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

#trufax the local rock shop thought I was a complete weirdo for walking around the shop with 6 separate clear quartz spheres just rolling them around and making them click off my rings for like, half an hour before I found the "right" one.

@Anon19 If moonlight didn't work for long my knee jerk reaction is "sunlight". Day of the week/moon cycle can have an effect, too.

You could also bury it for a while (mark the spot!!) Maybe it just wants to be back in the Earth for a while, who knows how long it's been on a shelf or w/e

 

@Aviari Malachite's color degrades under sunlight, I'm not sure how much damage that does to the stone proper .-. (Edited for badly-researched misinformation, left in so the thread will continue to make sense.)
I shall try burying it when the snow's gone, though, the Earth-rock connection's worth a try. Thank you!

 

Just gonna poke my geologist head in here for a sec and say nnnnnot really. Malachite is copper carbonate (okay, hydrated copper carbonate), and as a carbonate will dissolve in dilute acid (like, say, the carbonic acid you get from the reaction of CO₂ and water) but i doubt a randomass glass of water will be acidic enough to damage it visibly, especially with salt buffering the solution. As for toxicity, dissolved copper is super bad news for a lot of aquatic organisms, but harmless to humans except at relatively high levels, and the amount in your water after soaking your malachite is gonna be p damn dilute, if not outright negligible. I wouldn't, like, dump the water straight into a stream or anything, but it's hardly toxic waste.

I'd also like to see a source for the color degrading under sunlight, because that green comes from all the copper, aka 20% of the whole mineral stoichiometrically. It's not something like amethyst (which will fade in sunlight), where the color is coming from 0.0001-0.00001% iron, in a weird, not particularly stable oxidation state at that. Malachite is also the stable phase of copper carbonate at surface temperatures and pressures, so I wouldn't expect sunlight-induced chemical or structural changes (in fact, malachite is one of the components of that green patina you get on weathered copper).

tl;dr: you're cool and your malachite's gonna be fine, don't sweat it

ALSO YES THAT

 

My instinct is salt for the malachite. It cleans and sea salt is associated with healing so a bed of salt for the stone? ... Lavender for peace and relaxation too perhaps

 

Huh that gives me an idea of what to do for my spell that I keep not doing I'll add a salt ring there.

I still don't know how to dispose of the materials once I'm done but the structure is in my mind

 

Upon further digging than my sleep-deprived midnight internet wanderings, the sources I seem to have looked at earlier are referring to "malachite green", some sort of dye not actually derived from the malachite stone. Apparently the color fades under sunlight. A+ factchecking, past me :P

Also thank you for the additional info re: water and malachite c: Science! Good to know I won't accidentally hurt anything (the stone included) if I do try saltwater out.

 

man, I've had no energy for anything but doodling sigils in my notebook. Like, I haven't even been trying to seek out whoever watches over me.

also wow one chunk of quartz is a little bit upset (guess who left it in their pocket and ran it through the wash... whoops), and you guys talking about the malachite has reminded me I wanted to try to bury it.

Man if I had more money, I'd buy more stones, they leave me feeling way more at piece.

 

I'd like to chime in that I've seen roses used for healing, but also for a surprising amount of herbalism and skin-care related more prosaic 'healing' as well. I also personally suspect Rose would be pretty darn great for protection which I often see overlooked in correspondences lists. Someone I used to follow online shared a picture of their totally badass looking rosewood (like, from a gnarly old bush, not the tree) wand, and protection/attack/defense was what they used it for, among other things.

@Anon19, I think I get what you mean about paying attention to the Feelings or the 'Aesthetic' of the rock. Sometimes, I know I find that easier than trying to remember what a book says or decode the fluff on a website--and going through all the different specimens of a rock for sale at a shop and seeing how different ones feel is one of my favorite ways to burn up time in a metaphysical shop! (It's also how I learned to sense that stuff in the first place--one of my first occult/pagan friends was really gifted with and into rocks and crystals so he'd be always passing me them and be like, 'check this one out! What do -you- feel?')

I get what you mean about overwriting the energy of the rock with your own...I guess more what I want to do is--tools (and friends/allies) get worn out and depleted and need time and space to rest and 'recharge.' I recently got a bracelet of round tourmallinated quartz beads that I really love, but I noticed it felt like it felt more like it was absorbing and holding onto negativity and 'gunk' (I have super technical language for talking about invisible magic energy.) rather than say, deflecting it or whatever. So I wanted to be able to clean that out, the same way you'd clean out an air or water filter.

So I know you're more on the Weaponized Placebo Effect side of things, but--have you tried asking the malachite what it wants, if there's anything you could do for it? If there's a method of divination you're comfortable with, you could use that also. It might turn out to be that it just ain't gonna jive with you, but it could turn out that somebody else gets a different reaction.

 

speaking of wands, I'm trying to get one--anyone got decent recommendations, besides 'go out into the forest and find one'? I only have pine and oak trees around here and I dunno if that's quite what I'm looking for, it...doesn't feel right.

 

maybe ask a local florast or landscaper if they could let you take a look at branches/roots or whatever from stuff they don't need anymore?
Otherwise maybe Driftwood would feel more righter maybe if you have driftwood-y bodies of water around?

 

unfortunately we do not have driftwood-y bodies of water around...
but the florist idea would work!! I could go to the city and find a florist shop.
the struggle for me, though, is that part of my belief includes that each tree is alive and has to agree to give up its branch, you can't just go around taking shit willy-nilly, because then the wand will struggle against you because it doesn't want to be with you.
so I don't know how to ensure that the tree or bush was asked if it wanted to give that up.
I mean, most florists don't approach bushes and go "hey, can I have your flowers/wood? yes/no?"

 

the other problem is that if you just search 'wand' on the internet or even on etsy, half the stuff that comes up is harry pottery shit, and that doesn't...feel legit to me. I feel like the wand needs to have been made with the intent of it being used for magic in mind, not with the intent of 'harry potter make believe' in mind.

 

Also I did a diy scrub today and I feel... cleaned on more than just a physical level? idk have to experiment with how I do this as a full cleansing and purifyig routine for weekly pampering or whatever but right now i'll just give you the basics!
Take a piece of cloth that can be easily washed (I'm using really old linen) and a handful to two handfuls of either coconut gratings (??? the fine coconut stuff anyway) or oats. Put the oats and/or coconut in the middle of the cloth, fold up the edges ad tie with a hair tie to form a tight little satchel
Then you need a bowl of warm water and just put the satchel in there to soak for a while.
When it's soaked for like ten minutes, take the satchel and rub it over your face like you would for a regular peeling. It's cleansing, refreshing and a bit moisturizing!
I think I want to experiment with soaking it in different warm herbal infusions for additional benefits maybe? I think basil and rosemary would be nice, but I'd have to cosult my books first.

 

How mobile are you right now? I think another possibility is maybe look if there is an orchard/tree school in a daytrip distance? It could be like part of the bargain "I went specifically to you on a day trip to ask you for a branch, dear tree/bush/plant"?

 

I'm feeling a weird particular draw towards rowan and cedar, both, for some reason.
I looked up the rowan--apparently it's for protection, healing, spells of success, enhancing psychic powers, and is strongly connected to Brighid...the goddess I've been thinking about incorporating into my worship. so I'm...wondering if the draw towards rowan is a sign or something?? I don't really know.

I am exceptionally mobile, as I have a car and am generally allowed to go where I please. I think this is a particularly good idea; I could see if there's an orchard or tree school in distance of me and then go and see if the tree agrees!
hmmm. I wonder if there's any nearby tree schools with rowan...though I'm not sure if the draw towards rowan is because of the fact that Brighid is trying to encourage me to seek her out/incorporate her in my worship, or if it's a coincidence and I really should try for a rowan wand.

 

I mean you can still think about it while looking for a wand on location probably? If the rowan doesn't feel right when you're there you can call it a nice treat to yourself to ahve driven out there and spend a day wandering around some nice trees! And then you can still look for cedar or another wood.

(I always liked rosewood and cherrywood I'd have to look up what they do. Idk if I want a wand... maybe a spoon or spatula made from the wood would be nicer so I can imbue my cooking with some energy?)

 

You could ask her about it, if you'd like. Just make her an offering and ask about this via your preferred divination method. Then read that and think on it. Also look around at things in your area after asking too. They like to speak through omens a lot so you might end up getting an answer from her not through divination you did and more through the omens. Milk is a very good idea for an offering with Bríghid. Which you pour out into soil and do not drink under any circumstances.

 

true. I'm wondering if maybe I should try and get one wand for my protection/attack/defense/psychic enhancement spells (which would probably be rowan) and then one that's better suited to illusion magic and imagination? like maybe a wand from the butterfly bush in the backyard...

hmmm. rosewood...I think rosewood is associated with love, healing, repelling unwanted forces, and change. and I'm pretty sure cherrywood is love, divination, and healing? but it varies a bit from person to person--like, for me, the reason I'd pick butterfly bush is because I associate it with illusion and imagination, not because it necessarily means that to anyone else. so what they mean to you might be more important, somewhat. like, there's general things people will probably agree on--like the fact that rosebush wood is definitely suited to protection. but then there's other, less agreed upon stuff that varies from person to person, in my experience.

hmmm. I think I will ask her about it. milk, you say? I shall have to get some milk. as for my preferred divination method...would tarot work? I've got some tarot cards and I've been itching to break them out lately but...no questions to ask recently.

 

Tarot would work, yes. Baked goods are another good option with Bríghid. Or any of the Gaelic gods, really. With that you bury, drown, or burn it.

 

why is pinky tinged wood always associated with loveydovey stuff that's bullshit :I
for some reason cherries and cherry trees for me associate with blood and danger where you wouldn't expect them? A pretty facade that is soaked in blood, a soft appealing shell hiding a stone you will choke on.
so... The illusion of gentleness wrapped around a core of strength?