Meditation

Of of the most basic things in witchcraft, that I now realize I should have put maybe as the second post, is meditation. The point of meditation is to clear your mind of all thoughts. Of course there is the saying "let me meditate on that" which means that they meed to sit and think for a while about it. The meditation mostly used in magick involves sitting down in the lotus position and attempting to clear your mind of all thoughts and not let any reenter your mind. It is relatively difficult to do for many people, like me at first because you find that you start to think about things and you don't really realize it. To be able to just sit and "be" requires practice. Many people light candles, incense(but I prefer to use herbs because of the health benefits), turn on some meditation music, etc. It is all unnecessary, but for some people it helps them. If you feel like doing any of these things then go ahead, try different methods out and see what works best for you. For me, I just sit down, turn off the lights, light a few candles and begin. Now, my technique is to focus on nothing but listening to my breathing until all other thoughts are out of my head, then once I am confident that they won't return I slowly stop listening to my breathing and just "be". Since I have only used the method I described before, which works fine for me, I haven't really experienced many other methods so you might want to check out some other methods. I will post some links to websites that explain the process probably better than I can.
http://home.att.net/~meditation/MeditationHandbook.html

http://ezinearticles.com/?3-Powerful-Meditation-Techniques-For-Beginners-For-You-to-Try-Right-Away&id=1787961
in the link above it describes a method very similar to the one I use.

http://www.abc-of-meditation.com/meditation-techniques/beginner2.asp

whatever method you chose, I wish you luck. From personal experience, it is better to meditate before you do any magickal exercises because it settles any stressful problems or worried thoughts you might have which allows you to focus better on the exercise at hand. Good luck!

Herbal aromas

One of the things I find useful is the aroma of herbs. I found at the dollar store a simmer pot. It has a base where you can put a tea light and from the base two metal rods hold a small metal bowl about three inches above the base. You are supposed to fill the bowl with scented oils and light the candle to produce a comforting aroma, but I find that a maxture of crushed herbs and water works just as well, also the herbs have magickal properties of their own and they help to produce a certain desired feeling. Herbs have specific properties, just like gemstones. Certain herbs are sued for relaxation, stimulation, romance, purity, etc. And these herbs cane be used in all forms. I find that these herbs can also help add to the mood of whatever type of activity you are doing. If I am doing a spell, or even just meditating then I will usually use the simmer pot to make a mixture to help me get into the mood. I usually just grind them up using the mortar and pestel. If you aren;t sure where to get these herbs, a lot of them can be found at your local grocery store. Even common spices like cinnamon, cloves, rosemary, basil, cumin, anise, and many more have magickal properties and can be used in many magickal activities. Another reason I use herbs for an aroma and not incense is because incense puts out harmful chemicals in the smoke, and if you are in a closed room then you are just inhaling toxins. Now, they might not have an immediate effect, but in the long run the chemicals will do your body some serious harm. If you are lacking in supplies I mentioned, like a mortar and pestel, a simmer pot, or the herbs, this can be easily solved. for a simmer pot you could just take a container of boiling water and add herbs to it, or simmer pots can probably be found cheep at local stores. Herbs, like I mentioned before can be found in the spice section of grocery stores, but a lot of more uncommon herbs have to be found some other way, maybe purchased online, or you could get seeds and grow your own! Mortal and pestels are a very useful tool used in witchcraft and if you don't have on then I would advise getting one, but in the meantime you can try to crush the herbs with a dull object, but you will want to keep them inside of a container so they won't make a huge mess, maybe a ziploc bag.

locating a new age shop

Often in town and cities, there is a new age shop that carries a lot of witchcraft supplies. If you live in a college town they are more common. Towns that are very eco friendly and gay accepting will most likely have one. I am not making any steryotypes here, I am just saying that the shops do better in locations like that so if you live in a town like that, or know of one close by, then see if you can locate a new age shop. A lot of times they will have names from Pagan gods or just a name that sounds new age like Midnight Moon, or Raven Tree, or Athena. The one in my town is called Athena which is why I named that one, but look into it and you might be surprised!

Crystal magick

I have been collecting crystals for a while now. Just recently did I find out how useful they are. Crystals are naturally formed objects, each one with their own magickal property or properties. They can be used in many different ways, like using them to form the boundary of a circle, to help heal you, to soothe stress, to use in spells, rituals, etc. One of my favorite crystals is amethyst, if you hold it up to your head when you have a headache then it will cure yor headache. Just imagine the ache seeping into the crystal where it can't harm you. A lot of, if not most new age shops have large selections of crystals to chose from that are usually relatively cheap. Also, you might want to check out a list of gemstones and what magickal properties they posses before you go in and buy some. Here is a link to a website that lists them.
http://www.wiccasources.netfirms.com/magickal_properties_of_gemstones.htm
Also, keep in mind that after you get a new stone, that you should cleanse it because crystals pick up energy like a sponge and with all sorts of people who go in the store picking them up and looking at them, you never know what kind of energies they posses. Also you want to cleanse them so that they absorb your energy, that way they will be easier for YOU to work with. here is a link to a website that explains several methods of purifying gemstones.
http://www.amerindea.com/magic-cleanse.html
I prefere to place them in salt water and leave it in the sun.

Spell to make you dream of the one you love

I tried this spell that is supposed to make you dream of the one you love. You are supposed to get something that represents them, and it can be anything from a gift they gave you, a phote of them, or something they said to you written on a piece of paper. Well, I took something they said to me and wrote it down. They I held it to my heart and recited the incantation. I also lit two red candles, even though it didn't specify that in the spell. Once I finished the incantation, I put the piece of paper under my pillow and went to sleep, and during the night the dream came. And I knew it worked because the dream was very similar to what was written on the paper! I was so happy it worked!

I will post the actual spell below so that you can read it off step by step instead of having to search through the paragraph for the steps.

First, take something that symbolizes the person you love(a photo of them, something they gave to you, something they said to you that you wrote down on a piece of paper, etc.) and hold it to youe heart. (It might also help if you light some red candles, that is what I did and it worked for me.) Then say the following incantation:

With these treasured memories,
sweet dreams of you shall come to me.
The way you laugh, the way you smile,
my heart, it skips, it leaps a mile.
Your gentle breath, your tender touch,
I long for you, so very much.
Your lips so soft, your eyes so bright,
I need you on this lonely night.
Let me feel you, smell your scent,
taste your mouth, you're heaven sent.
Close me in your warm embrace,
and make my heart begin to race.
Pull me ever closer, near,
tell me what I need to hear.
Fulfill my every earthly desire,
until my passion roars like fire.
As is my will, this shall be done,
my magick dream has now begun!

Now take the object that symbolizes them and place it under your pillow and go IMMEDIATLEY to sleep and enjoy your dream.(that means don't text one more person, don't go brush your teeth, don't go use the restroom, just undress and go to sleep. Make sure that you have done everything you need to do to prepare for bed before you do this spell.)If the dream doesn't come it is most likely because your desire for this dream wasn't powerful enough.

First Post!

This is my first post on this blog, which I created just yeasterday! I hope that whoever visits this site, even for a second can say that they learned something from it. I am hoping that this blog will turn into a way for people to share spells, recipes, knowledge, and tips for each other. If this is accomplished I think that everyone, including myself will be able to benefit! Happy posting!