We hear the terms: witch’s familiar, magical familiar, spiritual familiar, which all relate to an animal who you are esoterically connected to, but what we need to understand is that your magical familiar, or whatever term you identify with, is an actual living animal. Most of us were introduced to “magical animals” through movies, television programs, or even books. A Witch’s Familiar or animal guide was believed to be a supernatural entity that would assist witches in their practice of magic. This makes complete sense as there are many magical deities that are depicted with specific animals along with the stories that are told about them: Athena is shown with an owl, Anubis with a jackal, Ma’at with an ostrich, Bast with a cat...the list is long. Yet, the witch is always shown with a black cat which is perpetuated in various media. So how do you find YOUR familiar?
Is there a certain type of animal always around you? Is there a certain pet that you bond with? It could be a cat, a dog, a frog, or the owl that hoots outside your window. Do you find that there are certain animals that bring you a semblance of peace? Here is how you find your magical familiar:
-Place the Goddess Affirmation candle in a candle holder
-Arrange the Pet Blessings Blessed Herbal Blessing Kit in votive holders on the left, right and in front of the Goddess Affirmation candle.
-Set your intentions by saying “may my familiar make itself known to me”
-Repeat this intention as you light the Goddess candle and each of the Pet Blessing kit starting on the right and moving clockwise.
-Allow the candles to burn as you settle into yourself. Pay attention to your senses and your thoughts. Once you have a clear picture of your familiar extinguish the candles.
If your magical familiar is your pet, wonderful! If your familiar is not your pet that’s okay, too!! Either way, you are now in a great position to attune and connect with the energy of your familiar. You can do this by burning the Soul Mate Affirmations candle in a candle holder. Set your intention of gratitude saying, “I am excited about working with you. I am grateful for our connection and I look forward to deepening our love and friendship.”
Burn the Soul Mate candle daily for two hours until the candle burns out.
Your spiritual familiar is closer than you think
If your spiritual familiar is your pet you can do this to create a closer bond with your spiritual familiar. Using our Witches Union Magical Adept Witch’s Familiar patch and sitting with your pet, hold the patch to its heart and say the following:
“By fur feather and scale I honor my magical partner and pet.”
Hold the patch to your heart and repeat this same blessing. Spend time communicating, petting and loving your familiar, strengthening your connections and magic.
Remember: A witch’s familiar is grounding, energizing, protecting and comforting. This shows us that all pets are magical in their own way. A magical adept knows that a familiar is their magical partner and brings a unique essence and depth to their magic. Wear this patch proudly if you pet brings a unique magic and love to your life.
Live the Magic with Jacki Smith through her blogs, books, and products here.
October, how I love thee! It’s not just the boots I get to wear, or the Halloween decorations I get to put or and wear. It’s that my job, my passion gets so much easier. The witches say that in this season the veil between the worlds gets thinner, meaning psychic energies are stronger and spirit communication is easier. This is the perfect time to explore your psychic talents on a deeper level.
Dive in right now, open up your psychic centers and tune in to what universal channel you are picking up on. Generally, you are picking up on the vibes of your own life and the people that are immediately around you. Trying to get a read on the whole universe is too mush data and becomes white noise you cannot interpret. Take a moment, right now and tune into one specific thing and start interpreting those vibes. Then ask to see if they are true.
Tuning in psychically is not an exact science, nor is interpreting the messages you get. For many psychics it's like getting impressions of a moment – colors, shapes and general “knowings.” As they practice and talk about what they are seeing, they get better and better at interpreting the messages that come in. Even the top psychics that are natural born talents had to learn how to work with the information they are getting. They have their exercises to open up, be a clear channel and tune in to the right information. There are so many personal ways to do that, yet there is one thing that everyone agrees on:
“I shut up so I can listen”
Slow down your mind to tune up the psychic engine. For many that is easier said than done but for every person there is a method of meditation that will work for them. It may be a quiet moment where you limit your sensory input. It may be a mantra that you can sink into, for some it may be a walk that slows the brain down. The point is, slowing your thinking to quiet your mind. When you quiet your mind, you can hear the divine, you can hear the psychic input. Try it now.
Breathe… just breathe. Count your breath in and out – in-1- 2 …. Out-1-2. Let it become in-1-2-3… out-1-2-3. See how slow you can get it while remaining relaxed. Now let your thoughts just float in and out without hanging onto them. When you realize you are circling a though, let it go. You know it will come back when you need it. When you brain feels like it is settled – tune into your environment and let the vibration tell you a tale.
It comes in mental impressions like memories. Vague, gentle, thoughts that if you tug on them become more substantial. Try it now, see what you get. Now see if it’s real, ask around. If it doesn’t pan out, tell them your impression and see if it means something else. You are learning your prompts this way and building you skill.
You, my witch, just earned your Psychic Witches Union patch! Just in attempting this little exercise you go it, you are psychic!
You can amp it up at home with your favorite divination tool and the Chakra Magic Answers candle to work on your 3rd eye. This is magic and you are doing it! Now keep it up all month and your skills will increase 100fold.
I’m writing this article inside out this time, products first, then the problem and the spell. Here’s why. We don’t have time these days to wait to get to the point. It’s not feeling so safe out there and we need answers today.
Here is your answer:
Witches Union Evil Eye patch, High John Hoo Doo candle, Red Stilettos Wicked Witch Mojo candle and the Flying Monkeys Wicked Witch Mojo oil. This combination gives you back your personal power and protects you while you anchor it down into your daily life. When you are filled with your own power the world takes notice and things start to go your way and when they don’t, you can recover quicker.
Now that you have the answer, let’s talk about the problem so many of us are experiencing. I’ll say it for us, “I don’t feel safe.” Physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental; I don’t feel safe. It’s been hard to stay engaged in a positive way – everything seems draining and unsafe. It’s not just how people treat me, it’s how I take everything and how I communicate. It’s the messages on the news and social media, it’s the level of high alert we are all on! From our most sensitive community members to the hard asses that power though everything, we are all feeling it. Blame it on the moon, the stars or the politics, stress is building.
Here is the spell:
Bad Ass, Mama-jamma, World Changing Powerhouse – Power Up Spell
Evil Eye Witches Union patch
High John Hoo Doo candle
Red Stilettos Wicked Witch Mojo candle
Flying Monkeys Wicked Witch Mojo oil
First- grab that patch and power it up by following the instructions on the card. You need it to deflect any negativity while you are powering up.
Second - Anoint your and the candles with the Flying Monkey oil to create a boundary of protection and set your guardians to work.
Third - Light the candles. It doesn’t matter if you are male or female, we have both within us in varying degrees. Connect with your inner god and goddess and start filling them with the energy from the candles. Listen for their messages, support and warnings. Let them guide you and refill every cell in your body with vitality. From heaven and earth, you are filled, and your personal power is charged and awakened.
Finally – Spend time with yourself in this moment and write out what you are grateful for ABOUT YOURSELF. Think about the small and large things you are proud of. It may take time to get rolling, but don’t give up until you have listed at least 10 things (20 is better). IF you are having trouble getting started, think about what your favorite people would tell you about yourself. Positive only. Give yourself at least an hour to do this, you deserve this time.
Repeat – Do this every day for at least 6 days. You can do it, you deserve it. As you fill yourself over and over again with this energy you will see yourself shift and change. You will find yourself spreading this love, telling others how amazing they are and changing their world. This kind of love is contagious, and you will see how it ripples out into your world. Spending the time to power up means the world starts to power up – you are the change!!
Keep it Magic!
Jacki Smith
These planetary shenanigans are getting to me. We are dealing with 7 planets in retrograde; Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, and Chiron. At first glance this is worthy of a minor freak out and a loose plan to take a month-long sabbatical, but before you book your flight to Tahiti, let’s take a look at what a retrograde really means.
Not all retrogrades are equal. The inner planets that are retrograde; Mercury and Mars, directly influence our daily life, emotions, reactions and quality. The mid planet that is retrograde; Saturn affects the bigger trends in our life, our overall quality of work, resources and structure of our life. The outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto affect our entire generation including our overall society and culture. These outer planets change the way we see each other and react in group think to the larger story. Chiron, actually considered a comet, influences our inner wounds and what kind of healing you will be experiencing.
Retrograde = review, regroup, renew and release
When a plant goes retrograde, it’s time to stop and look inward before you act or react. A retrograde planet will show you where there are cracks in your foundation that need to be repaired before it brings the whole house down. August is an opportunity to go deep within and do the hard work that will bring big, life changing results.
Mercury and Mars in retrograde will create a struggle with communication and motivation. Feelings are easily hurt, and you give up too soon. You may flash in anger quicker than normal and that your words are either used against you or that you cannot communicate what you really feel. Chiron in retrograde will make you question the identity you have established and push at all the walls and protections your ego has created. These retrograde planets give you the opportunity to dive into how you are communicating, and what you really feel about the situation at hand. You will be reacting from the wounds of your childhood, but you are given the gift of a deeper healing.
Saturn in retrograde will make you question the identity you have established and push at all the walls and protections your ego has created. We tend to get a little stubborn when Saturn is retrograde and this time it’s in Capricorn, so we double down on that stubborn feeling and will cling to the defense system we have built around ourselves. This retrograde gives us the opportunity to look deeply at the fears we will be experiencing and understand how to heal them.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto retrograde are going to challenge the national stage. There will be even more issues with trust, truth, equality and care for our society. We may see more protest, more scandals and more paranoia. This is a time that will feel exhausting to you, even overwhelming and may frighten you into freezing. You don’t have to freeze, you just have to watch and see what scandals unfold in your communities from local to national. If you are involved in that scandal, then tell the truth, stop with the excuses and shut up when you are done.
Retrograde means to review, regroup, renew and release what no longer works in your life. To do this you have to get real with your own agenda and ego and find those deeper issues that are ready to be released. Meditate and reach for the light of the divine. This is the habit that will get you through every retrograde, this is the strength that will help you uncover what is meant for you and what is a distraction.
With all the meditation you will be doing, you will have earned your Meditation Magic patch. I used to groan at the thought of meditation. I thought it was some great mastery of time wasting stillness. I was not interested. Then I discovered that at its core, meditation is no more than finding the stillness that allows my higher self to communicate and guide me. Meditation and mindfulness is as simple as a slow breath to collect my energy. Just a moment of unwinding your stress from the day is meditation mastery.
Here is your formula for August’s retrograde:
Witches Union patch - Meditation Magic
Blessed Herbal candles – Heart & Spiritual Cleansing
Blessed Herbal oil – Stability
Motor City Hoo Doo candle – Van Van
Grounding stone such as Hematite, onyx, shungite, nuummite, obsidian or and natural stone you have found.
Anoint all three candles with the stability oil, place them in their holders and light them. Hold the patch, lean back, and just breathe. Focus on the center flames as you breathe in for 3 counts and out for 3 counts. Do this several more times as your release the tension in your face, shoulders and heart. Let any thoughts flow out. When you have felt the drop and slowing of your energy, say the following, “Out of muddy tangled thoughts my soul blossoms with divinity.”
Let the stress of the day flow into your mind, bless it for the wisdom it created within you and then let it go. Let go of all the external influence upon you, draining out of your feet. Let go of your panic, compulsion, negative thoughts, bubble them up and out of your head and let them pop. Take your time, they may get stubborn.
Anoint the grounding stone with the stability oil and dip the stone in the warm wax of each candle, rubbing it into the stone as best you can. Set the intent that this stone will help you stay grounded in your own truth and balance, protecting you from being pulled out of center by these retrogrades.
When you feel centered and your meditation complete, extinguish the candles and carry the patch and stone with you. Relight the candle regularly and repeat this short meditation to keep yourself in balance and clear minded, out of the influence of the retrograde planets.
If your house or business is being affected by the retrograde planets, you can keep the candles burning and anoint the 4 corners and thresholds of the building with the Stability oil.
Stay sane this August, don’t take things personally and wait 24 hours before you express your anger at anyone. We will all get through this and be ok.
Remember, if you keep your magic close with a daily practice, it will keep you close in it effectiveness and speed. Keep living the magic, Jacki.
Live the Magic with Jacki Smith though her blogs, books and products here.