🏠 Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Of Hearth & Home

[BryWisteria]

Merry meet!

Thank you once again to all those who joined in for last week’s Weekly Witchy Challenge - Deities

After exploring the divine last week, we’re opening the door to an area of the Craft that ought to feel right at home

The theme for this week’s challenge is…

Of Hearth and Home

Working magick in and around your living space

“Home” is where we spend most of our lives- it is the place where we eat, sleep, cleanse, and heal. It is a physical location for people to gather and, in ideal conditions, is energetically a sanctuary of respite and well-being. Naturally, home is also a place where many witches cast their spells and tend their sacred spaces!

This week, consider the magick of your home and the magick that you work within your living space. How do you pour a bit of intention into your morning routine, as you go about your household activities, or while enjoying some time around the house and yard?

Household spellwork can be as elaborate as a whole-house protection ritual or as simple as a moment of intention while making a cup of tea. Whether grand or small, magick of the hearth is wonderful all the same- it is a cozy and warm area of the Craft!

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This week’s challenge is all about magick of the home - but as always, how you do so is up to you!

So are you ready? Because it’s…

CHALLENGE TIME!

From Pixabay

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STEP 1 : Magick of the Home

This challenge is all about magick around your home - but how you choose to take on this theme is up to you!

Still not sure where to begin? To help you get started, here are a few ways in which a witch might approach this challenge.

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Home Spells

Want to add some protection over your living space and all those within? Perhaps it’s time for a home cleanse and refresh- or maybe it’s time to get a place of your own. Whether you use a ready-to-go spell or write your own custom spell, there are endless options when it comes to house spells!

House Blessing Prayer

Using Salt to Protect Your Home

House Protection Charm Bag

Pure Light: House and Spirit Cleansing Spell

Spell to Sell a House

New House Blessing Ritual

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Kitchen & Garden Magick

Certain locations in and around your dwelling are ideal for certain types of magick. Whether you cook up a magickal feast made with love or spend time tending and harvesting the bounty of your garden, consider exploring kitchen and/or green magick as your entry this week!

Tools of Kitchen Witch: Casting Spells in the Kitchen

Witch Plants: Herbs and Recipes Every Witch Should Know

Herbal Magick: Green Witchcraft Course

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Deities of Hearth & Home

Do you have a helpful household spirit or ghost at home? Perhaps you wish to work with or learn more about beneficial deities of the household. Feel free to explore the many Fae, spirits, deities, and other entities of the home for your entry this week.

Deities and Guardian Beings of Hearth and Home

Brigid: Goddess of the Hearth

The Fae and Types of Fairies

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Home Crafting

Whether it’s crafting seasonal decorations for your altar or front door, making gifts for household members, crafting magickal protective amulets to place on doorways, or more- homemade goods to bless your space are a great take on this week’s challenge theme!

Making and Using Witches’ Bells

Crafts and Decorations with Dried Lavender

For more magickal crafting ideas, you can visit the previous HandCrafting Challenge and the crafts tag

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… And More!

The suggestions above are just a few ideas to help kickstart your creativity- if you feel called to explore home magick in another way, please feel free to do so!

As always, all witches are encouraged to embrace their own unique practice with how they explore the challenge theme

From Spells8: Where to Place Crystals at Home

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STEP 2 : Share Your Experience

Click here for a note about challenge inclusivity

Everyone is welcome to join the challenge by practicing magick in line with the current theme. For lurkers and those who don’t feel comfortable sharing, it is absolutely okay to follow along with the challenge but keep your entry personal. Feel free to join in spirit and do what feels most comfortable for you!

That being said, please know that if you would like to receive a prize and a public shout-out, it is required that you share your experience.

Getting Your Credit

In order for your entry to be counted, all you have to do is write/share about your experience and label it as your challenge entry. There is a lot of chatting here (which is awesome- chatting and discussion are very welcome!) so please clearly write that it is your entry so I know to count it!

Where Should I Share My Entry?

Click here to learn where to share your challenge entry

You are welcome to post it right here- just click “reply” to this post and write your experience in the text box that pops up!

Alternatively, you could create a new post in the forum (this is good for when you have a lot to share and/or would like to discuss aspects of your entry not related to the current theme)

Note : If you do choose to create a new thread, please add the “challenge-entry” tag and/or add a hyperlink back to this post so that it can be easily found- thank you!

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Deadline

This challenge will close in 6 DAYS

To join in, please share your experience by:

Tuesday, October 17 at 7:00 AM EDT (Eastern US Time)
2023-10-17T11:00:00Z

(Note that the time zone is ET- if you don’t see your time displayed above, you can use this time zone calculator to check for your time zone!)

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Prizes

For their efforts, all participants will receive a special shout-out and a small prize!

Acknowledgments will be given in a Props and Presents Post that will appear in the forums on Tuesday.

After the challenge closes, you are still very welcome to post but please be aware that no additional prizes will be given. This discussion will remain open for about a week after the challenge finishes.

From Spells8: How to Celebrate Samhain

A warm reminder that the challenges are designed to be very open- everyone is encouraged to participate in a way that honors and reflects their unique practice

If you have any doubts about if something is acceptable to post or say, please double-check with the Forum FAQ and/or reach out to your friendly Moderator Team.

And for those new to challenges- welcome! Know that the goal of these activities is to help you further diversify and strengthen your abilities and to bring together the Spells8 forum family to inspire and support one another in creative ways

From Pixabay

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A building is made of a roof and some walls,
But there’s more to be found than just stairs and halls.
When a witch comes to dwell they transform the space-
With magick and love, it becomes a wonderful place!

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Blessed Be!

[tracyS]

Ooh nice, this’ll be really nice and cozy.

[Shadeweaver]

Ahhh… my sanctuary, my recent callings have all been from the goddesses of hearth and home. As per usual Bry your challenges fall in line with many of our interests.

[starborn]

Me: “Cool, I’ll make this a nice short one.”
Sees the image of the crystals laid out around the home.
Me: “I guess not…”

When I saw that, I instantly knew what my task would be. It’s time to feng shui the new apartment, before we’ve even moved in.

Anyway, here is my challenge entry:

Feng Shui, the Bagua Map, and Furniture Placement

Continuing the discussion from Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE - Of Hearth & Home: My objective for this week is to begin planning the layout of our new apartment, with a focus on achieving overall positive feng shui. What’s particularly fascinating about our apartment’s layout is its resemblance to what the Chinese refer to as the “crab layout.” This layout is known for its balanced design on both sides. The central space encompasses the kitchen, dining area, and living room, which are symmet…

[BryWisteria]

@tracyS A cozy theme for a cozy time of year! I’ve been stuck in “cottagecore mood” lately, which is likely what sparked this theme haha

@Shadeweaver I’m glad if it’s been on your mind too! It’s that Coven “hive mind” back at it again

@starborn Always a good excuse to “bedazzle” the home with crystals haha! Thank you for the beautiful entry, Katerina- I can’t wait to read about your feng shui work!

[JadeMermaid_Lara]

This challenge is terrific for me. I need to get some things in order around the home so I can embrace the magic there. A push to clear so as to make physical and energetic space to craft.

[AIRAM]

my participation in the challenge
Every Saturday I do a spiritual cleaning of my house
I light sage and smoke all the rooms as well as the attic making the shape of the pentacle in the corners and windows [the four Elements Earth Air Water Fire plus Spirit]
Around the house I spread eggshells mixed with salt and ashes from the fireplace
Finally, I light a white candle with the intention of expelling negative energy from the space [I don’t like black] on the entrance table At the entrance on the table there is a small bowl of panda salt and the Seal of the Archangel Michael

google photos

[Jewitch]

Challenge Entry

Work has been crazy the past two weeks – this week especially with the full moon coming up and Friday the 13th AND an eclipse happening this weekend, so I wanted to do something simple for this challenge.

In addition to my usual Kitchen Witch Shenaniganry, I have also been working on trying to create an inner temple that lines up with my goal of having a cozy little cottage in the woods. As I’ve mentioned in other posts, I am not someone to whom visualization comes easily. so I’ve also been using it as an exercise to try to improve my visualization skills.

To work on trying to create and visit my inner cottage temple, I have been meditating in front of my altar and turning inward to create a cozy cabin with a stone fireplace with a pot of stew simmering away over the fire. In the cottage are bookshelves of books, modern and old, cabinets of herbs, and a massive kitchen where part of it is a modern kitchen, part is a historical kitchen where all the cooking is done with fire, and a more science lab-like portion devoted to making herbal preparations.

I know I could probably simplify my cottage and add to it as I go, but I’ve had a lot of home items on my wish list because I’ve started the search for a house to potentially buy, so it’s hard for me to filter things down to the basics.

[Artemisia]

Oh, I’ve got the perfect things for this challenge. I was going to make one of the items anyway! I just have to pick up one item tomorrow and I can get this challenge done before the week gets away from me like it usually does!

[Ostara]

My tired mind is ticking on this one. I have so many ideas for this challenge (things I already do), I may just put them all into one! My home is truly my sacred space. You know how pics come up on your TV from your phone when you put it on pause? Hubby and I were conversing and this beautiful pic showed up on the TV screen that I have never seen before, and it caught my breath. It’s a picture in my witchy room that I don’t remember taking or seeing, so I thought I would share.

Please excuse the 80 year old terrible paint job and sheet rock. I remember having dreams of looking out the window at the moon and it looked just like that. This is a mirror on the wall and I have a light that I only used once (this was it) and didn’t realize the beauty of what I was seeing until almost 2 years later.

[Sivonnah]

@Ostara that’s beautiful!

[Ostara]

Thank you Sivonnah. I guess tonight was the the right time for me to see it in a different view. It looks just like my dream of staring out the window and it’s just a mirror.

[korvo]

Challenge entry - my magical home

As I approach this challenge, I decided to walk around my house and see where I could find the magic.

From inner to outer.

I start at my body, my original home and the most magical thing I possess. I purify and cleanse it daily. I dress and groom it (occasionally). I wear amethyst around my neck, in a pocket goes obsidian, in another hematite, in a third a Daoist amulet: It is prepped, protected and grounded.

Moving outward.

My spiritual space is my prayer room in the center of my physical house. My altar is here facing east. It is multilayered with two shelves above the main altar. At the top is a human seated in meditation, in the middle shelf a seated Buddha (the human is on top because the Buddha nature or original face is contained within the human); then, here there’s also all manner of malas, incense, Daoist doo-dads, and an Academy award. The altar is beneath with various magical goodies. To the right of the altar is a hand-carved, wooden wolf, keeping a watchful eye. My room has an old fashioned chair rail and on top of the rail around the perimeter are stones, and crystals—my circle of stones. At the cardinal points are monks sitting on stones representing: see, speak, hear no evil, (I’m the fourth—do no evil) and cardinal candles. Guarding the doorway is a Daoist sigil over the arch. The room has prayer plants and succulents around. And in the center on the floor is a meditation cushion facing the altar.

Outward still

The rest of the house is shared with sympathetics, and there are magical bits here and there. Foo Dogs guard the front entrance; a broom guards the rear. Sigils over each exit; and inverted Chinese 福 characters on doors.

The kitchen stove is appropriately placed; and on top, cast iron, including a cast iron wok—where I cook and concoct!. In the living space is a wood burning stove, where I often watch fire sprites dance in the wintertime, bake sweet potatoes inside and brew tea on top.

There are hidden bits protecting beds, and other rooms, and backpacks and bags. A money carpet faces upside down from the inside, as Ben Franklin looks outward drawing prosperity in. Each Chinese New Year, new posters go up in different spots.

In the hallway (a place of transitions) there is a handmade oar I bartered from a native girl in a canoe on the Amazon. It hangs in the hall so I will never be up the creek without a paddle and to safeguard travel. I have a photo wall there where I time-travel through memories (the only surviving photos I own after a mishap took the others stored in boxes).

Outside looking in

The outside of my house; facing south, is protected by the energy of tall maple trees. My yard draws energy from the sun and the moon, and it attracts possums, raccoons, and cats (I’m trying to attract crows, but with my dog in the yard, it’s a challenge). From outside I watch the seasons change; currently I am blanketed in red and orange falling leaves. I color my porch with signs of the season. At present there is a 70lb pumpkin, and a medium and small one (papa pumpkin, mama pumpkin, baby pumpkin–fairy tale images come to mind).

This exercise made me smile. So easy, the only thing I have to do to practice magic, is show up, and show intent. I am in my safe space which is the true definition of home.

Wishing everyone a safe place to call home.

[JadeMermaid_Lara]

This is beautiful. What a pleasure to read and experience your home.

[georgia]

Challenge Entry

Caution- may include triggers- not sure what those are for others, so if the moderators would assist…?

Mod Note : Content Warnings: Please be aware that this post mentions the following potentially triggering topics: death, illness, and abuse.

Let’s get the worst over first. My father died of a genetic inability to handle cholesterol when I was 3. His family spread rumors that my mother murdered my father. Thus, there was no one to turn to when things happened in life.

When I was 7, my mother was in an accident which kept her in the hospital for 6 weeks and on crutches with phlebitis for 6 months after that. Since there was no one to help her, she got monstrously defensive, which was abusive to me. I had nowhere to turn, so I created my own safe space within. That place became the template for the rest of my life.

Please note: I was so young that I hadn’t familiarized myself with Spirituality yet. Despite many early travels, I knew nothing about culture. A lot of what I studied seemed to connect with and suggest deeper meaning to my childhood visions. Much of what I study now does the same, so if any readers see connections, please point them out. It may be an aha moment for me or a link to further study.

I plan on adding pics which are super old and drawn in pencil, so I apologize ahead of time that they are hard to see.

The place I went to is called Unicorn’s Harvest.

Map shown looking North.
This is a painting on wood which I keep on my altar in the South- for earth in my preferred system.

Each location on the map has a meaning. Those locations are a template for how I decorate my home. They also create parts of my favorite tarot layout.

For example, the northwest corner was an area of tropics where I noticed wild growth. Thus, in my home, I have a bookcase filled with crafts, blank books for my writing, a bird cage, and bird care supplies. These are the things I want to grow and prosper. Though the bird has other places to fly to, Albus (Dumbldore for Potterheads) likes that area- possibly because it’s close to a window. Having him in that area so much oddly keeps me from accessing some items just because I don’t want to upset him. shrug

The western mountains were family and self definition, so I have a cubby full of Lego sets which resemble places I’ve been and things I’ve done. There is a Viking ship to honor that side of the family, a clipper for the travelers and to represent my ship coming in, and I’ve added books and images of belief studies I’ve loved.

If I go into too much detail, I’ll be writing all day, but you get the idea? I think part of the pattern idea associated itself with the gwybdwyll (@MeganB sorry if I spelled that wrong)- a game board associated with the Druids and used to assist in manifestation.

After I’d had this pattern set up for myself at least 20 years, I found the Hassidic Tree of Life and noticed a familiar pattern:

This pattern seeking between my own visions of youth and other belief systems is what makes me eclectic: I don’t take from other cultures, I find similarities. The other cultures lend credence to what I created of my own before I knew what was really happening.

[Ostara]

Your challenge entry is beautiful!

[Medea]

Agreed! I was just thinking I really need help with my morning and evening rituals. Maybe I can come up with an organized ritual from this week’s challenge.

[Medea]

Georgia, this is excellent!! It is amazing how we can survive in situations we are really too young to know about, so we think but in reality, the power of the mind kicks in and our defense mechanism tries to protect us. I am an Eclectic Witch as well…
" I don’t take from other cultures, I find similarities." (georgia,spells8,2023)

Mote It Be,
Medea

[Medea]

Beautiful AIRAM! This week’s challenge is perfect for me as I am trying to get organized and incorporate my home and rituals that makes sense to me…I love your Saturday’s spiritual cleaning. That is one I will add to my list. I am so amazed at myself. I have always been a very organized person/witch. I believe that is the key to success but lately I have not been, and I am driving myself crazy over this.

Thank you and Mote It Be,
Medea

[crystal59]

Challenge entry- one of my favorite things to do during the Samhain season to bring magick to my home is hollow out a pumkin and turn into a cauldron this is what I’ll be burning my herbs in for the rest of the season. Sense it’s Friday the 13 tonight to honor Hecate I burned mugwort and I got a great picture at the end when it sparked after I put in the Vesta powder!