Pentacle of Life meditation

This exercise is often done during the Earth section of the 'Elements of Magick' Core Class. The purpose is to acquaint yourself with the different stages/phases we go through in this life and see how that connects to all aspects within and without (in nature, relationships, etc)

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Four 'Thieves' Vinegar (recipes, lore, uses)

I realize there is some debate in the community about the Burning times. So I will give my educated summary first, which leads to the point of sharing the Four Thieves potion.

'The Burning times refer to the Witch Hunts in Europe that began with the publishing of the Malleus Maleficarum (witches hammer) in 1486 which gave instructions on ‘how to find us, try us, torture us and dispose of us properly’. It lasted 300yrs. (Trying people for Witchcraft in this manner also took place in the US with the Salem witch trials in 1692. And continues to this day in newly Christianized areas like Africa and New Guinea)

Although others were falsely accused during the witch hunts, the intent and ultimate result was still the persecution and genocide of those who practiced traditional Earth based spiritual beliefs of original European tribes/clans (often the poor/presents, women, and healers) and anything associated with them. For example: Any cat that was found was tried as a witch's familiar and killed. The lack of cats to kill rodents made their population flourish, fleas jumped from one to the next feeding on infected rodents and the plague spread like wildfire = Oh but “it MUST have been a curse" so more Witches were found and tortured/killed…

Four ‘thieves’ vinegar is a famous traditional potion.. the lore is pretty consistent about how it came to be known for fighting the plague. However, I have a feeling that was not actually how it happened. I believe the four witches that gave the gift of this protection were called thieves so that the church authorities could save face. Luckily the magick of their protective potion saved people and thus their lives.. Either way, at least ONE of our ancient remedies made it through time intact.Since then many variations have evolved. These are some of them and their uses:

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Ancient Spell, and Harry Potter curse confirmed

Yep, it's true! The language was spoken in ancient Babylon a city in Mesopotamia which was a pagan city. 

 ”Avada kedavra in English - Origin: Avada Kedavra - Aramaic for “let the thing be destroyed”, it’s said to be the original saying of Abra Kadabra.” http://translation.babylon.com/english/Avada%20kedavra/

(second fun fact: the tower of babble was actually knocked over by Alexander the Great's soldiers during one of his many conquests, so that he could build a monument of himself in its place. But it was not finished before his death. So, I suppose he might have said Avada Kedavra toward the Babalonian Tower - if he spoke Aramaic as well as his native Aeolic Greek lol)  

Tasseomancy ~ The Art of Reading Tea Leaves

1. Choose a loose tea - you may want to choose herbs that lend to your intent/question or to enhance  psychic abilities. Alternately, if you dislike tea, coffee or wine also work (they are from a plant after all).

2. Use a wide mouth tea cup with a saucer. There are a few different cups with symbols from different traditions to aid your reading - like the zodiac themed cup (it may also have a printed saucer) to the right - but some can be quite expensive, so if you want to use one great, but don't worry, they are not required.

3. Sip, enjoy and allow your energy to infuse with the herbs. You can keep your question in mind, or just drink your tea and let the message you need to know come through.

4. When you are finished, here are two of many methods a) read the leaves as they naturally land when finished b) cover with the saucer and swirl the cup  3x while asking your question - an extended version of this includes flipping the cup upside down after swirling, then back over and wait a few moments for the leaves to settle back into the cup.

5. When reading, first observe the cup and allow your gut response to the pattern. e.g. Evenly spread out = balance in the persons life.. and so on. Closer to the rim indicates things happening in the home/close to the person, then immediate family/close friends, and so on to the bottom. 

Generally the reading begins at the handle which represents current events, moving clockwise (see diagram).  Some people can see further than others. So the sections can be hours for a 24hr reading, or a year, or a lifetime.

Look for letters and symbols (see chart). Notice those that jump out first. Allow your third eye and minds eye to work together, like seeing shapes in clouds. The chart above is merely a guideline to assist you..personal experiences and associations with a symbol should be trusted. :)

Bats Blood Ink Needs Re-Branding

Magickally Made will soon be offering handmade magickal inks to accompany our custom handmade Books of Shadows. As we do research about different types of inks and their ingredients we were shocked to see that the ingredients of Bats Blood ink - an ink associated with negative magick: chaos, hexes, and strangely banishing is included as bad *furrow, shakes head* - has just three main magickal ingredients and none of them have the energy that the ink is said to emit. 

The magickal ingredients are: Dragons Blood (love, protection, exorcism, sexual potency), Cinnamon (psychic powers, money drawing, speedy healing, protection and to strengthen love), and Myrrh (healing, protection, exorcism, peace, consecration, meditation). It makes absolutely no sense how these ingredients can be associated with anything but their common energies = Love, Protection, Healing, and Exorcism (which also includes Clearing negative energy and earth bound spirits = Banishing is the only thing they seem to have right and its not negative to protect yourself from harmful energy!). With the added bonus of peace, consecration, meditation, money, sexual potency and psychic abilities if you want to tie those in, and who wouldn't?. All of that sounds pretty positive to this witch.

Perhaps it had the 'wreaking havoc' energy if/when it had actual blood in the mix. But when we learn about Bat medicine, they are actually pretty cool. And although I don't condone bleeding a bat, I can imagine their blood has the same aspects as the whole. For instance they represent death/rebirth, and thus would be associated with exorcising/banishing/clearing the earth bound spirit aspect of the current formula by helping them move on to their next incarnation. But only those who fear the natural process of life and its inevitable outcome would associate this aspect of bat medicine with negativity.

Whomever created this particular recipe was either confused, purposely trying to make something that wouldn't work for hexing, or it simply got lost in translation because of the 'spooky' name.

I admit that in my almost 19yrs of magickal study I have avoided Bats Blood Ink because of its accepted purpose. In my experience the general rule is that a 'good witch' shouldn't touch anything associated with negative magic, so I didn't look any further (*rolls eyes* oh the power we give to the 'dark side'). Now that I know whats in it, it's almost laughable and kind of embarrassing to have given it so much power. 

 I felt compelled to point this out because I have seen posts elsewhere asking 'if it could be used in a positive way' and the responses included the ingredients but reiterated the negative uses.. I don't understand why we haven't corrected the contradiction. Yes it should be used in a positive way! In fact, I feel that we should show some love to Bats Blood Ink because that's what its for! (that, and protection, and healing and removing negativity of course lol). I suggest we use it for its actual purpose not its reputation. 

If you're concerned about the possible intent of the maker of Bats Blood ink on the market currently, keep an eye on our shop because we will have some for sale soon, and we will be allowing it to be itself. Get it from us, or of course, you can make your own. :)

(I  feel that the lesson here is to look beyond what is 'accepted' as truth regardless of social pressures or stigma, and look deeper into anyone/anything that, by sheer reputation, repels us.)