Merry meet everyone, My good friend Jemma or @green_witch86 on instagram has created another amazing samhain box for this year and as always im gonna be singing her praises and going through all the goodies in this box with you all! I got her samhain box last year and loved everything inside it which was why I encouraged her to make another one this year and of course its even better! So the first item that I got out of this beautiful handcrafted box was the witches bells which I am gonna have to hang up near my front door! These witches bells were the perfect item for me personally because Jemma had asked me which colour I would like which of course had to be green for my mother earth connection and also the black roses just speak to it perfectly. I love how simple but effect this beautiful handcrafted item is because the love that was put into this item alone was worth the price I brought this box for! The second item I got out of this box was the witches ball which was again handcrafted for the box and will be replacing my one I have had on my altar. I love witches balls because there such a simple way to create a protection item or even a good luck charm depending on what you put inside the witches ball you create. This one is beautiful and I love how she used red wax to seal the intention inside because it just makes it sing to me even more haha. The next item from the box was the super cute glass jar full of offering flowers for my altar. Now Jemma knows I have two very naughty cats that eat anything I put on my altar, so she created me this little jar sealed with wax for my offering so the cats can't get into the flowers and I just love it. I am tempted to keep it on my altar all year because its just super cute and I love that Jemma thought this idea up for me. She will go the extra mile to make sure you can use everything in the box and if you mention your naughty cats then she will create something different just to help. I love her to bits and to be honest this post will most likely be me singing her praises even more! The next item that I carefully unwrapped with the beautiful handcrafted altar offering dish she created for samhain. This is such a cute item with little pumpkin and seeds that decorate one side and I will again keep this on my display for the whole year even if its in the closed off bit instead of the altar after samhain! She had also included this beautiful labradorite crystal magnet that will be finding its home on my fridge or may be my bedroom makeup trolley because its super cute and I love that she thought outside the box to create this item. There was also two small glass jars full with egg shells and black salt which is always useful to have around this time of year. I love getting these cute glass jars because they look amazing on my altar and its a cute storage too. I personally can't remember how I used the egg shells last year I may have to look into my book of shadows for that one. Any ideas send them my way! As you can see from the image above the box was jam packed with natures goodies, from pinecones to wooden logs everything you would need to decorate your samhain altar with mother earths gifts. Now Jemma spends a lot of time going for walks to see with mother earth can gift her and she loves sharing theses items within her crafts. I love getting items like this because were I personally live, is more for the beach life which isn't my cup of tea. If you were a sea witch then this area would be perfect for you! The last items I will be talking about are the three little pumpkin candles that smell heavenly. Now I spotted this shop on Facebook selling theses super cute candles on a great offer and sent it Jemma's way because I was looking for ideas to help her with her boxes and theses candles just too cute not to be included. Now the shop that theses candles are from is called Tazmania creations and they are on Facebook like I said before. So if you wanted to check them out I will put the link down bellow for you to have a nosey. I would also like to mention that Jemma has an Instagram account which I mentioned at the beginning of this post and if you private message her with something your looking for she can help create anything! She created my Celtic Ogham runes for me because she's amazing! She really puts her heart and soul into each item she creates so if there is a handmade item that you can't find anywhere that you wish to have in your collection then pop her a message and see what she can come up with. As always you can also catch me on Facebook and Instagram under the name @PaganVibesOnly! I post on these platforms as often as possible to keep you all updated with things outside of the blog. I have been quite lately because my day job has taken over my life at the moment but I am planning on kicking that in the but and making sure that I post at least every other day! I am going to be posting on each platform about future blog topics coming up and would love to hear what you all thing about it so if you wish to have a say then come join the community. I hope you enjoyed today's post and that you all have a blessed samhain tomorrow! I will see you all in the next post and as always please stay safe in these strange times. Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x facebook.com/tazmaniacreations
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Merry meet everyone, Today I will be talking to you all about working in your book of shadows. Now I have done two posts about starting one in the past and I thought it was a good time to refresh and redo this topic. Now when I was starting out my mother talked about how special it was keeping a book of shadows and she told me it was more like a diary than a work book. I never really understood what she meant and went many years jumping between what people call a grimore and a book of shadows. Now I have many books of shadows under my belt and I hold them all very close and dear to me personally because they all have information and journal entries that speaks to my journey as a witch. That for me is why I personally keep a book of shadows because its a special place for you to keep all your workings out and what happened within spell workings and information you found really helpful at that time. I have seen many other witches use their book of shadows as a grimore which works really well for them and personally I have done the same in the past. I also believe if you are starting out then this may help you more on your journey than just keeping journal entries because your book of shadows is a body of work that goes along with your magical studies. Thats how I have seen my book of shadows since the start and if you speak to other witches they may have different views on their book of shadows. I have gone through so many different books that you really don't have to spend loads of money on your own book of shadows. I know witches that use notebooks instead of leather bound books. For myself I started of with a slate book which was really hard to work in but it was a gift from my mother which I still own. I then went to a notebook style book to jot workings out in which again didn't work for my style. I finally after many moons found a leather bound book that I personally worked in for months and that spoke to me. The down side is I filled that book up and found myself lost again in hunting the perfect leather bound book for what I would call my book of shadows. The one I am using at the moment is the one pictured above. Now this isn't leather bound as it looks. Its a sketch book style notebook inside a leather bound cover so I can put a note book in once its filled up or another sketch book if I wished. This for me has worked well for the last couple of months because I have been working with watercolours in my book of shadows and becoming very creative within my workings. That being said I personally am a very creative person and what I do may not work for yourself. Don't stress out if you have jumped between so many different books that you feel lost many witches go through the same thing such as I did. Don't put so much stress on working on your book of shadows because its meant to be fun and relaxing to work in. If you put stress on working in your book of shadows you will just not work in them. You will put stress on the idea of one and it wouldn't become fun and more like a task that needs to be done. A book of shadows should never feel like a chore it should always be respected as a fun past time that you look upon with a smile and warmth when you complete one. Another point I want to make is the topics you put inside your book of shadows. If you are just starting out then I can list a couple topics here for you to start of with but if you have been a witch for many moons like myself then you find you revisit old subjects and its really enlightening for myself when I do. Theres so much information and knowledge to do with magic and the different topics that branch of that you will never learn everything the first time round. I will spend the rest of my life learning new aspects of magic because its never ending and when you learn that earlier on your path the better you will be. I had a fellow witch when I was starting out trying to learn everything so fast and she burnt out and gave up. Its not a race, its not a exam or a competition, this is a lifestyle that many of use were born for and no matter where your background is you can become a witch. You just need to understand that time is your friend and that you don't need to rush into anything. The topics I mentioned before that you could start your book of shadows off are: - History of witchcraft, - Types of witches - Types of magic, - Divination. Those four topics have many different branches you can follow and find so much information for them. Theses will help you build your magical base or foundation for your studies and no matter where you go theses subjects will follow you. You may as well start of on theses subjects than others. I hope you find this post helpful and useful to your mental health. I have heard so many witches say they are overwhelmed and I don't want you all to feel this pressure with your craft. This is a special path you are on and you should take your time and honour yourself and the magic you are learning. As always you can keep up to date with all things magical on my instagram and facebook under the name of @paganvibesonly. Come join the ever growing community and help each other in the progress. I hope to see you all in the next post and as always please stay safe in theses strange times. Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, So I have decided to do another fab crystal information post and today's crystal of choice is the amazing ruby. Now I have always had a special place for rubies because my nan always wore theses beautiful ruby earrings and they were just beautiful. Now as witches we know that all crystals and stones have great meanings behind them and what better than research one of those amazing crystals to give you the information? So many normal traditions use rubies such as the 40th anniversary of your wedding or it being the birthstone for July. But theres so much more to this beautiful crystal for witches it has great magical properties. For one its a great protection crystal to have and as many people wear them as a form of jewellery you could get hold of some really cute earrings and put your intention onto the pair while you wear them with pride. It's what my nan use to do. But there is so much more to this special crystal and I hope today's post will give you the better understanding for it to. But like I said before the magical properties for rubies are amazing such as: - Spirituality, - Wisdom, - Luck, - Wealth, - Protection, - Peace, - Courage, - Strength, - Honour, - Power, - Healing, - Enthusiasm, - Generosity, - Inspiration - Happiness. Rubies are a very powerful stone to have in your collection and one of the main reasons of this is because its such a great shield against negative energy and physic attacks. If you are an empath like myself then it will also protect you from energy vampires which I really need for work at the moment because of everything going on in the world. Anyway you may feel when working with rubies that your sense of limitation has been removed and thats because it has such strengthening courage and helps to build you up so you can do what you know you can without any fear. Rubies are also great to have in your pocket if you are in need of some courage to do with being a leader within work because it will never let you break. There are some mentions of rubies being the bringers of fire into ones life, offering encouragement and giving you the drive to follow your dreams and ambitions. That being said it can also cast a light in the darkest of moments when you need to find that spark of energy and conquering darkness on all levels and planes. If you are a creative person like myself then you will know we always hit those blockages, well rubies are great for promoting creativity and helps you manifest the ideas you wish to create. It helps you focus and brings clarity to help you achieve your goal. If you work with the chakras then rubies are really useful for the base chakra and the heart chakra because of the magical properties this one crystal holds. I hope you have all found this post really helpful and that this inspires you to do more research into this amazing crystal because I had only touched the surface of the amazing ways you can use this amazing stone. As always you can keep up to date on all things blog and witchy related away from this blog on instagram and facebook under the name of @paganvibesonly. I hope to see you all in the next post and please all stay safe in theses strange times. Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, I haven't done a first impressions post on a book for awhile with lock-down being active it was hard for me to get any new books to read and review which drove me bonkers because I am the biggest witchy bookworm you will ever meet! That being said my good friend told me that the Works near hers had this super cute moon book in and I decided I would check out my local to see if they had gotten the new book in. This book only cost me £4 and from having a quick look inside seems like its full of some great information about moon magic and how to work with them which I thought for £4 you can't go wrong. If it doesn't speak to me personally after reading a couple of chapters than I would pass it on to a friend. Personally I love getting theses style books because it helps you learn new tips and tricks you wouldn't personally think off. I also find there really good reading material when you have become what I call witchy blocked. For me that means I haven't connected to my craft for awhile and need a good rejig haha. See I don't think I have many moon magic books so this will be so handy for my ever growing collection and I am looking forward to reading this in more depth. I would also like to comment on the look of the book. It stands out as a very moon vibes which is great as it has all the information inside about moon magic that it states anyway. I love how simple the cover is and that the text is foiled blue to go with the theme. This would be a book that catches my eye if I wasn't already looking for this book to begin with and for that it gets brownie points. That being said as always I will share the blurb of this book with you and speak to you all about the book a bit more after. Book Blurb: "Connect with the magic of the moon cycles and live a happier life. Lunar living is the ultimate toolkit for understanding the moon's cycles, the effects they have on us and how working with them can help you live more purposefully. Renowned moon mentor Kirsty Gallagher explains how simple lifestyle changes, based on the moon's phases, can bring about positive life transformation. Lunar living will help you recognise when you should retreat and rest, and when is best to put yourself out in the world, shine and make things happen. Including a guide to the moon in each zodiac sign, moon rituals, affirmations and crystals suggestions, this easy to follow guide will help you: - Feel empowered to make big life decisions. - Understand yourself better. - Tune into your natural cycles. -Improve your sleep, mindset and relationships. -Live with intention." So from that blurb you get the feel that this book will help you connect and understand the moon cycles to the best of your ability which is great if your just starting off but what if you have been working with the moon for a while? I am looking forward to learning new aspects of the moon phases that I personally didn't know and I will have to do another post down the line to tell you how I got on with this book. But like I said before for £4 you really can't go wrong and if you learn even one new thing by getting this book then its worth it in my books. I will be starting to read this now before I go to bed so thank you all for reading this post and always supporting my little corner of the internet. As always you can follow me and keep up to date with all things blog and witchy related away from the posts on instagram @paganvibesonly and same on facebook at paganvibesonly. I hope to see you all in the next post and as always stay safe everyone x Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, So today's post is about something really special that was made for me. I mentioned a couple of months ago that I wanted my own Celtic Ogham set to my good friend Jemma aka @green_witch86. We were talking about how I was connecting with my roots and researching more about Celtic magic and I would really love a handmade set of Ogham runes for me to work with. Jemma being amazing as she is decided she could make me some and I was over the moon when she said she would for me. I know Jemma takes great pride in her creations and does a lot of research for each item. So I sent her information I had about the Celtic Ogham runes to help her create my perfect set. Now Jemma has been working on a load of different projects so I didn't mind the wait but she kept me excited because she sent me little sneaky peeks at what she was doing and working on. When she told me that she had finished creating my Celtic Ogham runes and that she only needed to get a wooden box for them I was over the moon because I knew I wouldn't have to wait long. She even used handmade paint to paint the wooden box to give it the added boost of energy and you can feel the love thats been put into this set for me. Jemma lined the inside of the box with this beautiful red velvet that just adds to how special this set is for me. She also included in the lid of the box all the runes for reference and she created a scroll that goes along with the set with all the information about each meaning of the Celtic Ogham runes and its just breath taking. When I first opened this box and I saw what it was i nearly cried because I knew how hard Jemma worked on creating this, to making it as perfect as ever just for me and for that much love to go into a creation is amazing. I paid for this set happily and will be happy to get Jemma to create more bits for my craft in the future because shes amazing and works her butt of to create theses amazing items. I will be adding her details bellow so you can check her work out and show her some love because shes worth it. I am over the moon with this set and the energy that I get of the runes is amazing. I love Jemma so much for creating theses for me and making them as perfect as I imagined they would be. Now if you would like something created with love then pop her a message and see if she can create something special for you too. Her accounts are: - Instagram @Green_Witch86 - Facebook - Greenwitch - Etsy - Greenwitch86 Check her items out and I highly recommend you get her to create you something wonderful because the amount of love she puts into each item she creates is worth the wait. As always you can keep up to day with everything blog related and otherwise on instagram @paganvibesonly and now on facebook which I will link my flow account at the end for you to check out. I hope you enjoyed today's post and that I will see you all in the next one. Please stay safe everyone <3 Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, So with it now being autumn I thought I would share with you all this quick little charm protection bag you can create within your home to help you kick negativity energy away this autumn season. I have already started to get my items together to create myself one of theses cute charm bags and I thought it would be such a handy idea to share with you all too. You will need: - A small drawstring bag to hold all the items in. - 1 or 2 pieces of tigers eye, amber or carnelian. (I personally have one tigers eye and one carnelian crystal) - 1 tablespoon of sage - 1 tablespoon of chamomile - 1 tablespoon of yarrow Now make sure when you are creating this charm bag that the sun is still out in full force because you will need the sun to charge all the items that you will be using. I would mix all the herbs you are putting into your charm bag in a small bowl and place in direct sunlight for at least one hour. I would also put your crystals next to the bowl in the direct sunlight too as they all need to be charged by sunlight. Once they are all charged you can then collect the items and your drawstring bag and while your putting the herb blend into your drawstring bag visualise yourself surrounded by the golden light of the sun. Then include your crystals and again visualise you being surrounded by the golden light. Once everything is included in the drawstring bag you can carry the charm with you whenever you feel sensitive to the energy change of the world. I personally keep my charm bag on me in my bag when I am out and about and in my pocket when I am away from said bag. I hope this little protection charm comes in handy for you all and as always you can follow me on instagram @paganvibesonly to keep updated on all things blog and witchy related. I post daily either in my stories or on my thread about what I receive, up and coming blog posts, what I am working on that that time and all the teas I drink! I also do topic questions and contact you all through instagram to find any topics you would like me to cover. So come over and follow me there because it can be really fun. I hope to see you all in the next post and please everyone stay safe in theses strange times. Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, Now today's post will be talking about some great crystals I got from the Rock And Quartz shop which I will link at the end of this post. I got the promoters kit they offer to people like myself who have blogs and instagram accounts that offer their opinions on types of products. For me crystals have always been a great part of my lifestyle and when I found out they were doing something like this I had to get my hands on this months kit. Now when this post goes live it will be October. This kit is for the September promoters but there will be a newer version in their shop I believe. Now this kit came with some beautiful goodies, a great discount code for all my followers and two information sheets about everything I got in this kit. So I thought I would share this information with you and my thoughts about each crystal. The first item I got out of this kit was the beautiful Rose quartz bracelet. Now I love my crystal bracelets and I have a good collection growing of theses but I can say this is my first rose quartz one I own. I have been wearing this bracelet all week because the energy from it is amazing and I needed some self love this week. The information sheet that I got in this pack states the rose quartz is the stone of universal love and can be used to restore harmony and trust within relationships. It is also a great crystal that purifies and opens the heart at all levels to help promote love, self-love and friendship. If you are working with the chakras then this crystal is perfect for your heart chakra and the element connected to this crystal is the element of water. The next crystal I picked out of this kit was the beautiful Amethyst crystal which I own a load of theses but they are perfect companion crystals to have in your collection. The information for this states that this crystal is a natural tranquilliser and helps brings calm over an active mind. Amethyst is also a useful stone to mediate with as it can bring clarity and aid to recovering memories. Again if your working with the chakras then this crystal is perfect for your third eye or crown and the element that is connected with this crystal is the element of air. Next is the beautiful brown and gold Tigers eye which is such a great crystal to have in your collection again I have quite a few of theses beautiful bad boys. This crystal is to help with courage and can encourage you to live boldly, fiercely and bravely in all aspects of your life. Its also a great crystal to help over come fear and give you a push to take the necessary risks. It is also a useful crystal to have because it helps when you come face to face with a difficult decision to make. If you are working with the chakras then this is the perfect crystal for your scaral/plexus and the element that is connected with this crystal is the element of fire. Now the only crystal that I personally don't own yet is the Leopard skin Jasper which I have been trying to get in my collection for a long time now. So when I saw this in this kit I nearly cried. This one crystal is such a great protection stone to have with you and its what I personally needed for awhile. This crystal protections you not only in the normal realm but also in astral projection. This crystal is also a great grounding stone and is especially handy in healing. Another great aspect of this crystal is that it can help you feel whole and instils serenity to your being making you feel cared for. This crystal is another great heart chakra crystal to use and again this crystal is connected with the element fire. The last crystal or stones I got in this kit was many mini bites of Pyrite which I have some in my collection from an old subscription box but its always handy to build my collection a bit. This stone is also known as the fools gold and is a unique protector that draws energy from the earth through the physical body to the aura. It can also create a defensive shield against negative energies and also supports the users confidence and boldness giving the user an assertive authority when needed. You also need to be mindful that this stone doesn't like water and shouldn't get wet at all times. The chakra connected to this stone is sacral or solar plexus and the element connected to this stone is again the element of fire. Now many of the information in this post was provided in with this kit which I found really useful to better understand theses crystals. I honestly believe Jane the owner knows what shes talking about when it comes to crystals and you can trust her to get the best crystals and stones in her shop. I may get another one of theses kits in the future because there such a great little kit and you get a code if I do. The discount code I have to share with you all is HEMATITE10 and this code will expire on the 27/12/2020 so you may as well treat yourself to some crystal goodies while you can. Her shop is www.rockandquartz.co.uk and if you want to check out some of her crystals on instagram her account is @rockandquartz. As always you can follow me on instagram @paganvibesonly and now you can also follow me on Facebook under paganvibesonly. I will be doing special offers on each account to if you want to keep updated and not miss anything follow and like both pages to get the best information and not miss out on anything good. I hope you find this post helpful and I will see you all in the next post. Please all stay safe in theses strange times <3 Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, It's that time of the month again that I bring you the amazing unboxing of Freya's Cauldron. Now I am really loving theses boxes as you all should know buy the past unboxing posts. I feel like each box brings something I have been looking for and also something that can be used within my months crafts. As always I will go through the information sheets first to give you an idea on what sheets came with this months box and then I will get into the good bits and all the amazing loot that came in the box. As I have said before I really enjoy getting theses information sheets because it helps me learn more aspects of the craft but also helps me keep track of all the information I do collect over the years. As many of you will know by now I have been a pagan from a very young age and its bee a big part of my life so getting theses sheets of information helps to keep track of everything because there is so much information out there to try and get a hold of. Anyway I will stop waffling and get right into the information sheets. We got in this months box for information: - Introduction to this months box. - Information about this months herb which is the comfrey herb. - Information about this months crystal which is the black tourmaline. - Information about hematite. - A remembrance Ritual sheet. I also got this sabbats collectable information card which will be added to my other cards until I have collected them all. I also got information in some kits but I will go into more detail about them when I get to them. One of the first items I got out of the box was the amazing home protection candle dressing oil. Now I am sure I may have this already in my collection from a past box but its always handy to get home protection oils because I use them so often when I renew my protection charms around my home. This blend of the home protection oil they created just for this box which makes it even more special. These oils can be used to dress candles that you are working with, within oil burners if you use them or within incense in your cauldrons. I love that they always make sure you know you need to skin test the oils before using it on yourself because people do forget to do this. I myself have forgotten many times which means this warning is always handy to have. The next item that caught my eye was the dinner candles or what I call taper candles. Now I prefer theses candles because I use theses a lot more than the spell candles because my altar is always dressed in theses candles. But that being said Freya's Cauldron has explained that theses were included because of supply issues with the covid issue still taking its toll on the world. That being said they have said they should have their spell candles back for the future boxes very soon. The colours of this months candles was black, yellow and orange. I only got one of each colour which is a shame as I normally have two of each colour on my altar so I will have to work about this some how. The herbs I got in this months box was the earthy smelling comfrey leaf and I know this is one I don't have in my collection yet so I am looking forward to reading the information included with this herb and also seeing what I can use this herb with. As always the other herb pot I got in this months box was the samhain sabbat blend which I now use to dress my altar slightly as an offering more than anything else. I wish I could burn this blend as a incense but my neighbours hate it. Problems of living in a flat.... This months crystal is a beautiful Black Tourmaline chunk which the energy of this chunk is amazing. I feel very drawn to this crystal at the moment so I was surprised that I got it in this months box. I happy surprise but a surprise neither the less. I do own some of the tumble stone versions of this crystal but this chunk will be happily added to my collection on my altar because its just beautiful. The wearable item in this months box is this beautiful Hematite heart necklace which I will be wearing all the time. I have a hematite bracelet that I have to wear because it helps with empaths and as I am one this helps me not be emotionally drained as much as I am within work. Dealing with the public in my day job takes it out of me quite a bit. So this necklace will be put of my new uniform and its beautiful so it shouldn't stand out either. As the past sabbats we got this beautiful samhain sabbat bowl for the altar in this months box and I am really loving theses bowls. They are the centre piece of my altar now and it just makes them more complete. Really love getting theses exclusive and one of a kind items in theses boxes because it makes them even more special. I also got a home protection spell kit which I will hopefully be doing this afternoon because its something I want to build upon within the next couple of weeks. I don't want unwanted visits from the other side while I am minding my own business now do I? The last two items in this months box is the pentagram protection amulet which is beautiful and was handcrafted by the amazing Graham who works or part owns Freya's cauldron. This is such a great little item and I will be making my amulet when I get a chance to have near my front door. Got to protect my home as much as possible theses days. The last item is this super cute pumpkin craft kit which as the information sheet says a little bit of fun for Halloween. I love getting theses kinds of things because I can work on this while doing other bits and it can sit on my altar once I have finished it. Overall this months box is amazing and well worth the pennies. As you have probably gathered by now I have a big love and respect for everything Freya's Cauldron stands for and they put so much love into their boxes each month that you can't blame me for loving them so much. As always you can keep updated on all things witchy outside of the blog on Facebook or Instagram under the name @Paganvibesonly. I post daily or as often as I can at the moment about up coming topics and what I have been doing in my free time. If you want to join in with the community then join theses pages so you don't miss out. I hope to see you all in the next post and please everyone stay safe in theses strange times. Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, As witches we all know what crystal balls are used for and why we use them but do we really know the history behind them? I took a deep dive into the history of crystal balls to find all the information I will be sharing with you all today! I found this really interesting and I actually learn more about crystal balls then I knew which is always a bonus when creating theses posts. Now most pop culture use crystal balls for fortune telling which can annoy some witches because crystal balls are such a special divination tool that many witches have the skill in using. If you don't know what crystal balls are used for and you have just started out on your path then crystal balls are used as a tool for scrying. You basically focus your intention into the crystal ball and through your third eye you will see the answers you seek. Personally I haven't successfully learnt this skill because it can take years for someone to really learn this skill and down side is I will most likely be one of those. That being said you could have the natural talent in getting the answers you wish quite quickly with little to no practice and if that sounds like you then I am well jealous! Now scrying isn't just for crystal balls you can use any reflective surface like a mirror or a bowl of water but that being said today's post is all about crystal balls so I will stick to that topic for now. This kind of practice has been around for as long as witches and druids have been around. These skills have always made appearances in the mystical and religious traditions of many different ancient civilisations. Now the most note worthy people who use these skills were the Druids which were well known for being well educated, highly respected citizens that lived between the British Isles and France during the Iron age. Now Druids were always sought out for their skills with medicine but that was not the only skills druids were known for. They loved collecting knowledge of the world which came in all different forms back then such as poetry, law and of course religious rituals. The great downside for druids was Christianity, when that religion came to be they nearly wiped out all of the druids and their knowledge stating it was workings of the devil which we all know were lies to build that religion up. Now even with that happening druids knowledge has survived through the years and one notable account of this is in the Romans. When Julius Caesar was about, he spoke highly about their religious practices. Another Roman was Pliny the Elder who actually devoted one chapter of his book 'The natural history' to the druids of the Gallic provinces. The following chapter in his book he describes and dismisses many forms of magic which included the uses with water and with balls which we can see today as early accounts of scrying. Now we are unknown if he was using druid magic or other forms to come up with theses terms because there were many branches of magic about like there is still today. While Christianity was taking over and dominating the Western Europe throughout the middle ages, the form of scrying become a divisive practice. Christians were split in half about this magical practice because many thought it was divine intervention what they saw in theses tools like the crystal ball but others believed it was the work of the devil and was pure evil workings. Another great book to note about this subject was written back in the fifth century called 'The city of god' written by St.Augustine which denounced scrying and claiming all magical practices as 'deceptive rites of demons who masquerade under the names of angels'. This effected a lot of practices because people then started to believe it was devil workings. A great note in the history of crystal balls and scrying as a whole is that many unlikely scholars actually defended the practice and this is later found out in the book Mark pendergrast explains in 'Mirror Mirror: A history of the human love affair with reflection'. He proves that back in the Renaissance age a increasing popularity of translated workings from the Arabic mentioned scrying in a scientific way. One important text that was translated was called Picatrix and in his workings out considered mysticism as a branch of science. That meant the practice of scrying was elevated to something noble and even rational. Many welcomed these ideas from the doom and gloom the Christianity was spreading around at that time. Because of this scrying became popular between scientists who were regarded as the educated elite. Another great way to prove this is in the museum of the history of science which boasts a 17th century crystal ball in its collection with the explanation "The literature of magic itself recalls a time when natural and supernatural knowledge shared a common language. Sixteenth-Century records of seances at which spirits were conjured typically went under the title of books of experiments". The crystal ball still was banished by the church and was continued to be called devil workings but within the scientific world it was still in a relatively good standing. That being said the crystal ball made its way to the royal English court and was introduced by John Dee, who was an alchemist and mathematician with a great interest in the magical. He was a close adviser to Queen Elizabeth 1st. She also relied on Dee's counsel in the scheduling of important events and matter of astrology. Dee also had a partner whom the Queen respected called Edward Kelley. It has been reported that Kelley was a much more successful medium and some believe he was duping Dee all along. Many accounts show that Dee held regular scrying sessions along with Kelley that would consisted of them staring into an obsidian mirror for hours in hopes to communicate with the angles to gain otherworldly wisdom that could help Queen Elizabeth 1st. There has been other crystal ball gazers in the political world other than Dee and Kelley. A few centuries later Jeane Dixon was also considered a crystal gazer and even collected fame for her political predictions. Dixon was best known for predicting the assassination of John F. Kennedy, though the legitimacy of her predictions is doubted by many who don't believe. Many skeptics nicknamed the term 'the Jeane Dixon effect' to describe the phenomenon of psychics being remembered favourably despite how inaccurate many predictions were. Now the classic pop culture references of the crystal ball being used by people wearing turbans can be blamed on the Romani people which many refer them as Gypsies. Now this hits close to home for myself because I actually have Romani gypsies in my family bloodline and they were magical workers. I personally believe its why I am drawn to the magical and why my mother and Nan was too. This reference to fortune telling was because Romani Gypsies would travel to different villages and towns to read the crystal balls to earn money for food and supplies for themselves. Since then many people have dressed up as such when trying to sell fortune readings and today's day and age many are fake or using the history to gain quick cash. Now that is the history of crystal balls and why the pop culture has used it in many different cases. I hope you found today's post really interesting because I sure did while researching this topic. As always you can follow me on instagram @paganvibesonly. I post daily about aspects of my life that wouldn't normally come on my blog. If you just wanted to keep updated or even have a quick chat then you can catch me there when I am away from the blog. I hope to see you all in the next post and as always please stay safe we are living is strange times at the moment. Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x Merry meet everyone, Today I will be talking to you all about the history of the witches cauldron. Now I have spent way to much time on this post because the cauldron has been a symbol through out history and not just for witches which made things a little harder for me than normal. That being said it was well worth the digging around because I found out some really interesting things about the cauldron I personally didn't know so that is always a bonus. So you all know that a cauldron is a well known tool for any witch, its as well known as the besom. Now we all know that the cauldron is defined as a large metal pot that can have a lid and a handle, that is normally used for cooking over an open fire. The cauldron has been used since time began it seems, well into the ancient times because thats the only way they could cook their meals. The word cauldron is from the old Norse and Germanic words meaning a hot place. Back when there was no such thing as electric many households had a large cauldron to cook their meals over the fire and keeping themselves warm. There was also a mention that some households that had money had big enough cauldrons to have baths in too. Many see the cauldron as a symbol of protection and life because of this reason. Without a cauldron back then you would of died from the cold or from hunger or both. The cauldron was always seen by a women mixing their food using a wooden stick and thats why cauldrons are associated with women's magic or more commonly known as witches magic. Women back in those days spent most of the day mixing in this cauldron to make the meals because it wasn't easy to create meals and the fire only heated the mixture slowly. Now the cauldron symbolises many different aspects of witchcraft. Most people will commonly symbolise the cauldron as the divine feminine because it is viewed as the womb of magic. This could be because the cauldron creates to provide for others such as cooking back in the old days. There are others that believe the cauldron is the womb of the earth and is connected to the goddesses. Theres also speaks that the cauldron is known for transformation and alchemy which again can be connected back to when food and remedies were placed and mixed inside the cauldron. Many witches know the cauldron is connected to all elements of the earth. The pot and food that goes inside is the earth, the brews created inside is the water, the fire that heats the cauldron up and then the steam that comes from the mixture cooking is air. The cauldron also has three legs that represent the Celtic sacred number three. This could mean the three main lunar phases, the three stages of life/death/rebirth cycle or the triple goddess. There has been uses of the cauldron throughout history and through out myths too so if you would like to look into the history of the cauldron yourself then be prepared that you will be jumping down a rabbit hole of information. I wanted to cover the witches side of the cauldron but like I said theres so many references to the cauldron through the times that you could find more information if you wish to jump into that hole. As always you can follow me on instagram @paganvibesonly and I post daily or near daily as I can with what I am doing within my life away from the blog. I also post new products I am trying and if you wish to contact me and ask me a question you can catch me there to. Don't forget to check out the other posts I have created and that I will be with you in the next post. Please stay safe everyone :) Blessed be x PaganVibesOnly x |
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