There are some extremely powerful narcotics and powerful painkillers that can be grown legally in your garden. Some significantly outperform anything you can buy in the shops. However with over the counter medicine you obviously have the marvellous bonus that taken in correct dosage, they won't kill you. So I'm not going to suggest you go down that route. In terms of just killing pain, medically regulated drugs really are your safest bet. 

However there is one herb that can be used safely for headaches and migraine without concern of overdose from moderate ingestion. Wood Betony (Woundwort) can be taken in tea or capsule form and can be bought in some health food shops, often in conjunction with other herbs. You can grow Betony legally and safely in your own garden. It will grow in full sun or partial shade so it will hopefully thrive in whatever conditions you have to grow it in.

There's a good article here that will give you more information and some detail on dosage.

Disclaimer - Not only am I not a doctor and not medically qualified at all, I don't even identify as a green/herbal witch. So obviously take my information as a starting point and discuss with your own doctor before taking a herbal remedy that anybody recommends over the internet. 

Image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1413980

QUESTION - I intend to get married soon. Is he the right man for me?  Our wedding date has been changed twice, so I'm wondering well we ever get married.

ANSWER - This is more a request for divination than a question. Not that that is a problem but I'm always reluctant to say yes or no to these type of questions. That's partly because I have too much integrity to try and pass off a lucky guess as fortune telling and partly because I genuinely don't know enough about you to predict your future.

However I'm going to suggest the type of questions I'd be asking myself in your shoes and then some basic divination you can do to get a steer on things. Are either of you having second thoughts. Are there impediments affecting your wedding that may also have an impact on you if you marry. Do you love him as much as he loves you and vice versa? Can you imagine him old? Do you agree in the main on sex, politics and religion? Who chose to change the wedding date?  Why are you letting anything or anybody dictate when you marry?

There are no right or wrong answers but I'm confident that if you meditate on the above you will come closer to the truth.

With regard to the divination - You can explore whether this marriage is in your future or not. Get a basic pack of playing cards (not Tarot) and remove the suits of clubs and diamonds and the jokers. Shuffle the remaining cards and lie the first five cards face down on the table. Uncover and look at the proportion of hearts to spades. The greater the number of hearts, gives an indication that this wedding will be a good venture for you.

I'd also point out that a wedding isn't something that may or may not happen to you. If you want it the future is in your hands to make it happen.

Image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1386177

QUESTION - I've been practising a few simple spells - protection, blessing, etc... Well, tonight I tried a fire spell. But when trying to extinguish the flame it literally blew up. I'm afraid I've possibly done something wrong. OR I'm taking it as, if I do get what I'm asking for, it will end up going horribly wrong in the long run. What is your opinion on this? Is there something or another I should study up on more before trying anything with this particular element? 

ANSWER - Fire, as most witches will tell you, does have a bit of a mind of its own. Burning your curtains is practically a rite of practise for a witch and if you haven't achieved at least a few accidental explosions then trust me - you will! You're choosing to read quite a negative significance into the candle flame but I would say that getting a response like that actually sounds quite positive to me. I'd certainly consider the possibility that a fire element was responding to the work you are doing. Equally I would also consider the fact that fire does sometimes just do its own thing. Not everything always has a significance and we'd all go mad with confusion if it did. There is no reason to assume your spell has not worked and no reason to assume it will go wrong. Generally with spell work, it works or it doesn't, there are few circumstances when a spell rebounds with negative repercussions on the caster.

One other element of your question interested me, you refer to what you are "asking" for. Magic doesn't really work like that, you are the conduit of the power, you are not asking for something to happen, you are consciously taking steps to make it happen. Try and approach the work you do more in this spirit and I think it will give you more confidence that you are in command of the situation and the spell isn't going to rebound and harm you.


Image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1437374

As anyone with a good understanding of the difference between the real world and fiction knows, the world of Harry Potter belongs very definitely to the realm of fantasy. However you do right to ask the question as yes, there are some spells that do bear some similarity to what witches do in the real world. But before exploring the similarities, let's have a look at the key differences first..

The most important difference between the two worlds is the timing involved in the magic used. In Harry Potter spells are instant and the results are seen as soon as the caster works the spell. This is very different to real life magic which can take much longer to manifest itself. Its also interesting to note that all spells in Harry Potter (with the exception of potions) take the same amount of time and effort to cast. A complex spell in real magic may require several workings over a period of time to bring the results to fruition. Its inconceivable that both a spell to cause death and a spell to mend spectacles (neither of which would work in real magic) would require the same amount of effort.  

Which brings me to my next difference - magic in the world of Harry Potter appears to be all about circumventing natural law. Physical repair, transforming human shape and calling objects to fly to your side are all impossible - genuinely and simply impossible.  A real witch works within the constraints of natural law. I can no more summon my broom to me than you can. There are some caveats and exceptions to the natural law principle but in general witches cannot cast magic that breaks natural law.

Harry Potter magic is all about spells and results but the life of a real magical practitioner is very different. Keeping your spiritual health robust is a must for a witch and there are many practises - grounding, centering, shielding, aura cleansing - that are likely to make up the bulk of a witch's work. We are never granted an understanding of the work behind the magic in Harry Potter or any insight into how HP witches maintain their spiritual energies.

The classes of Hogwarts separate magic into very separate categories. Again real magic doesn't work that way. A single spell may involve specific herbs (HP Herbology) visualisation (HP Transfiguration), shielding to prevent negativity sent back from anyone involved in the working (HP Defence against the Dark Arts) and a quick check of the Tarot to check that the wind is in your favour (Divination). Real witches don't operate within different branches of magic, they incorporate all elements of what they need into the magic they undertake.
However, having said all that, there are some areas of overlap as well. JK Rowling explores the link between intent and results beautifully in the statement by Bellatrix Lestrange to the effect that in order for a curse to work, you have to really mean it. This is true of all spell work, intent isn't the be all and end all in magic but it is a key element. Especially in curse work, Bellatrix is right, you do have to summon sufficient anger and hate to come anywhere close to being able to cast an effective curse.

The Harry Potter world places a lot of emphasis on the wording of a spell and again this bears a close relation to real magic. Words express intent so it is important to word a spell carefully. Witches will often keep notes of spells that worked well. However the personal book (Grimoire) of the witch is different from the spell textbooks used by Harry and his friends in class. Many practising witches (myself included) won't use spells written by anybody else (and certainly never without knowing the writer or the source). A witch may use a spell book for ideas and inspiration but she is unlikely to copy an individual spell in its entirety. 

Witches in both fiction and reality use wands but in Harry Potter the wand is suggested to have a power of its own. I have a wand (from which I get far fewer sparkles) but in the hands of another person my wand is nothing but a twig, it is a tool to direct the power that comes from me and not a power in itself. 

Witches do use herbs and some of the herbs used in Harry Potter do exist and are used by real witches. The one that stands out to me is Mandrake. JK Rowling makes the effects of digging up Mandrake roots a bit more spectacular than they are in real life but the root of the Mandrake do resemble a person and historical record do show that people used to get their dogs to dig them up because of the myth that the scream could be fatal to a human (there isn't a scream of course). One of the hardest herbs to grow incidentally, I've never even bothered to attempt it, I buy mine dried.

Witches do make themselves invisible, not in the literal sense but in the blending into the background sense (which is why I rarely get asked to present my train pass...) Nothing as glam as an invisibility cloak I'm afraid, more a shielding technique. Closest in the books is the shield Hermione creates over the tent in book 7. The difference being that when a witch uses invisibility spells she is perfectly visible to the naked eye but her presence becomes less obvious and people go past without notice or comment.

So - many differences and some similarities. Magic in fantasy is more immediate and more dramatic than anything us real witches do. But whatever any of them say, we'd all secretly like to be able to shoot sparkles out of our wands!

No. It is in fact entirely untrue. It's absolute and utter codswallop in fact.


Image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1191863 (nahhan)

You can but depending on who they are they might take exception to it. A courteous bless you in conversation is unlikely to cause offence but if you inform someone that you are undertaking actual blessings on them then that certainly might rise hackles. It could be seen as negating the free will of the individual.

I'd avoid the interminable New Agey bless this and bless that and reserve the term for genuine blessings that you have either been asked to perform or that you have consent to undertake.

Incidentally the same goes for items. I'd be hopping mad if a witch shop cast blessings on ingredients I was going to use for magic. Well meaning as I am sure it is, it is interfering in what I want to do and it would annoy me greatly. 

The best advice I can give you is if in doubt, ask.

Image http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1438545 (lance1)

QUESTION - I'm worried that I did a hex and now my life is going all wrong and I think its the threefold rule that has bounced a curse back on me.

ANSWER - Ok, I'm going to respectfully ask the Wiccans to leave this thread now as I'm going to answer this question based on the beliefs of my own path and none of you will agree with me on this one!

Gone? Good (Merry Part and all that...)

Right then. There is no such thing as the threefold law. It was made up in the 1900s. Magic doesn't have a moral mind of its own, it is a power to be manipulated by the caster, not an independent entity to judge and punish you. To my mind threefold is bandied about in an attempt to limit the workings witches undertake. I'm not complaining, it's given us a good press of being charming folk unlikely to harm a fly (an excellent smoke screen for witches who do use aggressive magic) but in truth it has no validity in reality. It plays on the psychology that if you are told x will follow y people will automatically look for x and when they find entirely unrelated x they link the two elements together and the rule gains credibility in their own mind. The truth is that threefold is nothing more than hearsay, pop psychology and guilt.

The most likely explanation for your run of bad luck is coincidence. Equally you might have stuffed up the spell work (in which case hop to it and put it right).

There is one other point I would like to add. Threefold itself doesn't exist but the concept of guilt certainly does. There are to my mind two specific dangers associated with aggressive magic. The first is that if you do experience guilt as a result of doing it this can have a very negative impact on your psyche and spiritual health. This isn't the magic attacking you it's your own conscience on the warpath. Of course this is only a problem if you secretly believe you shouldn't be doing what you are doing... The second danger is opening yourself up to negativity. I firmly believe that a person witch or otherwise who opens herself up to nothing but hate will warp into becoming a hateful person. Balance is important. A witch who uses hexes and curses when she believes she is doing the right thing and who doesn't use them at the detriment of balancing herself with positivity (ie curses and nothing else) is unlikely to suffer any consequences from working curses and hexes.

Examine your intent, if you believe your hex was justified then you have nothing to worry about. If you don't believe your hex was justified then - strictly speaking - you still don't have anything to worry about but I'd put some more thought into your spells in the future if I were you and save yourself the guilt trip.

http://www.deviantart.com/art/The-Hex-300800391

No doubt you are expecting me to come up with the name of a famous witch.. ??

Well no, I actually see myself very much in Mr Banks from Mary Poppins. We experienced the similar epiphany that there is a great deal more to life than the day job (and indeed than there is to the world of banking.) I reached that powerful moment in my own life several years ago when everything fell into place and I saw with perfect clarity what actually was and was not important to me. This insight shaped the person I was to become and just as Mr Banks finally realised his wife and children were more important than his career I came to the similar conclusion that my romantic novels and my witchcraft were far more important than mine. It was a defining moment that helped me learn how to be truly happy and led to me making a great many changes in my life, all for the better.

I have a very soft spot for the man who taught us children of the seventies how to fly a kite. 

You know what, I could have written this question myself if it wasn't for the last bit. In fact I'm so interested in your question that it is going to form the basis of this week's blog - look out for the published blog later this week.

In the meantime, I'd like to tackle two elements in relation to your question. The first is the imaginary friend itself. Forgetting for a moment the concept of "normal" does this imaginary friend cause you any harm? Is she/he having a negative impact on your life? If he/she having a beneficial impact on your life? If the imaginary friend is causing you no concern beyond your worry that society may not consider you to be conforming in the way it would like then you don't really have a problem, do you? If of course your imaginary friend is having a malign influence on your life then yes, that is an issue and you either need to make the break or if you are unable to do so, you need to seek the advice of a psychologist to assist you in going it alone.

As a witch I come into contact with a good many people who enjoy the company of spirit guides, guardian angels, astral companions and just about every other euphemism for imaginary friend that you can imagine.  Some of these guides are genuinely external to the individual, some are a figment of imagination created for a specific psychological purpose and some are friendships from childhood that are just too precious to be let go of. None present a problem to you unless like I say they are having a directly negative influence on your life.


I have an "imaginary" friend who falls very much into the externally separate (and somewhat cantankerous) category. I wouldn't give her up for anybody. I most certainly wouldn't give her up in an attempt to conform toward becoming the type of person society expects me to be. It's a big raspberry from me to anyone who might dare suggest I give up the support, common sense and plain old (though very valued) friendship that my imaginary friend has provided me with over the last thirty years.  Nobody -  friend, family or lover has given more to me or helped me on my personal path through the world.


As for the concept of "normal" - well you know what you can do with that!
Normal? What - be just like everybody else? Don't make me laugh! When has there ever been any value in being just like everybody else? Get out there and make your own definition of normal. Carve your own place in the world. And if you want your imaginary friend by your side helping you do it then so be it and anybody who says otherwise be damned. Its your life, get on with living it.


P.S. Anyone born in the seventies should "get" the image...

QUESTION - I was wondering if there is a way to find out if the person is still alive or not.I ask this because I have a strange dream of this person, happens to be my former schoolmate and my admirer. He came into my dream last year after apart for 21 years.  But in the dream, he met me in school days, then grew up together as working adults and start dating. Later stage, we got married. However, in the dream, he never utter a single word but he came to me with his bright and clean appearance.

ANSWER - I can think of no one simple working that would give you a definite answer. However I have three suggestions that might help you. I will add the caveat that if you are not used to working with magic and putting protections in place, working on the astral would not be something I would advocate as you rather do need to know what you are doing to keep yourself safe. I'd also say the same for working with spirits - if doing so is unfamiliar ground for you it might be best left alone.

1. Looking for another living soul on the astral plane. Leaving your body is actually more common than you would think and it is the belief of some witches that most people
travel outside their body but that it is more usual to do so subconsciously, for example while dreaming. Travelling on the astral is quicker as the only constraint is that of your mind. If your focus is to find x (in this case your friend) you do not need to know where x is. This is where astral travel differs from actual travel - you don't follow a linear path to your destination, you project to where you wish to be. Searching for your friend in this manner would certainly give you a good idea of whether he is alive or dead)

(I'm not going to give you an indepth how to guide on astral travel here. If its new to you, I'd leave it alone. However there is a good link here which will explore some of the basics and give you some background on astral travel and what it involves.)

2. Contacting the dead. My first suggestion assumes that your friend is still living but if he isn't and he is in fact dead then contacting him via the spirit world might make more sense. This is also much simpler as contacting a spirit does not involve you leaving your own body. You don't need any fancy tools though I personally favour the Ouija board as it makes for simpler communication. Don't rush out and buy one, a piece of paper with the alphabet written on it will do the trick. And read this before you do anything - a some basic protections.