I’m joining this October photo challenge, too! Yes, I’m participating in TWO photo challenges this month! What better way to celebrate the month of October is there than by letting loose your “InnerWitch!” 😃 Fun! Using only photos I take myself of items in my house, I think this a fun way to get to know everyone else that is participating on your own social media accounts, too! (I’m a few days late getting started, so I’m making 3 posts today to catch up!)

October 1: “Path”
I’m solitary. Truly. My whole life. But, I am fascinated by the paths of others and enjoy the dialogue and learning from all walks. I don’t fit neatly into a religious package, yet I believe. I am primarily a nontheistic, nondeity yet Universalist believer/follower of energy. (I embrace, yet simultaneously reject many aspects of all formal religions such as Wicca religions, Abrahamic religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Tao-ism, etc indifferently from one another, while collectively admiring/adhering to the beautiful, general driving goals fundamental to the establishment of each.) I work with what I know to be tools granted to me… Herbs, crystals, fire, bodies of water, astronomy… I’m fairly well read on a variety of religions, none of which I follow, yet I collect a wide variety of statuary. You can see a bit more on my personal fb wall, in a recent smudging VIDEO of mine or on my IG @WhatAmberLoves. My path is not NEW AGE; in fact it is quite ANCIENT. 💞

October 2: “Incense”
Yes! So much yes! Loose, stick, cone, and smudge bundles. I grow a lot of my own herbs to use as loose incense that I burn on charcoal discs. I have a fabulous aluminum feather stick incense holder that I adore. Cones I buy commercially, but may expand to try making my own soon. Smudge: I have white sage, cedar, palo santo, and a floral bundle, each for different purposes. I’m adding a few links that you may find of interest (recipes for DIY incense to correlate with astrological signs and spell work and a smudging link about the different bundles and the known properties of each.)
Link for incense recipes: http://www.oocities.org/incenserecipes/recipes.html
Link about known properties of various types of smudge bundles: http://www.sagegoddess.com/smudging-101-how-to-clear-your-space-with-sacred-herbs-resins/

October 3: “Sacred Jewelry”
Yes! Definitely. I have a few links on my blog discussing it a bit more in depth. For me, sacred adornment (jewelry) is more about actual stones, fossils, and feathers than man made symbols. Everyday, I choose which pieces to wear based on my intent and the known energy shifting properties of each stone and/or memory, sentimentality, family connection of the piece that I honor.
Links to the pieces shown in this photo:
Pendants: https://whatamberloves.com/2015/07/14/my-power-gemstone-of-the-day/
Quartz Bracelet: https://whatamberloves.com/2015/08/14/sacred-adornment-quartz-memory-wire-bracelet/

October 4: Waning Moon
Labradorite, Quartz Sphere, & Astrophyllite
Book: The Book of the Moon, by Tom Folley

Day 5: Triple Goddess
Yes. Spiritual Embrace of Each stage of life and/or fertility cycle. Yes.
(antique pitcher from my grandmother, my mid century mod statue, fairy doll poster in my daughters’ room.)

Day 6: “Vessel of Water”
Gemstone Elixirs, here. Gem elixirs, also called crystal essences or crystal waters, have been used by many throughout the ages. They are a convenient way to use the vibrational energies of the crystals for crystal healing, magick, and more. I use the indirect method of stones inside a glass inside of my water. I choose stones based on needs/intentions of the moment. For example: garnet and obsidian for grounding. Sodalite for rest. 💞
Read more about elixirs on another site: http://meanings.crystalsandjewelry.com/how-to-make-gem-elixirs-or-crystal-essences/
Read More about which gemstones and colors I coordinate with my chakras for energy balance:

Gemstones, Jewelry, & 7 Chakras

October 7: “Talisman”
A talisman is an object which is believed to contain certain magical or sacramental properties which would provide good luck for the possessor or possibly offer protection from evil or harm. Many people wear a cross or a pentacle or so forth as talisman to protect themselves from harm and/or announce their religious affiliation. I use mine differently in that they’re inward, not outward. I don’t use them to deflect anything; I use them as reflective reminders/cues for continual self evaluation/awareness. The three I wear on one chain (or carry along for travel) are my dream catcher, chakra wand, and hamsa.
1) DreamCatcher: I don’t have any sort of nightmare issues, but my DreamCatcher reminds me to make sure I’m getting enough sleep and at the right times. This is essential for me and my unique needs.
2) Hamsa: The hamsa is traditionally used to ward away an evil eye, but it reminds me to try to be a giving hand, because I trust that a hand that gives and is helpful never runs empty.
3) Chakra Wand: I wear this not as a tool to alter self or energy centers, but as a reminder to self evaluate and work on energy centers. I reflect with question and affirm with statement through each of the 7 layers of color:

Red, Root Chakra: Am I grounded and in touch with nature and my physical well being?
“I am.”
Orange, Sacral Chakra: Am I creative and seeking?
“I feel.”
Yellow: Am I productive & task completing?
“I do.”
Green, Heart Chakra: Am I loved by others and loving others?
“I love.”
Turquoise, Throat Chakra: Am I communicating effectively?
“I say.”
Blue, Third Eye Intuition & Mind: Do I problem solve and draw inference?
“I see.”
Purple, Spirituality: Do I morally strive for connection with purpose as teacher AND student of all?
“I understand, I believe, I connect.”

(My personal talisman (x3) are important to me.)

October 8: “Witching Hour!”

October 9: “Shadow Side”
(My Selfies, blended)

October 10: “Cartomancy”
So most people participating in this photo challenge on their blogs and social media accounts will talk to you about fortune telling/divination using a standard deck of playing cards and/or show you their favorite oracle or tarot decks? I’m not. I’m going to switch gears and show you one of my favorite books in my collection and my (laughable?) inability to walk past a tarot machine without buying card(s.) I heart the fortune telling machines, especially card machines.

First, the book: Tarots: the Visconti pack in Bergamo and New York. It is a critical examination by Sergio Samek Ludovici; text by Italo Calvino, translation by William Weaver. (Parma: Franco Maria Ricci, 1975). This work was originally published in Italian as Castello dei destini incrociati. It reproduces the surviving cards from a Tarot pack that was created in Italy in the fifteenth century for the Visconti family. Signed by publisher Franco Maria Ricci, limited edition #701/3000. A deluxe edition, bound in black silk with gilt titles, printed on hand-made Fabriano papers. Tarot illustrations laid down on the top board; all housed in a slipcase. The present copy is in beautiful very fine condition, without marks or rubbing.
From the esteemed Italian publisher Franco Maria Ricci—who brought us Luigi Serafini’s famed and mysterious Codex Seraphinianus in 1981—comes a remarkably beautiful discourse on the oldest Tarot card deck known: the 15th-century Visconti-Sforza.

The Visconti-Sforza tarot deck had a significant impact on the visual composition, card numbering and interpretation of modern decks. The surviving cards are of particular historical interest because of the beauty and detail of the design, which was often executed in precious materials and often reproduce members of the Sforza and Visconti families in period garments and settings. Consequently, the cards also offer a glimpse of nobiliar life in Milan, which the two families called home since the 13th century. When commissioned by Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, and by his successor Francesco Sforza, the cards were still known as Trionfi (“triumphs”, i.e. trump) cards, and used for everyday playing.

I was lucky to purchase this book relatively inexpensively, despite the fact that it retails for around $350.00, now. You can read more about this book —> http://www.vintagememorabilia.com/index.cfm/page/franco-maria-ricci-tarots-visconti-bergamo-new-york

Second, my beloved tarot and fortune telling machines. Truly, I enjoy them. So much. Feel free to judge me about the fact that they seem a bit impersonal compared to person-to-person tarot readings and so forth, but it will diminish my interest in the arcade style machines no less. 🙂 They amuse me! I am including a photo of ZOLATAR and a few cards that I purchased from him recently.

Last, but not least, I just recently ordered a beautiful, new deck of gilded Lenormand cards that are still in transit via USPS and should arrive today or Monday. Want to peek at the set I’ve ordered? Here is the link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gilded-reverie-lenormand-ciro-marchetti/1117166654?ean=9781572817548#productInfoTabs”

October 11: Spell(s)
Let me call a circle first, please. :: My house blessing for guests at top left and my kitchen at bottom left are both my photos, by me. 💞

October 12: New Moon
Hopefully, you’ve taken the time to cleanse last night and this morning. If not, do so today, and set your goals. Today is about new beginnings, so use this new moon also to reinforce current goals. Embrace new opportunities in the next few days!

October 13: Divination (via book & Dice)
There are wide varieties of divination tools and methods of divination available. Some are more or less open to interpretation than others. Do you have or have you ever consulted “Madam Le Merchand’s FORTUNE TELLER,” specifically the “Ladies’ Love Oracle” section of the book, reading via dice? First, you pick a number 1-80 to have your question revealed from the list. Second, you/fortune teller roll the dice and sum their value. Last, you consult the chart in the book to find the page with the answer to your question based on the sum. It’s loosely kind of like a Magic 8 Ball, differing in that it reveals a question, then the answer.

October 15: Fairies
I have quite a bit of fairy statuary. All of the ones shown here are gifts from my Grandmother!