Kdbuckland - KD Buckland

Monsters

"Good for you, you fooled everybody

Good for you, you fooled everyone

Good for you, now you're somebody

Good for you, you fooled everyone."

"Leave your weapon on the table

Wrapped in burlap, barely able

Don't get angry, don't discourage

Take a shot of liquid courage."

Standing in front of the mirror of his bathroom as he stared into the eyes of a man whom at one time he didn't recognize. Axel had his own demons, ones that he didn't share with anyone. He didn't let anyone close to him know about the demons that had plagued him. He had fallen into them after his divorce to his Gia, they were an escape, he needed to feel good. It started with just a bump here and there, until he was snorting a line every night or more.  He hated how empty her leaving had made him feel, how low he had sunk. It hadn't even been that long ago that he fought those demons. 

"'Cause my monsters are real, and they're trained how to kill

And there's no comin' back and they just laugh at how I feel

And these monsters can fly, and they'll never say die

And there's no goin' back, if I get trapped I'll never heal

Yeah, my monsters are real."

He splashed water on his face, some days were harder than others. He knew as well as anyone that he hadn't stopped at the coke. It wasn't long before he was chasing the dragon. That's when he really started to lose control of everything, but then at that point what did he have to live for. His medical career? That was a joke, he couldn't get into a residency program now that he had been arrested for murder. It didn't matter that he was innocent, no one in the city wanted to touch him, he was tainted. What did he have to live for? Would anyone even miss him if he just gave up?

"Good for you, you hurt everybody

Good for you, you hurt everyone

Good for you, you love nobody

Good for you, you owe no one."

"Leave your weapon on the table

Wrapped in burlap, barely able

Call a doctor, say a prayer

Choose a god you think is fair."

What had changed? What made him seek help? That one shot of Narco. That's what did it for him, he how long had been gone? He even didn't know who had found him. He just knew he woke up in the hospital. No one was there, his mother wasn't there, the girl he had been seeing. No one. He was alone. When the doctors came in and told him he was lucky to be there. Lucky to still be alive. He knew it was time to get his sh*t together. 

"'Cause my monsters are real, and they're trained how to kill

And there's no comin' back and they just laugh at how I feel

And these monsters can fly, and they'll never say die

And there's no goin' back, if I get trapped I'll never heal

'Cause my monsters are real."

He told his mother that he was taking a vacation, he needed some time away from the city. Otherwise, he'd never heal from Gia. He didn't want her to worry. She had her hands full with the shelter, she didn't need to worry about her drug-addicted son. He left that next morning, he sold the house he was living in while he was gone. Told the realtor to have everything inside sold, what he couldn't sell give it away. He didn't want to return to the same house. 

"Leave your weapon on the table

Wrapped in burlap, barely able

Don't get angry, don't discourage

Take a shot of liquid courage

Leave a light on if you're able

'Cause we both know you're unstable

Call a doctor, say a prayer

Choose a god you think is fair."

He brought his thoughts back to his own reflection in the mirror, he sometimes still didn't recognize himself. Was he even the same person? He wondered that every day. The one thing he did know that Nik made him a better man. She made him want to be a better man. He knew that at some point he had to tell her about this part of himself. He just hoped that she still loved him when she knew everything about him. His past and his present, hopefully, she would still want a future with him. 

"'Cause my monsters are real, and they're trained how to kill

And there's no comin' back and they just laugh at how I feel

And these monsters can fly, and they'll never say die

And there's no goin' back, if I get trapped I'll never heal

Yeah, my monsters are real."

Looking for a witchy challenge? Try writing a new spell every day for 30 days!

You have full creative freedom and are free to interpret the prompts as you will. You can make a spell as specific or as vague as you like.

A spell to remember something

A spell to forget something

A spell to attract something

A spell to repel something

A spell to achieve a specific goal

A spell to heal

A spell that incorporates deities

A spell to create something

A spell for communication

A spell for money

A spell to be noticed

A spell to be hidden

A spell for creativity

A spell of safety

A good luck spell

A spell that involves alcohol

A spell that involves food

A spell to strengthen a relationship

A spell to destroy a relationship

A knowledge spell

A spell that incorporates technology

A spell that involves divination

A glamour

A spell that takes inspiration from your heritage

A spell jar

A spell that requires more than one caster

A self-care spell

A binding spell

A spell that breaks barriers down

A spell that you would never ever cast

LETTER TO LOO

Raven sat with her journal open, she had been writing in it off and on for the past hour. It was her day off from the Brew as she sat back sipping her coffee. Looking over at the framed photograph of her on her wedding day. Memories flooded back to her from that day a almost ten years had past since then. It had been a simple day, they had been two young kids that had fallen in love so easily and impulsively gotten married on a whim. As quickly as it came together everything seemed to fall apart as well. Being young stupid kids, they walked away from each other instead of fighting like they should have. Reaching out to picked up the photograph running her fingers over the smiling couple. She traced the lines of Logan's face, his smile, his hair. Placing the photograph back on the table she picked up her pen again and began to write.

My Loo,

This letter is about a year or more over due, as I sit in my home that is not shared with you. I have to wonder where we lost our way. Most of the fault lay at my doorstep as I am the one that left first, but I had hoped you would come for me. Like one of those scenes from a romance novels or movie. Or maybe you did and my grandfather sent you away. Deep in my heart I hope that is the case, yet I hope it is not.

I want you to know I never meant to stay away for this long. The day I packed my things up to leave was the day my grandfather passed away. I had more things to wrap up, in New Orleans. None of these things matter anymore. What matters is that I never stopped loving you, even when I left. Maybe that doesn't even matter anymore. I just want to be a part of your life whatever that may mean, friends, lovers or even to be your wife again someday.

Why am I writing you this letter now after all this time? Honestly? It's because I need you to know all these things. They need to be out in the open. You should know that your pictures are still in frames in my home and on my phone. That the sound of your voice still sends shivers down my spine. You should know that the door is open. That you are my lobster.

Rae

Raven paused as tapped her pen onto her journal. Would she even give him this letter? Was she ready to let him know how she was truly feeling? They had spoken a few times when he would come into the Brew for her coffees. Ripping the pages from the journal, she folded them carefully and tucked into her bra. She was supposed to meet him later for dinner, maybe she would give it to him then.

The Horned God...The Forest God...The Green Man...All One.

Most of these probably came from @magicandman​, who you should be following, if you’re not.  I made some Deskies from the ones that really hit me.  Thank you, Brother!

And yes, I do think Jim embodied this, especially in this pic.

Magicbonesjones

Wish Ornament

Wish ornaments are the perfect way to get festive and enter the new year! Or just to have to give your wishes an extra kick! They turned out beautiful and their energy alone fills the area around them. Hopefully, you’ll give it a go!

SUPPLIES:

Clear plastic ornament 

Ribbon/String

Colored candle of your choosing

Herbs of your choice

Devil’s Shoe String (optional)

Before starting, it’s a good idea to cleanse the materials you will be working with and prepping your space. I do a simple sage cleansing not only for my materials, but for myself as well so I may go in with a renewed and energized mindset! 

Whichever herbs you decide to put into your ornament largely depends on your intention. My wish for this new year was for focus on school, money in my new job, and personal peace and confidence. So, I used the following herbs: 

Patchouly - Money

Basil - Money

Lemon Balm - Success

Rosemary - Confidence

Lavender - Peace

Bourrage - Courage

Peppermint - Clarity, focus

3 Rose Petals - Love

Star Anise - Luck

All of these herbs were enchanted/charged with my intent. This process is personal and varies by practice, however, whenever you feel ready take the top of the ornament and them in!  Before recapping mine, I charged and snapped a Devil’s Shoe String in half to enhance the power of my intent. 

Once your herbs are nicely sealed, seal it with a wax color of your choice, finalizing your intent as you watch the flame. You can coordinate a color with your wish, or aesthetic! 

Then tie your string through the loop of the ornament and display wherever you would like (:

Happy Wishing!

Why Witchcraft Might Not Be Working For You

There’s so many different reasons a spell or ritual might not be working for you. So I thought I’d share some common reasons why some new witches might be struggling with witchcraft.

✨ You’re not connecting to the ingredients, tools or supplies needed for the spell

What works for me, might not work for you, and that’s okay. This doesn’t mean the spell you’re using is a dud or that you’re not doing it right. It just means that you haven’t formed those connections with the ingredients or tools yet, or your connection with them is different. 

A great example is blueberries lol. In witchcraft blueberries are most commonly associated with protection BUT for me I associate them with creativity and astral travel. There’s a personal reason for this and through out my many many years practicing and studying witchcraft I’ve come to build this relationship with blueberries.

✨ You’re energy is too low

I know the feeling of just really really wanting to get into the magick of it all. But witchcraft is energy draining. If you’re low on energy (edited) then you’re gonna be putting out low energy and that can affect the effectiveness of your spells.

Give yourself time and practice low energy magick like smoke cleansing your space, charging your crystals under the full moon or rearranging your altar (or creating an altar).  

✨ You have been given a false idea of what witchcraft is and how it should feel or how it should work

Real witchcraft isn’t measurable nor is it able to be defined in one true way. Witchcraft is different for every single witch. Even witches in covens have given different descriptions of the feelings they’ve had while performing the same spell or ritual. That’s because we all experience magick a different way.

Don’t be too hard on yourself because you didn’t feel a hot light burning inside of you, like one witch may describe. And don’t feel bad if you don’t literally see colors radiating from your spell jar like another witch described. Personally I’ve never experienced either of those things but that doesn’t mean that what I was doing wasn’t working, it just worked differently and felt differently for me. I may not have had those exact same experiences but I had my own, and they were/are just as special. 

Next time you do a spell or ritual, write how it made you feel in your journal. Don’t just write the spell down but write all the things you felt, saw, smelled, heard and even tasted. This way you can get a better understand of how magick works and feels for you.

✨ Your space, body, mind or spirit needs to be cleansed

The biggest reason I’ve found for my spells just completely flopping is I didn’t bother cleansing before doing it. Negative energy is like white cat hair stuck to your favorite black leggings, it ain’t going nowhere until you clean it lol.

The great thing about cleansing is it can be done with just your hands! Yeah, bet a witch has never told you that before LOL. Sound is a great way to cleanse a space. Snapping, clapping and rubbing our hands together makes sounds. You can tab on a table, or use EFT (usually done as a meditative practice but could be utilized in cleansing the mind, body and spirit as well).

You can cleanse with incense, candles, oils, and water too.

✨ Your spells have too many ingredients

I find the more stuff you use for a spell the more unpredictable the outcome is, this is because each ingredient can have multiple properties. Even if you have personal correspondences with them they still usually have multiple uses. Like the blueberry example I gave, for me I associate blueberries more with astral travel and creativity but I also associate it with platonic relationships, happiness and protection. Even though I still associate it with protection it wouldn’t be necessary for me to use it in a protection spell if I’m already using something else that I more strongly associate with protection.

In witchcraft, often times, less really is more. I’ve created the 5 elements “rule” for myself and it’s worked out really well for me. I use 1 ingredient to represent each of the 5 different elements (earth, air, fire, water and spirit) in most of my spells and rituals. If it’s a spell jar, pouch, tea. elixr (or something like that) I like to try and keep my ingredients to a 3 - 5 limit. It prevents me from using up my stash so quickly and prevents my ingredients from completely canceling each other out.

✨ You’re scared

This is sooooooooo normal, don’t even think you’re weird or something because  you’ve got some fears or concerns about practicing witchcraft. It’s common for someone from a religious (especially an abrahamic one) background to hold onto the teachings of their religion and to be fearful of the unknown. Especially if it’s been drilled into your head that it’s evil and you’ll burn in an eternity of fire for burning a sage bundle lol.

If this is you, ease into witchcraft. Learn more about the different traditions and take your time studying. This isn’t a race. Witchcraft ain’t going nowhere lol. You’re not obligated to just dive in head first. It’s okay to take your time and really get comfortable.

✨ Lastly, you’re taking on too much at once

You ever see those witch blogs that seem to pop up out of nowhere and they’re just blasted into popularity, only for the witch to later denounce their practice in the craft claiming that it wasn’t really working for them or that it all turned out to be bs? This is usually because they watched 1 or 2 youtube videos about witchcraft and decided to buy a $300 witch starter kit, 10 books about witchcraft and 3 tarot decks all before even doing any research into witchcraft at all.

They took on too much, too fast. They’ve also taken on things they lack an understanding of and because of this lack of understanding (and a natural desire to want to be good at something instantly), when it doesn’t work for them they claim it’s bullshit and fake.

You need to be patient. Just like any skill or talent, it takes time to master and to see the results we want. So if you’re someone whose invested a lot of money upfront into your craft and now it just doesn’t seem to be working for you, take your time. You’re not going to learn everything about witchcraft overnight (chances are you’ll never learn everything about witchcraft lol). The amount of money you spend won’t make you a better witch or make you better at witchcraft. So don’t fall for those beginner witch starter kits that start at $100.

You don’t need to do everything at once.

I hope this is helpful. If you have anything to add to this list please do so. And remember, witchcraft is a craft. Crafts take time, patiences and skill. These are not things that you just develop overnight. Take your time, cleanse your space, grow relationships with your ingredients, tools and supplies, and allow yourself to experience your magick and don’t try to replicate someone else’s. 

Found on Digital Smoke Signals’ Facebook Page

Grimoire ideas

About you:

How you got started in the craft

Your spiritual journey

Things you connect to (animals, elements, plants, ect)

Types of magic you do

Your natal chart

Your deities (if you have any)

Correspondences:

Remember, you don't need to write down correspondences you will never need! So instead, write about...

Crystals you have/want

Plants you can grow yourself/already have around you. Check your spice cabinet

And list things to use those for! So that would be herb bundles to burn, salves, recipes, and so on.

Other things you can use in magic that you already have

This would be things like sea shells, snail shells, grass, dirt, candles. Get creative!

Other witchcraft stuff:

Your sigils

Planets

The sun/moon +moon phases

Zodiac signs

The elements

Symbolism (animals, shapes, and whatever else you wish to add)

Spells:

What makes a spell that works!!! This should help with making your own spells

What NOT to do

Different types of spells

Spells you will actually use

Divination:

A section on tarot cards and their meanings

How to use a pendulum

Meanings of oracle cards

Rune meanings and how to cast them

Lesser known forms of divination!!!

Mental health:

Grounding and centering

Burn out care and being energy efficient

A list of what motivates you to do your craft

Small spells for self care

Astral work:

Your astral space (a map, a description, drawings of important locations)

Your astral body, if it's any different than your physical one

A list of spirits and important information about them

Protection, sheilding, banishing, and safety

Manners when interacting with spirits and what NOT to do

Methods of projection/travel that work for you

Post-astral grounding methods

General spirit work:

How to interact with spirits and how NOT to interact with spirits

Protection, banishing, shielding, and other safety things

How to give offerings (there's more than one way!)

Methods of communicating with spirits

Signs of spirits

Ways spirits can send signs and messages (animals, dreams, and so on)

A list of different kinds of spirits you work with/have encountered

A section for research, especially if you're doing deity work.

Grounding, if it helps you afterwards

A log of interaction with spirits. This can be like a divination journal but with spirits, if that's what you do.