A long, windy fall has settled in the Witch\’s Garden. On this day of the eclipse, there\’s an unsettled feeling in the cloudy air. We\’ve had such gleeful fun putting this delivery together for all of you.
Reminders:
- Please bring back your cloth bags with the name tag attached, so we know that you returned your bag. Each customer gets two bags for the year – one to pick up full of goodies, and one to return empty so that we can refill it for you next month. The cycle continues until the end of the year, when you can choose whether to keep both bags, one bag, or return them both for us to recycle next year. Right now we’re using a lot of paper. We’ll try to reset next month with more cloth bags, but we won’t be replacing them again this year.
- We will also re-use any glass, metal, or packing materials you return. Please help us keep costs down by letting us reuse as much as possible.
- If you have any trouble with the form, the blog, or the website, please let us know so that we can iron out any kinks.
Password Update
The password for the site is now:
KeyFliesIn
On the night of Saturday October 28, this will become:
Witchka
As always, the password is based on S.J. Tucker’s lyrics, this time from the song “Witchka,” off the album \”Mischief\”. A song about a witchling learning her craft and finding her way in the world – and the collateral impacts that can cause. For all the Soojy goodness the interwebs can hold visit https://linktr.ee/
Samhain: All Hallow\’s Eve
The harvest is ending and the days are shortening, and yes, the veil is thinning. At this time of the year we begin to slow down, to reflect. We remember those gone before. We draw a little closer to one another and to the fire, and we prepare ourselves for the winter ahead.
The Hunter\’s Moon
This is the time of the hunt, as animals too slow and fatten themselves in preparation for winter, as the season of harvesting and collecting ends and the dropping leaves give a hunter a clearer view in the woods. Old legends of hunters – Cernunnos, Herne, the Wild Hunt, the Headless Huntsman, gods and goddesses of the hunt across the globe – have been told around campfires for… well, as long as there have been campfires. Your pendant this month is a nod to the Hunter\’s Moon – wear it in Celebration and for protection in these Tempest Times.
The Celtic Tree Calendar
A tradition of some Celtic pagan paths, most likely arising in the 1800s but based on the historically ancient ogham writing system, relates a tree species to each lunar month. This month’s lunar correspondence is with ivy, which is not native to this area. Close relatives that are already naturalized here are are mints and ground ivy, which we\’ve worked into your salts this month.
Remembering the Ancestors
This month\’s items protect us, prepare us, and help us to remember those we love who have gone before. They are gone from us but remembered. Death is a part of life, and to be fully human i
s to know, and to accept, that death comes for us all. We must work with death and find healthy ways to grieve, so that we can also continue to see the joys and loves in life. We must let go, while we remember. This is one of the greatest Mysteries.
Your Delivery, and Using Your Items
Everything in your box is yours to do with as you please
. I don’t put together “spell kits” or provide rituals for you – you have your own path to walk, and I have mine. Instead I try to provide you with items to use in your own practice, sharing some of my own plans and ideas as inspiration. Legalese, because it’s an important thing sometimes: By using these items, you acknowledge that YOU are responsible for any and all outcomes, including any allergic reactions, and not me or The Witch’s Garden. Know thyself, witch.
So what’s in the box?
This month’s box includes handmade magickal ingredients for care, protection, healing, and a little joy. For local deliveries, from far left and spiraling inward:
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Yarrow Tincture – Yarrow stem and flower steeped in alcohol for 6 weeks.
Pine Spray – Longleaf pine, orange, and cinnamon tinctured in white vinegar. Use as an aromatherapy and cleansing room spray or dilute a few sprays into a bowl with water or vinegar and use as a cleanser.
Hotfoot Powder – Traditionally used in African Foot Track Magick, hotfoot powder is used in spellwork to literally have someone \”hotfoot it\” out of your life. It\’s a blend of witch\’s black salt, dried peppers, brick dust, and Eastern Red Cedar – a locally available stand-in for sulfur powder.
Witch\’s Black Salt – Black salt is a classic in the spellworking world. This was handcrafted at home with protective herbs from the garden toasted to ash, black activated hardwood charcoal powder, oak ash, and salt – Himalayan pink salt, sea salt, and kosher salt.
Bath Salt Blend – These bath salts are a mix of purifying activated charcoal, excellent for skin issues from dry skin to eczema; epsom salts for pain relief and inflammation reduction; peppermint and bergamot essential oils; and an herbal blend for your soak. Magickally and medicinally these herbs ask for protection, health, care, and guidance as we walk through a time of year that honors and recognizes humanity\’s relationship with death. We packaged the herbs separately from the salts as a kit, so that you can choose the amount of each to add to your bath. The activated charcoal can leave a residue on the bathtub, so end with a shower to both cleanse the skin and wash any extra down the drain. The herbs in the blend are: anise, celery seed, yellow mustard seed, nutmeg, rosemary, sesame seed, thyme, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, cumin, coriander, chickweed, henbit, honeysuckle blossom, marigold and black pepper.
Honey Scrub – This cleansing and clarifying scrub is antibacterial and antifungal. Made with coconut oil, honey from our hives, African black soap, coffee and coffee grounds, chickweed tinctured in avocado oil, and purple dead nettle tinctured in olive oil, this scrub can be used weekly on the face or daily on problem areas of the body such as athlete\’s foot on the feet or any patches of eczema or psoriasis. If using daily, use a lotion afterward and switch to every other day if skin becomes over-dry.
Apple Cider Vinegar: This vinegar was made in the apothecary using the last of this year\’s apples from the orchard and honey from our hives, spring water, and time. This batch was seasoned during fermentation with store-bought raw apple cider vinegar that still had the \”mother\” or live cultures in it, in order to assist in the fermentation process. We now have our own \”mother\” and can continue to make apple cider vinegar from only our own ingredients in the future. Your ACV was corked and sealed with wax in order to allow us to ship or deliver to you without leakage. You can use this as a completed spell jar for banishing, binding, or diverting evil. Use it on your altar in ritual, or crack open the seal, pop the cork, and use the ACV in cooking or for its medicinal qualities. ACV can help manage blood sugar, cholesterol, and blood pressure, and even help with weight loss when a tablespoon is mixed with tea or water and taken daily before or after meals.
Transfer Decal: These vinyl decals were made by Becca of LaSheet\’s Treats. To transfer your decal onto a surface – computer, water bottle, journal, car, etc. – (1) Peel the white paper off your decal to reveal a sticky surface. (2) place the decal against its chosen home like a sticker, with the clear vinyl on top. Rub something flat against the decal and its cover… a book spine, a ruler, even the back of a knife IF YOU\’RE CAREFUL to ensure the decal is firmly stuck to your chosen surface. (3) Slowly and gently peel the clear vinyl backing off your decal. You\’re ready to go! Need more? Read here. We\’ve done the first part. Now all you have to do is peel the white back off, then stick, rub to ensure a good grip, then peel off the clear front. Peel, stick, rub, peel. These aren\’t dishwasher or clothes washer safe, but they are water resistant and long-lasting.
Pendant: Your pendant was made by Emma of Emma\’s Limbs and Raine LaMee, our wire-wrapping goddess. The antler was cut on Emma\’s bandsaw and wrapped/painted by Raine. The sygil on the front is a symbol of the hunter or the horned god of the wild, associated with satyrs and harts for centuries if not millennia.
Not Pictured – Cypress ball (brown) or whole Black Walnut (green/black)
Suggestions for use: Wear your pendant for protection, and let our decal remind you to allow a spirit of fun to infuse the darkness this time of year.
Consider making yourself and item that bears the decal during your Halloween ritual, so that you can carry it with you through the coming winter as a reminder when things are tough that the wheel will turn again.
Use your apple cider vinegar spell jar, witch\’s black salt, and hotfoot powder in protective or binding workings.
Use the honey scrub and bath salts either before All Hallow\’s Eve as preparation, or as part of your ritual work for protection (a footbath and anointing with oil or water infused with the spice blend would be beautiful ways to do this).
Use your cypress ball or walnut as altar decoration or ritual focus. Cypress is associated with immortality, grief, and death – balancing the pain of absence with the belief in an immortal soul, a life after human death. Walnut is caustic and can be painful, but can also be used as a deep black ink – and it hides a delicious and health-filled nut inside. Use walnut for banishing work and protection, but also as a symbol of looking deeper to find a situation\’s \”silver lining\”.
Use the pine spray as you call your circle or before meditation. Yarrow is also a powerful healing agent for difficult-to-heal wounds like punctures, but please know thyself and seek a doctor\’s care when needed. Use both pine and a few drops of yarrow in water (or your usual floor cleaning solution) to add a magickal element to fall cleaning. Wash your doorframes, sills, and floors with the solution to protect the home as fall begins to give way to the coming winter.
Happy Halloween, beloveds. May you be safe, cared for, and among friends this spooky season. Blessed Be.