Ask a Cottage Witch by Juliette Jarvis- Witchy Moms Magazine February 2023 Issue
Dear Juliette,
Happy New Year! I have always been intrigued about learning more about nature, herbs and the magic all around us but being a mom I am so hesitant as to how to learn and practice without bringing something in or around that might affect my children. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
~ Beginner and confused
Dear Beginner and confused,
Blessings on your year! You are a wise woman and good momma for wanting to proceed safely, and I have great news for you! While there are lots of areas where one would be well advised to be versed in protective measures, the fields that you mention have lots of room for safe navigation. Witchery doesn’t always involve spirits, deities, or entities in unseen realms, working instead with energies, properties, and aspects found in our day-to-day, ordinary reality. Keeping to personal workings rather than for friends and community also reduces need for concern. In this way, much of the energy that you encounter or information found in reference books will be fairly straightforward.
A great place to begin, is by consciously moving through the cycles of the seasons and phases of the moon. For instance, finding ways to incorporate the natural increase of growth energy inherently present during Springtime or a waxing moon; perhaps by starting a new project, learning a new skill, or intentionally working with what you would like more of in life. Likewise, during Autumn, paying particular notice of situations or dynamics that are ending, focusing on rituals for letting unsupportive aspects die off, or turning attention inward in preparation for Winter’s dark dreaming time and soul level hearth keeping.
Tending to a nature table or shrine is an easy way to connect with the essence of a season and slowly flow through natural increase and decrease. It acts as a soft energetic attunement and is a gentle way to include your family. Pausing to ask for a sense of consent to bring home the fallen pinecones, beautiful flowers, or shiny stones found on walks and leaving a gift of love, song, or a few strands of hair behind instills a good sense of reciprocity and permission. Working with these cycle teachings ties in well with herbal workings too. If exploring the metaphysical or healing properties of culinary herbs and seasonal plants in your area, you can include them in your intentional cooking or other spell work. Examples here might be stirring a soup with fresh Basil clockwise during a Spring waxing moon to increase prosperity, or burning dried Rosemary in the Fall to help clear painful memories, even adding sunshiny Calendula flowers to Summer Solstice cookies in honour of long bright days full of vitality. Truly, these practices can be thought of as layers of associations put together in an intentional way with an aim for making change in your daily life.
As your walk your path of sacred living, the magic that is all around us naturally begins to make itself more and more known. Synchronicities increase, powerful feeling experiences occur, sensitivities to energy, messages, and intuition heightens, previously ordinary happenings seem richer and more potent, teachers in many different forms appear, and your gifts and confidence will organically grow. Keeping a journal of your witchy workings alongside daily events can be very helpful to clearly witness correlations, find what methods are effective, and remember what techniques feel most natural to you.
With the methods shared here, rather than protecting against deleterious entities, one only needs to consider allergies, poisonous plants/contraindications, and the knowing that your work may be more effective or outcomes may take different forms than initially imagined. Cultivate your intentions mindfully, and enjoy this soul-full way of living!
In good health,
Juliette
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Dear Juliette,
What are three of your go-to herbs for charms or spellwork?
~ Curious Cunning Man
Dear Curious Cunning Man,
Three that come to mind in this moment are:
Rosemary ~ it’s often said to be the clear quartz of the herb realm as it tends to work for nearly any occasion and in all manner of forms. It’s easy to grow and traditional to my heritage.
Rose ~ good for all gentling needs and matters of the heart. Wild varieties are abundant here, and much like rosemary, it has a rich array of associations and meanings to call upon.
Cedar ~ a potent and plentiful ally in my neck of the woods. It has a long history of importance and use where I live and so helps balance my apothecary with medicines from the land that I know best with the lands of my ancestors.
All three have great aromatics, work well fresh or dried for everything from offerings to saining, I can have direct relationships with these plants as they grow and can harvest myself, and save for a little caution around cedar tea I’m able to ingest each when my workings call for it
Sláinte!
Juliette
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Dear Juliette,
I’m navigating a situation at work in which I feel that I’m being disrespected and my boundaries are being crossed. I’ve decided that the only workable solution is for me to end my role. I’m wondering what are some witchy practises that will help me do a clearing so I can really move forward from any of the entanglements that are part of my previous job?
~ Worn-Out Witch
Dear Worn-Out Witch,
First off, excellent work standing in your personal power and protecting yourself from continued infringement! That can be really tough to do, especially when one’s livelihood is involved. Extra kudos to you too for tending to this matter on energetic and spiritual levels as well to complete the triad.
Looking at the word you used, “entanglements” makes me think of clearing with string magic in amongst some ongoing maintenance with methods such as saining/smoke clearing/smudging, ritual bathing, power poses, grounding exercises, medicinal teas, and invocations of protective allies, essences, and deities.
There are many ways you might choose to work with string magic, and so I will offer up a few suggestions for you to either choose from or be inspired by for creating your own ritual.
After setting ceremonial space, you might sit in all the feelings of disrespect and boundary crossing until they feel very present with you. Then slowly pull the essence of it out of your body by speaking of those situations or blowing their energy right into the string or yarn as you wind it around a stick. Keep clearing it out of your field, winding, speaking/blowing until you feel free of it. This might even be done more than once or in sit multiple sessions if needed. When finished, if the string or yard isn’t synthetic, you could either bury into the earth for a slow digesting or burn in a sacred fire for a faster transformation. Either way, the removal work has already been done with the winding.
You might choose instead to wear string or yarn around a wrist or ankle with the intention that it pulls entangled energy out of your body and energy field over the span of a few days or even weeks. Every time you see it or feel it, you are reminded that the work is being done while you go about your day to day. If it agitates and annoys you, you can trust that it is coming to the surface as it is pulled out. When the time is right, slip an athame, ceremonial blade, or straight up kitchen knife under it and cut yourself free. Burn or bury if made of appropriate material, or cleanse with smoke or sound and recycle if possible and trash if not.
A version of cord cutting can be done by wrapping your thread around two taper candles set a few inches apart. Designate one candle to represent You, and the other to represent the role you held at your previous job. The thread is the connection between you. Set both candle holders on a fire proof dish large enough to hold them both and catch any falling debris or dripping wax. Holding on to one end, wrap the thread around one candle to encircle it, then reach it over to the other, wrap around that one and circle back to tie the two ends together. You’ll want your string to be somewhere between halfway and 3/4 of the way up the candles. When ready, set both candles alight and let them burn their way down to, and through, the string. Ideally you can tend to these candles until they burn themselves out rather than snuffing. A nice aspect about this method is that you can consider how they burn, the way the flames behave, and how the wax melts as messages or insights as a form of divination. After any pooling wax has cooled, you might find shapes or impressions that feel relevant to you.
If you spin fibre, you might spin two lengths of singles counter clockwise as an undoing of harms, then ply them together clockwise while envisioning a reset of your autonomy and personal power. This binds your healing process with the remedy of your healed state.
A last thought would be to simply find a tangled skein, or maybe a necklace, or other jumbled up mess and slowly, patiently, literally and symbolically untangle all knots until you reach that beautiful moment of free and clear lines of energy. If it is something that can be wound into a nice neat ball after, all the better. Very tidy. Very simple.
Hemp twine, wool, cotton string, silk thread, or yarn made from other plants or animal fibres are ideal as they will compost or burn more cleanly. Hemp is often quite easily found and affordable too. Do keep extra care of your physical self through this time and let yourself take a break from stressful engagements if at all possible. If you find yourself going back to thoughts of infringement, do your best to replace them with feelings of completion and the knowing that the clearing work has been done. This helps inform your nervous system that the danger is no longer present.
Blessings on your new, more healthful and right fitting ventures!
Juliette
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Dear Juliette,
I am Wondering the best way to create a seasonal altar , what is best to place on it and direction to face to welcome abundance?
~ the MuddyFairy 
Dear MuddyFairy ,
The first thing I would consider is if you are looking to create a working altar space or more simply, a shrine in honour of the natural world as it moves through the seasons. A shrine is more of a tribute to the medicines and essences of the plants, stones, shells, etc that you encounter. A pleasant arrangement is made to enjoy and feel the presence of what you gather. It can help attune your energy and awareness to the ebb and flow throughout the seasonal wheel and the various medicines that you place there. It might look like bundles of dried wheat in the Autumn along with fallen leaves, baskets of your garden’s delights, icons or images of harvest goddesses, and handfuls of hazelnuts to give a real sense of bounty and gathering or harvesting the fruits of your labours. Spring time might be vases of first flowers, decorated eggs, and aromatic tree buds bringing a sense of new potentials and beginnings of good things. Things you find on walks that don’t cause harm when they come for a visit. This is a great way begin new relationships with nature spirits, get to know the feel of different medicines, or honour plants that you already work with in other ways. When things have dried or died or the season passes, return them to the earth.
An altar tends to be a place where an intention is set for something specific to take affect in your day-to-day living and is generally engaged with in a working manner.
An example could be a wooden bowl or found nest representing You or your home with specific in-season items added that support your intention. The act of putting them into your vessel becomes a way of spell working. They might be herbs or crystals associated with the specific area of abundance that you seek, such as roses for an increase in love, basil for greater income, a stone from a river to bring a flow of opportunities, handfuls of crop seeds that traditionally would ensure times of plenty, or pieces of driftwood with the appropriate runes, ogham, or sigils scribed in.
Or instead of a vessel you might place items in the shape of a medicine wheel and work with the cardinal and cross quarter directions by matching up the essence of seasonal findings with the associated aspects of those compass points. Sacred geometry or grid work might also be used similarly. Natural items might be from the current season or not, and other methods of engagement might be employed there like scrying, meditating, or pulling cards regarding your intention, lighting candles as a way of activating, or creating charms made from natural items and incorporating them into your altar layout. When regarding this space as actively working toward your goals for you even when you aren’t present, it can be helpful to give it periods of rest by draping a cloth over top or refreshing the energy by periodically changing its configuration or completely replacing all items. The idea here is to find a meaningful arrangement, a way of including natural items, and a method of working at your altar that supports a set intention.
A welcoming direction to face your altar may be affected by logistical layout of your home (or yard if outside) and depending on your beliefs, different directions may seem more appropriate to you than what another might choose. Some might feel the East to be the place as it is the direction of the morning Sun, beginnings, and Springtime growth energy. I myself would place in it in the South where on my wheel it is the direction of full expression, action, and the height of energy before it begins to wane. Another might feel the West is suitable as it is often considered as the place of harvest or is associated with water for flow and movement. Perhaps the North feels best if you have a relationship with a relevant deity associated there.
The great thing here is there truly is no wrong way to do it (unless you happen to bring something poisonous into the home or allergies are triggered).
Have fun with it, experiment with different layouts and placements and see what feels most natural and resonant.
With reiki footsteps,
Juliette
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Dear Juliette,
What is a small before bedtime ritual I can add to my routine to let go of the stress of the day? Is there any specific colours ? , crystals? Herbs? I can add? - tea to drink?
~ Dancing Fae
Dear Dancing Fae,
Oh what a lot of lovely room to play with ideas here!
The very first thought that came to mind when I read “crystal” was a few minutes of toning into black tourmaline (or other favourite absorbent or transmuting crystal, usually dark ones). I am very fond of using our voices as a way of bringing our inside feelings, thoughts, prayers and intentions outward into the world around us, and sound vibrations are an excellent way of breaking up dense energy. It’s easy and doesn’t require much. Toning is singing sustained notes and follows your intuition rather than a set of lyrics. One might use a willing stone instead of a crystal even. Stones can be excellent allies for pulling out dense energy. It’s a case of “Like cures Like” and they don’t require purchase or mining.
When I saw you write “colours”, my mind went to a shawl to wrap in. I have a shawl like this that I wove in a loose sett that reminds me of netting, and when I checked in with Spirit about my initial discomfort at that thought (selkie folk don’t love nets), I was shown that it catches unwanted energy when I wear it much like a dream catcher tangles up bad dreams. Unlike the dark colour of many crystals that help absorb deleterious energy, this sight of a shawl is in soft, gentle, soothing colours like chicory or dusty rose feels to me. I think the main requirement here would be to find what colour brings you the most relief. If you were to imagine the softest scene to rest into that held the utmost restorative pampering essence, what would be the colour palette? Maybe wrap up in that!
For some reason, “herbs” and “tea to drink” came with a sight of sipping an herbal tea in a bath. Not everyone has a bathtub so if this doesn’t fit, perhaps it can become a foot bath instead. Drinking rose, tulsi, hibiscus, chamomile, lavender, or other gentle relaxants in a bath/foot soak with oats, epsom salts, cedar, perhaps a pair of crystals like rose quartz with smokey quartz; one to soothe and one to transform (always double check for water safety and potential toxicity of crystals before adding) The crystals will program the water to their healing frequencies. While bathing, you can use your breath and intention to breathe out the stresses of the day from your body into the water. A little time spent clearing your physical and energy bodies in this way can have a potent effect when pulling the tub plug and watching it all slip away. If going for a full ritual tea and soak experience every night is more than is feasible, my suggestion would be to do it for a few nights so that your nervous system equates your nightly cup of herbal medicine with the relaxing and clearing capacity of the full deal. You might also bring visualizations into the mix while drinking your tea. A helpful one is to see an energetic waterfall pouring into the top of your head, cleansing all the way down your body and out of your feet with every drink (this works great with a water bottle throughout the day too). You might lightly connect with the spirit of the herbs you choose and see them tending to your heart as you hold your cup between taking sips.
A personal favourite of mine however, is a simple practice done in those very first moments after crawling into bed. It feels like pumping Happy through my body with each breath. It began during a really hard time in life when I found myself feeling grateful for simply making it through each impossible-task filled day. I would revel in that relief of finally being Done, smile, cozy down, and breathe the feelings of Phewf! throughout my body and right into my finger tips and toes literally repeating to myself, “I made it!” while paying attention to how snuggly my bed felt. It sounds silly, but it was surprisingly effective.
Sweet peace to you,
Juliette
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Dear Juliette,
Which way is the best way to hang a horseshoe?
~ Lady Rosewood
Dear Lady Rosewood,
I grew up believing a horseshoe should be hung above a door in the shape of a U, or “heels up” so that the luck doesn’t run out. Now, if you are a blacksmith it is hung with the heels down so the luck runs into the forge, anvil, and tools. For this reason, some choose to follow suit believing it to pour out the luck to fill their home with good fortune. Being smithed of iron, horseshoes are often considered as lucky talismans in general no matter which way they hang, due to the repelling nature of such metal against unsavoury magic wielding characters or those with ill intent, because blacksmiths themselves were regarded has magically powerful people able to transfer good fortune and blessings through their word and works, and also because they tend to have 7 (lucky) nail holes. This is my round about way of saying that simply having one may be pretty lucky in itself no matter which way it’s pointing. However! if it is a shoe that has been cast off by the horse, it is said the luck has worn off. In our house the horseshoe is, and has always been, hung heels up but definitely do what feels most right.
Delightful fortune to you,
Juliette
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