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Tarot cheat sheets!

Save for later use❤️

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Spoopy 🌿👻🪦👻🌿

Overgrown Cemetery, the first prompt for Drawtober!

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little pumpkin thief

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He’s comzy

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Lindy Pollard Oregon, 2022

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If you're struggling to find affordable stuff for your practice, altars, shrines, etc... Try flea markets and yard sales.

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I just want to remind you that sometimes your life really doesn't begin until you are 26+... Romanticizing and obsessing over our youth is harmful. Growing up is beautiful. Discovering who you are and how you interact with the world is a gift. Maturing and learning what you truly want out of life and living in that purpose brings fulfillment and peace. Your life is not over in your early 20's because you haven't figured it out yet, it's just beginning.

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Hello, witches! Since I’m always harping on about learning your history and checking your sources, I thought I’d help folks get a head start by compiling some source material.

To that end, I’ve started a Dropbox folder with a stash of historical texts on witchcraft, magic, and related topics. Nearly everything I’ve managed to find so far is public domain (thank you Project Gutenberg), with the exception of a very thorough herbal grimoire I found online some years ago and a book of witchcraft from the 1970s that appears to be out of print.

I will be continuing in this vein with future texts that I find. Everything will be public domain or cited to the source that it came from, in PDF format. I will NOT be including PDFs of any book currently in circulation with a copyright linked to a living author or estate. The point of this folder is that everything in it should be free for sharing and open use as research materials.

Below is the initial list of titles. I tried to include as many as I could find, with a focus on some oft-cited classics. I will be adding new texts as I find them.

A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second Sight, by David Webster (1820)

A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718, by Wallace Notestein (1909)

British Goblins, Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions, by Wirt Sikes (1880)

Curiosities of Superstition, by W. H. Davenport Adams (1882)

Daemonologie, by King James I/VI (1597)

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, Edited and Selected by W. B. Yeats (1888)

Irish Witchcraft and Demonology, by St. John Drelincourt Seymour (1913)

La Sorcière, or The Witch of the Middle Ages, by Jules Michelet (1863)

Lives of the Necromancers, by William Godwin (1834)

Magic and Fetishism, by Alfred C. Haddon (1906)

Magic and Witchcraft, by Anonymous (1852)

Modern Magic, by M. Schele de Vere (1873)

Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, by Richard Folkard (1884)

Practical Psychomancy and Crystal Gazing, by William Walker Atkinson (1908)

The Devil in Britain and America, by John Ashton (1896)

The Discoverie of Witchcraft, by Reginald Scot (1594, 1886 reprint)

The Extremely Large Herbal Grimoire (date unknown, internet publication)

The Golden Bough : A Study of Magic and Religion, by Sir James George Frazer (1890)

The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, by L.W. de Laurence (1918)

The Magic of the Horse-shoe, by Robert Means Lawrence (1898)

The Mysteries of All Nations, by James Grant (1880)

The Mystery and Romance of Alchemy and Pharmacy, by Charles John Samuel Thompson (1897)

The Superstitions of Witchcraft, by Howard Williams (1865)

The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut by John M. Taylor (1908)

The Wonders of the Invisible World, by Cotton Mather and A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches, by Increase Mather (1693, 1862 reprint)

Witch Stories, by E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton (1861)

Witch, Warlock, And Magician, by W. H. Davenport Adams (1889)

Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, by John Gregorson Campbell (1902)

Witches’ Potions & Spells, ed. by Kathryn Paulsen (1971)

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that these texts are (with few exceptions) more than a century old, and may contain depictions, references, or language that are outdated and inappropriate. The point of including these documents is to provide access to historical texts for research and reference. Inclusion in the collection does not equal unconditional agreement with or wholesale approval of the contents.

Take everything with a grain of salt and remember to do your due diligence!

Happy Witching!   -Bree

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Hallow’s Eve media portrayals: Chanting in the dark, flames flickering on the altar, summoning the ancestors as the chill of death creeps through from other side and grows your power

Hallow’s Eve reality: Italian great grandmother coming in strong sans introduction to ask “Why aren’t you going to church” and my German great-uncle who fought in WWI popping by to say “You light so many candles. You could light a house with all the candles. I’m concerned that you’re wasting candles.”

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You're threatening vandalism and mayhem unless people placate you with bits of food or small trinkets.

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Magical Herb Guide

In the following guides I define;

      Magical Correspondences

      Practices

      Folklore

      Healing properties

      Uses

      Warnings

Index

A

Abraham’s Balm

Aconite

Adders Mouth

Adders Tongue Fern

Agnolyt Gattilier

Agrimony

Alahaca

Alehoof

Allspice

American Dittany

Anthemis Nobilis

Auld Wife’s Huid

B

Balanoi

Banana

Basil

Bay Leaf

Black Mustard

Blue Gum Tree

Blue Rocket

Buckram

Bugle Blue Bugle

C

Calendula (Officinalis)

Canella

Canella Winerana

Cape Jasmine

Carduus Marianus

Cardo Blanco

Carpenters Herb

Cassia Bark

Catnep

Catnip

Catrup

Catsfoot

Catwort

Ceylon Cinnamon

Chamaemelum Nobils

Chamomile

Chaste Tree Berry

Chickweed

Chick wittles

Chin-ssu-t’sao

Chinese Cinnamon

Church Steeples

Cocklebur

Coffee

Common Bugle

Common Heather

Common Plantain

Cinnamon (Bark)

Cinnamon Aromaticum

Cinnamon Verum

Cinnamon Zeylanicum

Clou de Girofle

Cloves

Clucken Wort

Creeping Charlie

Cumin

Cuminum Cyminum

Cymbopogon Citratus

D

Dalcini

Devils Claw

Devils Milk

Ding Xiang

E

Earth Apple

Eucalyptus

Evening Primrose

F

Fairy’s Wand

Featherfoil

Felsien

Fennel

Feverfew

Field Balm

Fig Buttercup

Flirtwort

Frankincense 

Friar’s Cap  

G

Garlic

Garclive

Gardenia

German Chamomile

Gill-over-the-ground

Ginger 

Goatweed

Gotu Kola 

Grian

Ground Apple

Ground Ivy

Gui Zhi

Gum Tree

H

Hangmans Herb

Hawthorn

Heath

Heather

Hedge Mustard

Hei Jie

Hel-Met-Flower

Herba Job

Hibiscus

Honeysuckle

Hypericum Perforatum

Hyssop  

I

Indian Coleus

J

Jamaican Pepper

Jasmine

Jeera

Jira

Jia Jing Jie

K

Kabsh Garunfil

Kammon

Khardai

Kings Cure All

Klamath Weed

Kretek

L

Lady’s Slipper

Lady’s Thistle

Laurel

Lavender

Lemongrass

Leopard’s Bane

Lesser Celandine

Lilac

Lime

Ling

Litsea

M

Marys Thistle

Marian Thistle

Mariendistel

Marigold

Marjoram

Matricaria Recutita

Meadowsweet

Milk Thistle

Milkweed

Mint

Missouri Snakeroot

Mistletoe

Monkshood

Monks Pepper

Mountain Mint

Mugwort Mustard

Mu Jing

Myrtle Pepper

N

Neem

Nelke

Nepeta Cataria

Newspice

Night Candle

Night Willow Herb

Nip

Njilika

O

Oenothera Biennis

Oregano

P

Parthenium

Patchouli

Pilewort

Pileweed

Pimenta Dioica

Pimento

Poor Man’s Treacle

Pot Marigold

Prairie Dock

Pumpkin

R

Rai

Rainfam

Rats Tail

Rigani

Roman Caraway

Roman Chamomile

Rose

Rosemary

Run-away-robin

S

Sage 

Satin Flower

Scabish

Scented Mayweed

Shepherds Purse

Sicklewort

Sinapi

Skirt Buttons

Soldier’s Cap

Speckled Thistle

Starweed

Starwort

Stellaria Media

Stichwort

Sticklewort

Stinking Rose

St. Joseph’s Wort

Summers Bride

Sun Crop

Swan

Sweet Basil

Sweet Bay

Sweetwood

Syzygium Aromaticum

T

Thyme

Ting Hsiang

Tipton-Weed

Tongue Grass

Treacle Mustard

True Thistle

Tunhoof

W

Waybread

Whitches Herb

White Birds Eye

White Cinnamon

White Mustard

Wild Beet

Wild Chamomile

Wild Cinnamon

Wild Marjoram

Wild Quinine

Winter Weed

Woad

V

Valerian

Victors Laurel

Vitex agnus-castus

Y

Yarrow

Z

Zhi Zi

Zira

Ziran

Guides

What to avoid if you are pregnant

Activated Charcoal

Guide to Salts

For lots of practical uses see my witch-crafty index (Click Here)

Please report any broken links via a PM.

For my references and Bibliography click here

Don’t forget to like and follow to help me know that you like what I’m doing.

If you would like to help me to create new posts or are looking for extra information please consider subscribing to my Patreon. patreon.com/MagicOldCottage

#witch #witchcraft

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Q. Where can I buy “eye of newt?”

A. Please don’t!

This is not black magic and there is no need to abuse poor little newts. This is simply ancient witch code for Mustard seeds.

Back in the middle ages most witches made their livings selling healing products that actually worked. To prevent non-witches from discovering their secrets they developed a code for their Grimoires that would prevent people from learning what was really being used. It also added an air of mystery. Ask yourself what sounds more witchy.

“What’s this ointment made from”

“Crows Feet collected under a full moon my dear”

Or

“It’s Geranium”

William Shakespeare immortalised the code in his plays  and our potions contents are now the stuff of legends. If you wish to bring back this tradition or are simply trying to unravel an old spell hit more for a good list and their true meanings. Why not buy a UV pen and make your own list in the back of your book, adding in some more modern herbs and flowers.

Keep reading

#witch #witchcraft #herbalism

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“Geryon sat on his bed in the hotel room pondering the cracks and fissures of his inner life. It may happen that the exit of the volcanic vent is blocked by a plug of rock, forcing molten matter sideways along latter all fissures called fire lips by volcanologists. Yet Geryon didn’t want to become one of those people who think of nothing but their stores of pain. He bent over the book on his knees. Philosophic Problems ’… I will never know how you see red and you will never know how I see it. But this separation of consciousness is recognized only after a failure of communication, and our first movement is to believe in an undivided being between us…’” 

Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red, XXXII. Kiss

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the problem is that going to bed at night feels like a chore whereas lying down for a forbidden nap at 4pm feels like the pinnacle of decadence

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Falling in love and identifying birds have similar effects. Normal life is altered; every experience heightened; what was mundane begins to explode with meaning. You think birds are just birds—undifferentiated fluttering, then you find one magnified in your lens. You recognize its unique markings, lines, and color. Your heart pounds. It is a cerulean warbler. It is your new mate. I believe both things have equal power to change your life.

Debbie Blue, Consider the Birds: A Provocative Guide to Birds of the Bible

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toxic mothers are wild they'll really be like "I never said that" like ma'am yes you did cause it's been ingrained in my head since I was twelve

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corrects someone’s mispronunciation of nietzsche with a different mispronunciation of nietzsche