I just was smacked with the realization that my expertise and general feels probably lends itself better to kitchen and herb witchery. Seriously how did I not get that earlier if my mom doesn't know what to give me for any occassion it's usually a book on herbal medicine and home remedies???
Anyway lookign up some stuff I just realized that the gift I made my father is probably sort of kitchen witchery in a way, at least the base recipe leads itself to it!
Garlic and Rosemary macerated Olive oil
Unless I'm mixing things up it should generally promote purification and healing.
Thoughts? Do you want the instructions to make it? it's really easy!

 

Tasty and Beneficial Results is the best part of kitchen witchery

 

I think I might tackle herb breads if I fid the time! Because the idea of making breadrolls that are not only tasty in a lot of ways but also full of happy-good-helpy-energy appeals to me. Plus it might encourage me to eat, which is always good.

 

I have a phenomenal Rosemary and Olive Oil bread recipe I can give you :D

 

ooooo thatsounds delightful!

 

That sounds lovely. Kitchen witchery makes me think of Molly Weasley and just, the magic of love and care through a well cooked meal, and intent, and all of that :3

Also, perhaps I can get some advice from people here. I still have all the materials for the protection circle, including the circle fortified with a bit of my hair from my brush (strong if brittle on how thin it is, it's stronger and more potent for having been, ya know, a part of me), but I don't know where to how to set it up. Like, originally I had wanted to find a small simple place to put up the Queñua twigs and wind the circle hidden in a bush or something outside, but now I'm in the city I feel like the park where I walk the dogs just... isn't going to cut it. I've been sitting trying to think of how to do it from home, what "base" I can use to create the circle, but also to ensure that I don't have the physical construction all the time. Like, it is different if the twig structure gets disturbed by nature than if it is dismantled by people. It's kind of annoying because I can't quite figure out how to do this :/

 

(Would love the oil recipe btw that sounds delicious and awesome)

 

I'll have to search for the exact measurements but I thik you can wing it
You need a jar and 300 ml olive oil, a garlic bulb (can be the left overs of a started one, I put an entire bulb in) and three twigs of fresh rosemary
You want to get the garlic cloves out and cut them in thick slices, the put them and the rosemary in the jar and pour your oil in. Don't make my mistakes, the jar should be at least able to take 100ml more than you put oil in or else it will be difficult to handle and leak everywhere.
Put your filled jar in a dark cool place and turn once a day.
After three days you can sieve and pour the oil into it's final flask/bottle/jar though you can leave the mazeration ingredients in for up to a week if you accidentally forget to sieve it (oops)

 

thanks for the recipe, @IvyLB, I was just about to ask!
my dad would love it if I made that.

 

@IvyLB You are giving me... Science Wix plots. :T

Symbolism doesn't usually resonate for me; I feel more comfortable and grounded if I can ground things in hard data, because of personal past history. So I don't really deal with rituals and deities.

But... I guess insofar as I have spiritualism, as an agnostic pantheist, it's focused on understanding systems. Utilitarian attempts to foster systems that are of maximal benefit to everyone involved, as far as spoons allow. And like, not destroying things because I just wasn't paying attention, like a giant stomping ants.

So... I think my spiritual practice atm will involve planning my garden for next year, in order to make food that I can eat and to feed the local wildlife and soil.

(See also, albedo is a fucking nerd.)

 

:D
herbs are great
if you can, plant lavender. It's 1) an a+ anti-anxiety and insomia help and 2) helps the buzzy bee friends, 3) keeps moths out of your clothes and 4) just smells really good and looks pretty!

 

Ugh my witchcraft is in the off mode again. kicks it. kicky kicky.

I'm gonna definitely work on starting to sketch that Lenormand deck I've been considering soon, though, since I have the computer with Actual Art Programs back and I'll be able to use my tablet for things. Maybe work on the tarot afterwards.

Does anyone in here use oracle decks (ie nonstandard card decks), and, if so, what's useful in them for you?

 

It'll have to be in a pot because their winter survival in this area is iffy, but oooo, definitely. :D Thanks!

 

can you guys please do something for me and post any thoughts and feelings that come to mind about Mercury or the Magician card, just write a post about him for me. thanks

 

Mercury (as in the planet, not the god, I don't touch gods) is communication and information to me. At least, that's what I use it for in my bead readings. It's kind of a little shit, tbh, but also fast and jittery?

The Magician is like... the Fool is someone setting off on a journey, but the Magician is kind of the first steps are you make the decision to move. Where are you going? What are you going to need to do first? The Magician is the kind of skills you need to put things in order and facilitate what you're actually going to do. (I don't read reversals, usually, but Magician Reversed is definitely Executive Dysfunction.)

 

Is anyone here doing the 2016 Grimoire Challenge?

I created a folder on my computer called "dread majjyks" and started writing, so.

 

I've never really done anything like that so no. What is it, if you mind sharing?

 

@Ivkz mercury (for me, anyways) is all about starting fresh, new chances, lots of change but in a malleable sort of way, clean slate kinda?

 

My dad offers words of wisdom for working with incense as a chaos magician:

"It's all fun and games until someone burns a bing cherry"