I’m looking especially at other white witches here who think it’s okay to work with Native American spirits.
This just in: if you are not Native (specifically Ojibwe, Salteaux, Cree, Naskapi, Innu or I think Cherokee) a wendigo WILL kill you. Don’t work with wendigos if you are not Native!!! This isn’t Supernatural!!
No but seriously, sometimes spirit workers can and do run into spirits from closed traditions, and if you’re not interested in cultural appropriation, it can be intimidating figuring out what to do.
1. Ask it what it needs. Sometimes a spirit from a closed culture will get lost or mixed up. So if you run into one, ask what it wants/needs. Sometimes it’s just an accident that they showed themselves to you. If it’s lost, tell it where it can find the nearest place that belongs to said culture or religion.
2. DO NOT FORCE IT TO DO ANYTHING. Spirits can trick you, and vice versa. I’ve seen people take some really roundabout ways of working with spirits to justify working with spirits from closed practices. And in some cases, people will try and trick these spirits into working with them, even as far as binding memories to get them to work for you. Even if it’s friendly, leave it be.
3. Nine times out of ten, a spirit from a closed practice will outright refuse to work with/for you if you are not part of that culture. Spirits from closed practices can range anywhere from amiable but hesitant to outright aggressive and hateful when it comes to outsiders. (Especially white people!) I’ve even heard that people of mixed heritage can have trouble with spirits from closed cultures because not every spirit sees them as “enough” of that heritage. For those of you with mixed heritage, I will leave this 100% up to you. Not like, “I’m 1/36 Cherokee!” but like, you know your history and try to be involved with it because it has near family history. It’s up to your own comfort levels, not me (as a white person) to decide.
Basically, leave them be. There are TONS of spirits out there from open cultures and practices that are really fun to work with. Leave the few who belong to cultures that have gone through near cultural genocide to the people of that culture/practice. It’s like taking a handicapped parking space. It’s shitty and entitled. There are so many other parking spaces you can park in, but you really really wanted THAT ONE that is specifically marked for elderly/pregnant/disabled people. Don’t do it!!!
There are very rare cases where a person not of said practice may come across a spirit from a closed practice and need to work with them. For example, I recently rescued a number of spirits from closed cultures from a spirit collector. I’m helping heal these spirits and finding them places/witches from their own heritage to work with. (I mostly let my nonhuman healers and healers with heritage from said culture help them, however.) If you find yourself in some sort of situation where there is a spirit from a closed practice that you need to deal with in some way, (again, 9/10 just leave it be!!) make SURE that you do your research on the culture.
Be respectful. Read up on history and heritage and culture of that spirit. Donate if you can to heritage preservation societies or religious temples or closed practices.
And once again, DO NOT WORK WITH SPIRITS FROM CLOSED PRACTICES. If you find one, leave it be. I can guarantee that you will incur more favor by saying “hey you’re nice but I’m not comfortable working with you given our respective histories” than working with a spirit from a closed practice. Guarantee.
Don’t culturally appropriate.
Side note, we don’t fuck with W*nd*goes either… Like the nation that their lore comes from says not to even say that word out loud at night or during the winter.
Don’t get fucked up cause you wanna play with shit you don’t understand. This ain’t Supernatural, nobody will be coming to rescue your ass
Seriously does anyone know a good herbal dictionary of magical uses that ISNT Scott Cuningham???????
The Master Book of Herbalism by Paul Beyerl. My go to for all things plant and magic 🌙
I like Mrs. B’s Guide to Household Witchery, it’s part herbs and food corespondences and part ideas for ways to use them. Great for Cottage and Kitchen witches or those wanting to use everyday items. It is a gem.
The Encyclopedia of Magickal Ingredients by Lexa Rosean. It covers botanicals, minerals, fruits and vegetables. I’m constantly referring back to it. Fantastic resource.
The leaves are changing colors and falling to the ground. Pick one up and use a sharpie to write down change you wish to manifest this fall. Crumple the leaf in your palm (it should go into many crunchy pieces) and blow it away like one would do with a dandelion. You will see the change in your life.
That’s why I call my witchcraft a practice. There is no illusive perfect form to arrive at. It grows and changes with new experiences and knowledge. For me, it is important to be open to that understanding and to allow my practice to grow with me and move through the world with me.
I knew moonsalt since I was a little kid, and I had no idea that it was witchcraft. thing. Basically moonsalt = salt+ash+oil. Of course you can add wahtever you want to this is just a base.
☾ What i need to make it?
☽
★ 1 or 2 teaspoons of salt (normal or sea salt, I prefer normal)
★ piece of paper and a pen
★ some oil (I use lavender oil)
Write a sigil on the paper. I mostly use protection or balance sigil. Then burn the paper (be carefull!)
Mix ash, salt and oil and keep it safe in a tiny bottle. You can carry your moonsalt in your bag for protection or keep it in your house for balance.
☾ Why moonsalt?
☽
I was a kid when I called it like that, probably because of its colour.
☾ Moonsalt will help you to keep balance in your life and its really simple to do even for baby witches
Set an extra plate at dinner for deceased relatives
Place a light or candle in your window to guide spirits back to the veil
Make a scapegoat or ward out a jack-o-lantern to deter baneful spirits and harmful magic
Eat traditional harvest foods – squash, apples, corn, etc.
Visit a graveyard and leave offerings on the oldest graves
Hang parsley in your doorway to invite spirits inside
Shuffle your tarot cards. Find the death card – the card to your left is something you need to let go of; the card to your right is something you need to achieve
Pour libations to deities who assist spirits in crossing over
Ask spirits for their assistance in divination; ensure you give them something in return
Friendly reminder that on this Samhain if you plan to contact spirits, please PLEASE do it safely!
Set up a special place before you get started, make sure you will be uninterrupted while doing your work if possible. I know sometimes it’s hard to work that out for some. I personally have two children and I have to wait till they are asleep to do this kind of work.
Protect yourself, reenforce any protections you may already have, not just on you but on your space as well. Make sure you’re grounded and prepared for the work you’re going to do.
RESEARCH! DO NOT GO IN UNPREPARED! Guys seriously don’t just decided half assed that you’re going to speak with the dead or spirits because you see others doing it. Know what you are going to do. Research rituals, spells, sigils, whatever and make a plan. Stick with the plan, being prepared and having knowledge is honestly your most powerful tools in the Craft.
Tools, be familiar with the tools you plan to use. I am most familiar and connected to my pendulum so he is what I use the most, second is cards and candles I use all three together but I use my pendulum for the main communication, if I need help that he can’t give I use my tarot cards and candles with him. It is important to be familiar and know your tools so that you know when something isn’t right. Spirits can be tricky and your best defense of knowing what’s truth and lie is knowing your tools and how they typically respond to you.
Don’t go in being open to just any spirit that’s willing to talk to you if you’re not experienced. You need to have an idea of who you want to speak with, this comes back to being prepared and knowledge.
If it gets weird or scary don’t just stop. You need to be firm and say goodbye and end any spell you were doing, blow your candles out and close your circle and ground yourself. Take notes of what happened for later. Do not just leave this situation, be firm about disconnecting with the spirit and ending what you are doing.
Don’t get discouraged if things don’t go right or you don’t make contact it happens and Samhain isn’t the only time you can contact them. You can always try again.
If you don’t feel that you are prepared enough or comfortable with contacting the spirit world yourself there are plenty of spirit workers, mediums, witches, Oracles ect that you can contact to do it for you.
If your blog is open for spirit work paid or free reblog this so people will know they can contact you as a safe alternative to going it alone and unprepared. I ask that if you reblog for that reason you note if you’re paid or free please. 🧡🖤
Stay safe, stay witchy, have a blessed and happy Samhain! 🎃🖤🧡
So, today we’re going to talk about a slightly more obscure tool: the witch’s ladder. There’s some debate as to whether or not this was a commonly used tool in older European traditions of witchcraft. In the late 1870’s a witch’s ladder, along with a collection of brooms, was found in the attic of a recently deceased woman in Somerset, sparking suspicions of witchcraft. Unfortunately, it’s not actually known whether or not this object was really used in witchcraft or how widespread the use may have been if it was. More on the history of these tools can be found here.
Now, what is a witch’s ladder? It’s a type of knot talisman made by inserting small objects into a length of cord, traditionally rooster feathers and sometimes small bones were used but you can use locks of hair, teeth, beads, sticks, leaves, seashells or pretty much anything that works for your practice.
Originally, it’s thought that they were used to curse but their uses in modern practices are endless. I’ll be making one to protect my house and create easier communication with the Other Realms.
How to Make a Witches Ladder
Ok, to start us off we need a few supplies. There are three main things that I’m using.
First is the cord, feel free to use whatever material you like. When I’m doing work like this I prefer to use regular old kitchen twine. It’s sturdy and not overly processed. You could use yarn, thread, rope, sinew or ribbon as well though.
The second thing that I’ll be using is a couple of small bones, I’m using six because I like working with multiples of three.
Finally, the feathers. These are brown mourning dove feathers; I’m using these as opposed to another type of feather because they’re good for communicating with Spirit and for fostering awareness.
I would like to mention here that while handy in the craft, collecting bones and feathers that you find can be illegal.Most birds are protected species and regardless of whether you found the feathers or ripped them off of the bird yourself, possessing them is illegal. Be sure to check the laws in your area. This problem can usually be solved by writing a letter to the appropriate wildlife officials asking for permission to pick up specific types of bird feathers for a collection. Once written permission is obtained it only has to be kept with the feathers to avoid any ramifications. Of course, if you’re not going to be waving about rare bird feathers in the town square this is probably unnecessary.
As I said, you can replace bones or feathers with whatever you like. Use Barbie arms if that’s what floats your boat. I usually use nine items in mine and the traditional number would be thirteen but feel free to adjust this to fit your needs.
Another optional material would be a metal ring, you can tie the ladder to this and use that to hang it from a hook on the ceiling or something if you like. I’ll just be using a thumbtack.
As always prep yourself and your workspace however you prefer. Cast a circle, take a ritual bath, light some incense, maybe put on some music. Consecrate your supplies and get to work.
The creation of a witch’s ladder is surprisingly simple and quick. Take your cord and cut three equal lengths. How long you make it is up to you, for example, I like each length to be from the fingertips of my left hand to my heart in length. Tie the ends together, if you are using a metal ring, tie it to the ring; otherwise just an overhand knot on the end does the trick.
Start braiding, for this one I used your typical three-strand braid but you could add and subtract cords and use rope braids, fishtail braids or five strand braids as well. As you braid begin adding in your objects. I don’t do anything special, I just keep braiding as usual while adding my feathers and stuff in between two strands. Here’s a close-up of my ladder partially finished.
I spread mine out semi-evenly along the length of the cord, if you’re a stickler about getting things even then make sure you remember that you’ll lose about a third of the cord length in the process of braiding.
As you add each item to the ladder spend a few moments to state your intention or meditate on the purpose of your spell. I kind of just spend the entire time I’m making the ladder talking to it and telling it what I would like of it. You could also use the traditional nine knot spell if incantations are your thing. I find them too constricting for my practice but for those of you who prefer more ritualized working here it is
“By knot of one, the spell is begun
By knot of two, it cometh true
By knot of three, so mote it be
By knot of four, the open door
By knot of five, it comes alive
By knot of six, the spell is fixed
By knot of seven, it has the power of heaven
By knot of eight, the open gate
By knot of nine, it is mine”
After all of your items are in place you need to finish your cord. You can just tie a knot in it and either trim the excess cord or let it hang there, or you can add something to the end as a sort of weight, bells are a common choice. Feel free to let it charge in the light of the moon or sun if you like.
Once it’s completely done take it and hang it somewhere, I like to have them on my porch but hanging it in your room or kitchen works as well. If the spell is more malicious I’d suggest hiding it away somewhere close to your target instead of hanging it.
Here’s my finished ladder, hanging out on my porch.
A few ideas for uses of these lovely tools:
Warding magic – Use to create a “Do Not Enter” sign for unfriendly energies. The ladder conveys the meaning that those who would harm are unwelcome.
Attraction magic – Use it to attract people, familiars, ideas, mindsets, jobs, circumstances, luck, etc. into your life
Binding the thirteen moons of the year – This is a method used to harness the power of the thirteen full moons of the year, allowing you to perform weather magic and nature magic more easily and opening the doorway to the Other Realms.
Traveling – Ladders can be used as a gate into the Other Realms. An actual “ladder” for your spirit to climb up into various planes
Natural magic – You can use items related to the branch of nature that you work with. For me it’s trees but perhaps you work with the ocean, mountains, forests, animals, insects, and so on.
Wish magic – You can use rolled up slips of paper or pressed leaves and make a ladder with them, writing your wish on each one. As the ladder is slowly destroyed by the elements, your wish comes true.
Divination – I’ll need to make a full post about this if anyone is interested, it’s a tad complicated
Worship – You could use a witches ladder as an offering to a deity, perhaps as a nine day devotional where you tie in an offering every day and ending with hanging it on the last day
Curses – and of course, witches ladders can be used to curse.
As usual, if anyone has any questions or would like me to make a follow up post on anything I’ve mentioned here, let me know!
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