The Wiccan Version of the Witch Bottle

 

The Wiccan versions of the Witch-bottle which follow are more suitable for the Wiccan view of the world, magick and ethics. They are often intended to capture the negative energies or prevent it from ever arriving and – what’s important – prevent it to harm the home and its inhabitants. Many of these Wiccan versions are very much like the basic bottle described above, so it isn’t necessary to repeat everything over. However, you can use wine, (apple) vinegar or blessed (salted) water instead or in addition to urine. The nails used may be new, etc.

Many Wiccan Witch-bottles use herbs, with the herbs being chosen according to their magickal qualities. There are sometimes very specific instructions given for the gathering of each herb and other items, including correct phases of the Moon. The herbs and other objects may be put in the bottle the previous day, letting the bottle stand by the witch’s bed over the night. In the morning, you can add (morning) urine to the bottle, after which the bottle is closed and sealed utilizing Wiccan rituals. Some instructions state that the bottle will be placed in a cupboard or closet, so you don’t necessarily have to carefully hide it.

The following instructions are a basic version of a Wiccan version of the Witch-bottle, using herbs. You can do everything using a longer/more complex or a shorter/simpler route, depending on your own inclinations. You can for example start collecting the necessary items on a given phase of the moon (for example on the day before New Moon) and perform the ritual on the next Dark Moon. Or, you can collect the items when you have time for it and build the bottle at any phase of the moon (with protective spells, you don’t always have to wait for the right phase of the moon – you do it when you have to). You can utter a suitable spell with every item added to the bottle, summoning the spirit of the item/accessory and meditate for a while – or you can speak your chosen words after the bottle is filled. You can make the bottle as part of a ritual, or you can construct a ritual especially for this occasion. One reason why I’m being so vague with the instructions is that I’m not Wiccan myself.

Materials

Bottle or jar, with a tightly closing cap or lid
Sea salt
Crystal or stone, for example turquoise, obsidian or black onyx.
Herbs, for example acasia, aloe, lilies, lime, lotus, agrimony, corn, cayenne and black pepper, dried onion, salvia, frankincense, basil, mint, myrrh, garlic, rosemary, mistletoe, pine needles.
A few nails or needles
Wine, (apple) vinegar or urine
Thread
Black candle for sealing
The usual tools used in the ritual section

Preliminary Preparations

You can choose the herbs and crystals you are going to use according to their special qualities or use some of those I’ve listed. You can also use a drop or two of an essential oil instead of a herb. You can choose the number of herbs and solid items in general (in this case, essential oil is counted as “solid”) to put in the bottle on numerological grounds either so that the number of all solid items is a specific one, or that you will use a certain number of herbs. Suitable numbers are 7, connected to protection, or 9, connected with the Goddess.

Gather the necessary items. Clean the bottle you are going to use. Wash it with warm soapy water carefully (if you can use a specific soap made for protective purposes, so much the better) and dry it well. You can leave the bottle over night in the light of a full moon to charge it. Choose a place to hide the bottle. For a bottle to be filled as part of a ritual or ritually, it is a good thing to have all the necessary tools at hand, on your alter. You can also construct your ritual and spells and chants beforehand.

The purpose of the crystal (which isn’t absolutely necessary, the list is given as an example – including the liquid items) is to use it’s magickal qualities, the same goes with the herbs. The salt is there to purify and bless the target of the Witch-bottle (the person(s), home to be protected). The nails and needles ground the negative energy and you can also visualize it being then sent back to its sender, threefold. The thread tangles the negative energy in a knot similar to what you are tangling the thread into and to bend the energies away from the builder of the bottle. You can also visualize the negativity tripping over to the thread. The urine represents the builder of the bottle. When using wine or vinegar you can visualize the negative energies drowning in the liquid, with vinegar acting as a purifying element as well.

 

Source

The Cauldron

Witch-Bottles

I love using Witch-bottles, I always have a couple on the go in my house for protection, clearing out negative energies and bringing happiness to the home.

Again these are so easy to make, you don’t need special pretty bottles you can just use old clean jam jars. Mine are in old jam jars so I tuck them away under furniture, but if you do have some pretty bottles you could decorate them and make them a feature.

Generally speaking, the modern day Witch-bottles are very similar to historical Witch-bottles in their basic structure, even though their intended purpose has changed. The most common purpose for constructing a Witch-bottle today is capturing negative energies targeted at the constructor of the bottle, her family or her home. Some Witch-bottles are intended to change negative energy into positive energy and then release it into the surrounding area.

The basic structure of Witch-bottles can be used for purposes other than protective: for financial gain, for helping with artistic creativity, to call forth positive energy, for improving health, etc.

Basically a Witch-bottle is a container of some sort, usually a jar or a bottle, which is filled with objects that fulfil a given magical purpose. The person making the Witch-bottle or, in other words, the one casting the bottled spell, can charge the objects magically beforehand and build the bottle to work on this charging until the need of renewing the spell arises. Witch- bottles can also be built to recharge themselves by the energy they ‘capture’ for as long as the bottle stays unbroken, whether it is years or centuries.

The typical contents of the basic protective Witch-bottle today are quite similar to that of the traditional one: nails, sand or different coloured sands, crystals, stones, knotted threads, herbs, spices, resin, flowers, candle wax, incense, votive candles, salt, vinegar, oil, coins, saw dust, ashes etc. Actually, everything used in ‘normal spells’ can be used in this bottled version of a spell, the Witch-bottle.

Original witch bottles were used to keep witches away. They also used to contain all sorts of bodily fluids, hair and finger nail clippings – you can still use these if you wish.

Basically, start with your jar or bottle, then charge each item before you add it, layering up the ingredients as you go.

It really is up to you what you put in. I like to put in three nails to attract negativity and for protection. I also put in a piece of string with three knots in, knotting in my intent with each tie. If it is for prosperity I often drop in a silver coin. I usually put salt in for protection, cleansing and purification. I also like to add some kind of dried pulse – lentils or beans to soak up any negative energy. Garlic is good for protection too. Then add any herbs, spices and flowers that correspond with your intent—rose petals for love, cinnamon for success, mint and basil for prosperity, etc. Keep filling the jar of bottle up until you reach the top then put the lid on. If I am using a jam jar I like to draw a pentacle on the lid. If I am using a bottle with a cork I like to seal the cork lid with dripped wax.

If you are making the Witch-bottle for protection for your own home you might like to put in a pebble from the garden, a couple of fallen leaves from the tree in your yard and a bit of cobweb from inside the house, it makes it all more personal and ties the bottle to the energies of the home. This also gives me a good excuse for having cobwebs in the house. I need them for the Witch-bottles…

A twist on the Witch-bottle is a money jar.

Use a clean, cleansed jar and half fill it with rice or seeds (fenugreek seeds are good). As you half fill the jar visualize prosperity and abundance. Then every day add two more seeds to the jar, visualising prosperity as you do. When the jar is full bury the seeds whilst sending up a request to deity that your desire will be fulfilled.

You can also do this with a jar and your loose change, each time you drop a couple of coins in the jar visualize prosperity, every so often sprinkle in a few herbs that correspond with prosperity such as basil or mint. When the jar is full you can count it up and use it for something special. You can also decorate the jar with runes that symbolise prosperity and abundance.

Source

Pagan Portals – Kitchen Witchcraft: Crafts of a Kitchen Witch
Rachel Patterson

The Energy of Venus

Weekday ruled by Venus: Friday

Stones: Rose Quartz, moonstone, Pink tourmaline, peridot, emerald, jade.

Herbs/Plants: Pink rose, ivy, birch, heather, clematis, sage, violet, waterlily

Magickal Intentions: Love, romance, marriage, sexual matters, physical beauty, friendship and partnership, strangers and heart matters.

FRIDAY CORRESPONDENCES

Venus/Water/East/West/South/Dawn/Female/Libra/Taurus

 

Magickal Intentions: Love, Romance, Marriage, Sexual Matters, Physical Beauty, Friendship and Partnerships, Strangers, Heart

Color: aqua, blue, light blue, brown, green, pale green, magenta, peach, pink, rose, white, all pastels

Number: 5, 6

Metal: copper

Charm: green or white garments, scepter

Stone: alexandrite, amethyst, coral, diamond, emerald, jade, jet, black moonstone, peridot, smoky quartz, tiger’s-eye, pink tourmaline

Animal: camel, dove, elephant, goat, horse, pigeon, sparrow

Plant: apple, birch, cherry, clematis, clove, coriander, heather, hemlock, hibiscus, ivy, lotus, moss, myrtle, oats, pepperwort, peppermint, pinecone, quince, raspberry, rose, pink rose, red rose, rose hips, saffron, sage, savin, stephanotis, strawberry, thyme, vanilla, verbena, violet, water lily, yarrow, and all flowers

Incense: ambergris, camphor, mace, musk, myrrh, rose, saffron, sage, sandalwood, sweetgrass, vanilla, violet, all floral scents

Goddess: Aphrodite, Asherah, Baalith, Brigid, Erzulie, Freya (Passionate Queen), Frigg, Gefion, Harbor (Beautiful One), Hestia, Inanna, Ishtar (Lady of Passion and Desire), Lakshmi, Lilith, Mokosh, Nehalennia, Nerthus, Ostara, Pombagira, Sarasvati, Shakti, Shekinah, Sirtur, Al Uzza, Venus (Queen of Pleasure), Vesta

God: Allah, Bacchus, Bes, Cupid, the Dagda, Dionysus, El, Eros (God of Love), Freyr, Frit Ailek, Shukra

Evocation: Agrat Bat Mahalat, Anael, Hagiel, Mokosba, Rasbid, Sachiel, Uriel, Velas

 

Courtesy of Moonlight Musings

 

The Witches Almanac for Friday, August 26th

Friday (Venus): Love, friendship, reconciliation, and beauty.

Pardon of the Sea (French)

Waning Moon
The Waning Moon (from the Full Moon to the New) is a time for study, meditation, and little magical work (except magic designed to banish harmful energies).

Moon Phase: Fourth Quarter

Moon Sign: Gemini
Gemini: Things begun now are easily changed by outside influence. Time for shortcuts, communication, games, and fun.

Moon enters Cancer 11:06 pm
Cancer: Stimulates emotional rapport between people. Pinpoints need, supports growth and nurturance. Tends to domestic concerns.

Incense: Rose

Color: Coral

Today’s Witchery

 

Love magick is a perennial popular topic. However, there is more to this topic than meets the eye. There are many enchanting layers here for us to explore on this day of the week. What about creating a loving home, or producing a loving and nurturing family? What about keeping your intimate relationships vital and on track? How about promoting happy, healthy, and enduring friendships? See, there is more to be considered than just the “You shall be mine…” type of fictional love spell.

Don’t forget that many of the deities associated with Fridays are also parents. So, yes, while this is the day to work on romance, sex, and love spells, there is additional magick to be considered here, which makes Fridays a more well-rounded and bigger opportunity for witchery than many folks ever truly realize. The truest, strongest magick always comes from the heart.

 

Source

Book of Witchery – Spells, Charms & Correspondences For Every Day of the Week
Ellen Dugan

 

The Witches Friday

 

Ruler: Freya, Venus

Colors: Emerald green or pink

Power Hours: Sunrise and the 8th, 16th, and 24th hours following.

Key Words: Love, money, health

It is easy to spot the ruler of this day by its name. In the word Friday, we see the roots of the name of the Norse goddess Freya, a goddess of love and fertility, and the most beautiful and propitious of the goddesses thus the verse “Friday’s child is loving and giving.”

In Spanish this day of the week is called Viernes and is derived from the goddess Venus. Matters of love, human interaction, the fluidity of communication, sewing and the creation of artistic garments, household improvement, shopping, and party planning all fall under the aspects of Friday and its ruling planet, Venus.

Friday’s angels are Ariel/Uriel, Rachiel, and Sachiel. Rachiel also concerns himself with human sexuality and is a presiding spirit of the planet Venus.

On Fridays, the hour of sunrise and every eight hours after that are also ruled by Venus, and that makes these times of the day doubly blessed. These four hours are the strongest four hours for conducting ritual.

Check the local newspaper, astrological calendar, or almanac to determine your local sunrise.

 

Source

Gypsy Magic

 

The Pagan’s Guide to Fridays

The name Friday come from the Old English Frigedag, meaning the “day of Frigg.” Frigg is known as a prophetess and wife of Odin in Norse mythology. In Scandinavia, Friday is called Fregad after the goddess Freja, who is known as a sorceress. The Romans associated Friday with Venus, goddess of love, beauty, sex, fertility and prosperity. In most of the Indian languages, Friday is Shukravar, after the planet Venus.

On Friday, August 26th, We Celebrate…

Birthday of Krishna (India)
KAMALA

Themes: Spirituality; Love; Relationship; Passion; Pleasure

Symbols: Yellow; Lotus

About Kamala: The Hindu “lotus girl” of pleasure promotes ongoing faithfulness in our relationships inspired by mutual enjoyment and an abundance of love. Kamala also makes us aware of the spiritual dimensions in our physical exchanges that sometimes get overlooked.

To Do Today: In India, today is a time to celebrate the birth of Krishna, the most charming and kind incarnation of Vishnu. Kamala, as one of Lakshimi’s incarnations, joins in this festivity as his lover and companion. To participate in the gala, eat Indian food, especially hot, spicy items that ignite passion (although you may want to follow this meal with breath mints and antacids). Anything that includes cinnamon, garlic, or saffron is a good alternative choice, as these items bear Kamala’s lusty energy.

To improve your ability to give and receive love, including self-love, wear yellow-colored clothing today, especially an item that is worn near the heart chakra (a blouse, shirt, tie, bra, or perhaps a gold necklace or tie tack). As you don that item, say,

Let pleasure flow freely from my heart;
Kamala, abide there—your love impart.

Wear this same piece of clothing or jewelry again anytime you enact spells or rituals focused on sexuality or relationships.

Source

365 Goddess: A Daily Guide To the Magic and Inspiration of the goddess
Patricia Telesco

The Goddess Book of Days for August 26th

Feast Day of Ilmatar or Luonnotar, Finland’s Water Mother who created the Earth from chaos. She is also Nu Kwa, Nina, Yemaya, Tiamat, Chalchiuhtlique, Bacchue, Atargatis, Ix Chel, and Spider Woman. In Japan, end of season for climbing Mt. Fuji, who is the Fire Goddess. (Pele, Mehuea, Vesta, Hestia, Brigid, Amaterasu, Arinna.)

Source

The Goddess Book of Days
Diane Stein

The Pagan Book of Days for Friday, August 26th

Ilmatar is a Finnish Goddess, known as the Water Mother. According to tradition this Goddess is the creator of the world.

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

Friday, August 26th

 

Friday is the day of Venus. It takes it name from Frigg, the Goddess of love and transformation. She rules the spiritual side of a person that manifests in the physical. Because of this, Friday is often thought of as dangerously unpredictable. This is expressed in an old East Anglian adage:

Friday’s day will have its trick
The fairest or foulest day of the week.

Deity: Frigg

Zodiac Sign: Taurus/Libra

Planet: Venus

Tree: Apple

Herb: Vervain

Stone: Sapphire/Chrsolite

Animal: Bull/Serpent

Element: Earth

Color: Yellow/Violet

Number: 7

Rune: Peorth(P)

Celtic Tree Month of Coll (Hazel) – August 4 – September 1

The Runic Half Month of As (August 13 – August 28)

Goddess of the Month of Hesperis – August 9 – September 5

Source

The Pagan Book of Days
Nigel Pennick

The Magick of Fridays

Lust

Romance

Happiness

Travel

Friends

Beauty

Sexuality

Harmony

Growth

Planet: Venus

Colors: Pink, Aqua, Seafoam

Crystals: Coral, Emerald, Rose Quartz

The Sky This Week for August 26 to August 28

 

Planets, Pallas, and the Big Dipper will all make wonderful viewing this week

By Richard Talcott

 

Friday, August 26

• Distant Neptune reaches opposition and peak visibility one week from today, but the view now is essentially the same. The ice giant planet rises during evening twilight and climbs nearly halfway to the zenith in the southern sky by 1:30 a.m. local daylight time. The magnitude 7.8 planet lies in Aquarius, 1.1° southwest of 4th-magnitude Lambda (l) Aquarii. You’ll need binoculars to spy Neptune and a telescope to see its blue-gray disk, which spans 2.4″.

Saturday, August 27

• Venus and Jupiter lie closer to each other today than at any time since May 2000. At their tightest, just 4.2′ separate them. Unfortunately, this happens in late afternoon from North America. By twilight, the two worlds have pulled slightly apart — 5.5′ from the East Coast and 12.1′ from the West Coast. Still, that’s close enough that many people will see the two merge into one. Binoculars will provide spectacular views, clearly splitting the pair and revealing Mercury 5° to their lower left and just above the horizon. Most telescope-eyepiece combinations will show Venus and Jupiter in the same field, with Jupiter spanning 31″ and Venus 11″.

Sunday, August 28

• Evenings this week are great times to explore the constellation Sagittarius the Archer. This star group lies due south and at peak altitude around 9 p.m. local daylight time, just as the last vestiges of twilight fade away. The brightest stars within the constellation form the shape of a teapot — a distinctive asterism once you’ve found it. The central regions of the Milky Way pass through Sagittarius, so it’s always worth exploring the area through binoculars or a telescope.

 

Source

Astronomy Magazine

 

Your Daily Sun & Moon Data for Friday, August 26th

The Sun
Sun Direction: ↑ 111.70° ESE
Sun Altitude: 41.25°
Sun Distance: 93.926 million mi
Next Equinox: Sep 22, 2016 9:21 AM (Autumnal)
Sunrise Today: 6:21 AM↑ 77° East
Sunset Today: 7:31 PM↑ 283° West
Length of Daylight: 13 hours, 10 minutes

The Moon
Moon Direction: ↑ 240.03° WSW
Moon Altitude: 58.36°
Moon Distance: 232611 mi
Next New Moon: Sep 1, 20164:03 AM
Next Full Moon: Sep 16, 20162:05 PM
Next Moonset: Today3:13 PM
Current Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
Illumination: 33.7%

Source

timeanddate.com

Bright Blessings

 

Earth Mother
Giver of life
Strengthen me during my life-long strife.
Teach me Your ways of perfect love,
peace, and wisdom true.
Spawn from my purest heart
These words to You
May this prayer help me to better
myself in word and deed,
To a higher plane I shall succeed.
Beautiful Light of Goodness Fair
Lore of old we both do share
A Witch’s brew, I drink to You
My love for You, by day, by night
In thought and in sight
Will my soul learn
the meaning of this life again.

—Author Unknown
Originally published on Pagan Library

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2016 August 25

Closest Star has Potentially Habitable Planet
Image Credit & License: Y. Beletsky (LCO), ESO, Pale Red Dot Team

Explanation: The star closest to the Sun has a planet similar to the Earth. As announced yesterday, recent observations confirmed that this planet not only exists but inhabits a zone where its surface temperature could allow liquid water, a key ingredient for life on Earth. It is not yet known if this planet, Proxima b, has any life. Even if not, its potential ability to sustain liquid water might make it a good first hop for humanity’s future trips out into the Milky Way Galaxy. Although the planet’s parent star, Proxima Centauri, is cooler and redder than our Sun, one of the other two stars in the Alpha Centauri star system is very similar to our Sun. The featured image shows the sky location of Proxima Centauri in southern skies behind the telescope that made many of the discovery observations: ESO’s 3.6-meter telescope in La Silla, Chile. The discovered planet orbits close in — so close one year there takes only 11 days on Earth. The planet was discovered by theESO’s Pale Red Dot collaboration. Although seemingly unlikely, if Proxima b does have intelligent life, at 4.25 light years distance it is close enough to Earth for two-way communication.

Constellation Cepheus looks like a house