You’re in the right place if you want to…

• learn how to involve your partner in you practice

• understand how love spells work and how to use them

• become more in aware of your intuition and how to keep yourself safe

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In this segment of the show we choose a Tarot Card for the week and we look for moments that relate to this card in our daily lives. For this episode we chose the Seven of Wands. The theme of this card is reflection on previous actions and what’s worth fighting for. 

​​This card is pretty aggressive when you first look at it. The figure is tensely holding a wand on the edge of a cliff and six more wands are poking up at him. It always makes us think about the scene in Star Wars Revenge of the Sith when Obi-Wan and Anakin are fighting, and Obi-Wan yells, “I have the high ground.”

It’s important to notice that he can clearly see the faces of the people who are trying to bring him down. This is not a sneak attack or something happening in secret behind his back. This is a very public attack where he knows who his attackers are.

And as mentioned last week, this card comes after the Six of Wands in which someone is being celebrated and praised for their achievements. Well, all that glory and celebration often brings the haters out as well.

You can hear Erica’s and Maggie’s stories related to the Seven of Wands by listening to the episode.

1. Love Spells

I’ve been writing about and teaching witchcraft for about 8 years and the most common request I receive in my inbox is “can you cast a love spell for me?” 

If you look at spell books from long ago, the majority of the entries are about fertility and finding love. Even looking at the magical uses of many herbs, you’ll find love listed in one form or other. It’s a popular desire, but there’s also a lot of confusion surrounding casting love spells.

Related: 8 Crystals for Love

So, in this post we wanted to share our thoughts on how love spells work.

The first thing we know about love magic is that it’s incredibly difficult. If you ask me, any magic that is designed to influence another person in any way, is incredibly difficult and the effect depends on the recipient. Everyone has their own wants and desires and plans for their lives that may not match up with what you have in mind. Some people may say it’s not only difficult but it’s also unethical.

It’s very difficult to change another person and a love spell is trying to do just that. You’re trying to force another person to act in a way that they may or may not be interested in doing and that’s what makes it unethical.

I don’t personally have any issues with love spells. I think they are misused and misunderstood though. People jump into casting love spells on people without fully appreciating what they’re doing.

Related: Blessing and Protection Magic

The more ethical approach is to try and manifest what it is that you are looking for in a person. What are you needs and wants? What do you desire and how do you want to be treated?

I personally think magic works better when you focus it on yourself. Because then you don’t have to worry about how another person’s magic will influence it. You're just seeking change within yourself and attracting opportunities that are aligned with what you want.

Last week, I mentioned how I believe I manifested meeting my husband. Basically, I reflected on what I wanted in a love partner, not a specific person but traits they would have. Things that were absolutely necessary and things that would be nice. I didn’t know that the opportunity to move to Portland was related to the list I had made and the love I was seeking. But I acted on it.

You can never be perfectly certain of the consequences of your actions or your spell work. Even a love spell cast with good intention, could cause unintended consequences.

So, often love spells result in relationships ending. There’s a podcast called 35 and Divorced and in the first episode the host talks about how she manifested the divorce. She set the intention to have a loving, fulfilling relationship. Eventually, this led to her relationship dissolving because while she was looking to improve the relationship, her husband wasn’t in the same place as her.

It’s also important to talk about emotions when it comes to love spells. This kind of magic can have a lot of power because of the focused intention and emotion that’s usually behind it. Sometimes a person may turn to love spells when they are feeling satisfied with life, independent, and full of love to give. Other times it comes from a place of desperation, insecurity, or fear. 

That makes me think about that scene in the movie Practical Magic where the woman comes to the aunts with a desire to curse her ex. In some ways that’s a love spell, she has so much hurt and you can feel how much her emotion is driving her decision making.

The perspective is essential. What you perceive to be love, from another perspective, may look different. That’s why it’s so important to know where your ethical line is and understand what you are willing to do or let go of to get what you want.

2. Dating as a Witch

Now we’ll talk about how to date when you’re a witch. Erica has been dating much more recently than I have so I hope that we cover a range of perspectives. It’s been a while since I went on a date with someone besides my husband. And I met him around the same time I decided to begin practicing witchcraft.

As with any relationship it’s important that your partner be supportive of your interests and hobbies. They don’t necessarily have to participate in your practice with you, but they should at least understand it’s significance to you and it would be nice if you could talk to them about it.

Erica knew that she had a good partner when her boyfriend would ask questions about the zodiac and truly attempted to understand her view of it even when he didn’t really believe. She also knew that a relationship wouldn’t last long when a date scoffed at her believes (being a “devote atheist") and then tried to mansplain where the traditions of Saturnalia and Yule came from.

I knew I had found a wonderful partner for life when Dana showed was willing and interested in learning about his natal chart. As someone who values personal growth and development, I knew it would be hard to evolve alongside someone who didn’t also value personal growth and development.

3. Stay Safe and Trust Your Intuition

We wanted to close out this post with some information about keeping yourself safe when meeting new people. Being a witch means being open minded to a wide range of beliefs, unfortunately this can put us in danger.

Related: How to Practice Defensive Witchcraft

Erica made a protection satchel which contains some herbs for protection like basil, lavender, and rosemary. It also has a couple of sewing pins which act like a cactus that will “poke” anyone who is trying to cause harm, as well as, a protections spell written down and tied with a black thread. The satchel is small enough that you can carry in your purse or wallet while on a date or you can place it on your alter or in a safe place to protect you from afar.

Related: Crystals for Protection

Saturn is the planet of boundaries, so you can always use the energy of Saturn to help you establish boundaries and you can count on this opinionated planet to help you enforce them. Your boundaries are your own and only you can say what is okay for you and your body. If anyone ever pushes them or questions them that is a red flag and you should consider your relationship with that person and if something needs to change.

Developing your intuition is also really good while dating. If something feels off it most likely is. We’ve been taught in society to not listen to our guts and intuition, but we know as witches just how important it can be. Erica was dating a guy who was nice enough and very pleasant to hang out with but every time she went on a date with him some thing just didn’t click. Turns out later when she confronted him on a boundary he got mad and didn’t respect the boundary and it was Goodbye Joe!

Related: Connecting with Your Inner Psychic

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Send us a voicemail

We play one listener voicemail on each episode of Talk Witchcraft, with a few exceptions. To send us a voicemail, record a voice memo on your phone and email it to welisten [at] talkwitchcraft [dot] com. Please keep in mind that we only choose voicemails that are two minutes in length or shorter (even if they’re great!).

What we’re looking for in a voicemail

• Share from your personal experiences (especially experiences that we could never have) and use that to illuminate the zodiac season or theme in new ways.

• Ask questions of Erica and Maggie, so we have an opportunity to respond meaningfully to your voicemail during the podcast.

• Use one of these prompts: Is there something happening with you and your life that aligns with the current zodiac season or a Tarot card? How do your experiences show us something new about the magic, something that we haven’t talked about so far?

• Send a voicemail even if you’re behind on the podcast. If your voicemail is about a previous episode, zodiac season, or tarot card; that doesn’t mean we won’t choose it!

Tips for recording a great voicemail

• Make sure you’re somewhere quiet.

• Plan what you’re going to say ahead of time, because two minutes goes quickly.

• Opt for talking freely based on a bullet pointed list rather than reading word-for word from a script.

• Let us know if you’d prefer to remain anonymous.

Wait, don’t go yet!

Thanks for hanging out with me today. If you’ve enjoyed this post of Talk Witchcraft, I invite you to check out mumblesacademy.com.

Mumbles Academy is the place to be for intuitive souls at any stage on their WitchPath. Whether you are a Wildling at the very beginning of witchcraft journey and looking for a safe learning environment, a Creator who is already committed to their practice and wants to develop their witchcraft skills even more, or a Sage who full of wisdom already and is ready to share that with others, Mumbles Academy was designed for you.

With monthly masterclasses and live Q&As, an extensive archive of courses and training, and a supportive community to help you along the way with encouragement and advice, Mumbles Academy is the perfect place for you to be as you as you continue on your WitchPath.

Now it’s your turn!

If you were a deity, what would your domain be over?