The Elemental Apothecary

01/07/2026

Spot on! Happy 🍓 moon 🌑

✨ July 1, 2026 ✨

Today carries a serious, grounding energy after days of movement, pressure, and emotional intensity.

The sky is asking us to slow down long enough to notice what is actually stable, what is only held together by habit, and what can no longer be carried into the next chapter.

With Mercury now retrograde in Cancer, the mind may be pulled backwards into memory, old conversations, family patterns, emotional wounds, unfinished decisions, and things you thought you had already processed. This is not a day for rushing clarity. It is a day for listening to what keeps returning.

At the same time, the Moon’s movement through Capricorn brings a heavier, more practical tone. Capricorn does not want fantasy. It wants structure. It wants accountability. It asks what you are building, what you are avoiding, and whether your emotional world has a strong enough foundation to hold the life you are trying to create.

This combination can feel like an inner tug-of-war.

Part of you may want comfort, softness, nostalgia, and emotional safety. Another part of you may feel the pressure to get serious, make plans, set boundaries, and take responsibility for your next steps.

The lesson today is not to choose one over the other.

You need both.

You need the softness of Cancer to understand what still hurts, and the discipline of Capricorn to decide what you are going to do with that truth.

Old feelings may rise today, not to pull you backwards, but to show you where your foundations need strengthening. A repeated thought, a familiar emotional trigger, or a conversation from the past may reveal something important.

Do not ignore what surfaces.

Write it down. Sit with it. Notice the pattern. Ask yourself what this feeling is trying to teach you before you react from it.

Today is not about forcing a new beginning.

It is about preparing the ground properly.

Some shifts do not begin with action.

They begin with honesty.

29/06/2026

I’ll share this here…

What was it with solstice energies that caused chaos at spiritual power points? On that day my partner was struck down too and I nearly fell to pieces.

As the day went on it heated up, giving is unbearable heat.

What is she saying?
What are the arch angels and higher realms saying?

Think about it.

This is not solstice peace as we know it.

18/06/2026

So true! Probably said using an ai poster too

Let's talk about how absofu***nglutely useless some of these "witchy tip" posts are?

I just saw one recently that said:

"Place a pair of open scissors under your bed to avoid any kind of negativity that may come while you are asleep. This way, you are avoiding negative energy, nightmares, and even spiritual attacks by other Witches or entities."

That's it.
No explanation.
No symbolism.
No tradition cited.
No details.

Just "put scissors under your bed."

Now, if we're talking about actual folk magic, traditional witchcraft, cunning craft, or historical magical practices, details matter.

What kind of scissors?
Iron scissors?
Steel scissors?
Plastic safety scissors from the dollar store?
Do the handles matter?

Does the color matter?
Do they need to be black for protection? Red for power? White for purification? Are we using Western color charts?

Do they need to be sharp?
Do dull scissors still work?
Do they need to be open at a specific angle?
Do the blades point toward the door?
Away from the bed?
North?
South?

Do they need to be blessed?
Cleansed?
Charged?

Used only by you?
Do they go under the head of the bed or the foot of the bed?

And perhaps my favorite question:

If these magical scissors are supposedly cutting negative energy, what exactly stops them from cutting positive energy too?

Because the post certainly doesn't explain that.

Traditional magical systems usually have symbolic logic behind them. Whether you personally believe in magic or not, there is often a reason for the objects being used.

Iron was historically believed in many cultures to repel harmful spirits and supernatural beings.

Sharp objects were sometimes used as protective charms because they symbolically severed curses, harmful influences, or malicious intentions.

Open scissors could represent a ward, a barrier, or a protective crossroads.

See? That's already more explanation than the entire post gave.

Instead, modern social media witchcraft often takes centuries of folklore, strips away all the context, removes the symbolism, removes the cultural background, removes the reasoning, and leaves us with:

"Scissors stop bad vibes."

Thanks. Very fu***ng informative.

At that point, you're not teaching folk magic.
You're not teaching witchcraft. You're not even teaching symbolism.

You're sharing a magical life hack with less explanation than the instructions on a damn microwave burrito.

And can we also acknowledge that telling people to put OPEN SCISSORS under their bed without so much as a safety disclaimer is absolutely wild?

If you're going to present a magical practice, explain the symbolism at minimum. Give the reader some understanding of WHY the f**k they are doing it.

Even better explain the history. Explain the reasoning.

Because if your entire system falls apart the moment someone asks, "Why scissors?" then maybe you don't actually have a system.

You have an aesthetic.

04/06/2026

Pan is one of the oldest and most misunderstood figures in Greek mythology. Later centuries would reshape his horns, hooves, and untamed appearance into images associated with evil, yet the older myths tell a very different story.

Pan belonged to the mountains.

His parentage changes across traditions, though he is most often named the son of Hermes and a nymph. At birth, his appearance shocked his mother. Goat legs. Horns. A bearded face. She fled in fear.

Hermes did not.

He wrapped the child and carried him to Olympus where the gods laughed and welcomed him. They called him Pan, often linked to “all,” as his presence delighted them all.

Yet Pan never remained among the ordered halls of Olympus.

He chose forests, caves, cliffs, shepherds, hidden springs, and places where human rules felt thin.

He became god of wilderness, flocks, music, fertility, instinct, and the untamed parts of existence.

One of his most famous myths tells of his pursuit of the nymph Syrinx. Fleeing his desire, she prayed for escape and transformed into reeds at the river’s edge. Pan cut the reeds and fashioned them into the first panpipes, carrying her memory in every note.

Another tradition tells that during the battle against the giant Typhon, Pan transformed and helped the gods survive. Ancient sources also credit him with unleashing sudden irrational terror into enemies.

From Pan comes the word panic.

Not fear as weakness.

Fear as overwhelming force.

His worship spread through rural Greece where shepherds left offerings in caves and sought protection for their animals and land.

Pan represented something ancient.

The Greeks understood that beneath law, cities, and polished identities there remained another force.

Instinct.

Wildness.

The heartbeat of forests after dark.

Pan was never asking people to become less human.

He reminded them they had never stopped being part of nature at all.

31/05/2026

Next year is going to be another belter!

Seriously, this is not my ego talking but every year we think we’ll never top the year before in terms of connections, love, learning and charity money raised YET we do it and it’s all thanks to you!

I’ve seen a few of the workshops coming and they are spectacular!

I’m bringing in the dragons each day this year and bringing back animal communication along with other shiny new meditations and an ancient Druid dragon ritual that will blow your minds! I’m so excited!

I’ll post a live meditation next week to help you recapture and feel the magic of the festival - community, love and belonging so watch out for that.

Go to afestivalforpagansandwitches.co.uk and the page of a afestivalforpagansamdwitches now to receive updates and workshop ticket releases.

29/05/2026

The Environmental & Social Impact of Crystals

No one wants to think about child labor, poor working conditions, or environmental damage when trying to purchase pretty healing crystals. Yet we can all agree that the most powerful healing energy requires ethical mining and polishing. Elemental Apothecary is committed to investigating the environmental and social impacts of the gem industry to provide detailed, transparent research for every stone it sells.

Does elemental apothecary Ethically Source?
The simple answer is… but we do more - we ethically source and journey.

The mining industry is famous for its secrecy and lack of regulation. It is very hard to evaluate and track every aspect of a crystal’s journey but I was one of the first to ask questions and do the research.

I know every person I deal with after 30 years travelling and sourcing. I know every pair of hands a crystal touches so its vibration is never compromised.

What We Do

💎 Trace every stone’s origin as close to the mine as possible
💎 Cultivate relationships with intuitive miners, carvers and transporters that treat crystals with care
💎 Avoid Chinese markets / machine cut crystals where crystals are treated poorly which lowers vibration
💎 Research the geology and mineralogy for every stone sold el
💎 Know current conflict zones & socio-economic-political situations
💎 Maintain and review a “do not buy” list for problematic countries & stones
💎 constant review of suppliers and their ratings including in person trips.
💎 Analyze child & slave labor statistics plus poverty line stats for where stones come from
💎 Seek industry insight at conferences and from the locals themselves
💎 Invest in an ethical mining claim & impact-driven social work
💎 invest in independent crystal grading
💎 feed profit back up the chain and to any charities working to help places repair owing to over mining.

Lots of sellers say they sell ethical crystals as they have been told they are. Few have looked into the mine rating, how the crystal gets from the mine to their doorstep or work with the carvers or local sources along the way.

All of my crystals come with provenance - where it was found and by who, why it was carved a certain way and where I received, cleansed and coded it.

Not many sellers can tell you every pair of hands a crystal has seen - I can

Please ask questions of ‘ethical sellers’ - we all need to work together to protect and respect our mother.

Crystal mind below is Arkansas

16/05/2026

Never have I ever had a pull to cernunnos. I’ve probably even spelt it wrong but this figure spoke to me. Pan is my ultimate God of Nature but there was a strange calm yet wise pull from this. As we all are, I’m still learning

14/05/2026

Drum roll 🥁 ref The festival for pagans and witches
we have a profit of £36000 that has been distributed to these charities. Our thanks to you all as well as The heart of England Conference and events centre for all their help through the year and for allowing us to hold the festival itself.
These are all the charities that received a share of the profit from the festival .
The Retreat Animal Rescue
West Mercia women's Aid
Flories Friends Rescue
Coventry Haven
Sukis canine rescue
Little Hearts
Empowering Gwynedds Youth
The Sherbourne Valley Project
Wilders Waters Appeal
Peacejam
💓 💓 💓 —

12/05/2026

If I can’t fulfil an order, I will cancel it as there’s an energy imbalance. I’ve done that a few times owing to health and family

Often I give people items on a payment plan or to pay later as does Wild Magick as we’re nice people and we understand the world. We also know what it’s like to want to enjoy something NOW rather than waiting.

What upsets the universe and the energy is when people take the p1ss. I’ve had some people not pay me at all or months later despite chasing.

It makes me feel devalued and unimportant in their priorities.

I look at these people and realise that the universe has my back. These people are often not moving forward owing to the constant ‘taking’.

You see, the universe likes balance. It likes to see energy flowing back and forth…

Please pay any balances as soon as you can or keep up with your payment plans. It helps everyone