Today I’m sharing a recipe I use to make a powder for determination. This can be used in spells, charms, bottles, and sprinkled on a person for determination.

WARNING: This powder should never, ever be ingested, burned, or made into a salve due to the toxicity of its ingredients.

What you’ll need:

• 3-5 days prep time (finding the ingredients, drying them, etc)
• 1 full moon (each day of it)
• 1 mortar and pestle
• 1 pair of scissors
• 1 candle (colour arbitrary)
• The stamens of  125 snapdragon flowers (Plantaginaceae, genus Antirrhinum)
• 10 whole orchids (Orchidaceae - pictured here: genus Phalaenopsis)
• 5 calla lily bells/spathes (Zantedeschia aethiopica)

I’ve adapted this recipe to make a fairly large batch, but should you need smaller or larger amounts, keep the ratios the same. For example, in a recipe with only 2 orchids,  you’ll need 1 calla lily and 24 snapdragons.

Here’s what 125 snapdragons look like:

First, a few days before the full moon, start drying the ingredients. It’s easiest for the calla lilies to dry when they’re cut into small pieces. You want to cut down to the point where the colours of the bell/spathe start to fade. For those of you using white calla lilies, that’s about the point where the inflorescence (the inside part of the flower) ends. You should also start drying the orchids at this time.

Next, harvest the ingredients. During the height of the full moon, collect the stamens of the snapdragons by candlelight.

To collect the stamens of the snapdragon flowers, it’s easiest when the flowers have been drying for a day or two but still have some moisture retained (this is why we begin to dry them 1-2 days before the full moon begins).

For those who don’t know much about plant anatomy, the stamens are the little miniature stem-looking parts of the flower, located inside. They’re very tiny. You’ll have to tear the petals off, or at least in half, to get inside. You want to collect the stamens, but not the ovaries. Each snapdragon only has 1 ovary, but 4-5 stamens. It’s easy to distinguish between the two: the ovaries are a light to dark green colour, whereas the stamens are white (see the difference in the picture below)

Then, wait until all ingredients are dried.

On the last night of the full moon, grind up the stamens, the calla lily bells/spathes and the orchids. Use as a powder.

I hope this recipe serves you as well as it has served me!

TheLivingWiccan

**All words and photos are property of TheLivingWiccan. Feel free to share recipe WITH CREDIT. Do not remove source**

EDIT: If you’re going to reblog this, please keep the text.
That’s kind of the point of the whole picture.

Hello there! I’ve been getting a lot of questions like these recently, and I feel it’s best to just address them all at once.

First of all, let’s start with the basics.

Wicca — along with some (some!) other modern Pagan religions — follow a cycle that embodies the wheel of the year. Most commonly there are 4 major holidays, or Sababts, that correspond with the cross-quarter days (that is, the days that are in between each solstice and each equinox (2 of each)), and 4 quarter days that fall on the solstices and equinoxes. 

Let’s start with the cross-quarter days. These holidays, Sabbats,  include:

• Imbolc/Imbolg/Candlemas — 1st or 2nd of February.
• Beltane/Beltaine/Beltine/Bealtaine/Bealltainn/Boaltinn/Boaldyn (so many names!) — May 1st. The astrological date for Beltane is actually closer to the 5th or 6th or 7th, but this can vary from year to year and most people like to rely on tradition.
• Lammas/Lughnasadh/Calan Awst— August 1st
• Samhain — October 31st through till November 1st
  
  

The reason the names are so different is because of the different traditions of the British, Welsh, Irish, etc.

Now for the 4 quarter Sababts, or rather, the days that correspond with the 2 solstices and the 2 equinoxes. In British and Irish tradition, these were also the days each year on which servants were hired, and rents were due (Wikipedia).

These are:

• Yule — December 21st
• Ostara — March 21st
• Litha — June 21st
• Mabon — September 21st

Of course, these dates change nearly every year. Because the calendar isn’t exactly 365 days each year (more like 364.8 or something crazy like that), the dates of the equinoxes shift from anywhere from half a day to 2 days. On any given year, Litha could be on the 19th June, the 20th June, the 21st June, or even the 22nd June.

This, in turn, changes the astrological times and dates of the midpoints — or rather, the cross-quarter days: Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain. However, most modern Pagans don’t bother with the date changes (most, not all!) and prefer to stick to traditional dates.

As for the Esbats:

Esbats are days of service performed by Wiccans. Every full moon, as stated in the Rede, Wiccans are supposed to meet by the light of the full moon and perform ritual. Esbats are used to reconnect with the Goddess, and to give thanks and place offerings, to dance and sing, and appreciate all that the Goddess gives to them.

I really hope this has helped. It’s a pretty general overview, and of course doesn’t nearly go into detail of the Sabbats and Esbats themselves. Here are some links from my Answered Questions Page„ in the Ritual/Sabbat/Esbat specific page. You should always keep looking at the Answered Questions page, because it gets updated nearly every single week.

)O(
TheLivingWiccan

Why do you celebrate Lunar and Solar dates?

What is Yule and how can I celebrate it?

Even more about Yule

Even even more about Yule

What if I don’t want to do a Yule ritual?

What are some good Yule gifts?

In Preparation for Samhain 2011

All About Imbolc

The Story of Imbolc

Milk Magic for Imbolc

Correspondences for Imbolc

Low-Cost Ideas for Imbolc

All About Lupercalia

All About Ostara

Went down to my favorite herbal dispensary and restocked my licorice root and willow bark stock.

There’s something so wonderful about those two herbs. You always know that you’ll

• have herbs for a cup of delicious tea
• have herbs to ease pain

I think that right there is magical.

In anticipation for this year’s Samhain, I will be answering your questions next week. Anything you can think of, simple or complicated, subtle or deep, common or controversial, I will be happy to answer. So send them in!

TheLivingWiccan

So this is a newly crafted outdoor altar I’ve managed to erect (somehow, with all this harvesting taking up my time). This isn’t a new thing for me, but I figured that my followers would’ve like to see this one as it evolves.

So it’s just a slab of stone on a trunk, and on it I’ve placed perovskia, yarrow, a rose, four tomatoes, four rosehips, and a carnelian crystal. I left them out in the light of the waxing moon to dedicate it.

All photos property of TheLivingWiccan. Do not remove source!

So this is a fairly old altar that I stumbled across pictures from. These photos were taken approximately just after Beltane, before the harvest festivals started… Which is a long time, especially in terms of how often I rearrange my altars.

So what you’re looking are two general set-ups, just the basic altars that I change around every once and a while.  Let’s start with the main one under the window with the leafy altar cloth, just the things under the table. We’ve got the pentagram hanging candle holder, chalices, antlers (almost always present to represent the Great Consort) and plenty of red candles. We also have little personal items, such as the angel that a dear friend gave to me.

As for the large area around it: this is a space that has been cultivated by me for years now. This is at my main home, the one I spend the most time at, and therefore is much larger than some of my other locations. The writing above the window is my own, though the words are not. Many of you may recognise it from Romeo and Juliet, Act II Scene ii. A complicated branch is suspended above the altar, and a Sabbat satchet that a very dear friend made for me hangs from it, as well. The furs are the head of a coyote and the tail of a racoon, symbolizing the beginning and end of all things. In the center hangs a protection strand of dried beans. On the sides are a mask that my mother gave to me, and an evil eye which my brother gave to me. You can see on either side my shelves of general witchery: necklaces, candles, a wonderful decorative box that was gifted to me by another dear friend, mortar and pestles, etc.

I think this is the first photoset where you have been able to see my entire altar space; which is surprising I could even take a photo, as it is quite large. However, it has changed since this photo was taken.

The second last photo in this photoset is of my seperate altar. (I have three in my room at the moment: One for general ritual, one to honour a specific Deity, theme, or goal that I’m focusing on at the moment, and a third for Honouring the Glorious Dead: I find that this one comes almost accidentally — many people mistakenly think that they should gift me dead animals. As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I often feel as though they should be honoured properly.)

So the second last photo was my Goddess altar. On it you’ll recognise the two statues I often use, my dragon candle holder (yes, it is hollow, has scale-shaped holes, and has candle holders inside), rabbit fur with roses placed on top, my second mortar and pestle, with a flourite crystal and more roses.

The very last photo is something I do a lot with my altars, especially my God altars. I found three of these claw-like carvings with horned men carved into them (one can only assume that they were supposed to be the Devil). I use them sort of as a calendar, to mark when the Great One is in His youth, manhood, or wise age. By the looks of this photo, I can assume that we were somewhere between Beltane and Lughnasadh.

Well, that was an awful lot of writing. I hope you all enjoy some more insight into my Craft, my practices, whathaveyou. Blessed Be.

All photos are property of TheLivingWiccan: Do not remove source.

A picture I took a while when I was in the big city for a little while, one of my two homes — drying herbs; urban witchery.

Photo property of TheLivingWiccan. Do not remove source.

More and more I’ve been getting requests for my own personal rituals and altars. So what you’re looking at now is my altar which is honouring Cernunnos and Aphrodite tonight.  The incense is sandalwood.

On the left, we have flowers to Cernunnos: Feather Reed Grass and black eyed Susans tied into a gourd leaf from my garden, symbolizing the coming harvest. Also present are antlers.

On the right, we have flowers to Aphrodite: Butterfly bush, perovskia, and various colours of roses wrapped with a red ribbon. Also present is a shell and a jade bear (whose symbolism is personal, and doesn’t really matter in this context. But you need to expand the photo to see the whole thing).

On both sides of the altar, for each Deity, we have a chalice filled with white Australian Reisling, and a candle from my God and Goddess altar (you may recognize the green one from my previous altar post).

In the centre is my offering bowl filled with oregano, summer savoury and tomatoes. All the offerings are from my garden, flowers and all. The last picture you see is my offering bowl (which I adore) when it’s empty.

All photos property of TheLivingWiccan. Do not remove source.

I logged on today to see that I had 2005 followers.

Just, wow. Wasn’t it only a week or two ago when I had 1500? It seems like only yesterday that I started this blog. I thank you all so much for the support you constantly send me and the great questions that you’ve sent in — not only does it help me fulfill my goal of helping people out on this journey of theirs, but it also helps others who may have the same questions as you!

In short, thank you. I hope to see you guys around for the next long while to come.

Blessed Be,

TheLivingWiccan

)O(

My current altar.

Property of TheLivingWiccan. Do not remove source.

So my inbox has been filling up with questions lately. It’s a bit of a hassle and hard for you guys to find the answers you need when they’re sporadically spaced out. So I’m going to answer a ton of questions on he night of Friday, September 7th.

So, if you’ve recently sent me an inbox question, come back next week and it’ll most likely be answered, along with a few dozen more! And if you have any questions, send them in and I’ll be more than happy to do my best to answer them for you. I also plan to take that night to organize my Answered Questions Page.

Remember, it’s not just about Wicca here — any question you’d like answered that relates in any way to Paganism, religion, advice, divination, traditional witchcraft, my personal practises, school help, legal help, referrals, spell help/spell construction, correspondences…. It’s what I’m here for.

Blessed Be,

)O(

So my inbox has been filling up with questions lately. It’s a bit of a hassle and hard for you guys to find the answers you need when they’re sporadically spaced out. So I’m going to answer a ton of questions on he night of Friday, September 7th.

So, if you’ve recently sent me an inbox question, come back next week and it’ll most likely be answered, along with a few dozen more! And if you have any questions, send them in and I’ll be more than happy to do my best to answer them for you. I also plan to take that night to organize my Answered Questions Page.

Remember, it’s not just about Wicca here — any question you’d like answered that relates in any way to Paganism, religion, advice, divination, traditional witchcraft, my personal practises, school help, legal help, referrals, spell help/spell construction, correspondences…. It’s what I’m here for.

Blessed Be,

)O(

So my inbox has been filling up with questions lately. It’s a bit of a hassle and hard for you guys to find the answers you need when they’re sporadically spaced out. So I’m going to answer a ton of questions on he night of Friday, September 7th.

So, if you’ve recently sent me an inbox question, come back next week and it’ll most likely be answered, along with a few dozen more! And if you have any questions, send them in and I’ll be more than happy to do my best to answer them for you. I also plan to take that night to organize my Answered Questions Page.

Remember, it’s not just about Wicca here — any question you’d like answered that relates in any way to Paganism, religion, advice, divination, traditional witchcraft, my personal practises, school help, legal help, referrals, spell help/spell construction, correspondences…. It’s what I’m here for.

Blessed Be,

)O(

Thank you to everyone who has helped to make this blog the success it is today.

When I first started, my aim was to have this blog reach 100 followers in a year. After I surpassed that number in just a few days, I knew I was on to something special. It fills me with love to know that so many people come here on a daily basis to feel more connected with their spirituality.

My goal for this blog is, and always has been, to educate, to answer questions, to make people feel more than welcome, and to expand my own knowledge of spirituality through the exchange of wonderful ideas with wonderful people.

Thank you all again for your part in this amazing stage in my life — I can’t wait to see what the next year brings!

Blessed Be
TheLivingWiccan

)O(