First Quarter Moon Phase

🌓 First Quarter Moon Phase 🌓

In witchcraft, the First Quarter moon holds significant importance. This phase, where the moon is half-illuminated and half in shadow, symbolizes the balance between light and darkness. It’s a time of growth, energy, and manifestation.

Here are some key aspects of the First Quarter moon in witchcraft:

Action and Progress: This phase is ideal for taking action and making progress towards your goals. It’s a time to evaluate your intentions and make necessary adjustments.

Rituals and Spells: Many practitioners perform rituals and spells for abundance, success, and personal growth during this phase. The energy of the waxing moon is harnessed to set intentions that align with one’s highest good

Element of Air: The First Quarter moon is associated with the element of air, which represents communication, intellect, and clarity of thought. It’s a favorable time for intellectual pursuits and enhancing mental abilities.

Inner Reflection: This phase is also great for inner reflection and taking stock of what is around you. It’s a time to celebrate your achievements and plan your next steps.

Kitchen Witchery - Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

The Spring/ Vernal equinox is coming up!

I don't have a lot of time to set up a party like I usually do, so instead I plan on making these cookies and taking them to my friends and family on (or near) the equinox! Of course I plan on offering some to the Deities and house spirits as well.

Find out more about the spring equinox here.

Here's what you'll need:

10 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

½ cup powdered sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt optional

½ tbsp Lavender syrup

½ tbsp earl grey tea

Here's what you do:

In a stand mixer, beat the butter, lavender syrup and vanilla extract until creamed.

Add the sugar and salt and mix until combined.

Scrape the sides of the bowl, getting the mixture back into the center, and add flour while beating on low.

Add the earl grey, scrape the bowl again and mix until combined. It’s will be crumbly, not a cohesive dough. This is good!

Take out the crumbly dough and smush the crumbly bits together to shape the dough either into a rectangular prism or cylinder , wrap in plastic and chill for at least an hour, or until firm.

Preheat the oven to 350F (177C).

Cut 1/2 inch thick slices of the cookie dough. You’ll have little rectangles or circles depending on how you shaped the dough.

Place these sliced cookies onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, making sure they are at least an inch apart.

Create a pattern on top if you’d like.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, making sure to rotate the baking sheet in the oven halfway through.

Move the cookies to a cooling tray if available, otherwise you can allow them to cool on the pan.

You can change the additions to this as you like, maybe make some chai shortbread cookies or another tea! Maybe matcha? The possibilities are endless!

Tips:

Add a tsp of lemon juice instead of earl grey to make a great springtime desert!

Use a toothpick, fork, or skewer to make designs on the top of the cookies.

Use Lady Grey tea instead of earl grey to create Lady Lavender cookies!

Serve with black tea (perhaps earl grey!)

10 Simple Ways to Worship Mother Nature

These could apply to any earthly god or goddess really, so feel free to borrow any ideas that speak to you! And please tell me about how you worship your deity, I'd love to know 💚🪲

Going for daily, mindful walks. Sometimes I'll listen to music, other times I'll just listen to the world around me.

Wear a lot of greens and browns, as well as recycled and more sustainable fabrics (a lot of my clothes are also thrifted, and I try to avoid overconsumption)

Decorate my space with earthy colours, posters and pieces of the earth - I have crystals, bones, pressed flowers and even rocks and twigs in my room

Learn about nature and the world around me - I am a zoology student so my academic career is also a devotion to Mother Nature but I also learn about what animals I can see locally, I study when and where flowers bloom and how to tell when rain is coming etc

Reconnect with my more primal side - a significant part of my work with Mother Nature is reognising and accepting that humans are animals, and we behave as such; we cannot allow ourselves to become seperate from wilderness. To me, this involves connecting with my intuition and gut feelings, recognising my emotions and desires and working with them

Making and wearing daisy chains or flower crowns

Creating art inspired by the world around me and myself

Caring for animals (that includes other humans) when I can and it's safe: from helping a snail move across the path, to making sure a dying bird can rest peacefully, to giving food and money to the homeless

Loving myself, though it isn't always easy

Spending time outside with my hands in the dirt or streams, speaking with the trees and birds and listening to their replies

View of Vesuvio from Villa Astor, Sorrento, Italy

🌔✨ Step Up Your Game With The Waxing Gibbous ✨🌔

As the moon approaches fullness, ancient traditions guide us to refine and empower our intentions. The waxing gibbous is a period for growth and development. It’s a time to focus on enhancing your progress, amplifying positive energy, and making sure your path is clear and your frequency is aligned with your goals.

This phase supports rituals and spells that refine your plans, boost your confidence and encourage continued progress.

🕰️ Phase Duration: 4~6 days

🧙‍♀️ Ritual For The Waxing Gibbous Moon: Clear Path to Success 🔮

Begin by preparing your sacred space. Cleanse the area by smudging sage or lavender to purify the energy. Prepare your altar with other items that represent the rest of the elements, and that align with your ritual, for example blue or purple candle to represent fire, an Amethyst or Lapis Lazuli for earth, and a bowl of water.

Cast a circle to create a protective boundary (by hand, or using a wand, or salt, etc.) — visualize the circle of energy forming as you mark the perimeter calling upon the elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. 🪄

Review and assess the progress of your current projects. Light the candle as you speak your goals aloud, and call upon the moon's energy to light your path, guide and help you refine and perfect them.

Next, take a piece of paper and write down the specific aspects of your plans or goals that need refinement or adjustment. As you write, focus on feeling the energy of the moon infusing your words with strength and clarity. Then burn the paper in the flame of the candle, as you chant 3 times (for mind, body, and spirit):

"Moon's light Clear my path With fire's might I reach success" 🌿

End the chant with "So mote it be", and complete the ritual by closing the circle, thanking the elements for their protection and guidance.

Allow the candle to burn out on its own as a symbol of your growing power and the cleaing of your path to success. 🕯️

I suggest carrying the crystal you used with you in the next days to amplify the ritual's energy, and cleansing it in the full moon.

🌔✨ Elements associated with the Waxing Gibbous Moon ✨🌔

These elements are traditionally known to support the Waxing Gibbous moon phase's magickal rituals. Use them to boost the effectiveness of your magick.

I align my ritual elements both with my intentions and my intuition.

🕯️ Candle Colors: Blue enhances clarity and communication, purple supports spiritual growth and intuition.

💎 Crystals: Amethyst boosts spiritual insight and intuition and is also great for calmness and centeredness. Lapis Lazuli wnhances wisdom and inner truth.

🌿 Herbs: Rosemary sharpens focus and purifies energy. Thyme instills courage, and Bay Leaf enhances manifestation.

🌬️ Incense: Lavender creates a peaceful atmosphere, and Myrrh strengthens the spiritual connection.

🌿 Essential Oils: Frankincense deepens spiritual practice, and Clary Sage enhances clarity and vision.

🎴 Tarot Cards: The Hierophant offers wisdom and guidance, The Magician embodies manifestation and transformation, and The Wheel of Fortune represents change and forward movement.

Have you tried using these in your rituals already? I'd love to hear about your experience. 💜

🌙✨ Reblog if your find this post useful and follow for more moon magick and witchy tips 🌟🔮

#IVYSANCTUM

Random Witch Tips

Just a few things I've learned from being in a practice for over five, going on six, years now:

Sigils are a lot more powerful than everyone really knows, they're a beginner friendly spell waiting to be had.

Scroll Spells: Putting a sigil on a piece of coloured construction paper tie it up with a (preferably) different colored string, seal the string in wax, is the easiest spell to ever do. (Kind of inspired by Naruto)

Speaking of Naruto: I have little Pop Funko key chains that I've picked up at travel household guardians. I also have one of MCU Loki that the Norse Deity Loki has taken an offense to (ping me or send me an ask for a storytime)

Divination can be used and done everywhere, the little sayings on Stevia packets, having your phones wallpaper change different colors are base it off of the colors, music (shufflemancy), are all just little ways to use divination.

Making altars not just for divine individuals. I have an altar set up for the zodiac sign of Scorpio (my stellium is set in Scorpio and Sagittarius) and an altar set up just for self-care. (Please remember the differences between altars and shrines.

Baking ingredients are an underrated spell jar ingredients, sometimes you just don't really feel like kitchen magic and/or in a tough bind for time, energy and just want something a bit more big and powerful than a scroll spell.

Scrying mirrors were always a bit of a hassle for me, it hurt my eyes and I had to get the angle just right, having to sit in one position for too long was a wreck on my unmedicated ADHD self. I learned how to do open-eye scrying by relying on my snow vision, having 3D glasses was able to help me out as well.

Speaking of the 3D glasses: any common every day object can be used in your practice. Using that limited edition Sprite Cranberry would be a good spell ingredient or even as an offering for a deity/divine individual.

Divine individuals will ask you to put things like jewelry or keys on their altar so that they know whenever you go out on a drive or out with friends. Especially if you don't go out very often. They just like hanging out with us sometimes, they're not just here for fun and games however, you have to put in the work and have the motivation to get better for them to get more comfortable with you.

Divine individuals have a life outside of witchcraft, their own society and workload outside of our physical plane. Please keep this in mind. They are not always here with us. Lucifer has paperwork, Poseidon has a kingdom to rule over, An Morrigan has children to take care of, make certain to respect these.