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Episode 128: Autumn Magic
781 Plays2 months ago
Welcome back, Witches! In this episode, we dive into the enchanting energies of autumn, exploring the seasonal shifts, herbal magic, and rituals perfect for harnessing the power of the fall equinox. So get in, loser—we’re embracing the cozy vibes and casting spells with our pumpkin spice!
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Music by Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio- The Witch
References:
- Anderson, Lorraine. TheWitch’s Apothecary. (2023) Rockpool Publishing.
- Alexander, Skye. The Kitchen Witch. (2023) Adams Media, an Imprint of Simon & Schuster.
- Blonde, Jennie. Hearth & Home Witchcraft. (2022) Weiser Books, Redwheel/Weiser.
- Black, Lyra. Recreational Witchcraft. (2022) Liminal 11.
- Rhea, Amy. Ancestor VEneration: An Ancient Tradition for Modern Pagans. (2024) Mirth & Reverence. https://amyerhea.com/ancestor-veneration-an-ancient-tradition-for-modern-pagans/
- History.com Editors. Samhain. (2018). History. https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/samhain
- Johanna. Autumnal Magic. (2023) Crowsbone.. https://www.crowsbone.com/blogarchive/autumnal-magic-incorporating-autumn-energy-into-magical-workings
- Sierra Vandervort (n.d.). The Fall Equinox Ritual Guide for Modern Witches. The Local Mystic. https://thelocalmystic.com/fall-equinox/
- Theo Witch (2023). Mea’n Fo’mhair: The Celtic Celebration of Autumn Equinox. The Practitioner’s Handbook. https://handbook.equinox-apothecary.shop/sabbats/mabon/mean-fomhair-the-celtic-celebration-of-autumn-equinox/
- Amanda The Peculiar Brunette (2024). Mabon 2024: The Wondrous Meaning of Autumn’s Pagan Traditions. The Peculiar Brunette. https://www.thepeculiarbrunette.com/mabon-autumn-equinox/#Mabon_2024_Correspondences
- Aurora Moon (2021). Samhain Sabbat Correspondences- The Witches New Year. Plentiful Earth. https://plentifulearth.com/samhain-sabbat-correspondences-the-witches-new-year/
- Moss & Magic (n.d.). Autumn Leaf Divination: Using Fallen Leaves for Divination Practices. Moss & Magic. https://mossandmagic.com/autumn-leaf-divination-using-fallen-leaves-for-divination-practices/
- Tea and Rosemary 2. (2022). Gods & Goddesses of Autumn, The Harvest, & Samhain. Tea & Rosemary. https://teaandrosemary.com/gods-goddesses-of-autumn-the-harvest-samhain/
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Transcript
Introduction to Autumn Magic
00:00:00
Speaker
Do you feel drawn to learn more about witchcraft and the occult but feel lost somewhere to start? Then welcome to Get In Loser where you're doing witchcraft, a podcast all about what it means to be a witch and where to get started on your journey. Join us as we navigate through various witchy topics and share what we've learned about the craft. So get in witches, light a candle, get a PSL, and get cozy as we discuss all things Autumn Magic.
00:00:55
Speaker
Get out of stuff. I'm going to kick you upstairs by yourself. Thank you. I can't. You started recording, so we're going to be crazy. I know. They're like sleeping, and now they're like, anyways, back to shenanigans. Menace to society.
00:01:12
Speaker
midnight zoomies. Literally.
Travel Plans: Ghent and Brussels
00:01:15
Speaker
So we're going to Ghent, which we haven't been to yet. But it's like really close to Brussels. It's like 30 minutes, I think from Brussels. So it's like the same area that we love anyways. um And it looks like a cute little town and Anthony's a boss gave us a brewery to go to and get and she said there's this like whole graffiti wall that this place is known for with like actually like really beautiful art on this wall like it's not like cool
00:01:48
Speaker
what you think of when you think of graffiti. It's like really cool art. She was showing me pictures of it. So we're going to go see that, eat some food, go to a brewery on night one because we're only going for like, we're going to drive down there, stay the night. I'm going to get my tattoo however long that takes because she does everything in one block, no matter like how big your tattoo is. She's pretty quick. Yeah.
00:02:12
Speaker
we'll go out that night for like food and drinks and then head home the next day. yeah But I'm excited. i We haven't been back to Belgium since we've gotten back and Brussels holds a special place in our heart. We used to go like once a month for probably like six months straight. We were like, ah it's time to go to Brussels again because it's like four hours from us. so I absolutely love it out there. and someone that so I know her online. I've never met her in person. um She like knew my mom. She's younger, but she knew my mom when my mom lived in Ridgecrest. Her husband got orders to Belgium like out to shape. She messaged me, and so her and
Military Assignments and Reflections
00:03:00
Speaker
I have been talking a lot. so We might see if we can get dinner with them while we're out there too.
00:03:05
Speaker
Yeah. And then now my favorite co-worker is moving to Belgium. So, you know, we may go there. Yeah. Yeah. She told me today. She was like, you better come annoy me in Belgium. it's like Of course I will. Yes. You don't have to tell me twice like yeah either. Don't threaten me with a good time. I'm just like, Oh my gosh, what can, like, can Mike volunteer for a special duty site. Please, Michael. re be like god i'm just like It'd be so amazing if you were here. I know. It would be so great. um i just I was talking with Mike about our time and like here in Japan. I'm just like, man, I really wish that like
00:03:53
Speaker
this was our last year, because our like next year is our last year. Because I keep thinking about like, Oh, yeah, we just have a year left. Because like, usually, like we average three, two to three years everywhere we go. And um I'm just like, Oh my god, no, we have two years left. Like we have two full years left. And you're just like, but just think like, next year, we only have one year left. And I'm like,
00:04:15
Speaker
Yeah, thanks. mine I know, like, that's how it works. But like we technically have more than two years. This will probably be our shortest assignment of his career. Yeah. Because we were at Tinker for Well, Tinker, it'll be close with Tinker. So we were at Tinker for like almost four years when we got orders to Germany. And then we were in Germany for seven years exactly. And then we went to Scott for seven years exactly. And then we came back here. And this assignment is only four years, but he's like, he's going to be way past retirement. So he's going to try and curtail it to three.
00:04:57
Speaker
Yeah, so it might be our shortest assignment if that might be yeah, hopefully might stay though, you know, yeah, hopefully you can stay um Yeah, I'm just this is the longest assignment and I just feel like four years in Ok now is too long. It's too long. I don't want to be here as a disclaimer If you can hear that sweet little rough my all of my animals are down here. I think Nike's the only one that's not it. She's like, I have the whole house to myself. Thank you. Literally. And one I turned the AC on in my bedroom to cool it down because it was like almost 90 degrees today. So our room is like nice and cold. So my guess is she's probably laying on my bed right in front of that AC. Oh, yeah. Tolkien is like
00:05:45
Speaker
laying over in the corner and Rune is wanting to play with him, but obviously he's a cat versus dog and they don't want to play with the dogs, so he's just barking at him. So if you guys hear my animals, look, it is what it is. They're the guest stars of today. Yeah, and ah I haven't heard any pitter-patter come down the stairs, but like they just did text me like an hour ago when we were just talking. Mom, where are you?
00:06:14
Speaker
What do you think I am? ah What are you doing? I woke up. Yeah. Where do you think I am at 5am? So anyway. Nyx is being a sweet little baby over here, taking a nap. Right. She was like, it's late, guys. Yeah. She's like, mom, come on. It's time for bed. I'm ready to snuggle. Yeah. Little turds, man. ah Sweet little babies. Hi. but I guess let's get into it because we're not talking about tattoos. We're not, even though I will talk about tattoos all day. ah Yeah. Why don't we talk about, we're going to talk about some auto magic. Yes. This episode is going to be known. It's a beast. It's a beast of an episode, but I will say I love this series. I love our seasonal magic series. It's so fun and it makes me like,
00:07:12
Speaker
really, really wish that we had autumn in Japan. I'm like, we got like a little taste of fall weather and then it jumped back up to, sorry, one of the dogs had an itch apparently. It jumped back up from like 60 to 90 degrees. Yeah. ah It's miserably hot here all the time right now. So, um,
00:07:42
Speaker
I hate that. ah But I'm hoping that maybe this fall, maybe we can travel up to mainland or Korea or someplace to experience some cooler weather because i have I've already started decorating for Halloween. I have my have like a fall scent going right now, um but it just Inside my house, it feels like fall. Outside my house, it feels like Satan's asshole. It's terrible. and Our friend, Sophia, she's hilarious. She's German. And every time we go to a festival when it's like 80 billion degrees, you know, we're all sweaty and we're like in dresses or like whatever outfit we wear because we dress up for all the festivals. She always will be like, it's so hot and sweaty. It's like soup.
00:08:29
Speaker
It's like soup down there and I'm like, she kills me. yeah So that's when our like running joke, she'll just be like, it's like soup down there. Yeah. So Andy's like, oh, it's so hot. It's like soup. It's like soup. Tell her if she comes soaking out, it's gonna be soup everywhere, not just down there. yeah Everywhere. Yeah. Everywhere. Everywhere. It's disgusting.
00:08:54
Speaker
Literally, like this is how humid it is. we Me and my coworker, we went to um we were at the store and we were buying some like decor shit for the office. yeah We parked literally the first row of the store and the walk from the door to the first row of the parking lot, which is like maybe, like I don't know i't know how many feet that is, but it's like maybe 20 steps. The container that this fake plant was in was completely wet like we had spilled water. Ew, I know. That's how humid it is here. It is so bad. I don't think so. It's disgusting. like and It's so bad. But anyway, I'm going to go ahead with some background on this super long, super cozy episode.
00:09:46
Speaker
so There are some notable autumn dates that um I think makes this episode
Understanding Mabon and Samhain
00:09:53
Speaker
a bit longer than um usual. So the first one is Mabon and Mabon occurs around September 20th through the 24th. This is known as the fall equinox and it's the time when we celebrate the harvest and to celebrate the balance between light and dark. This sabbat takes place when the sun crosses the celestial equator which allows for roughly equal hours of both daylight and darkness, reminding us of the earth's transition into a period of rest and reflection and our need to find balance within ourselves. It's a time to be grateful for the things we have harvested both physically and metaphorically. So for example, being grateful for what you have and what you have earned who you have in your life. And this marks the official start of autumn. The second one,
00:10:44
Speaker
I think is most of our favorite. It's Samhain, which is October 31st through November 1st. It's also known as the Witch's New Year, All Hallows Eve, and Halloween. It represents the fundamental cycles of life and death and rebirth, and it's a time to honor and celebrate our loved ones that have passed while also welcoming in the winter season. And this particular sabbat is also tied to the image of the reaper,
00:11:12
Speaker
in that the reaper comes to collect the harvest, tying in the death aspect and the circle of life. So the word sowing is an old Celtic word that translates to summer's end and it's the third and final harvest of the Wheel of the Year. This harvest season is focused mainly on root vegetables, beans, and pumpkins and squash um that are stored for the colder months.
00:11:35
Speaker
And throughout history, someone has been celebrated with parties, feasts, wearing costumes, pulling pranks, and eating sweets, all of which are traditions that we see like still today for those that like celebrate Halloween. This night is the time when the veil is at its thinnest, which is why it's often used as a time to connect with loved ones that have passed.
00:11:59
Speaker
And this means that divination practices are common for Samhain. Many people will use a variety of divinatory practices to try to communicate with ancestors, spirits, and deities with the male beings then.
00:12:13
Speaker
And then jack-o'-lanterns historically were carved from turnips. And we've talked about this previously on um the podcast. But once the celebration made its way over to America, this practice changed to pumpkins. And the practice of carving turnips or pumpkins and placing candles inside was to ward off darkness. And it goes back like hundreds of years.
00:12:37
Speaker
This practice was also done to light the way for visiting spirits while the carved faces were considered a way to ward off evil spirits. There's some historical significance when it comes to this time of year.
00:12:49
Speaker
um and So the ancient Celtic celebration of the autumn equinox, which is, if you were to look it up, it looks nothing like the actual pronunciation because it's a Celtic word, but it's pronounced maine fauvare, and this means middle of autumn. And this was this time of the year was the time to honor the bounty of nature, express gratitude, and share our abundance with others.
00:13:16
Speaker
and as a way to prepare for the approaching winter and so really tying back into those two holidays that we just talked about with Mabon and with Samhain. The Celtic people like many other earlier civilizations were dictated by the agricultural cycles They were merely the observers of the land and they were its stewards who worked in harmony with the earth's rhythms. This was also the time of community. And this is where the Celtic community would work together and preparing the harvest to ensure that the bounty they collected would sustain them all winter. And so now that we've talked a little bit about the background and historical significance for autumn and autumn magic, let's talk about how to practice.
00:14:01
Speaker
um The first thing I'm going to talk about is harvest fees. And this is one of the most essential elements of Maybond and celebrating automatically. And it's just by hosting a feast. This is the perfect way to share in abundance and give thanks and is a great way to eat and shop seasonally. Later on, we're going to discuss some food correspondences that go along with this time of year. But this is probably one of the easiest things you can do to connect with nature and this time of year.
00:14:28
Speaker
And it's also something that is very, very beginner friendly. If you are in the broom closet or out of the broom closet, or you're just interested in learning more about paganism or any sort of earthbound religions, hosting a feast is super, super entry level. Love it. Yeah. If you want to kick it up a little notch, we're going to talk about bonfires. So you can add a bonfire to your feast.
00:14:56
Speaker
Bonfires and feasts are not a new concept when discussing celebrating Sabbats, the will of the year, holidays, etc. We've discussed in many of our episodes that having a bonfire is a great way to celebrate pretty much any of the Sabbats, so it should be like no surprise that autumnal magic would include holding a bonfire. So here's a little history of why. Historically, evidence has been found that indicates our earliest religious like quote-unquote religious experiences occurred not within temples churches or other buildings but rather at what would be viewed as more of a festival setting with people converging around a single point usually a fire to dance sing cook and then even pray bonfires bring people together in a spirit of revelry where they can cook together give offering sacrifices and we're not talking like babies here we're talking about you know
00:15:53
Speaker
symbolism or animals or some we're gonna talk a little bit later about like animal bones um and like simply just commune together. Bonfires have long been considered sacred throughout the Wheel of the Year and in rituals because they are believed to have the power to scare away evil spirits. People would often stay close to the fires especially on Samhain wearing costumes to further like further protect them from evil spirits.
00:16:22
Speaker
And the practice of lighting large fires dates back to the roots of Samhain, where young people would go from house to house asking for food offerings and kindling for the Samhain fire. And then everyone would extinguish their own fires within their homes and join around like the big Samhain bonfire in honor of and to make offerings to the gods.
00:16:44
Speaker
For Samhain specifically, large fires were known as saunagan, and they were traditionally built from ferns and tar barrels, and the embers of these fires were then used to light the household fires in the community to help distribute the protective forces of the saunagan. And in many cases, like um crops and the bones of slaughtered animals that were cold were burnt in the fires as an offering. And fun fact, the modern word of bonfire derived from bone and fire, meaning fire of bones, and it refers to this particular practice. Personal and symbolic items were also burned as offerings for relief from sickness and bad fortune. And we've mentioned this on the podcast before. I could not remember what episode and it could have been our Samhain episode, but ashes from bonfires,
Harvest Celebrations and Traditions
00:17:44
Speaker
after a fire festival sabbat were often used on farmland especially after sallen where they would spread them over the fields as protection against spirits who would cause the next season's crop to fail.
00:17:58
Speaker
um Next I have Mummy and I don't have a whole lot on this because Sam and I talked about this offline and my week has been a little crazy and I just like glossed over this section and completely forgot to do it. So we have a little bit but not a whole detailed thing which is fine because this episode is going to be 80 hours long anyways.
00:18:19
Speaker
so Um, we discussed mumming in one of our previous episodes and it was either a spooky or the Samhain episode again. So I'm not going to go into like a whole lot of like detail here on it, but essentially, mumming has ties to both Ireland and to Samhain.
00:18:36
Speaker
And in Ireland, mumming was the practice of putting on costumes and going door to door, singing songs to the dead. And oftentimes people of these houses would give the mummer cakes as payment, hence the modern day like trick or treating. Tricks and pranks were also like an old Celtic Irish Samhain tradition, but the tricks were typically blamed on fairies. And it's like a cross of like going caroling and trick-or-treating like all in one. So to really lean into the season you could simply just host a costume party where you dress up and this can also double as like some glamour magic. I wish it was acceptable for adults to go door-to-door trick-or-treating but you know people I think would frown on that but maybe you could get your friends in on it and then you guys can go mumming.
00:19:34
Speaker
Another really easy like entry-level way to celebrate, whether you're in or out of the broom closet, is by doing charitable acts. This can be something as simple as donating food to a food pantry, serving at a homeless shelter, donating clothes to a domestic violence shelter, or even donating blankets and food to an animal shelter. Because one of the biggest themes related to autumnal magic is gratitude and balance,
00:20:01
Speaker
sharing that abundance with others is like one of the easiest and most, I feel like overlooked ways you can celebrate this because when we talk about like magic and in celebrating along the wheel of the year, if you were to look up on Instagram or TikTok, you would just see people like posting these elaborate ways to celebrate, but how are they giving back to the community? like What are you doing to actually like share that abundance with people who need it? And I think this is such an easy, overlooked way that you can celebrate.
00:20:35
Speaker
So let's talk about altars. For those of you that have an altar, there's several ways that you could kind of take like several directions that you could go in for this. So first of all would just be a general autumn altar.
00:20:52
Speaker
And for this, you would just use symbols of the season, like leaves, acorns, fruits and vegetables of the season, and really any of the correspondences that we're going to share here in a moment. You could also do a combined alter that contains both elements of mabon and sowing. And I'm going to be sharing like specifics of both of those next. But if you want to keep it general, think of things like pomegranates, abundance, dried flowers, nuts and seeds, root vegetables.
00:21:20
Speaker
and all of those fall in earth tone colors. For a mabon-specific altar, symbols of abundance, bowls full of like fruit and vegetables, piles of coins, a cornucopia, autumn leaves, dried ears of corn, gourds, apples, dried flowers, acorns, nuts, and seeds. And then some colors that are specific to mabon would be earth tones like brown, russet, olive, mustard, and maroon.
00:21:50
Speaker
And the tarot card that's associated with Mabon is the Nine of Wands, so you can also include that card on your Mabon altar. To do a sound specific altar, this one could be um more pictures of your ancestors and friends who have passed, candles and corresponding colors like black, orange, dark purple, brown, and red. um And you could even use prayer candles here considering like if you're doing one that's for your ancestors.
00:22:21
Speaker
keeping a prayer candle lit for them. Suites or a candy, masks, jack-o'-lanterns, pumpkins, autumn leaves, dried flowers, squash, and nuts. um You can include symbols of death like bones or the death tarot card. And for incense, you could burn spicy, woody scents like pine, cedar wood, myrrh, and cinnamon. um And then as I mentioned,
00:22:47
Speaker
The tarot card associated with Samhain is death, like surprise, surprise, and then the ten of swords.
Themes of Autumn: Balance and Introspection
00:22:54
Speaker
And then just some general, autumnal magic. This season is a time of balance, and it's a great time to express gratitude and acknowledge the balance of light and dark within ourselves. It's a time for introspection and reflection, and it allows us a moment to assess our goals and harvest the lessons learned from the months past.
00:23:16
Speaker
This is also a great time to connect with seasonal energies, draw inspiration for your practice from the natural world around you. Autumn gives you a rich canvas of symbolism and energy to work with, and some of these themes include things like utilizing seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs within your spells and rituals,
00:23:38
Speaker
spending time out in nature, pay attention to like falling leaves, the wide array of colors, the smells and the Christmas of the air, allow your senses to connect you to the season. And then Sam's going to talk about candle magic here in a few, but you can practice some evening candle magic.
00:23:57
Speaker
Autumn brings us shorter days, making it like ideal for this practice. Sam's also going to discuss divination later, but as we've already mentioned, this is the time where the veil between the worlds begins to grow thinner, leading up to Samhain, where it's the thinnest, making it the perfect time to practice divination. Mm hmm. Yeah. So going into some correspondences now um related to a terminal magic,
00:24:24
Speaker
So some of the themes that we're going to see this season are shadow work, gratitude, protection, balance, abundance, preparations and goal setting, transitions, connecting with the spirit world, ancestral veneration, reincarnation, reflection, honoring the fae, death and rebirth, rest and healing.
00:24:45
Speaker
In terms of herbs, you could use echinacea, catnip, cinnamon, high-sop, sage, tobacco, yarrow, allspice, angelica, mugwort, mullein, myrrh, rosemary, and wormwood. And as far as color correspondences, these will be things that you would often think of when you think of autumn.
00:25:10
Speaker
dark brown, burnt orange, deep green, dark reds, golden yellows, earth tones, black, purple, and silver. For general plants, blackberry, chrysanthemum, garlic, grape, ivy, marigold, and patchouli. And then as far as symbols, um these are gonna be things like cornucopias, hay, scarecrows, leaves, especially dying leaves and pinecones,
00:25:40
Speaker
death masks, cauldrons, crystal balls, jack-o'-lanterns, the moon, oracle cards, pendulum, ah scythes, sugar skulls, tarot cards, and baskets. For crystals, you could do carnelian, jet, moonstone, obsidian, bloodstone, black moonstone, onyx, amber, hematite, and topaz.
00:26:05
Speaker
And for foods, these are going to be anything related to the harvest. So grains, apples, pears, root vegetables, pumpkins and gourds, zucchini, corn, acorns, and nuts, stews, chilies, pomegranates, turnips, beef, cider, chicken, lamb, mead, mulled wine, popcorn, pork, onion, and spice cakes.
00:26:30
Speaker
look Popcorn and mulled wine, girl dinner. um Yeah, literally. I throw in some nuts. There you go. Yeah. There you go. Little, little apples. Perfect. For beverages, you can do apple cider, pumpkin spice drinks, like hello PSL season, mulled wine, mead, ciders, grape juice, wine port, cognac, and grappa.
00:26:58
Speaker
for deities I know. We went to a Greek restaurant and they were like, yes. We were like, obviously. Yeah. And then I was like, Oh my God. But yeah, you take the drink like will never turn it away. Yeah. No. If you're giving it to me for free. Absolutely. Yes. I will take it. I will take two. Thank you. Yes. but Thank you.
00:27:17
Speaker
um For deities, it's Caridoyne, Demeter, Dionysus, Epona, Hades, Hermes, Hecate, Hel, Anana, Ishtar, Isis, Yannis, Juno, Jupiter, Kali, Lilith, Loki, Minerva, the Morrigan, the Muses, Osiris, Persephone, Pluto, Psyche, Rhiannon, Terenas, Thor, Yamaya, and Vulcan.
00:27:46
Speaker
So you have a plethora to choose from, to work with, should you choose to work with a deity. Yes. And some of these deities we have talked about already on the podcast. So if you want to learn more about the Morrigan or a Caridwen or, you know, Hecate and I mean, there's, there's a lot, we've talked about a lot on the podcast. So this would be a perfect time to go and re-listen to any of our deity episodes. If it's a deity that you're interested in working with.
00:28:16
Speaker
That is also a perfect way to celebrate. It's by learning about these deities. Learn all about them by listening to us talk some more. Exactly. Your favorite thing to do. so As far as incense and oils, these are going to be similar to some of the things ah we probably already mentioned most of these, but um some of them not. so I'm just going to read them.
00:28:42
Speaker
apple, clove, cinnamon, pumpkin, allspice, copal, ginger, mugwort, patchouli, pine, rosemary, sage, and sweet grass. For trees, you could use cedar, oak, pine, spruce, hemlock, apple trees, pomegranate trees, willow, hazel, yew, and blackthorn.
00:29:07
Speaker
And lastly, um we're finally at the end of correspondences. Sorry, guys. Is that a pen for you? Yeah, like this is all perfect pieces, all right here. And yeah you know it's amazing. um For animals, we have the stag, owl, black bird, squirrels, salmon, bats, crows, moths, ravens, rats, spiders, stags, and vultures.
00:29:33
Speaker
um And with all of these correspondences, this is just to kind of give you, you know, like it ideas of things that you can use to incorporate. And most things are things that you probably have in your house. yeah Or if you're decorating for Halloween and you're if you're trying to figure out how to incorporate sound practices into your daily life.
00:29:52
Speaker
use any of these correspondences. Chances are some of your Halloween decor has pumpkins, gourds, crows and bats, maybe rats and moths and spiders. Spiders is a big one. So I feel like this is the perfect time, especially if you're like witchy and in the closet and you don't like sharing that part of your life like out into the general public. This is your time to shine without anyone even knowing. Exactly.
00:30:21
Speaker
And did you know, like, we start decorating for Halloween, for Samhain, for all of this stuff, like, you can start now. Like, do it now. Do it.
00:30:33
Speaker
Keep it year round. August, when we were recording this, and my ass has already started decorating, so look do it. Spooky season doesn't have a time frame. It absolutely does not. No. So now we're going to talk about some different types of magic that are perfect to incorporate into your practice this time of year. The first one is going to be divination, and we've discussed divination in episodes 46, 75, 93,
00:31:02
Speaker
108 and 121. So if you want a background, um definitely go and look and thank you so much Tiffany for putting the episode numbers in there because you're fabulous. I had to do it for a couple of mine and I was like, let me look at yours. But for divination in each of those episodes, we covered specific types of divination, which means that there will likely be more episodes in the future as well.
00:31:24
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Yes. So as we already know, autumn is a time of year where we see the thinning of the veil. So this is a great time for divination practices, such as practicing tarot, runes or bone casting, using pendulum, scrying, dream work, working with the Ouija board and Dindromancy. And so if you're an avid listener to the podcast, you'll know that I discussed Dindromancy back in episode 100, I believe, for seasonal magic for spring.
00:31:52
Speaker
So I'm not going to do a deep dive into this episode, but as a refresher, Dindromancy is the practice of reading tea leaves and branches as a form of divination. This is often done in the winter and fall when the leaves are falling from the trees. Um, but another way to practice this is to gather a collection of fallen leaves on a nature walk, find a quiet space in nature, or if you feel comfortable doing this at home, that's fine too. And so supplies you're going to just need, obviously your finds from nature, a journal,
00:32:22
Speaker
or piece of paper, a pen, or something to take down your notes and observations and your interpretations. And then what you'll want to do is set an intention. You can also light a candle um if you would like or not. It doesn't matter.
00:32:37
Speaker
um and then meditate. Basically, do whatever you need to do to get into that magical space, then get into divining. This could be making interpretations on the leaf shapes, the colors, the patterns, and practicing leaf casting that way. um And if you really want more information about the specifics of this, check out our show notes for more information from Moss and Magic as they have an entire article on their blog about Dindramancy.
00:33:04
Speaker
Um, next I'm going to talk a little bit about candle magic because as we know, that's my favorite thing. Um, and this was discussed in detail in episode 17. So if you want more of a background, go check that out. But candle magic is perfect to do all year long. As I just said, it's my perf preferred method of magic, but autumn is a great time to incorporate candle magic into your rituals. If you haven't worked with candles in your practice before.
00:33:31
Speaker
An easy candle magic spell to get you started this autumn is to begin the season with a small little candle magic spell. What you'll need for this is a candle, of course, whatever color speaks to you, but why not use any of the colors I mentioned earlier that are associated with this time of year. Once you have your candle, you'll want to imbue your candle with your intentions for the season.
00:33:51
Speaker
This can look like many different things to many different people, but simply just take a minute to reflect on what your intentions for the season look like. Write them down, make a sigil based on your intentions. um If you don't know what a sigil is and you just started listening to the podcast, check out episode 24 back in season one because we talked a lot about sigil crafting in that episode. You can carve this into your candle.
00:34:15
Speaker
um You can put it on a bay leaf with a marker, draw it on a piece of paper that you will burn, or place it under your candle. Do what works best for you. Then, dress your candle in some oil and one of the herbs that Tiffany mentioned earlier that correspond with this time of year, and then light that beige. If you drew a sigil on a paper you want to burn or a bay leaf that you want to burn, use some common sense and be safe, but then burn it. Look, you just completed your first candle spell.
00:34:45
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Side note, though, bay leaves go up in flames. Yeah, they do. Yes, they do. They fire-safe container. And honestly, too, because I'm so afraid of burning myself, I will use tweezers and hold the bay leaf over the flame. That way, whenever it does go up in flames, I'm just like, oh my god, and then I drop it. No, I risk it for the biscuit, and I move like my little cauldron super close to the flame, and I'll be like, really bad, like light toss. I have like light tossed it and the fire went out and I had to like light toss it again. yeah But just know, bay leaves really go up in flames once they catch. So be careful. They sure do. yeah Yeah. Yeah. It's also a little bit
00:35:31
Speaker
terrifying the first time. But it's why I really like this.
00:35:36
Speaker
um Okay, next we're talking about shadow work.
Autumn Practices: Divination and Shadow Work
00:35:40
Speaker
And shadow work is such an in-depth like topic and practice that it was really hard for me to pare this down. But we did do an entire episode on shadow work um for episode 57. So if you haven't listened, go back and listen to that.
00:35:59
Speaker
But since we've already had an entire episode on it, and we've mentioned it multiple times on the podcast, I'm not going to talk too much about it here, but just like a brief synopsis. So shadow work is not a new concept, and it's also not exclusively seen in witchcraft, though it's extremely popular in the witchy community.
00:36:20
Speaker
The idea of shadow work has been around for a very long time, and it was introduced to the Western culture by Carl Jung, who if you've listened to the podcast for any amount of time, you'll have heard us mention Jung a time or two. The term shadow refers to the part of your psyche that is dark and emotional, and it often contains pieces of yourself that you might not really like or be happy with. Jung specifically referred to the shadow self as inferior or immoral.
00:36:48
Speaker
And practicing shadow work means that you're working with your unconscious mind in a way that helps you to uncover repressed parts of yourself. And these repressed parts can stem from traumatic events from your past or even just pieces of your personality that you dislike. And to make a long explanation short,
00:37:08
Speaker
Shadow work is meant to help you both work through and come to terms with your past traumatic events and pieces of yourself that you don't always like. So we've said this before in previous episodes, but you can't have the light without the dark, the good without the bad, and shadow work just helps you come to terms with that.
00:37:29
Speaker
In the terms of like autumn, the autumn season, autumn is the advent of the darkest months of the year and while all the plant life dies off and animals hibernate or migrate making the earth around us seem dormant or like in the winter months, a great way to think of this is that this is the time when nature is working below the surface to heal itself in preparation for the spring season.
00:37:54
Speaker
which is a great metaphor for what happens within ourselves during shadow work so focus on things like transformation communion with your own spirit confronting the things that you fear and even indulging in the things that you deeply desire in terms of past loved ones you can also focus on shadow work tied to those people that have passed on in a literal sense, or just those that like are no longer in your life due to closing out relationships that no longer serve you. So focus on your feelings tied to those people, those choices, and like both the good and the bad.
00:38:30
Speaker
And just a shameless plug for our Supercast here, but members in the Spellmans and the Charbed Ones tiers get two printable shadow work journal pages, like every month, with little journal prompts to work on. So, you know, maybe check out the Supercast and then you can get two printable shadow work pages from us.
00:38:51
Speaker
um And then just because we can't like not give you examples, some great prompts that you could use for the autumn season are what were the most significant lessons that you learned this year in your witchcraft practice and how did they impact your witch's journey.
00:39:08
Speaker
Reflect on how any challenges or obstacles you faced in your path. How did you overcome them? What did you learn from your experiences? And the last one is, are there any intentions or goals that you set at the beginning of the year that you'd like to revisit? How have they evolved or manifested over time? And these came from an article on crowsbone dot.com covering autominal magic.
00:39:34
Speaker
Next, I'm going to talk a little bit about herbalism and I promise not to go on a huge tangent because I'm known to do that.
Herbal Harvesting and Health
00:39:43
Speaker
I love my plants. Um, so with herbalism, we have like an ongoing like magical properties of plants series. And some of these are episode 20, 32, 60, 64, 98, 120. And there will definitely be more in the future on this one. Um, I, like I said, I'll do my best not to talk for days on this because if you have listened to the podcast for any amount of time, you'll know that herbalism is my jam and I can go on tangents.
00:40:12
Speaker
So, for any of our listeners that garden, that work with plants and herbs in any capacity, this is the time to do your last real harvest of the season before winter comes in and our plants go dormant or start to die off. Some great focuses for any of our herbalists for the autumn season would be things like focusing on creating brain tonics. So think of plants like ginkgo biloba, peppermint, milky oat tops, sage, rosemary, and skullcap. These herbs are great this time of year to try to focus on brain health, restoring the mind, remedying brain fog, poor memory and anxiety, awakening the senses, and stimulating focus and really just keeping us energized and ready to take on the colder seasons to come.
00:41:04
Speaker
um plants for skin health and radiance to help combat harsh winter the harsh winter cold. So think plants like rose, calendula, chamomile, sacred basil, lavender, and turmeric. These are plants that are often used in herbal skin care because they nourish, condition, heal, calm, and help lock moisture into the skin.
00:41:27
Speaker
Next would be respiratory allies like Crampbark, Lobelia, Hawthorn, Hisop, Elicampane, Mulin, Skolkop, and Plantain. Many of these plants are great bronchodilators and antispasmodics. These are great to use for people with asthma or for anyone experiencing a cough from a cold.
00:41:49
Speaker
Some are even nirvines that help to relax you and address things like stress and anxiety. um For cold and flu preventatives, think things like milky oat tops, elderflower, elderberry, charavari, echinacea, chamomile, sage, rosemary, and lemon balm.
00:42:06
Speaker
um ginger, garlic, and horseradish. And a good way to think for this particular topic would be that nerve vines help reduce stress, which in turn helps you sleep better. And when you're well rested and your stress levels are low, you're less likely to get sick. um And then just as a side note, elderberry syrup is a great preventative to colds and flus, and it can be taken daily.
00:42:32
Speaker
um I make my own and we take it all through cold and flu season um and it also helps to shorten the duration of an illness if you take it while you're sick and when you're sick it's safe to take it like every couple of hours just take a shot of it and it helps shorten like your symptoms.
00:42:52
Speaker
um And then another one would be plants that help to address chronic pain and arthritis whose symptoms are often heightened in the colder months. So think of those anti-inflammatories, the analgesics, and even the digestives like meadowsweet, turmeric, ashwagandha, white willow bark, barrage,
00:43:11
Speaker
um Ginger, allocampane, and even nettle. And then, of course, seasonal depression and sadness is huge during this time of year and in the months to come. So to help alleviate some of those symptoms include, nerve vines, antidepressants, and anxiolytic herbs. So think herbs like ashwagandha, milky oat top, sacred basil, lemon balm, motherwort, mugwort, St. John's wort, peppermint, and vervain.
00:43:39
Speaker
Many of these herbs help to restore and nourish the nervous system, in turn helping to lessen exhaustion and feelings of being overwhelmed. And you'll see a lot of repeat herbs in each of these sections, and this was intentional on my part. Like, we know that not everyone can afford to go out and purchase a million ingredients to include in their practice.
00:44:03
Speaker
And for those that grow and harvest your own, you might not have the space like forcing you to be more selective on what you grow and harvest. So I wanted to include things that would overlap in multiple places to allow you to have kind of a wide range of uses with a limited number of ingredients for the autumn season. So hopefully that helps you. I love that. Yeah. You know, I can eat that all day. I know you could. I know all the warts.
00:44:31
Speaker
All the warts. St. John's wart. Wart, wart, wart. They're good for you all, right? Yes. Yeah. I feel like I learned like a lot of new things and I love it. Oh, yay. I love that. Yay. Makes me happy. So to touch a little bit on deity work, many of the deities associated with this time of year focus primarily on the harvest, abundance, preservation, and preparation.
Deity Work and Ancestor Veneration
00:45:00
Speaker
So if you are interested in working with any of the deities mentioned earlier, really take the time to research them. Research in itself is a perfect way to work with that deity. And really, you should be researching them a lot before you decide to just jump into working with them. Outside of research, another way you can honor any of the deities associated with autumn is to create an altar honoring them. So with your research, you will know what their calling cards are.
00:45:24
Speaker
what their symbols are and what they are associated with. So honoring them with this space on your altar or dedicating a whole altar to them is also another step that you can take. And then lastly, giving offerings, usually in the form of wine or mead, are great offerings to any of the deities associated with this time of year. But think of the different themes and symbols associated with this time of year. What does prosperity and abundance mean to you? And how can you use that in your deity work? All of those are would be great ways to um work with the deity. And the last one I'm going to talk about here is ancestral veneration. So according to Amy Rhea of Mirth and Reverence, ancestor veneration is the act of respecting our ancestors and petitioning them for aid in our lives. She states that it is a practice found in a variety of religious traditions and that it has found a home as a devotional practice among pagans.
00:46:23
Speaker
And I think it's really important to note that ancestor veneration is not ancestor worship. It's not family veneration or like our ancestors can encompass more than just our bloodline. And they can definitely date back farther than the people that we can like personally remember knowing.
00:46:43
Speaker
And it isn't genealogy, though genealogic research can fit into someone's ancestral practice. Ancestral veneration is based in respect and mindfulness of who people were when they were alive, what they stood for and what they sacrificed, and keeping both those memories and those stories alive.
00:47:03
Speaker
It's a practice. So that means that you have to put in the work in order to receive any of the benefits. And with that being said, though, like the practice can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be. So keep it simple. This could be making offering to those ancestors or if you want something more complex.
00:47:22
Speaker
You can perform rituals dedicated to specific ancestors. Like any practice within witchcraft, it's going to be super individualized and based on your own intuition, practice, and desired outcomes.
00:47:38
Speaker
To incorporate ancestor veneration in your own practice, a great way to start would be just to learn about your ancestors and to remember to start small, like don't overwhelm yourself right away. Maybe choose a close relative of yours that's past and learn all you can about them, preserve their legacy, help keep their story alive, and then branch out farther and farther when you're ready.
00:48:02
Speaker
Remember that you can work with ancestors that you didn't know personally as well, and this is an exclusive to those that you have met and knew during their lifetime. Something that you could incorporate into your practice specifically on Samhain would be to hold a dumb supper,
00:48:20
Speaker
And we've talked about this in previous episodes, but essentially it's a dinner feast that is performed in silence while there's a place um set at the table for those loved ones that are no longer with us as an offering to them and as a way to invite them to into your space when the veil is the thinnest.
00:48:37
Speaker
And as discussed in my portion on Samhain, you can also include your ancestors on your altar this season as well, and really just year round depending on your own practice. There's no like, it's all guidelines. We say this all the time, like there's no right or wrong way to practice unless you're like culturally appropriating things.
00:48:59
Speaker
So as long as like you know you're just doing you're not culturally appropriating and you're just doing what you know you want to do and what works for you, that's the way you should be practicing.
Conclusion and Next Week's Preview
00:49:11
Speaker
That's auto magic, baby. I know. I'm proud of us because this is right at an hour, which means with our editing, you guys are not going to be stuck here for days because our notes are, what did you say, 11 pages long? Yeah, they're very long.
00:49:27
Speaker
because it's 11 pages. Yeah. Yeah. So we did pretty well. 12 pages. 12. It's even worse. Yeah. So I'm proud of us. Me too. And you guys are welcome. And I kept no tangents during herbalism. Look at me. Look at me keeping it together.
00:49:59
Speaker
That's it for this episode of Get in Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft. You can find our source material for this episode linked in the show notes. If you love this episode, we would be forever thankful if you leave us a five star review on wherever you listen to your podcasts. If you really love the show and want more Get in Loser content, check out our Supercast link provided in the show notes or search the Supercast website for Get in Loser, We're Doing Witchcraft.
00:50:21
Speaker
There you can purchase a membership to our podcast and intend exclusives like any episodes early, shoutouts on the show, access to our Ask Me Anything forum, our monthly newsletter, promo code for merchandise, and more. You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at Get In Witches or email us at we'redoingwitchcraft at gmail dot.com. Join us next week for some creepy cryptids. Until then, blessed be witches.