divine-crows

[divine-crows]

When somebody tells you that a certain view of a deity or certain method of practice is wrong or historically isnt relevant you should always remember that modern paganism is NOT ancient paganism. The beauty of paganism is that it changes very easily throughout time, it changes from household to household. It's very difficult to assume exactly what ancient people believed in, particularly because those beliefs changed rapidly over time and geographical location even within the same civilization.

So do what you like, take history as a guide if it helps, learn from it and love it, but try not to think of it as gospel, it's just the way things were at one point and it's ok if they're different now.

#so beautifully put #paganism #pagan #paganblr #celtic pagan #celtic paganism #pagan witch #animism

[divine-crows]

Ambient Spells

The idea of the ambient spell isn’t so uncommon. My use of the word “ambient” may throw you for a bit of a loop. An ambient spell is any spell that permeates a space in an unobtrusive way. They affect the area surrounding their vessel and require little to no maintenance or upkeep. They’re long-term workings that require varying levels of effort to put together and cast. Depending on what exactly you need, they can be as simple as setting out a bowl of salt or as complex as crafting a home decor piece from scratch.

I always recommend making ambient spells that are self-fueling. I often refer to them also as “set it and forget it” spells. They’re the crockpot of spellwork — work up front for a slow burn output.

Chances are that you’re already aware of or even know how to create ambient spells. Any spell that affects the vibe of a room, for example, would count as an ambient spell. Lighting incense specifically to invite in positive energy counts. A ward that sucks up baneful magic and transforms it into blessings also counts. The primary idea of an ambient spell is that it’s making a change to your environment in the background. It’s the cool breeze in summertime, the subtle piano at a fancy restaurant, the scent of fresh-baked cookies fading as the day goes by. Positive, but not overt.

When to Use (or Not Use) an Ambient Spell

By their nature, ambient spells are fairly general workings. They can be quite powerful, of course, just like any other spell. The thing to keep in mind is that they’re not ideal for targeted magic.

For example, I wouldn’t create an ambient spell to banish someone from my life. I might make an ambient spell to make an area unwelcoming to them, or to anyone who would do me harm. The unwelcoming vibe might discourage them from coming around, sure. But it may not work outside of the area the spell lives in; and it may not get rid of them for good.

Similarly, an ambient spell might make a good general ward for keeping out loud, unwelcome spirits, but it wouldn’t specifically cast out the one particular spirit who’s been causing problems. It might discourage their behavior, but it wouldn’t necessarily get rid of them. A concentrated, single-use banishing spell would work significantly better for that purpose. Afterwards, an ambient spell can keep the area clear of that spirit’s influence.

I also wouldn’t use an ambient spell to draw in specific success. General success or money, absolutely — whatever wants to come my way is welcome, via a basic money bowl set up next to my wallet. But if I specifically want a promotion or a particular amount of money, I’m not going to leave that to the ambient money spell. I would craft a spell specifically for what I’m looking for.

When deciding what kind of spell to cast, keep this idea in mind. An ambient spell is best for behind-the-scenes results that happen without your concentrated effort. When you want something specific, a more targeted spell will work better nine times out of ten.

Creating an Ambient Spell

It’s possible to create an ambient spell with nothing but energy work. However, I often find that these fade quickly and don’t lend themselves well to self-fueling. They tend to need more active upkeep than I prefer for a spell that’s meant to be set and let go. I recommend choosing an appropriate vessel of some kind to contain the spell to help it last longer.

How do you decide what’s an appropriate vessel, though? And how do you set one up? How do you make a spell self-fueling? Let’s start from the top and go in order.

Identify the Purpose

Decide what the spell will do. This is going to define the components and the way you’re going to cast the spell. In my experience, ambient spells work best when they’re given a single purpose. For example, I wouldn’t make a spell that’s a ward and a cleanser and a spirit welcome mat. It dilutes the purpose. Choose a single, clear motive for the spell.

Choose a Vessel

Now that you know what your spell will do, it’s time to decide what it’s going to look like. The vessel you choose should reflect the spell’s purpose in some way.

An open bowl works well for absorbing energy. Why? It’s open. The face of it is open to the room, ready to take in whatever kind of energy you assign to its contents.

A closed jar, on the other hand, would be good for repelling. It’s closed off and sealed — a one-way road going out of the jar and into the room to clear it.

A wreath hung at the door could serve a lot of purposes, depending on what it’s made with. I would use a wreath as an agent of transformation or as an energy emitter to release a certain energy into the space.

A stone makes a solid vessel for protection or grounding. I have one on my working altar to help keep me in the moment and create a good environment for working magic.

When you’re choosing your spell vessel, keep in mind how visible you want it to be. Certain vessels are going to naturally be more obvious than others. A wreath, for example, is hard to miss — but it also just looks like nice home decor. A jar full of herbs and things would be more obviously a spell, but they can be small and easily hidden.

I have both obvious and hidden ambient spells peppered around my home for varying purposes. If you’re keeping your practice a secret, you’ll likely want to keep your spells more obscure or hidden. But if you aren’t, and you can make the choice of whether you want the spell to be in plain sight or not, consider the effect you want the spell to have.

If you want the spell to absorb bad vibes, baneful magics, the evil eye, or other negativity, a hidden spell might serve you well. Hiding the vessel somewhere means that whoever’s casting against you may not expect the resistance. On the other hand, if you want a vessel that allows friendly spirits to visit you during the holidays, a beautiful centerpiece on your dining table that’s charmed with spirit-friendly magic might serve the purpose.

Choose an Energy Source

Ambient spells need to draw energy from somewhere. Think of it like a battery. The ingredients you put into the spell may provide a temporary charge, but if you want the spell to be long-term, it needs an input. How will your spell recharge itself?

If you want the spell to be shorter-term, only a few days or so, then you can skip this step. But if you want an ambient spell to last a while, like a ward or vibe-adjuster, you’ll need to think about this carefully.

Like when choosing the vessel, the energy source should match the purpose of the spell. For example, I have a simple room refresher spell set on a table that’s central to my home. The purpose of it is to take anxiety and negative thoughts to turn them into positivity. I set it up so that the act of walking past the bowl swirls the air around it, and therefore also the energy around it. That kinetic energy fuels the bowl’s magic and keeps it going. I don’t have to actively recharge the bowl or its contents, because we walk past it constantly.

Another example would be an ambient spell to help you do the dishes. (Whether that’s remembering to do them or finding the motivation for it is up to you.) The fuel for the spell could be the act of walking into or past the kitchen, running water elsewhere in the home, or even cooking or eating.

The energy source could also be something like lighting a candle next to or over the vessel on a schedule, if you prefer. This would add an upkeep step, of course, and wouldn’t be my first choice. The only ambient spell I do this with is my money bowl, and that’s because it’s tuned to be able to shift focus from day to day depending on what exactly I need (commissions versus tips versus discounts, etc.).

Setting Up an Ambient Spell

Decide where you want to place your spell’s vessel ahead of time. If you have pets or kids, make sure you put whatever it is out of their reach. If the vessel is something like an uncovered bowl, you’ll want to be sure that it isn’t going to get knocked over. Similarly, if it’s made of glass, you don’t want it to fall and shatter. If your vessel needs to be hidden somehow, determine where you’ll keep it. It would be smart to make note of where the spell is and what it looks like in your grimoire or spell notebook just so that if you forget about it, you can identify it later on down the road.

After you know where you want to put it, it’s time to choose ingredients and fill your vessel. The components you decide on should, obviously, match your goals.

Casting an ambient spell is much the same as casting a regular spell. The only thing to keep in mind is that an ambient spell has a sort of prolonged release.

Upkeep and Care of an Ambient Spell

For the most part, ambient spells should require little to no upkeep. With that said, you should still do routine check-ups on them. I include them in my regular rounds when I check on my wards and various protections, but you could do yours whenever it makes the most sense to you.

Depending on how you decided to fuel your spell, you may need to do a bit of feeding. Whether that’s lighting a new candle, refilling a cup of water, mixing around a pile of herbs, or giving the vessel a little shake, do so anytime it feels like the spell’s energy is flagging. It may take some practice in sensing energy to know exactly when a spell needs refueling. This is partly why I suggest creating a schedule to check in on the spell; ambient spells are a great type to practice sensing spell energy, since they’re typically long-lasting and may wax or wane depending on the day.

If your spell is fully self-fueling and it doesn’t seem to be working anymore (or at all, even from the start), it’s time to take it apart. Discard disposable components according to your practice’s tenets. Cleanse the rest for future use. I would suggest washing your spell vessel alongside magical cleansing.

A Ready-to-Use Example

Here’s an extremely simple example of an ambient spell I use in my home to keep the main living area light, fresh, and conducive to getting work done. Since both my partner and I work from home, it’s important that our areas have an aura of focus.

Materials:

- A small bowl, preferably green or brown - Enough salt to fill the bowl halfway - A few pinches of dried rosemary

Instructions:

1. Ensure the bowl is clean and dry. Pour salt into the bowl until it’s halfway full. 2. Sprinkle dried rosemary into the salt and stir. 3. Instruct the spell, in whatever way makes sense to you, to exude focused but calm energy into the space. 4. Place the bowl in an area that is frequently trafficked. 5. Leave the bowl in place until it no longer provides a fresh, focused energy to the space. Dispose of the contents, clean the bowl, and reset the spell.

Notes: - This spell is powered by movement specifically, because both my partner and I work from home, and we pace when we’re having a hard time focusing. The spell draws in the energy from our pacing and the frustration we’re putting out to fuel itself. It then transforms and releases the energy as calm, focus, and productivity. - I suggest a green or brown bowl because this spell is meant to work for our jobs. Green for success, brown for grounding. Personally, my bowl has both colors. - When instructing the spell, you can speak to the bowl, write a petition, do an incantation, or whatever else you like. This is the most personal part of the spell, and it’s what makes the thing Go. It’s up to you to decide how it’s going to work.

Final Thoughts

I would hesitate to call ambient spells “low energy” spellwork. While they can be low-energy-friendly in the long run, and they can be extremely simple to set up (such as the one I described above), they aren’t always. Ambient spells do require an up-front energy cost. Even so, I find them very rewarding and useful.

Folks who visit my home often comment that it’s an inviting, friendly, good-natured space where they can leave their worries and anxieties behind. That’s on purpose. I’ve got ambient spells in place that eat up anxiety and spit out positivity. I’ve got ones that repel hexes and are charged by sunlight. All of these spells are long-lasting and well worth the effort it took to create them.

I hope this little guide is useful to you! If you’ve got questions, feel free to send me an ask. I’m happy to ramble about ambient spells or other types of magic as much as you’d like.

And if you did enjoy this post, consider dropping a couple dollars in my tip jar! Supporters of all types (tips, commissions, shop purchases, and memberships) get early access to posts like this, sometimes up to two weeks early, and every bit helps me keep the lights on.

#omg I never realized this had a name! #also OP explained this really well #witchblr #witchcraft #spells #spellwork #witch community #practical magic #ambient spells

[divine-crows]

A list of stuff you can do in place of AI, even if you're not 'talented' enough (trust me you probably are):

Collages! You can make them for deities or to capture certain magical intentions. There's some apps you can use to make digital ones, or you can even make physical ones!

Make haikus. Short, sweet, to the point!

If you're a chronic doodler like me-- collect all of your doodles, color them in, make them pretty, then rip up the papers and glue them all together into one big thing. I like to use colors and doodles that match with spell intentions and I make it into a form of spellwork!

Take flowers, leaves, any sort of plant really; carefully cover them in ink/paint and press them into paper to create cool designs.

Learn how to press flowers! There's a lot of good tutorials on how to do it on YouTube and there are multiple methods!

Is there a place you like to visit often? Or a type of place that invokes a specific type of emotion when you visit? Try and capture the exact vibe of it only using adjectives without sentences.

Try and learn how to make origami butterflies, they're relatively easy and you can decorate them however you'd like!

Make playlists and charge them with the exact vibe you want to invoke when you play them. Or make playlists dedicated to specific deities!

Thrift store offerings. You can find cute little statuettes, books (that can be repurposed into new things), and all sorts of little knickknacks that can be used as a more decorative offering.

*note: not all of these will be accessible to everyone, but I will try to include stuff that almost anyone can do*

Unpopular Opinion Time

The doodle you make or the picrew you use, the poorly executed poetry or basic bare bones prayer will ALWAYS be better than AI generated offerings.

I am sick of having my feed flooded with practitioners, pagans and other polytheists using AI. Specifically deities like Brigid should never be offered AI in my opinion, it’s essentially a slap in the face.

AI generated spells aren’t shit, it’s what a computer assumes will work based off of what it can gather from internet trends and research. MAKE IT YOURSELF, ask a human for help anything but AI.

There is no place for Artificial Intelligence in these spaces.

#keep AI out of witchcraft #keep AI out of paganism #witches against AI #pagans against AI #witchblr #paganblr #celtic pagan #celtic paganism #pagan #witchcraft

[divine-crows]

i blog for the girls, the gays, the witches and faes

#witchy #witchblr #witchcraft

[divine-crows]

For people who leave art offerings-- please tell me how you can leave them without feeling like they aren't good enough. Seriously, as a creative who worships multiple deities that fall under those categories it's so hard for me to sit down and make something that's "worthy" for them!!!

(Also I love seeing art offerings from other people. So cool.)

#had to reblog #pagan #paganism #paganblr

[divine-crows]

Sometimes I watch my cat just exist, not doing anything at all, and I am filled with so much love. Meanwhile she just sleeping. Or rolling on the ground. Or sitting watching the garden.

I wonder if deities see us this way too.

#paganism #pagan #paganblr

[divine-crows]

For people who leave art offerings-- please tell me how you can leave them without feeling like they aren't good enough. Seriously, as a creative who worships multiple deities that fall under those categories it's so hard for me to sit down and make something that's "worthy" for them!!!

(Also I love seeing art offerings from other people. So cool.)

#yes this is very helpful #thank you TToTT #paganism #pagan #paganblr #devotional art #offerings #art offerings #pagan worship

[divine-crows]

For people who leave art offerings-- please tell me how you can leave them without feeling like they aren't good enough. Seriously, as a creative who worships multiple deities that fall under those categories it's so hard for me to sit down and make something that's "worthy" for them!!!

(Also I love seeing art offerings from other people. So cool.)

#paganism #pagan #paganblr #celtic pagan #polytheism #pagan worship #art offerings #celtic polytheist #celtic polytheism #pagan artist

[divine-crows]

I’m just gonna take a moment to appreciate how easy it is to get along with other polytheists. Even when we don’t honor the same deities. It’s nice!

#yesss #love fellow pagans #pagan #paganism #polytheist #polytheism #paganblr

[divine-crows]

Thinking about how my gods have been by my side no matter what.

How even if all I could offer were my thoughts and my effort and time, they didn't seem to care that it wasn't as grandiose as the offerings by others.

#omg yes #I feel this so hard #brb gonna cry #paganblr #paganism #pagan

[divine-crows]

Thinking about how my gods have been by my side no matter what.

How even if all I could offer were my thoughts and my effort and time, they didn't seem to care that it wasn't as grandiose as the offerings by others.

#paganism #pagan #paganblr #celtic pagan #celtic polytheist #celtic polytheism #celtic paganism

[divine-crows]

Another collage-offering!!! This time for Cernnunos

(Disclaimer: I do not own any of the pictures used in the collage, this is just meant to be used for personal use NOT profit)

Just felt pulled to capture how I interpret his vibe!

#paganism #pagan #paganblr #pagan worship #celtic pagan #celtic paganism #cernnunos

[divine-crows]

A collage I made in honor of Lugh

(Disclaimer: none of the images utilized belong to me, this is only intended for personal use NOT profit)

Agriculture // jack-of-all-trades // lightning and thunder

#pagan #paganism #paganblr #pagan worship #closeted pagan #celtic pagan #celtic paganism #Lugh #irish paganism #irish celtic pagan

[divine-crows]

At that point in my (closeted) pagan journey where I dedicate the most mundane tasks to the gods.

Just cooked an egg in the frying pan? That was an offering of effort, and the scraps I can't eat are to be returned to the earth as an offering of good will.

Cleaned my room? "Cleanliness is godliness" right? Why not do it as a form of offering?

Studying a new form of art to further my career? Why not dedicate it to a deity or two?

It's not about being the most fancy 24/7, it's not about stretching yourself thin, it's about finding the best ways you as an individual can connect. At least, that's how I see it.

#this this this #so beautifully put #paganism #pagan #celtic pagan #paganblr #celtic polytheist #celtic polytheism

[divine-crows]

Witchblr tip 🪄

If you're starting a new witchy blog, you should search #witch and click on tags to see all related tags and follow them all

#i never thought of this!!! #beginner witch #beginner tips #witch tips #witchblr #witchy #witch #witchcraft

[divine-crows]

prayers don't have to be perfect by the way.

I pray to the gods in the middle of my classes, my shifts at work, and in the shower.

I pray waiting at the bus stop.

I pray looking for something I lost.

I'm not always the best at consistently praying and leaving offerings at my altar. most of my worship is quick prayers on the go and devotional acts.

that's ok. I'm trying and the gods don't hate me or anything.

they don't hate you either. practice in a way that fits into your life and your needs. that's enough I think.

#paganism #pagan #paganblr

[divine-crows]

Scailtin (Irish Whiskey Milk Punch) Recipe

Scailtin is a drink dating back to the 1700's. There are tons of different recipes, each with their varying flavors with how each person prefers to sweeten the drink. Some people insist that it should be sweetened with other, others claim brown sugar, and some argue that it isn't scailtin at all unless it's flavored with caraway. The recipe will differ per region, but this is the recipe that I've snagged from family memory.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup Irish whiskey (Jameson)

2 TBSP honey (or to taste)

1/8 TSP ground ginger

1/8 TSP ground cinnamon

Ingredients:

Pour milk and whiskey into a small saucepan

Stir in the honey, ginger and cinnamon. Heat the mix slowly while whisking, careful not to let it come to a boil

Pour into mugs and top with some grated nutmeg when you're done!

Enjoy! Easy as pie, and cozy as hell.

#kitchen witch #kitchen witch recipe #pagan #paganism #celtic pagan #irish celtic pagan #irish paganism #celtic paganism