Blackthorngrimoire - The Grimoire Of Morgan Macleod

“I Don’t Hesitate When Necessary”

Meditate with this as needed or carry it with you

Cleansing Before Spellwork

This post is part of a series of animistic, spirit-oriented spellcasting for beginners. Go to the masterpost to see them all.

I'm one of those people that likes to cleanse my spell components before spellwork - sometimes, depending on the circumstances.

Let's take a quick look (lmao, can you imagine if I could say a point quickly?) at cleansing before spells, when it's useful, and when it's not.

Once again friends, this post is about the specific ways I like to work practical magic, as part of a series attempting to teach a specific way of doing practical magic - this post is not "standard" on any level.

Cleanse to open doors and clear the way for magic and spirits to dwell in the materials.

Your friend is going to fly into town help you with an important project for the next week. You greet them, give them a snack, and show them to the guest bedroom.

The guest bedroom is cluttered full of old junk that ended up getting pushed in there. It's totally uncomfortable for your guest. They can't dwell in there while the room is in that state. So your friend spends all night pushing stuff out and cleaning it just to the point where they can comfortably reside in that space.

Now, they've spent a lot of energy that should have gone to helping you with your project. They leave early and the project was not completed.

Scene change: Now you're a gardener getting ready to seed a plot with wildflowers. The soil is full of large stones. You sprinkle the wildflower seeds everywhere. But the wildflowers have no ability to push away the stones. Instead, the stones reduce the capacity of the plot by 50%. Many wildflowers still sprout and grow, and live out their full and natural lives, but as the gardener you still got half the results you wanted.

Cleanse to restore the natural vessels of spirits before calling them back into it.

A stream has become polluted. It's clogged with garbage. A group of people want to honor and work with the stream spirit - but it's well known that this spirit has withdrawn. It pains the spirit to indwell in a polluted stream, and it is tired of how its body has been disrespected by humans, so it has "left" - perhaps it is hibernating, or withdrawn deep into the spirit world.

The group of people don't clean any of the garbage up. They perform a ritual to call the spirit back. They are surprised when the spirit barely arrives, and is frustrated with them to boot.

Commercially mined stones and farm-harvested plants are not automatically going to have awakened spirits actively dwelling inside of them. Commercial products almost always need to have the spirit called back into them, if their help is desired.

And doing so without gently cleansing their vessel and bringing respect to their doorstep sucks for the spirit.

No need to go scorched earth on your materials, though - that's probably going to make things worse.

I delight in a beautiful bath scented with flowers, luxurious oils resplendent on my skin.

I do not delight in being scrubbed with lye and sprayed down with a high-pressure hose. Such an act is liable to make me hibernate or withdraw (maybe absent spirits are just disassociating... random thought of the day).

It is sometimes said that cleansing spell objects strips them of their power - I find this to be true if you over-do it. This seems to be true in both animist and secular models: either the harsh cleansing is painful to the spirit and they withdraw, or you're wiping away all the energy you've charged into the item.

It's also a waste of time if you don't need to, you know what I'm saying?

Even in the animist model, objects can absolutely be charged with a lot of energy that doesn't come from the spirit within. So if you've found a very special stone or something and you want to use its energies in a spell, cleansing probably isn't necessary at all - the object is ALREADY filled with the kind of power you want, so cleansing it to prepare to call in more power is pointless.

But not every act of magic is about gathering a bunch of ingredients and chanting inside a magic circle. I'm not cleansing my morning coffee before I put a "please Holy Lord let me survive my work meeting" spell into it. The Horned Master himself could be like "windvexer, that's going to work better if you cleanse that coffee first," and I still wouldn't do it.

It's coffee. It'll be fine.

Also, in the interest of diversity: I'm pretty sure a minority of witches cleanse all their shit before spellcasting, and the ones who don't are doing just fine.

But if you're not already cleansing your stuff, and you're having trouble getting reliable manifestations, maybe give it a go and see if it helps!

What about cleansing yourself or your space?

I mean yeah. Both decent ideas for sure. But I find them to be less important than cleansing the material components.

I typically cleanse my space the same way I cleanse my materials - which is a very quick method I'll be posting as part of this series.

But I only really do so because turning on my psychic senses makes me more aware of the energies of my space, and I've already got the cleansing components activated and ready. So it's more of a "why not, I'm already here," thing. And it takes me about five seconds, it's not an in-depth thing.

If I were for some reason going out to do a spell in a really low vibes area, or if I was doing a really important and serious ritual, sure, I'd make a point of really cleansing that space. But I think most of us don't really need to.

As for cleansing myself - nope. I don't have the energy or inclination to do so. I only bother with such things when I'm doing a very serious, intense ritual, perhaps one I've prepared for over several weeks. I mean I wash my hands before I cook a meal, but the spaghetti isn't going to suffer if I don't take a shower first.

This post is part of a series of animistic, spirit-oriented spellcasting for beginners. Go to the masterpost to see them all.

Sasha’s Emotional Strength Spell (Neopets Inspired)

“In her hometown, a fierce storm ravaged the long-awaited festival, but Sasha danced away, striking hope and inspiration into the hearts of the villagers.” -Neopets Altador Hall of Heroes

A spell to help you endure even the most brutal of emotional times and hold some strength when you need it most. This spell is one best done before hard times hit for it, like many spells, does require focus and energy put into it. 

You Will Need: 

🎵 Tea Leaves/Black Tea (strength, courage, energy)

🎵 Mugwort (strength, courage)

🎵 Mullein (courage)

🎵 Thyme (courage, determination)

🎵 Rosemary (mental protection, emotional strength)

🎵 Celery Seeds (mental strength, focus)

🎵 Sesame Seeds (hope)

🎵 Rose Quartz (emotional strength, hope)

🎵 Clear Quartz (energy, power, hope, focus)

🎵 Red Candle (small)

🎵 Jar or Tightly Closing Container

🎵 A Playlist of Songs that Make You Feel Powerful and Courageous

Set Up:

To set up this spell clean and clear an area, cleanse it as needed to prevent energy contamination. Make sure your playlist is set up and ready to play whether it’s through headphones or over some speakers from a phone or computer. If needed, put it on loop to ensure it plays the whole duration. Make sure you set up proper fire safety for this spell does require burning a candle down and over the container so make sure if needed there is wax paper or newspaper to catch any loose drips and that you aren’t working over carpet. Tie back all loose hair and roll up sleeves, due to motions that will take place near the flame. 

The Spell:

🎵 Turn on your playlist, if using speakers be courteous to any neighbors or roommates you may have and try not to have it too loud (especially late at night - don’t be that person)

🎵 Set up the jar or bottle you will be using and add in your herbs. The more herbs the stronger it is - though if it is a smaller container be sure to keep it from overflowing.

🎵 Once your herbs are layered in as desired add in your gemstones or shards

🎵 Screw the lid on tightly and place your candle on top, make sure as it burns it is able to melt over the lid of the container to seal it. Light it 

🎵 Once lit focus on the music playing and the energy it gives you, hold your hands to either side of the jar or container and focus that energy from the music through your body into the jar. Focus like this until wax is well melted from the candle on the jar lid and until you feel satisfied

🎵 If needed blow out or snuff out flame

🎵 Store somewhere safe but nearby. In times of dire trouble take far in hands or arms, hold it close without damaging or risking break to it and feel the energy from it enter you once more.

**spell is from my personal grimoire. Like what I post? Want to support me or buy me a delicious coffee? Feel free to check out my Ko-Fi Page!

Wishing you abundant self-love, Valentine’s Day and every day! <3 <3 <3