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

Personally I prefer to ask people about that sort of thing before I do it. Some people don't appreciate or want it, after all. Hell, I ask people even when I want to pray for or extend merit to them.

 

yeah, true. I don't appreciate it when people are like "I'm praying for you" because I...don't...want your prayers? you didn't ask me, I did not consent to this?
so yeah, I'm going to ask them.

 

OKAY
I have permission from all of them
now to find some herbs and crystals that are protective and easily accessible!
also I need to figure out a color that represents protection...maybe black? I personally view black as protective and warding off evil.
obsidian, probably, and orange mint. an acorn, maybe...?
anyone have any suggestions, I guess?

 

For wand-making wood, the one I've heard the most was hazel. Probably because it's common in continental Europe (where I got most of my info, wands aren't exactly a thing in folk magic here) and makes straight sticks?

 

Apples are associated with immortality and good health for me. Apple wood like the fruit is sacred and associated with immortality. Yew is too. Hazel is a strong protective wood due to them being preferred Fairy Trees. Hazelnuts are also protective. Oak is another good and special wood. It's one of the most sacred types of wood. Mistletoe is. Very Special. Ash sap is another good protective thing against witch-craft.

 

@chaoticArbiter Black hematite, maybe? Can be easier to get ahold of than obsidian depending on where you are, and is another black stone. (I also see black as protective, or at least... stabilizing? If that makes sense) Plantwise my first instinct is chestnut, but I'm not sure if there's any lore behind that. [wanders off to check]

Edit: Ten minutes on google says chestnut's associated with abundance, longevity, healing, and invigoration. How much of that is reliable and how much is the same sort of Positivity Woo modern crystal magic gets subjected to I can't say :P

 

idk I personally like Onyx better than Obsidian, but???????
i don't know what's easily accessible thoguh so you might be limited that way
also Basil is a good idea for protection!
also clover is good for protection and now I wonder if weaving a bracelet from clover would make a good protection spell?

 

hmmm. hematite would be easier to get ahold of, so I'll go with black hematite rather than black obsidian. and chestnut I could see, but I dunno where I'd get it.

 

My shit I tend to learn from reading up on folklore and myth from Ireland and Scotland. So lots of anthropological texts and such. I also get information from other Gaelpols. Buddhist magic and ritual crap I've found much harder to find written sources for. Most of what I know I've learned from people at temple so. Yes. Though again anthropological texts would likely have that information.

A good starting point activity outside of reading though for me is GIVE THINGS OFFERINGS.

 

basil! excellent. I shall get my hands on some basil.
I'm thinking I'm gonna forgo the acorn, for the reason that it doesn't feel that protective to me? I'll probably try and get some orange mint, though, and definitely hematite or onyx, because either would work, so it'll depend on which is easier to get. I'm also thinking maybe rosemary, although technically rosemary is only protection and cleansing when burned.

 

research is an easy starting thing!
no seriously, research is most of what you'd do here.
With rocks I go by... feel? I basically roll stones around in my hands until I find one that like... answers to my energy right? it feels good, helpful and like it absorbs some of my energy if i focus on it. That's what I look for in the stones I use for my pendants and jewelry.

 

can you get small plastic vials? you could burn the rosemary and catch the smoke in the vials if that feels like it would work better. :)

 

If you want places to look for shit...For Celtic things the maryjones archive is the best bet. CELT and Library Ireland also have a lot of books and such for you to read. While Gaol Naofa and Tairis are kind of questionable due to transphobia they do have a lot of good information. At the very least you can mine their bibliographies. And as always Project Gutenberg is your bestest best friend ever.

 

Oh and if you're into Goetic magic and such then littledoomwitch on tumblr is a good place to look for information.

 

Re: picking shinies

Different things will work for different people! But imo it doesn't matter why you picked the rock-- you're still connected to it, a little bit. Maybe try sorting out the rocks you can claim as 'yours' and see what sort of impressions you get from them?

If you're the meditating sort, you could try out a thing I do to 'get to know' new stones. (I do the same basic thing as Ivy when it comes to choosing them originally-- pick it up for a little bit, see if the stone wants to share itself with you. Trying to work with a stone I didn't choose ended up with the Problem Malachite discussed earlier in-thread :P)

Spoiler: cut for organization purposes

Keep your rocks nearby-- within arm's reach-- and meditate for a little bit, get your mind cleared out and your own energy stabilized. I am a visualization sort of person, so I like to think of energy as a candle-flame; if I'm particularly nervy or keyed-up I'm flickering, worn thin, and will meditate until I can keep the light strong and steady.
Once you've got yourself sorted out, pick up a rock. Doesn't matter which, just... whichever feels right.
Keep meditating, keep your mind open, and see if you can feel the stone's energy. Some will be pretty quiet, some loud, and some might not want anything to do with you! (Personally I get sort of... aesthetic posts from most rocks that resonate properly. For example-- I have a tumbled citrine I use for positivity, and when I meditate with it, I get weird sensory flashes: sunlight through leaves, the odd cool-warm feeling of a muddy riverbank in summer, the bubbly excitement when something goes just right. Keeping up the light-as-energy visualization, it has a sort of... bubble of light around it, swirling and shining sort of like blown glass and sort of like oil on water. I do not know if this is a thing other people do/see/whatever, but hey!)
I meditate with my eyes closed, so at this point I'll open them and see which stone I've been getting to know.
If I have energy to spare, I'll try to funnel some of my own 'light' into the stone's in exchange for what I'll draw from it later; it's a give-and-take with... whatever's there. I don't expect my citrine to be a constant font of energy; it gets tired too! So I try to support it whenever I can.

Once you know what each stone is predisposed to do, you can keep them close to you whenever you want to draw on their energy-- Example Citrine is being made into a pendant I'll be able to wear, but for now I just keep it in a pocket if I know I'm heading into a situation likely to turn into a Bad Time.

If you want to do this with more than one stone, contact them one at a time, and give yourself time between each to restabilize your own energy.

@chaoticArbiter adding onto Ivy's plastic vial idea, crafting stores will sometimes carry small glass or crystal vials if plastic isn't feeling Right to you.

 

yes! I could definitely do that, I like this idea, thank you!!

 

Well, you don't have to do them all at once :P I've a whole pile to go through yet, and only three or four that have 'spoken up' very strongly so far.
I... don't think it matters if you know ahead of time which stone is which? I personally was drawn to Example Citrine and a piece of rough hematite the first time I did this, and even knowing that I was picking up hematite didn't really change my impressions of it. (Then again, I went in Intentionally Ignoring established crystal connotations, since they tend to not be... annoyingly similar (try looking up how many gems are "invigorating" or associated with "positive energy") and also don't tend to allow for the individual piece's Feel.
#notallmalachite)

---

Post consolidation time, woo!

Once you have the "feel" of each stone: for me, there'll be a connecting line between those adjectives-- with Example Citrine, its Aesthetic includes all good memories and things I associate with happiness, so I use it as an overall positivity stone. Find that connecting line for each stone. If you want whatever influence in your life for any given day/time/whatever, keep a stone with that influence nearby c: In a pocket, worked into jewelry, whatever works for you.

---

Crystal magic for me is a very... passive thing? It's an energy transfer, a source I can use to prop myself up when I'm feeling low, not a direct... spellcasting thing like some other people have talked about with wards and suchlike. I might keep my strength-and-protection hematite around if I'm feeling particularly unsafe, or Example Citrine in my pocket if I want to keep my spirits up in a stressful situation. (Weaponized Placebo Effect ftw. It might not be the actual stone protecting me or making me more positive, but I have no evidence to the contrary, so. [shrugs])

I have problems with Established Crystal Magic Woo-- not all stones of the same type feel the same, despite the internet 'knowledge' to the contrary! I have a very quiet pearl that helps center me, and a very excited one that I don't wear because its main feel seems to be "come at me bro" and that is not a thing I need in my life right now :P If you have some way to easily distinguish between the two amethysts (or pearls, or whatever else you've got more than one of), just include which is which in your notes c: If not, just 'listen' to them a little bit before you take them places with you, make sure you've got the right one. For me at least, it's easy to tell at a touch which stone is which (but then I get impulses from stones really easily, so it might not be as quick for you? I dunno bro, I'm kinda makin' things up as I go along here, that's the problem with not following Established Procedure. Gotta just go with what Feels Right, there's not a lot of resources out there when you're making the rules yourself.)

 

In all seriousness, I've never felt especially "drawn" to any stones based on anything other than appearance--I like amethyst (plus it's my birthstone, and also Best SU Gem) and hematite and malachite a lot, but it's just because I think they're particularly pretty. (I actually have a little amethyst pendant I always wear. :D)

Then again, I also tend to "connect" better to tarot decks that I find aesthetically pleasing, so for all I know that extends to rocks too? Shrug. I'm an artist and very visually-oriented, so maybe that's a thing that affects things.

 

It may indeed be a thing! For all the visualization I do with my rocks, art has always been more about "try to translate this mental sensation into a thing other people can understand" than... making the picture itself? And I do better with words than with drawing, heh.

(Contrasting anecdata: my sister is very much an Art Person and has never been interested in rocks OR tarot, but has evinced interest in kitchen and plant magic. *Shrugs* Maybe individuals just have different magical inclinations? ....I want to Do A Science now, but making a census or whatever is more work than I feel like doing for a random whim right now .-.)

 

I am an Art Person, and I have interest in:
- glamours
- rocks
- tarot/other methods of divining
- herbs/plant magic
- weather magic
- tech magic
- poppets

so I'm thinking different individuals just have different magical inclinations.