Here you be, sez I. Follow this link, which will magickally transport you to The Witch’s Corner, where you’ll find a whole bunch of correspondences you’ll need to craft your spells successfully. This is “stuff” you’ll want to add to your own Book of Shadows. (You’re welcome!)
https://amythystraine.blogspot.com/p/magickal-correspondences.html
My Personal Book of Shadows ~
My Private Journals, Grimoires, & Notebooks ~
The following blog post is an excerpt from my book, The Spiritual Feminist. This book was a journey. It was not just a writing process; it was self-therapy, it was revolutionizing new thoughts, it was hindsight recorded for my daughters, it was a journey through my life at so many points…until I suddenly realized that it was a journey through life for so many women with so many common factors, questions, doubts, and fears.
I hope you enjoy; and I hope there’s something here worth taking with you ~
Affirmations:
The Physical Aspect
This is my body…No one shall touch this body without my express permission. No one shall impose upon my body a physical action, intention, criteria, procedure, or judgment, that I have not expressly approved. This is my body, created by the Mother Goddess in all the glory of her likeness. Whether this body be large or small, fit or weak; whether this body align with the cultural views and norms of my society or not: My body is beautiful and will be respected as such.
Questions for Introspection
The Physical
1. What is my best feature?
2. What are two things about my body I’d like to change?
3. What would I have to do to make these changes?
4. Realistically, would it be possible for me to do this, and if I could successfully make these changes, who would I be making them for?
5. Am I able to accept my physical body in it’s beautiful natural state; am I able to embrace myself as I am?
6. Is my body healthy?
7. If not, what are my health issues?
8. What do I need to do in order to correct these issues, or just generally improve my health, strength, and endurance?
9. List three things you know are not healthy for you but you do anyway.
10. List three things you do for yourself that contribute to your physcial well-being.
11. What do I love most about my body?
The Spiritual Aspect
I will connect with the universe through the Divine Feminine, and through that connection with my ancestors and the root of all that is me…For centuries the Divine Feminine has been ripped from the heart and soul of womanhood, shrouded in stories of evil encompassing snakes and apples, betrayal and guilt. Womanhood needs to wrestle its freedom from this lie, to regain its strength and equilibrium through the power of the Mother Goddess.
Through the youthful exuberance of the Maiden, the fertility of the Mother, and the wisdom of the Crone, we have to pass on to our daughters the beauty of the feminine mystique, impressing upon them the reverence and respect that is its due. While the world still revolves around the decisions of men, it is women who harvest its bounty through their children, their art, their writing, their dreams, and their strong sense of nurturing. It is woman who builds up; and through her spirituality and connection with the Goddess, woman can repair the damage of previous generations, building new futures and opportunities for her children.
With our strong and renewed sense of connection to the Feminine Divine, the most important thing we can do is to impart upon our fathers, husbands, brothers, and sons the strength, beauty, wisdom, and power of womanhood at its most pure. We can lead them back to the Goddess, who is, after all, their Mother too.
Questions for Introspection
The Spiritual
1. Do I feel a strong connection with Feminine Divinity?
2. How has the Goddess touched my life?
3. Do I feel free to embrace Goddess Spirituality openly?
4. If not, what are the obtacles to doing so?
5. Realistically, can these obstacles be overcome?
6. What do I do each day to connect with Spirit?
7. How has my connection to the Goddess and my spiritual practices enhanced my daily life?
8. List three things that you think impede your spiritual growth.
9. List three things that have inspired you during your life.
10. What do you love most about your spirituality right now?
11. Is there a woman you know who would benefit by learning about the Mother Goddess?
The Mental Aspect
I will not allow other people’s opinions to form the image I carry of myself…Whether these opinions are formed and passed on to me by friends, family, or foe. If these opinions are filled with negativity, if these opinions are laced with jealousy, spite, judgmental prejudice, ambiguity, cruelty, or ignorance, I will disregard these opinions. These opinions will be shed as a snake sheds its skin, leaving renewed vitality and beauty beneath, exposing my true nature, in tune with the Goddess and a healthy ego.
Questions for Introspection
The Mental
1. Do I expect too much of myself?
2. Do I feel like I have to be responsible for everyone?
3. Is there a lot of stress in your life right now?
4. If so, what are the main causes of this stress?
5. Realistically, can the circumstances or people causing this stress be resolved or dismissed from your life?
6. If so, what steps must you take to correct the issue?
7. Do you give yourself time to daydream?
8. When you are sad, what makes you happy?
9. What makes you laugh?
10. What makes you cry?
11. What are you afraid of?
12. Do you have someone in your life with whom you can share your deepest thoughts?
The Source for this blogpost is ~
THE SPIRITUAL FEMINIST
order your copy HERE
Updates from THE WITCH’S CORNER!
The following are new products that can be found at
my website ~
Amethyst Pendants: Click HERE
Zen Gardens: Click HERE
Magickal Bath Salts: Click HERE
Money Wash: Click HERE
New services offered at THE WITCH’S CORNER ~
Spell Consultations
Do you want to cast a spell, but you’re not sure how? Do you want to cast a spell, but you’re not sure which herbs, candles, oils, etc. to use? You don’t know how to dress a candle? You don’t know how to cast a circle? You don’t have anyone around you to ask?Is there some specific magickal working you need information, advice, or help with? I offer 30 minute spell consultations to give you the information you need to successfully cast spells.
The Spring Equinox: Ostara
(March 21)
The Goddess manifests her treasures in the material world, and Mother Earth marks this event with the emergence of plants and young animals, setting the stage once again for future harvests, both those of the physical world and those of the spiritual realm. The miracle of birth is highlighted, and the miracle that is womanhood confirmed. Within the celebration of Ostara, fertility is emphasized and celebrated. Nature’s womb, filled with the seeds of life, embellishes the earth in productivity and prosperity.
Ostara is a day when the period of light and dark are equal, heralding springtime planting and the promise of warmth returning for the summer months. Sunlight is going to reign supreme starting the very next day, second by second, minute by minute. This is also a celebration of the Saxon goddess of fertility…Eostre. Eggs and rabbits are symbols belonging to this Goddess and are incorporated into the festivities and celebrations. Sound familiar yet? It’s all about bunnies, fertile eggs, and growing things. Now’s the time to start those seedlings in egg cartons, time to start planning your herb garden, digging out those pots and diving into a bag of potting soil. Smell the earth women, get your fingernails dirty, follow that natural instinct that you know is there, the one you’ve probably been trying to ignore…Grow Things!
A noteworthy tidbit: Easter is always celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox.
(The Goddess is smiling now.)
My Celebration:
The biggest part of Ostara for my family has always been coloring Easter Eggs (we decorate about 4 or 5 dozen– often with witches, animals, and other very un-Eastery images). The magickal nocturnal visit of the Easter Bunny is also a yearly tradition at our house, complete with pretty baskets of goodies. With seven children, putting all those baskets together, dividing all that candy, has been quite a process.
But this celebration has a deeper meaning for me, one that was made indelible upon my soul. The year was 1969, I was 12-years-old, and it was the traditional Christian Easter Sunday that my family was celebrating:
The night before, my Aunt was glowing– beautiful and striking looking at thirty-two. She was helping my sister and me color Easter eggs, finishing up by combining all the colors to get an interesting brown egg. I’ll never forget the sight of her holding the egg up in the air so we could all get a look at it, laughing out loud. This was to be the last truly happy day this woman would know for a very long time to come. The next day, her husband (my uncle) would suffer a massive heart attack and die in her arms in the foyer of their home. It was just after a beautiful Easter Sunday meal, and we were all there.
Every year since, when we color eggs for this spring celebration, I remember coloring eggs with my aunt the night before Easter Sunday 1969. It’s a crystal clear memory 44 years later. The symbolism of this holiday is brought home to me in the idea of rejuvination, resurrection, a return to life– life in the form of warmth, sunshine, growing plants, small animals, and souls.
“Everything is connected.” the goddess is telling me.
Ostara Correspondences
Herbs: cinquefoil, rose, violets, tansy, celandine
Altar Flowers/Herbs: honeysuckle, iris, lily, daffodil, crocus
Feast Foods: eggs, fish, honey, sweet food, leafy vegetables
Animals: chicks, hares, rabbits, swallows
Incense: honeysuckle, jasmine, lavender, lotus, magnolia, rose, violet
Rituals/Spells: planting/sowing, rejuvenation spells, consecration of tools, grounding work, Earth blessings, spring cleansing
Ostara Recipes
Magickal Egg Salad
6 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. minced onion
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
Lettuce leaves
Reserve 4 center egg slices for garnish, if desired. Chop remaining eggs.
Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, onion, salt and pepper in medium bowl. Add chopped eggs and celery; mix well. Refrigerate, covered, to blend flavors.
Serve on lettuce leaves; garnish with reserved egg slices.
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Honey Baked Ham
18 to 20-pound smoked ham, water added, ham hock removed
One 16-ounce box light brown sugar
1 cup (8-ounce jar) clover honey
Adjust the oven racks to accommodate a large covered roasting pan. Fit the pan with a shallow rack. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Unwrap the ham and rinse it in cold water. Place it on the rack in the roasting pan. Cover the pan with the lid and bake for half the estimated cooking time (Total cooking time is about 20 minutes per pound.) Halfway through the estimated cooking time, add the sugar and honey to a saucepan, cooking over medium heat until smooth and sugar is dissolved. Pour the mixture over the ham and continue baking the ham, basting occasionally with the drippings in the roaster.
Check for doneness at the end of the estimated cooking time by inserting a meat thermometer at a meaty point (not into fat or touching the bone). It should register 160 degrees F.
Allow the ham to stand for 15 minutes before slicing to allow the juices to set.
The Source for this blog post is my book ~
The Spiritual Feminist
Follow this link to purchase your own copy:
https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B004NMWMX4
The Witch’s Corner
Magickal Curios & Infinite Possibilities
http://amythystraine.blogspot.com
The Tarot Parlour
Book a reading with Amythyst Raine:
http://tarotreadingswithamythystraine.blogspot.com
Happy New Year! This is my first video to kick off 2017. Forgive the lack of protocol and the informality of it all. I’m actually in my jammies, sitting on my bed, with a morning cup of coffee. I wanted to be comfortable, and as long as the lighting was okay, why not. My “Book of Shadows” video has been very popular; apparently people love looking at other people’s private stuff. In this video I’ll be showing you my Grimoire (wonderful book, did it year’s ago, it’s a book of spells); my dream journal; diaries; daily tarot journal; gratitude journal, etc. I hope you enjoy the relaxed totally informal morning chat and show & tell…I certainly did.
Blessings, Amythyst
Links to Me ~
The Witch’s Corner
http://amythystraine.blogspot.com
Magickal Connections
http://wytchymystique.com
The Tarot Parlour
http://tarotreadingswithamythystraine.blogspot.com
The Music ~
by Kevin MacLeod
“Enchanted Journey”
VOLUME…audio hint ~ volume on this vid is best if you use head phones, ear buds, or a small speaker plugged in to your device.
http://ladyamythyst.com
http://wytchymystique.com
My personal book of shadows is one of my most treasured possessions. It’s not only full of spells, recipes for potions, and all the usual witchy things; it’s also full of photos, mementos, and things that make up a witch’s life as she travels her path.
If you haven’t started your book of shadows yet, I have a few helpful ideas; and if you do have a book of shadows, I hope you enjoy this video as I share mine with you…Blessings, Amythyst
The following blog post is a short excerpt from my book:
The Spiritual Feminist
Imbolc
(February 2)
The Goddess celebrates renewed fertility, fertility of body, mind, and spirit. Seeds are sown now for future harvests; the bricks and mortar of new paths and new adventures are laid. The Goddess is reborn as her younger self, the Maiden, and it is her strength and power and sinewy young muscle that we imbue ourselves with, so as to have the strength and endurance to fulfill our life journey.
This is also a festival of the Celtic goddess, Bride, so beloved by the people of the old world that the Roman Church couldn’t eradicate her. Instead, they made her a saint, Saint Brigit. In Celtic lore, the Old Woman of Winter (the Cailleach) was reborn as Bride, the Young Maiden of Spring. It’s this image that is most nostaligic in my mind, from the halls of Catholic Parochial School, the beautiful shining faces of the female saints, innocently biding their time among the patriarchal rhetoric, waiting for The Great Awakening…St. Brigit most prominent among them (the nuns adored her).
The celebration of Imbolc is also a celebration of light, a celebration of the sun, in the fact that a successful new growing season depends upon it. The light and warmth of the sun is celebrated in the flames of candles and bonfires.
My Celebration:
This milestone passes all but unnoticed at our house, in all truth. I touch on it with a public comment and picture at social sites, or among my pagan internet friends; but here, it’s like a soft shadow passing over the house, sometimes lit with the glow of a blue candle on the kitchen table that hardly anyone else notices, since I’m always burning candles it seems. But I notice, and I remember, and I think…The time of The Great Awakening has come.
Imbolc Correspondences
Herbs: basil, bay, celandine, benzoic
Altar Flowers/Herbs: angelica, myrrh, flowers that are yellow/white/or blue
Feast Foods: bread, cakes, dairy products, seeds
Animals: burrowing animals, ewes, deer, goats, lambs
Incense: jasmine, myrrh, neroli
Rituals/Spells: candle magick, initiation, hearth/home blessings, fertility magick, healing magick, cleansing rituals
Imolc Recipes
Creamed Cabbage
1 lb. pre-cooked ham, 1″ cubed or shredded
1 heaping tsp. flour
1 firm white cabbage
1/2 tsp. each salt & pepper
1 cup cream
grated nutmeg (optional)
Cut cabbage in half, then cut the halves once again. Drop them into a pot of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes, drain. Slice them up. Melt a little butter or margarine in a sauce pan and add the shredded cabbage. Stir it up good. Add salt, pepper, and a dash of grated nutmeg. Next add the cream and a heaping teaspoon of flour, still stirring, and let it come to a boil. Add the cubed or shredded ham, and lower the heat. Cover the sauce pan and let the mixture simmer for about 30 minutes. Serve hot. Makes 6-8 servings.
Interestingly enough, and just as a sidenote, Nutmeg is the most popular herb used to induce fidelity in a romantic partner. Think about this, when used with magickal intention, if you’re making this dish for your husband, boyfriend, fiance, etc. (“This is a perfect example of a little innocent kitchen witchery in the making.”, she says with a wicked grin.)
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Brigit’s Biscuits
2 1/4 cup Bisquick
1/3 cup milk
1/3 cup honey
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray or line with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine all ingredients. Drop by Tablespoon onto baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden. Serve warm with butter.
