witchesISSUE FOUR SPRING 2020
SPELLS // CRYSTALS // TAROT // HOROSCOPES PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM @DEANNA_LYNNN
PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK @PLAIN.FOLK WELCOME EDITOR’S LETTER
This is the magazine for witches, wanderers and wild ones.
It brings me so much joy to announce to you all that this is our fourth edition of Witches; we’ve been throwing witchy magic your way for a whole calendar year. That’s right, four editions crammed full of spells, recipes, top tips and horoscopes, all for you to enjoy. I started this journey a year ago, a bright-eyed student wanting to create an outlet for a community which is often lacking in representation. My greatest hope is that you feel as though Witches has completed its task. Based on nearly 20,000 of you following the magazine’s journey on Instagram, I’d say we’ve definitely made a strong start! There is always progress to be made though.
On a personal note, I am due to graduate in July 2020. For the past three years, I’ve put my heart and soul into a Journalism Degree in Falmouth, Cornwall, UK. I couldn’t be happier to have made it until the end, but with this, comes a very loaded question; what next? There’s a huge level of pressure attached to graduation. All eyes are on you to have a promising game plan, a next step, a large, calculated leap into the next unknown chapter. My message to you all, regardless of whether you’re graduating, starting a new chapter, or opting to stick with what you’ve got, is that it’s okay to not have it all planned out. Life has a habit of throwing opportunities in your direction, if you’re brave enough to take them.
I believe that we make our own luck. We set intentions, we manifest, we meditate, we visualise. It’s in our nature as witches. My words of (little) wisdom, are as follows: it’s okay to not have a plan. It’s okay to bide your time, to weigh up your options before you jump. In this new decade, and new spring-time season, allow yourself time to breathe, refocus, realign and process. Chances are, you’ll notice something new on the horizon if you allow yourself the chance to spot it.
PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK @PLAIN.FOLK CONTENTS 18 48 SPRING 2020 MAGICAL TAROT HEALTH WITCH
Our resident Health Witch, Tarot isn’t just used for Ashley from @health_ helping you to understand a witch_ shares her secrets situation; it’s also perfect for crafting indigenous 1 for setting intentions and herbals. Accompanied by spell casting. Flip to page photographs by @plain.folk eighteen to learn all of SPELLS OF THE Genette’s tips and tricks. SEASON
Spring is here; it’s a time for new beginnings, and whole new cycle to work with. Have a read of 32 60 our Spells of the Season section for top tips on how to embrace spring-time. MAGIC, EVERY POETRY & ARTS
DAMN DAY In this new section, we’ve compiled a selection of Flip to page thirty-two witchy poems, illustrations 9 for an exclusive interview and creative writing. with Bakara Wintner, author Witchcraft is creativity; of WTF is Tarot. She’s an submissions are always HARNESSING FIRE interesting soul. welcome.
Fire is represented by the suit of wands in the tarot, which is linked to Spring. 69 Fire is the life of a volcano. 41 It’s the passion between lovers. Ryan shows us how HOROSCOPES we can incorporate fire into KITCHEN WITCH our spring-time rituals. The wonderfully talented Spring... the perfect time Katie from Urban Witchery for a tea party. Thea from brings you your horoscope Hags Herbarium has got for this season. What’s in just the thing for spring- store for your sign this time? time cooking - welcome Flip to page 69 to find out. to our Divine Tea Party. Spring is here. To us, spring-time symbolises a fresh start. Flowers are beginning to blossom after a long, dark winter. The same applies to us; it’s time to wake up from our winter hibernation, stretch, and open our minds to the possibilities that spring brings. Embrace the lighter days, the sun on our backs. Spring is here, and here’s what we recommend to make the most out of it.
SPELLS OF THE SEASON
PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM @DEANNA_LYNNN 1 | SPELLS OF THE SEASON OSTARA EQUILIBRIUM
BY VICTORIA, @wildlivingvic
Night and day are now of perfect Not surprisingly, the goddess The egg represents the promise of new life, equilibrium. Light and dark, the feminine Eostre has been depicted as having symbolising both rebirth and fertility. and the masculine; everything is perfectly the head and shoulders of a hare. The egg, being orb-shaped, is sometimes balanced. The year is now waxing, and The hare is seen a lot throughout pagan seen as the earth, moon and sun as a light is slowly fading out the darkness. traditions and Celtic traditions, as it is whole. The shell is usually likened to Everything is lighter in the natural known to be the totem animal of the lunar the colour of light brown soil, the white world and within us. The vibrancy of flora goddesses Hecate, Holda and Freyja. The hare being the moon and the orange yolk being bursting through the cold earth, drawing usually symbolises the moon and has also the sun, all combined to create life. in insects and well-needed bees into our been called the ‘lunar hare’ during Ostara. line of sight, waking up our bodies’ Ostara is where the hare really does There are many traditions involving the natural clock to the Spring Equinox. shine. Being the closest association egg around Ostara; egg hunts, painting The promises of Imbolc have been fulfilled, as with the goddess Eostre, the hare is eggs, writing wishes on them, and sowing we see the abundance and fertility that earth the official icon and symbol of this time cress seeds in the egg. Some witches has achieved with a celebration of Ostara. of year. You may be lucky to see one! also find that burying a raw egg at the entrance of their homes will ensure The energies that flow through each animal The hare and the moon have traditionally abundance and fertility in your garden. vibrate through the flow of the forests thought to have both died each day in order No matter which witchy route you follow, be to the mountains and reach our primitive to be reborn again. For this reason, the hare sure to indulge in the mystical vibrancy souls, which seem to jolt us from our is seen as an animal of not only fertility of Ostara. Bake delicious bread and cakes, sleepy winter state of mind. Suddenly and abundance, but also immortality. reach into the soil in your garden or we are awake alongside mother earth. When researching the traditions, meanings, local forest and feel the energy working and history of the hare and the symbolism through you. Visit your local trees like The mythical name Ostara comes from the it has amongst the Pagan world, you will birch, ash and alder, paint eggs and Germanic goddess Eostre, who traditionally quickly realise that this is where the decorate your altar with flowers and hare is celebrated and honoured during the story of the Easter bunny comes from. figurines, or even reach out to a lunar month of April. It was celebrated that Christians had developed this story, goddess. This is the time for rebirth. Eostre is the goddess of rebirth and being that the Easter bunny brought eggs fertility, hence why we have Easter eggs, to children on Easter morning, and that hares, rabbits, chicks and lambs around the rebirth and resurrection was due to this time of year. Babies everywhere! Jesus coming back to life. How does an egg These festivals were so loved by ancient gifting bunny relate to Jesus? We aren’t pagans, Christians decided to make it sure, and it could be scoffed at by many a part of their religion also, but not witches. However, despite the past and before changing the story first! Eostre current situations, we must all respect evolved from the name oestrogen, a one another’s beliefs and kindly nod to any hormone essential to a woman’s fertility. ideas we may perceive as hard to understand.
3 | SPELLS OF THE SEASON SPELLS OF THE SEASON | 4 SPRING CLEANING: BLENDING THE MAGICAL WITH THE MUNDANE
BY LEXIE, @pixiesholisticemporium
The days are beginning to draw out. The Our homes become cosy and cluttered as light we have pined for is reappearing we nest over the winter. As the light once more. Deep within our souls is returns, we awaken from this slumber and a familiar feeling starting to stir, shake it off by listening to our call propelling forth age-old urges to clear from within. We are drawn to the rebirth and make way for new beginnings. As the of the light. We feel compelled to bring days roll closer to Spring, our desire our surroundings out of the dark and to declutter, clean, make space and into the light once more. But how can breathe new life into ourselves and our the mundane tasks of cleaning even come surroundings is gaining momentum. It may close to the magical life of witchcraft? surprise you to find that the roots of The magical and the mundane blend spring cleaning traditions date as far effortlessly when you know how! With a back as 3000 B.C. and are present in many few simple household tools, our witchy cultures, including those of Jewish and store cupboard essentials and the odd Chinese origin. In Persian culture, the chant, your home will be feeling fresh, Persian New Year falls on the first day of energised and magical in no time at all. Spring and the practice is called “khooneh When it comes to clearing clutter, keep tekouni” which literally translates to it simple, tackle one area at a time and “shaking the house”. It is a ritual have a keep, recycle and rubbish pile. house clean, where the entire house is Whatever doesn’t bring joy to your life, cleaned and polished. It includes a new needs to move on. A common symbol of set of clothes, post winter repairs and the witch is her broom or besom. This neighbours visiting each other during fabulous tool is not just for sweeping the festivities. History and tradition physical dirt, but it also breaks and aside, many believe that spring cleaning sweeps out negative energy from your is within our nature; we are bound to the space. Some choose to have two separate ever-changing seasons. Winter and a lack brooms for these tasks, but it’s okay of light creates an increase in melatonin, if you only have one. Top tip: never which encourages a slumber effect. sweep on a Monday, as it is considered
PHOTO: JENNY JILES @JENNYGILES_PHOTOGRAPHY
SPELLS OF THE SEASON | 6 PHOTO: JENNY JILES @JENNYGILES_PHOTOGRAPHY
to sweep all of your money away! Starting Write them on the front door and windows at the back door, sweep each room, using lemon juice. Although invisible, moving in a counter clockwise direction the intention is strong. Washing down as you go. Be sure to finish up at the your front door with warm water and a back door and sweep all of the debris couple drops of peppermint essential oil and negative energy out. If you were will help to refresh the vibrations and to sweep it out of the front door, it welcome in luck and abundance. Top tip: simply invites the unwanted energy back if you don’t have the essential oil, in! Chanting is also a good way to help peppermint tea works in the same way! clear out negative energy while you are sweeping or even washing the floor. As you For an all-purpose cleaner, grab yourself sweep or wash the floor, chant out loud: a 300ml spray bottle, fill with 240ml of water and 60ml of white vinegar. Now add in 10 drops of Lavender essential oil and “SWEEP, SWEEP, SWEEP 10 drops of Orange essential oil (always THE GROUND, ALL wear gloves when cleaning with the spray). Not only are the vinegar and essential oils NEGATIVITY SHALL BE antibacterial, but Orange essential oil is an aphrodisiac, completely embracing BOUND, I BANISH ALL THAT the fertility, new life and passionate energy of Spring. Lavender is known for IS PROFANE, ONLY THE its purifying energy. It also encourages happiness, love, embracing the light, POSITIVE SHALL REMAIN.” and tranquillity associated with Spring.
Winter creates a lot of stagnation and How do we embrace the coming of Spring heaviness within us and our physical and include our craft? Simple, essential spaces. The changing of the season to oils! Grab a litre of hot water, add 200ml Spring allows us to cleanse and clear of white vinegar, and add a maximum of 18 that heaviness. We can pack away the drops of Sage essential oil and 18 drops cosy slumber of winter and embrace of Lavender essential oil. This is only the lightness that is synonymous with suitable for use with a mop. Avoid direct Spring. By clearing away what no longer skin contact. Sage is well known for its serves us, embracing a natural approach cleansing properties, but it can also to our cleaning rituals, and by using purify a space of negative and stagnant essential oils, we open up ourselves energy, whereas Lavender is known for and our physical spaces to the fresh its purification and protection energies. magical possibilities and opportunities Another mundane task most of us groan about of the changing season. Our craft and is washing windows and doors. But these the seasons are all part of an ever- are what help transfer energies in and out evolving, intertwined magical life. of our spaces, while controlling how much of the energising spring light we can bask *Disclaimer: Pure essential oils in. A great way to add your own magical must be used with care. Do not allow touch is to create your own protection, direct skin contact. With all cleaners, abundance, and positivity sigils. run a discreet patch test first, and avoid highly polished surfaces.
7 | SPELLS OF THE SEASON SPELLS OF THE SEASON | 8 PHOTO: KAT MANLEY @KAT.MANLEY.PHOTO HARNESSING FIRE
BY RYAN, @ryankurr
“He looks like someone who knows how to A unique characteristic of this mesmerizing finesse a fire,” a stranger once said to me element, is that it can be extinguished by during a camping trip, as everyone pondered any of the other elements, yet it is the how to revive a dwindling flame. There is only one that must consume another matter a heavy truth to that statement, with my in order for it to thrive and sustain sun, moon, Mars and Venus all in Aries. itself. Harnessing the power of fire can I’ve always had a fascination with fire. be helpful with creative endeavors, manifesting potential, building It was what led me to light all the partnerships and making decisions. candles on my mother’s iron candelabra There are many ways to utilise the power during summer break, only to knock of fire. It can be as simple as bathing it over and set the carpet ablaze. in sun rays or building a ritual fire I’m no longer as careless as I was and staring into the flames for a try at when I was a child, but I’m just as pyromancy, divination through fire. While fascinated, if not more, than I was then. there are many tools and ingredients that are associated with fire, the gold Fire is represented by the suit of wands is in how you use and personalise them. in the tarot, which is linked to Spring. While the ways listed here are great Fire is the life of a volcano. It’s the jumping off points, feel free to expand passion between lovers. Its essence is upon them or come up with your own. creative, destructive, purifying, sexual The best spells and methods are the and transformative. It illuminates ones you create yourself. Here are six our lives with unlimited potential. ways to incorporate fire in your life:
9 | SPELLS OF THE SEASON A SIMPLE SPRING EQUINOX OIL 1 T dried basil 1. 2. 3. 1 T dried thyme 1 T dried peppermint 1 T dried rosemary Create a meal with Add heat to your life Burn an item or 2 bay leaves ingredients that through the use of plant and use 1 allspice berry hold fire energy. color. Red, orange and the ashes in a Allspice, basil, bay yellow are all colors spell. Embrace ½ c. safflower or sunflower oil leaf, cinnamon, chili associated and charged the creative peppers, ginger, with the power of fire. nature of fire and Charge all of the ingredients with your intention. Combine them into a small ginseng, nutmeg, Look for jewelry, start to consider pot and place over low heat. Swirl gently until the oil is fragrant. Remove orange, peppermint, clothing and objects how many ways you from the heat and let cool. Strain into a clean container. Use this oil to rosemary, thyme, within this range and can use those anoint ritual items, candles, or as a topical item. tarragon, tea and use them to channel ashes. Is it a walnut are all foods physical energy, topical item? Is and spices that hold sexual stamina, it an ingredient fire energy. Prepare movement, vitality, added to an oil? the dish with a strong optimism and success. Perhaps, place it intention. It doesn’t Think about the colors into a gris-gris have to be dramatic. of the chakras, too. bag or pouch, or It’s the intention Red is associated with use it to cast a fueling the fire and the root chakra. Try circle. activating its power. to combine and layer Try brewing a fire your methods to build tea made from the potency. For example, ingredients above at make an oil, anoint a the beginning of the piece of red jasper or day and see how it garnet, and place on affects your afternoon your root chakra. and evening. You could also ingest what you made before a ritual, spell or even 6. a business meeting to amplify the effects and empower your aura. 5. Create a fire- focused oil for Spring and use it Make a crystal elixir to anoint candles 4. by adding stones to or dab onto a a drinkable liquid. ritual item such Use the Ace of Wands Some safe ones are as a broom or from your deck to citrine, garnet, ruby wand to cleanse nurture your creative and bloodstone. Look or charge a space spirit. Meditate with up the characteristics with fire energy. it, place it at the of each of these Mix and match center of a crystal stones and see which different herbs, grid or create an resonates with what spices and oils altar dedicated to it. you’re looking for. to create the Amplify the effects by You could also add blend that works performing rituals or drops of this liquid best for you. spells on a Tuesday, (or even an oil you Here is a classic which is linked to made) into paint, and recipe for a Mars, or on a Sunday use that paint to Spring Equinox which is linked to the create a talisman or Oil for you to Sun. fire-charged painting. experiment with.
11 | SPELLS OF THE SEASON SPELLS OF THE SEASON | 12 ILLUSTRATIONS: ASHTON ALEXANDRA @ASHTON.ALEXANDRA PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM @DEANNA_LYNNN
Focus. Open your mind. Allow yourself some time to concentrate. Have you got a question you’d like to ask the cards? Tarot is a useful tool for any witch to have under their belt. Whether you’re using the cards to set an intention, or to shape how you tackle a challenge, tarot can be used for guidance, support and wisdom. THE WORLD OF TAROT SPELLS OF THE SEASON | 14 PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK @PLAIN.FOLK
MAGICAL TAROT BY GENETTE
You may know tarot as the go- Or to get that job done that you’ve to divination tool that has been been putting off for ages? Or perhaps loved by many for centuries, you have an important date coming but did you know that tarot can up, and you need to find your inner be used in intention setting strength to get through it. Using and spell casting? Tarot is an tarot cards as a focal point for excellent focal tool and can be your spell casting and intention used to both receive and send setting can bring a powerful clarity messages to the universe. Do you to your meditations. Have a read to need help to stop procastinating? discover how you can use tarot.
MAGICAL TAROT | 18 PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK @PLAIN.FOLK FOR INTENTION SETTING:
Take a small candle, either in white or “SIT FOR in a colour that matches your goal (e.g. dark green or gold for money, brown for work, light blue for health, yellow for joy, red for passion) and make it the AS LONG AS centrepiece of your altar. Be sure to use a fire-safe container, as you will need to let the candle burn out on its POSSIBLE, own. Also, make sure that you complete your ceremony at a time which means you will be at home and awake whilst the AND TRY TO candle is burning. If you wish to anoint your candle with oils or herbs, do so!
FILL THE Choose two to three cards that you feel match your goal. For work, try the Eight of Pentacles, or for love, give the Two of ROOM WITH Cups a try. Place these in front of your central candle. Decorate your altar with white candles, crystals and other symbols of your goal or the season. Be creative and POSITIVE, make it your own; a personal touch really ups the power. Complete your preferred BRIGHT protection and spirit calling rites. Light the other candles on your altar and then light the central candle on your ENERGY.” altar, dedicating it to your deity and your purpose. Sit in front of the altar and focus on your intentions. Visualise what success you would like and make it as real as possible. Think about your intention like it has already happened.
Sit for as long as possible and try to fill the room with positive, bright energy. I like to create a white light in my head, and then project it around the rest of my body, and finally by filling the room. Breath in the white light and breathe out any darkness or pain you might be feeling.
When you are ready to stop, close down your ceremony and leave your central candle lit, but snuff out the other candles on your altar. Allow your central candle to burn out on its own.
Collect the cards and carry them with you to reflect on throughout your day.
19 | MAGICAL TAROT PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK @PLAIN.FOLK FOR SPELL CASTING:
If you are banishing or doing any spells which require you to bury or burn the cards, “IF YOU ARE you should make sure that you use cards that you don’t mind being destroyed or losing. HOPING TO ABSORB Follow your spell ritual, making sure you are protected and safe. If you are unsure which spell to use, you can use THE QUALITIES OF the intention setting guide above as a basic guideline or use online resources and books to design your own ritual THE CARDS DRAWN, that speaks to you. A ritual you design yourself will be more powerful than a spell taken directly from someone else. CARRY THESE CARDS Place the cards that are relevant to your spell on the altar whilst WITH YOU UNTIL you work and complete your ritual.
For banishing spells, you might need to bury or burn your cards as dictated by YOUR SPELL HAS your ritual. If you are hoping to absorb the qualities of the cards drawn, such as strength, carry these cards with you until RUN ITS COURSE.” you feel your spell has run its course.
RECEIVING MESSAGES FROM SPIRITS:
If you have a question that you would like to ask a specific spirit or deity, this method will allow you to receive a direct response. This process works particularly well with Qabalistic meditations, but you can use it with any other traditions you follow as well. If you’re using this method with guided Qabalistic meditations, draw the cards at the times instructed by your guide.
Follow your usual process for setting up your altar, making sure that you place your cards in front of you. Cast any protections required and call in your spirits or deities.
Complete your usual meditations or devotions, and then ask your spirit for guidance on a particular subject. Make sure that you keep a note of
MAGICAL TAROT | 22 PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM @DEANNA_LYNNN YOUR VERY OWN: TAROT READING
BY GENETTE
2. 3. 4. 1.
Are you needing a little direction Think about your question; what’s in your life? Have you got a question been troubling you? What do you need whirring away in your brain that some insight on? Breathe. Count you’d like to gain some insight to five. Allow your mind to fill into? You’re definitely in the right with your question; don’t just ask place. The wonderful Genette has yourself, ask the universe. You’re consulted her cards for a springtime in no rush. When you’re ready, pick reading just for you. Settle into a card. Which number calls out to a quiet space, open your mind and you? Which do you think calls to your breathe. It’s time to focus. Which current situation? Turn the page aspect of your life needs attention? to discover which card is yours.
PHOTO: TALIA MATES @MAYFLOWERMOONCO TAROT READING | 26 PHOTO: ELLEN O’ROURKE @ELLEN.OROURKE CARD ONE - TEN OF PENTACLES CARD THREE - TWO OF WANDS
A perfect ten! Life is being kind You’ve come to a point where you to you at the moment. Perhaps your need to make a decision about the home life is feeling settled after direction you’re going to take and a period of turmoil, your offer on you’re surveying your options. Be that dream home has been accepted, brave, go with your instincts and or you’re coming to the end of a work follow the route that ignites your assignment or project. Whatever is inner fires of passion, because you going on in your life, trust that literally have the whole world in 1. it is coming to an end and that the your hands right now! A great time 3. outcome will be success. Remember, to push forward with entrepreneurial in tarot, an ending is always a projects and business. If things beginning too, so what is it that have been feeling a little out of you want to happen next? Now is balance lately, step back and take a the time to start manifesting the glance at what you have and how far next phase. Keep your eye out for you’ve come already. Enjoy the ride! new opportunities coming your way.
CARD TWO - THREE OF PENTACLES CARD FOUR - FOUR OF WANDS
This card is about working with other There’s celebration in the air! This people and planning. How are your card brings feelings of stability relationships looking lately? Have and contentment, so if your home you drifted apart from your loved fires haven’t felt very warm ones? Or has one of you been taking recently, don’t panic - they will more than they have been giving? If soon. Although this is a wands card so, it’s time to right that imbalance and therefore related to skills and and put some effort into shoring up entrepreneurship, it is also a fire your foundations. If this relates card, so there is a lot of love and 2. to a project or financial matter, passion here, too. It might well be 4. it’s time to gather your team and that things are going well at work, or recruit people who have the skills it could be that your relationships you need to see the project through are blossoming into beautiful to completion. Pentacles always flowers; whatever it is, just be relate to a long-term situation, so sure to acknowledge it, celebrate, be sure to build solid foundations show your gratitude and mark any to your relationships and projects happy occasions. A great time to get so that they can support you together with friends and family. through the difficult times.
29 | TAROT READING TAROT READING | 30 MAGIC, EVERY DAMN DAY
BY RYAN, @ryankurr
An interview with Tarot Reader, Author and Founder of ‘Everyday Magic’, Bakara Wintner.
Bakara Wintner, the founder and Head Witch in Charge ‘of Everyday Magic’ in Durham, North Carolina, is just the type of perceptive, magnetic and emotional witch one would come to expect from a Scorpio. She is strikingly relatable; a caring, empathic healer, one who spins through life while remaining unapologetically herself. She has just returned from a trip to New York and Baltimore.
We start by addressing the rise of mysticism, from the beauty industry to wellness practices before getting personal. Bakara clearly chooses to see the magic in everyday life, which finds symmetry in the name of her shop. She then goes on to describe what witchcraft is to her.
“Witchcraft is what’s useful. For me, magic is; ‘I’m stuck in traffic, I’m running late, I’m really stressed out. I look down and it’s 2:22.’ It’s an interjection from the universe reminding me [magic is present] even in the moments where I don’t feel it.” PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER @WHISKEYIZZY
EVERYDAY MAGIC | 32
Bakara identifies as a word witch and a time witch. She performs special rituals on both the new and full moons. There is definitely a ritualistic aspect to her practice, whether it is how she washes her hands with Florida water before pulling cards, or how she guides her followers on Instagram through her live Sunday readings. The craft can be many different things to many different people with varying levels of helpfulness. For Bakara, the most useful moments, where she feels magic working in her life, are the moments where she is given a reminder by the universe in some way that suggests making a different choice. There is a wise and esoteric wisdom to the way Bakara looks at the world, but also herself. It is as if she has studied, surveyed and analysed so many situations, lived so many different lives, that she understands the best way to experience life is to flow like water. Scorpio is fixed water after all.
“WE CAN’T BE SHINING ALL OF THE TIME.”
Bakara is very mindful about incorporating magic into the mundane. Her life as a witch has evolved overtime. She accomplishes tasks just like everyone else, but with slightly more enchantment. She will write checks, do a clearing spell and place it under a crystal before putting it in an envelope. Or, while cleaning the house, in addition to sweeping and vacuuming she will also sage the rooms and douse the floors with Florida water. There is a clear sense of trying to find balance in everything that she does. She holds a fresh perspective; magic can be both simple and extravagant.
“We can’t be all be shining all of the time. It’s unrealistic, but it’s for some reason an expectation that we hold ourselves to, because it’s what we show. When you look around at what others choose to show, like when someone makes a gorgeous full moon altar and calls it a ritual while another is watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and holding a crystal and calling it a ritual too. Both of them are.”
Her perspective is refreshing, one without labels and rife with honesty. Accepting the positive elements for what they are without grading or judging them makes for a very helpful way to encourage positivity in general.
35 | EVERYDAY MAGIC “When we think about the environment, it’s PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER a word like ‘space’, it’s this big concept. @WHISKEYIZZY But your environment in this moment is the room that you’re inhabiting, it’s the animals, it’s the plants. So, by choosing every thought and action that you have, to be positive, you make your environment more positive.”
There is a great deal of truth to this, as we can’t control the actions of other people and we are only in control of our own actions and reactions. This perceptive and astute mindset is clearly something she has developed over time, and it works tremendously well with the ambitions and goals she has set for herself. However, as with many witches, they have their mentors, and Bakara has hers, too. She mentions Lindsay Mack, who offers a soul-centred online program for learning and using tarot as a way to encourage the soul’s growth. “She’s like Empress energy embodied.”
Her journey towards running Everyday Magic began while she was living in Brooklyn, where she momentarily tried the corporate world on for size, before quitting her job and starting to give tarot readings full time after a deck had been gifted to her. Her study of the tarot led her down the metaphysical rabbit hole of chakras, energy work, crystal healing and more, and she soon found herself recommending crystals to clients. That’s when she thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a space that offers all these things that helped me. A sort of one stop shop.” However, the price for a storefront in New York was wildly out of reach and it remained only a thought. Fast forward a little, she moved to North Carolina with her boyfriend and she found herself walking by an empty storefront and calling the number on the for-lease sign.
“The guy showed up right away. I said I want it and he said, “’you can’t have it; this is right next to a church.’” She had worked on a business plan and knew what she wanted, but the realtor had a different idea when she mentioned she wanted to open a new age store.
“I think he was picturing the walls painted black and like dripping in blood. I looked at a few other places right after, but nothing stuck to me like the first spot. I went back to him a week later with the equivalent of a Pinterest board in the hopes of showing him a bright and beautiful crystal shop, rather than a Hot Topic-esque portal to hell.”
EVERYDAY MAGIC | 38 PHOTO: REBECCA MILLER Eventually, she wore him down. It was “I just put a ball and chain around @WHISKEYIZZY a lot of hard work, as with any new my ankles in North-fucking-Carolina endeavour. There was a lot of googling where I no longer have any reason on how to do things as she didn’t have to be. Like ‘what am I doing? what a business degree. It sounded exactly the fuck…what the fuck am I doing?’ how’d you imagine someone not knowing and hence WTF is Tarot? was born.” how to open a shop…opening a shop. Before the move to North Carolina, she “I EMAILED ALL MY FAVOURITE was working at a literary agency and BRANDS, ASKING HOW I COULD CARRY she had gone to school for writing. THEIR PRODUCTS IN MY STORE AND It had been a dream for her to write a book ever since she could read a THEY HELPED WALK ME THROUGH IT. book. An insane six months later, OTHER PEOPLE TOOK ADVANTAGE filled with trying to balance operating BECAUSE I WAS A YOUNG, DUMB the shop and staying up all night GIRL WHO DIDN’T KNOW WHAT SHE to work on the book, it happened. WAS DOING. IT WAS A MIXED BAG Speaking to Bakara is like being OF ANGELS AND DEMONS THROUGHOUT dipped in a well of a thousand dreams. THE PROCESS, BUT IT WORKED, She is a creator, a visionary, and AND IT OPENED AND EXCEEDED MY goes after what she wants. She’s ‘The Magician’. It was this kind of WILDEST DREAMS FROM DAY ONE.” energy that led her to collaborate with others to create a deck called She has had her fair share of darkness ‘Postcards from The Liminal Space’, in life, but that hasn’t stopped her that pulled from thoughts, memories from pushing on and loving the light and the darkness she had experienced, and dark all the same. The love and but also the things that illuminated appreciation she has for the blessings her life. Bakara’s advice on how to she has been given have inspired her bring more magic into your life is to trust her intuition and realize to never stop creating and never there is an ebb and flow to everything. stop growing. Accept the reality While she has made decisions carefully that we will receive equal amounts and others impulsively, she embraces of light and dark energy, both them for what they are. This kind creative and destructive energy. of philosophy allows for magic to happen, sometimes serendipitously. “Being an effective magician, being an effective witch isn’t a She broke up with her boyfriend the completely neutralizing one so that day she opened Everyday Magic. She you only get light. It’s being able had been couch-surfing and the store to navigate both and being able to had been open for only a few months create something meaningful and when she received an email from a magical through them. Spring is the former classmate in one of her regeneration. Things are being cooked creative writing classes in college, up and dreamed into existence right who now worked at a publishing house. now. Give yourself permission to bloom The classmate had been following when it’s time, and forgive yourself her progress via social media and when you’re not in blooming season, saw that Bakara had started doing which none of us are all the time.” tarot. They asked if she would be interested in writing a book about it. As we journey through the season, represented by the suit of wands Although it may seem like all her dreams in the tarot, allow everything came true and without any hardships, that you cultivate to come to that was far from the case. She was fruition. Be passionate, move, homeless and in a really low place make decisions, create, and choose emotionally, despite the shop opening. to see the magic every damn day.
39 | EVERYDAY MAGIC KITCHEN WITCH
BY THEA, OF HAGS HERBARIUM IMAGES BY @JENNYGILES_PHOTOGRAPHY
A DIVINE TEA PARTY
A little workshop I run in Bristol on Fortune Telling gave inspiration to this Kitchen Witch recipe that I want to share with you. It’s Springtime, the air is crisp, the energy is bubbling under your feet...So why not entertain your loved ones on a Sunday afternoon to a traditional Tea Party with a twist? This gorgeous cake has been created specifically to help you to read your fortune and is the perfect addition to a witch’s brew.
Mugwort is one of the most sacred herbs that is wild and common in England. You will find it growing often by sacred sites, and many believe that the reason for this is that it was used in rituals and shamanism. It was used by the Romans in sleeping temples to connect to the Gods in dreaming and to receive their prophecies. MUGWORT SPONGE CAKE
Whenever I give talks, I recommend Mugwort for connecting with your higher consciousness and relaxing. Whenever I give a personal tarot or astrology reading, I brew a cup for myself and my client. Mugwort is one of my “must- have” herbs and one of my best friends in the kitchen. So, what type of cake would be perfect for your tea party with a fortune- telling twist? Mugwort Sponge Cake! I have adapted this Earl Grey Tea Sponge Cake recipe with delicious results for a Mugwort twist.
41 | KITCHEN WITCH INGREDIENTS
Mugwort Tea Milk:
1 1/2 cups of milk 1 Tbsp mugwort heaping, loose leaf
Cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp Mugwort finely ground 3/4 tsp salt 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 3 large eggs, room temperature 1 1/2 tsp vanilla 1 cup mugwort milk, room temperature
Mugwort Syrup (optional):
1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup water 1 Tbsp Mugwort tea INSTRUCTIONS
Mugwort Milk: Bring the milk and mugwort to a boil in a small pot over a medium-high heat. Turn the heat off and steep for 10 minutes. Strain and measure out one cup. Top up with milk if needed.
Cake: Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease and flour three 6” cake rounds and line with parchment. In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, mugwort, and salt until well combined. Set aside.
Using a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar on med-high until pale and fluffy (approx. three mins). Reduce speed and add the eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating after each addition. Then add the vanilla.
Alternate adding flour mixture and mugwort milk, beginning and ending with flour (three additions of flour and two of milk), fully incorporating after each addition. Bake for approx. 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out mostly clean.
Mugwort Syrup: Place sugar, water, and mugwort into a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes. Remove from heat, and steep for five minutes. Strain and cool completely.
Assembly: Brush the cake with 2-3 tbsp of the mugwort syrup. Add vanilla icing OR cream and stack. KITCHEN WITCH | 44 TEA LEAF READING - A WITCHES BREW
So, what tea should you pick to have with your mugwort cake and use to tell your guests fortune?
Firstly, pick a loose tea leaf mix. I recommend either Earl Grey or Breakfast Tea. Please do not open up a tea bag and use those leaves as the leaves in a teabag are too small and fine for proper patterns. Bring out your finest teapot, cup and saucer set. It is important that the cup is light in colour or white. Try to pick a cup that is wide to catch the leaves, not a cup that is short or deep.
Brew your tea in a teapot for three minutes. Serve your tea. Once you or your friend has drunk their tea down to the final inch or so of liquid, you are ready to start tea leaf reading.
Turn your cup thrice clockwise so that the tea in the cup swirls around, and then empty the contents onto the saucer.
You need your intuition for the next bit to see the patterns (as you might do in clouds) in the cup. The closer to the rim the symbol, the sooner it is in your life or it is currently in your life. The further down the cup to the centre of the circle the longer in time before the event occurs.
In order to translate the symbols, use your own inner symbol dictionary. What do the symbols mean and feel to you? However, if you are not sure or need a jumping-off point you can also find plenty of tea leaf reading symbol translations online or in books.
Here are a few basic symbols often seen in tea leaves to get you started (Please note: If the symbol seems blurred or damaged then the translation will lean toward the negative).
ARROWS: pointing up is good and pointing down is negative (see other symbols around it) CRESCENTS, STARS, SUNS: light, perception, inspiration, direction, optimism NUMBERS: indicate dates, time or ages LETTERS: indicate people with that initial CROSSES: treasure, passing to the other side SPIRAL: creativity, energy CUP: celebration BIRDS: freedom, joy, travel, music
I hope you enjoy this cake as much as I do and that it makes a real feature to your tea leaf reading party!
45 | KITCHEN WITCH PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK @PLAIN.FOLK HEALTH WITCH CRAFTING INDIGENOUS HERBALS
BY ASHLEY MURPHY, @HEALTH_WITCH_
Author: Dr. Ashley and witnesses to the Witch Very little written records Murphy is lead witch, Trials that tore-up Europe from the 17th century herbalist and creator of in the 17th century. The can tell us anything, H.W. Apothecary, which Wild Irish and the cunning as practices were forced specialises in organic folk of Europe stripped underground, but our beauty potions inspired tribal people of their practices persisted with by earthly queens, land, culture and ability oral tradition and a witches and heavenly to openly practice their scattering of little goddesses. Featuring their medicine and magic. Despite physical evidence. Rejuvenation Oil, made this, witchcraft and folk Much of what we know with over 660 roses and traditions remained in about plant medicine a Golden Stars and Moon New England, but changed. and indigenous healing Spiced Tea made with real comes from early 20th pearls. Contact Health Some English and French century ethnographies, Witch at info@healthwitch. looked to Native healers oral tradition and what org or visit healthwitch. when their church and has been unearthed from org. Find Health Witch on medicine afforded little, archaeology. We are still Instagram: @health_witch_ and Native people at times piecing together knowledge sought colonial doctors on ancient medicine that For most, the mention of when their medicine failed. has been lost through witchcraft in early New conflict and genocide England - the northeast African slaves also brought of indigenous people in portion of America - with them their curative early American history. evokes the Salem Witch rituals. Perhaps never in Trials of 1692-3, but history has there been Medicine, witchcraft, and the trials began decades such an intermingling of folk traditions changed before that. The brunt healing and folk belief in overtime, melding together of the brutalities was such a short time-period. with European, African and experienced by Natives, various tribal traditions people of color, outspoken But to practice Native to cure, comfort and women and white settlers medicine and rituals, survive. Presented here are “gone Native,” who healing or a craft evolved a few recipes that honour abandoned their homes for from a once tribal Europe New England’s healers and a new one amongst a tribe. or Africa, came at a cost. their medicines. Enjoy The European settlers If charged they faced a brief guide to moon who committed crimes fines, exile, torture, and/ medicine, women’s plant against humanity in New or execution by the hands allies and building inner England were actors in the of the Puritan Church. strength and beauty. ravages of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
HEALTH WITCH | 48 WOMEN’S ALLIES AND MOON MEDICINE
COMMON MOTHERWORT, of the mint family, is a powerful women’s ally. The tops and leaves are used to make medicine, often prepared as a strong tea or infusion. It is a nervine used to regulate and suppress menstruation and to treat urinary cramps. Motherwort can be taken in the last two weeks of pregnancy to aid birth. It can be made into a tea using its dried leaves, mixed with sage to ease hot flushes. Sweeten with maple syrup.
BLUEBERRY ROOT is used to relax muscles and aid women in child birth. Indigenous people of New England would use the dried berries to make teas and bake into corn cakes all through the winter to prevent sickness and add a delicious sweetness.
RASPBERRY LEAVES AND BERRIES are astringent, stimulating and used in tonics. The plant is revered for its ability to tone the uterus, stop hemorrhages, relieve nausea, and prevent miscarriage. Medicine from the plant can be prepared as a tea or infusion. A good rule of thumb for infusions, for every cup of water add one tablespoon of dried herb and let the infusion sit overnight (in the fridge after cooled) before drinking.
INDIAN HEMP TEA is drunk to increase a woman’s breast milk, and a cold sage tea is taken to dry up breast milk production.
TANSY, a plant introduced from Europe, is a valuable tonic and stimulant, often enjoyed as a tea. In high doses it can cause abortion, and in low doses it can promote menstruation. A plant whose energy is most vital during the full moons of July and August.
YARROW is native to Europe and North America, flowering from May to October. All parts of the fragrant plant can be used in medicine-making, noted for its astringent, tonic and diuretic properties. There are so many uses for this plant, but as a women’s ally, a tea can be prepared and enjoyed to help regulate menstruation and cleanse the blood. Applied to the skin as a poultice, it will soothe sore nipples, and the oil extracted can be diluted and applied to the scalp to prevent hair from falling out, a common postpartum symptom. PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK @PLAIN.FOLK
49 | HEALTH WITCH Common colds were prevented and treated in mind and body. In 17th century New England, there was an intersection of Native and African tradition, and to protect against colds you would stock your arsenal with a mix of goose grease, honey, leather, conjure bags, pigs’ hooves, strings and a potent combination of herbs. Magic has always been a part of healing. Healers commonly called on the evergreen trees to keep away colds and to fortify the body with Vitamin C, by making a strong decoction, a concentrated liquid, of the needles and bark, and sweetening it with maple syrup or from honey made from honeybees.
Joe Pye Weed, also known as Gravel Root and Queen of the Meadows, is harvested in summer and dried, and used for charms and spells for luck. The roots are a powerful medicine - when made into tea and drunk, it will boost the immune system. Echinacea has an amazing ability to stave off sickness, and fight against bacteria and viruses. Applied as a compress, it can prevent and heal acne, and used in a mouth wash to treat infections of the gums.
In folk tradition, “if May snow shall come, bathe the face in fallen snow for an improved complexion.” Ice and cooling the face de-puffs and reduces the risk of broken capillaries, and improves blood flow for a youthful glow.
Blueberries were used to make face paint, or to add reddish tints to checks and lips while imparting the skin with antioxidants. Over the last decade, blueberry has made its way into natural cosmetics.
Witch hazel, also known as Winter Bloom, is boiled with all parts (bark, leaves and twigs) in water and applied to the skin to treat sores, bruises and soothe inflamed skin. It is a powerful skin cleanser, great for oily skin. A decoction of witch hazel can be applied externally to treat bruising and varicose veins. The twigs are used as divination rods to locate precious metals and water.
Butterfly weed can treat skin ulcers, and it is prepared into a body wash for spells of strength and in chant for ceremonies.
The sap from Indian hemp can directly be applied to skin infections, warts and wounds to promote healing. Pearly Everlasting is also helpful. A poultice or mashed up mix of the plant applied to the skin can treat boils.
The oil extracted from sunflower seeds is made into serums for skin and hair, adding a luscious shine to long locks. Sassafras roots are used for their diuretic and stimulating properties. Made into a strong tea or infusion it can be applied to the skin to treat a whole range of skin infections.
The leaves of yarrow are often made into a poultice to treat a range of skin infections and woes such as rashes and eczema. PHOTO: PLAIN FOLK There are many other plants and remedies akin to @PLAIN.FOLK women, building immunity and beauty, but these are some of the most treasured. HEALTH WITCH | 52 PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM THE MAGIC OF @DEANNA_LYNNN COLOUR GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR OWN RAINBOW
BY HAZEL, @HEX_TAROT
The world is reawakening in the Northern Hemisphere, and with it comes a sea of colour and light. I remember the first time I became conscious of dreaming in colour. Rainbows dripped through my subconscious, splashing down into the shadowy greys of my psyche. Blues, pinks and yellows rushed through my astral world like an unstoppable river. It felt like I’d woken up into a new reality, somewhere between a Jimi Hendrix experience and a rainbow bridge to the Norse pantheon. My relationship with colour was changed thereafter. Colour was no longer something I observed passively, it was conscious and part of me.
As witches and practitioners of magic, we all have experience of dressing our altars according to the seasonal colours. No doubt like me, your crystal and candle boxes hold a whole rainforest of rich rainbow shades within them, one colour for every possible purpose. Colour has its own language, beyond our immediate primal response. It communicates with us, showing us our truth, helping us to elevate ourselves by utilising the power of this magical spectrum. THE MAGIC OF GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR OWN COLOUR RAINBOW
There are many books out there, particularly for Wiccan This is a practice I have started working practice, which list general qualities and purpose of with to build my own deeper relationship with individual colours. Many are all familiar with the colour. It can be practiced when required. Don’t seven bodily chakra colours, seasonal and solstice hesitate to make notes in your grimoire or book of tones and candle colours. Having this knowledge is shadows. You might be surprised by the results. useful for us to build on. Colours have been given their Pick a colour that you are drawn to. Use a candle and a meaning through tried and tested practice. Ancestral crystal of the same colour. You can also use a painted knowledge, practiced sages and occultists should always stone. Wear only that colour if possible, during the be respected. Enhancing their knowledge and defining ritual. Dress your altar in that colour. Open your circle your own relationship with the magical world is key to in the usual way. Light your candle. Close your eyes the life and progression of magic itself. If we only and relax into a meditation. Imagine the colour behind ever use red for passion, blue for forgiveness and your eyes, as if you are fully immersed in that one yellow for creativity, we may be missing out on our colour. How does it feel, taste and smell? Now, imagine personal relationship with those colours. Like gods in a coloured door. Open the door, what is behind it? themselves, we all must find their own voice within us. Ask three questions. Who are you to me? How can I work I know from experience that no one colour holds its with you? How can working with you help me to self- meaning over time; instead I am in dialogue with the heal? Stay with the energy, imagine the colour soaking whole rainbow, each colour dancing with my mood and up into every pore, breathe it in. Close your circle belief. Red for example, is not a colour I can wear. It when you are ready, in the usual way, and allow your gives me terrible anxiety, but red in my bedroom I love. candle to burn out in a safe place where you can see it. The most interesting thing about colour is that we don’t need to see it to benefit from its energy. Colour These answers may come during the meditation, or therapy describes colour as part of the electromagnetic perhaps throughout the day or in coming weeks. Notice waves which surround us. Our cells need light in all its how the colour makes you feel. In my practice I spectrums in order to function effectively. I would go have found that a deity may come to me, preferring further and say that every colour and light in itself I associate them with that colour. On occasion, a is active, reactive and expressive, because of our colour meditation has triggered memories or smells, relationship to it. Much like the work of Dr Masoru Emoto, helping me to self-heal or giving me a boost. his 30 years of research shows that water is affected by our thoughts and intentions. If we work with colour on a Next time you need to use the colour, try recall your deeper magical level, the results could be illuminating. feeling and immerse yourself in the colour. Working with colour in this way allows you to trust in your own practice. PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM @DEANNA_LYNNN PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM @DEANNA_LYNNN POETRY & ARTS TIME TO FORGIVE By Emily @theworldisonyourside
With springtime here, and what feels like the darkness of winter finally lifting, it’s hard not to notice a change in ourselves, too. The brighter days and lighter energies in the air make us feel as though we, too, must rid ourselves of those darker feelings we harboured before. Two emotions I am drawn to at the moment are guilt and forgiveness. Guilt seems to be a reoccurring theme for me recently; in my dreams, my emotions, and manifesting physically in my body, too. I haven’t necessarily done anything wrong, yet there seems to be an underlying feeling of guilt surrounding me as I continue along my healing journey.
Finding solace and validation in others is a common occurrence in many people’s lives. When we feel as though there is a part of us that is empty, unloved or unworthy, we try to fill it with other people instead. Ironically, this leaves us feeling emptier than we did before and it usually means that someone else gets hurt, too. For me, the underlying feelings of guilt I’ve been experiencing have come from the acknowledgement of the emotional manipulation I have displayed in the past. These actions were undertaken whilst trying to fill the holes within myself, and I’ve only been able to see the damage I have done to others now that I am free from that emptiness.
As we work through our inner healing, and become more complete within ourselves, we begin to fill the holes that we once felt the need to be filled by others. We learn the life-changing concept that we must fill these holes ourselves, and that only we alone can do so. This healing journey has many steps along the way, but often there comes a point where you realise that other people may have been hurt whilst you were hurting. Now that I am able to see my past from the perspective of a fulfilled human, I have discovered all of the people who became victims of my emptiness during my darker times. This is where my PHOTO: JENNY GILES subconscious feelings of guilt have risen from. @JENNYGILES_PHOTOGRAPHY
POETRY & ARTS | 62 For a long while, I carried the guilt around with me. I felt its heavy energy shadowing me. I felt it slowing me and holding me down. I felt the energy blockages around my womb and my throat and heart. I couldn’t understand why it was following me. I couldn’t comprehend what I had done wrong.
When I realised what the guilt was for, I knew I had to travel back to the root of the pain, to the place that had caused the actions in the first place. “ I CRADLED THE SOUL OF MY CURRENT SELF...”
I went back and back in time, and deeper and deeper into myself, until I found the little child inside. There she was inside my heart, yearning for validation and love, and the need to feel worthy. Somehow, along the way, she thought she could find these things in lovers, partners, and other people. She thought she could find it in her deeds and her achievements. She thought that other people’s praise and desire would give her what she needed to feel. Of course, she was wrong, but she didn’t know that at the time.
When I found her there, I took her by the hand, and I started to heal her. I gave her all of the love I had built up inside myself over the years. I kissed the holes until they were full. Then I forgave her for everything she had done.
I am so sorry for the hurt I caused when I was hurting. I’m so sorry to those I tried to use to fill the hole in my heart. I’m so sorry to the child inside that has sought love for so many years. I’m sorry.
But also, I forgive. I wrapped my arms around my inner child, rocking her back and forth. I held the hands of my younger self telling her she is loved. I forgive you. I cradled the soul of my current self, feeling the warmth of her as she clings to me. My love and forgiveness spread through my tissues, into my womb and into my heart. I forgive you.
I forgive you. Be free. PHOTO: JENNY GILES @JENNYGILES_PHOTOGRAPHY
63 | POETRY & ARTS ILLUSTRATION: ELENA WASH IT AWAY @A.NOUMOON.WITCH BY EMILY @theworldisonyourside
You wash the sheets Again and again You wash your hair And you wash your clothes But still remains The stains in your heart No amount of washing Will make them go
The only way To forgive the sin Is going deep Into your wounds Hug the child That lies inside Yearning for love She got lost along the way
No other can fill The hole in her soul And day by day She understands her pain. A woman now Slowly learning The power that already Lies within
So wash the sheets And wash your clothes But most of all Repeat to yourself Love and forgiveness Over and over Until the child inside Is finally free.
65 | POETRY & ARTS POETRY & ARTS | 66 PHOTO: ADRIFT A DREAM PHOTOGRAPHY @ADRIFT_ADREAM @DEANNA_LYNNN THE AWAKENING BY MICAELA ROYAL @bloodspell
Witch, wake me.
Dress your lips with song of Meadowsweet, blooming, blooming from floral throat.
Witch, wake me.
In the hollow of your collarbones, whispered incantations and Oakmoss offerings.
Witch, wake me.
Robe yourself with vine of Honeysuckle, that climbs and clings to sweetened skin.
Witch, wake me.
And I, whose seed was sown by winter’s hand, will swallow the darkness and release the dawn.
POETRY & ARTS | 68 ARIES
Your approach to intimacy and sex will be the focus of the transformative Full Moon in Scorpio, that occurs on 7th May. This brings about a time when you can explore what intimacy is to you and transcend any outdated beliefs you hold concerning your sexuality. The Full Moon in Capricorn and lunar eclipse on 5th June will illuminate what lies in the shadow of your career and long-term goals. Are you being authentic in your endeavours? Is what you are striving towards truly your desire? Let go of anything unaligned in your life. By the time Mars enters your sign on 27th June, you’ll be motivated and ready to act on what you have learned.
TAURUS
Taurus season kicks off on 20th April, so happy birthday, Taurus! The spotlight is on you and how you appear in the world during Taurus season, so make intentions for you on the New Moon in Taurus on 22nd April. It’s just as well you’re focused on yourself, because when the Full Moon in Scorpio on May 7 comes around, you are due for some romance. Whether you are coupled up or happily single, you can be sure to be touched by cupid’s arrow! The spring culminates HOROSCOPES with a full moon and Lunar eclipse in Capricorn in your area of learning, spirituality and travel. The eclipse will show you what you need to work on in those areas so that you can progress in the physical world. Are you in search of a bit of guidance? Perhaps you’re at a crossroads, and don’t know which way to turn. Or, you’re finding yourself faced with a situation that you’re not sure how to tackle. You’ve come to the right place; Katie from Urban Witchery has blessed us with her horoscope wisdom. Katie is an astrologer, and creator GEMINI of the Urban Witchery Lunar Planner. Katie has the view that the cosmos is a mirror to our souls, and that this When Venus retrogrades in your 1st house of self and can be interpreted to guide an individuals path. These identity on 13th May, take the opportunity to pause horoscopes are based on your Sun sign, but your astrological and reflect on who you are, your values and how you chart is more complex than that. To have a more detailed express yourself creatively. With the full moon and report, you can contactr Katie for a personal reading here: lunar eclipse in Sagittarius on 5th June, you can powerfully release what no longer serves you in your relationships, as this moon falls in your partnership [email protected] or on Instagram : @urban.witchery area. By the time Venus goes direct on 25th June, you’ll be much more sure of who you are and how you relate Illustratons by: Alice Bird | @probablyalice to your loved ones. The new moon in Cancer on 21st June and the final Eclipse of the season will bring an emotional breakthrough, which will bring you healing.
69 | HOROSCOPES HOROSCOPES | 70 CANCER LIBRA
During the eclipse season, we will experience a This spring, Mercury retrogrades in your sign on succession of three eclipses, kicked off with the full 18th June, so be prepared to navigate some emotional moon and lunar eclipse in Sagittarius on 5th June in terrain surrounding your sense of self. You might find your area of communication and mental activity. This during this time you’ll have to navigate communicating will bring you the closure you need to move forward in a your inner landscape with others in a way that serves new direction; just be aware that it could be painful, you best. Stating your boundaries is important during uncomfortable and in the shape of closure. As one door this time. Two days later, on the 20th June, the closes, another will open when the new moon and solar Sun also moves into your sign, bringing even more eclipse in Cancer on 21st June is in your area of long- emphasis on you! It’s all about you and it’s your term goals and structure. You can make massive gains time to shine, Cancer! If that wasn’t enough about if you embrace change, though it may harm your sense of you, there is a new moon and solar eclipse in Cancer balance on the short-term. Take a risk on a fresh start! on 21st June. This moon is the perfect time for intention setting or performing a ritual that will usher in making a fresh start and embracing change. SCORPIO
The full moon on 7th May is in your sign, Scorpio! This LEO full moon will bring the focus to you and new beginnings! Crush down anything that holds you back as you celebrate The full moon in a fellow fire sign, Sagittarius, on 5th who you are becoming. When Mercury retrogrades on June will occur in your area of romance, creativity 18th June until 12th July, be aware that you’ll be and fun! However, this full moon will be joined with feeling feelings more intently than normal, but this a lunar eclipse, which brings about a time of closure is all part of the purging you are well-accustomed for you. You will be allowed to break free of limiting to. When Mercury moves directly, you can move forward beliefs and heal through play. The following new lighter. The new moon and solar eclipse in Cancer on moon and solar eclipse in Cancer on 21st June will 21st June is a great opportunity to make intentions draw a line in the sand and you can make intentions to travel, both in the physical and spiritual realms, that embrace change, so take a risk and start anew. because you will gain much wisdom in the process. By the time Mars enters Aries, you’ll be armed with motivation to take your next step in the world.
SAGITTARIUS
VIRGO Sagittarius, the new moon and solar eclipse in Cancer on 21st June shakes up your health and work habits, as the eclipse energy ushers in a fresh start! Are your On 23rd April, the new moon in Taurus invites you daily routines in alignment with how you want your life to delve into philosophical ideas or make plans for to feel? If not, this is the perfect time to create your next adventure. Whatever direction you choose to the new routines that will help you feel how you want wander in, it’ll be a journey of the mind that you are to every day. When the full moon and lunar eclipse craving. By the time the new moon in Gemini on 22nd May are in your sign, Sagittarius, doing a ritual that comes around, you’ll be more concerned with long-term helps you break free of limiting patterns or painful goals and your career. Where do you want to see growth situations will help you to move on, for good. When in these areas? When the full moon in Sagittarius, with Mars moves into fellow fire sign, Aries, on 27th June, the added lunar eclipse on 5th June comes around, be you’ll be feeling motivated and ready for action. prepared for a breakthrough. Perhaps do a ritual for releasing or banishing something that no longer has a place in your life, so you can make way for new beginnings.
71 | HOROSCOPES HOROSCOPES | 72 CAPRICORN
Romance, creativity and fun are likely to be on your mind when the new moon is in a fellow earth sign, Taurus, on 23rd April. You’ll want to bask in the sensual pleasures of the material world! Saturn, the planet of work and responsibility, is in retrograde from 11th May in your area of values and income, before stepping back into your area of the self on 1st July. It might feel like you’ve taken two steps forward and one step back, but this retrograde is all about making sure your soul is aligned with your direction. When the full moon and lunar eclipse are in Capricorn on 5th July in your first house of new beginnings, you might find that you need to let go of anything that is limiting you before you can truly move forward.
AQUARIUS
You’ll be curious about how you can invite creativity, play and romance into your life when the new moon in Gemini on 22nd May affects your house of pleasure! This theme will run through until the full moon and lunar eclipse in Sagittarius on 5th June in your area of friendships, social awareness and wishes for the future. The lunar eclipse asks you to break free from any limiting thoughts, feelings or situations so you can heal and move on. Don’t be hard on yourself if it takes time - healing isn’t linear. You’ll have another opportunity to release what doesn’t gel with your soul when the full moon and lunar eclipse in Capricorn on the 5th July happen in your area of endings and closure.
PISCES
During 18th June and 12th July, Mercury will retrograde in a fellow water sign, Cancer. Take special care to look after yourself during this time, as many past emotions will resurface. Allow them to flow past you without affecting your well-being. Acknowledge them, process them and then let it go. The new moon and solar eclipse in Cancer on 21st June in your area of creativity, romance and play, invite you to make intentions to channel your initiative gift into the physical realm through the pursuit of pleasure. The eclipse asks you to embrace change, to take a risk and to create a new beginning. When the full moon and lunar eclipse in Capricorn happen in your area of hopes and wishes, you might find that letting go of what no longer serves you will help you to heal and move on. ILLUSTRATION: JESSICA DONNELLY @_JESSICADONNELLY_
73 | HOROSCOPES THANK YOU
FFinally, a chance for me to say a massive thank you. To those of you who created a bit of magic for the magazine, this wouldn’t be possible without you. I owe you all, big time. You’re an integral part of this journey.
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