April 6

Witches Box – Ancient Egypt

On my blog, I like to share things with you, that I enjoyed very much or feel the need to recommend to you. Sometimes I also like to try out stuff, to find out if it’s actually worth buying or not, so you don’t have to 😉 The Box I want to present to you today is one of these things, which almost sounds too good to be true and is also quite expensive compared to other mystery-like boxes that I have reviewed here. It’s called Witches Box 3 and is part of a seasonal mystery Box series by the Etsy Shop Zwinkerglanz, which next to doing boxes as this one specialises in self-made jewellery and witchy decoration and the box cost 79€. In the end, I actually paid 20€ more, but it was only for one item especially made for me and I will let you know what it was, so you know what exactly was part of the box before. Let’s take a look at it together!

Before I tell you about the items, let me tell you a bit more about the idea behind this box. It does cater to people who actually are part of the witch culture, but also to people who just love the witchy atheistic and I would say personally I am somewhat in between those two, so it was kinda perfect for me 😉 You actually don’t get to see which items are in the box before they arrive, because the owner of the Shop has to prepare those items right before shipping. But if you do want to know what things are inside you get a beautifully made listing, it’s actually quite the long list which includes 11 items in total. Amongst them are different kinds of jewellery like a chocker and wristbands, decoration like an agate disc, an alter display and a flower-themed fabric fan, but also ritual based things like a small jar of incense, a set of tin jugs and more and more. Just looking at the number of items it quickly becomes obvious where the pricing is coming from. Since there are so many, I tried to sort them into 3 categories.

Jewellery

The mystery Ankh box…
One of the first things I got in the box was a smaller wooden box handpainted in gold with a black ankh in the middle. Technically that would be an item in and of itself, but it also contained two long bands made out of pearls, which can be worn both as necklaces or wristbands. The pearls are made out of a material that is not something I like to wear, my long hair gets caught up in it quick, but maybe I can still use it as decoration 🙂

A chocker with the eye of Horus…
The chocker is made out of a black velvet-like band with a charm that looks like the eye of Horus symbol from the ancient Egyptian culture or better Egyptian mythology. It’s also known as the Udjat eye, which supposedly was helping the god Horus win a fight against one of the evil powers from ancient stories the god Set and thus is often connected to properties such as luck, protection and healing. So it’s a great choice for something to wear I think and it does also look very cool. My only problem is a very individual one, which I should have considered earlier, so it’s totally my fault not the fault of the shop owner! For me personally, the black band is just too short to actually wear the chocker in a comfortable way around my neck. So I might end up just hanging it somewhere as decoration^^


A wristband with a scarab…
The scarab is a symbol of rebirth, which is also very nicely explained in one of the sheets of this box. It’s connected to real dung beetles(aka scarabs) who roll a ball of dung containing their eggs around to protect them. And when the eggs are old enough, newborn dung beetles will emerge, for the people in ancient Egypt that was a sign of rebirth. But it’s also connected to an Egyptian myth about the god Chepri rolling the sun around the horizon to make it rise up again every morning. Because the sun was and is so important to life and development on earth, the scarab is often used as a lucky charm and this is a great companion to the Udjat eye choker 😉

A handmade upper arm bracelet made to look like a snake…
As you can see in this picture it’s made out of a thicker wire to wrap around your arm, which ends in either one long or two short snakes depending on how you look at it. Again it’s something that does not really suit me, at least in the size which it is in if you don’t start bending the material, which I have not yet tried out. I can wear it on my forearm, but because it’s almost black it kinda vanished in between my black tattoos, so for now my husband is wearing it 😉 It does look quite cool, and I don’t know about material costs and everything, but I think it might have even looked a bit cooler, more special and more “Egyptian” to me if it would have been made to look golden. But that’s just a personal view of mine^^

Decoration

One big agate disc…
The agate disc is really fitting to the Egyptian theme, because of the colour scheme, it reminds me and also the shop owner herself(as stated on another explanation sheet) of the desert sand and general geography of the home of the pyramids 😉 She also stated that the stone is as natural as possible, only cut up and polished with oil, which I do find quite interesting. Since to be honest, I mostly thought you need to use some kind of chemical to make stones shine like that, but I am positively surprised! Agate stones are said to boost self-confidence, sharpen communication skills and support health and good dreams 🙂 So I will definitely try and put the disc up in my bedroom! Especially when the sun is shining through it looks mesmerizing.


A handmade bookmark with cartouche pearls…
There has been a lot of thought gone into designing this special bookmark and I really want to share that with you. At first, it’s made to look golden, because as I mentioned before golden is something often associated with Egypt even though same as today, not everybody was able to afford it. The so-called Cartouches were used to put the name of pharaohs onto graves, paintings and visual stories in general, the names on the two which are part of the bookmark are made up though 😉 Connecting the two is an infinity symbol because infinity was very important to the idea the people had back then about life, death and everything in between. Unlike in Buddism where rebirth is a big part of their religion, back in the day, the Egyptian people thought that there was a life after death for which they had to prepare in many different ways, so this symbol is referring to that. Last but not least the flower is the lotus blossom which seemingly was the crest flower of the northern part of Egypt. I really love how everything looks together and I am looking forward to seeing it hang from my books 😉

A flowerthemed farbic fan…
The biggest connection to Egypt with this item is probably the heat. And with German summers getting hotter and hotter every year, this seems to be a good accessory to have in my bag! I do love the design, but I don’t know how durable the thin wooden plates are. Guess I will find out within the next few months 😉

A bag with an Egypt design…
This item does look a bit like something you would have gotten as a souvenir from Egypt, but I don’t think that has to be a bad thing! I actually like the very typical design depicting two gods and it has the perfect size to either keep some healing crystals with you or maybe put your money away in a stylish way^^ It must be one of the Items I was looking forward to the most and I am pleasantly surprised to hold it in my hands. It’s bigger than I thought and I really appreciate getting some healing crystals with it(which would not have been included normally, but the owner knew that I wanted to use the bag to carry some^^)! The design is sewn into both the back and the front and on the zipper, there is a little protection against the evil eye, which I do find very fitting to the theme overall 🙂

Rituals Items

A set of tin jugs…
As the owner explains yet again, water was always very important in a dry country such as Egypt so it became almost holy in a way. This is why jugs full of water were something very promising and also the reason why the owner might have included those. They can be used for rituals where pouring water is involved but of course, they can also just be some nice decoration for around the house 😉

A jar filled with silver incense and one with gold tinsel(flakes)…
These ritual based items connect many things from ancient Egypt with another: Incense which was seen as the fragrance of the gods, Silver as a very rare but sought after material and gold as the sign of infinity and the divine since it never loses its shine. Even though it’s not real gold, it does like pretty similar 😉 In the explanations sheets, the owner gives some ideas of which rituals or for which spells those items can be used. Nothing which I personally am confident with right now, but maybe I can use it someday in the future^^

A self-cast altar display with ankh…
The display is made out of plaster and it’s supposed to be painted, which I did kinda expect after browsing through the Etsy store before buying the box. If I would not have thought, I think I might have expected something different, something more “finished”. I just feel like the ankh symbol does not really come through with all the other great details when it’s all this chalk white. Sadly colouring in things is really not my speciality I just don’t have enough patience for that xD I know that if you would buy a plaster cast like that in her shop, it would come with the possibility of the owner painting it for me, which I would have liked to have here too honestly. I am a bit sad that it was not stated as an option in the description of the box. But the cast itself is very detailed and beautiful, just not an activity for me personally.

Explanation Sheet and Story…
I tried to include some of the many times when the owner used the sheets to explain why she included an item or its connection to ancient Egypt itself. She also included some fun facts and interesting knowledge, some of which were even a bit unknown to me and I was fascinated with ancient Egypt even before receiving this box! The story she included actually revolved less around magic and more around love, which did throw me off a bit because I was expecting something different, but it was still a pleasant read and we also get some other nice reading recommendations which I will definitely take a look into in the future! All of the sheets also have been designed in a beautiful way, with a frame and different illustrations.

Personalised agate Cartouche necklace…
Last but not least, let me tell you why I actually paid more for the box than originally intended. The box is basically a kind of recommendation of items you might like following a specific theme, but if there is something you don’t want to get because you already own it or it does not interest you as much, you can get it exchanged for something else. I asked for two long Candles to be removed since long-term I can’t really use candles for much, since I am not allowed to lite them in my apartment in Hamburg. We thought about what I wanted to exchange it for and in the end, there were two items that REALLY interested me from her shop. One was a small bag with an intricate design and the other one was a necklace made out of crystals in a way that I had never seen before. Long story short: I got both and needed to pay extra for the necklace 😛 But it was worth it! The necklace was even designed specifically after my idea to make it look like a Cartouche from ancient Egypt, which I absolutely love <3 So technically it could have been part of the box and it would have even fit the theme, but it’s not in there normally. Whereas the small bag was actually a surprise extra for the first people who got the box and I managed to get the last one. If you would get the OG Box, instead of both of these items you would get two long red and gold candles with a sun and a moon on them.

Final Verdict

Actually, I got my mind blown by this box, because it can barely be compared to anything which I have ever gotten for myself. Of course, the mystery element feels familiar, but the sheer amount of stuff, the love and care that went not only into making but also packaging the items and the very nice chats I had with the Etsy owner, made this into a very special experience for me. The Jewelry she made feels special, some items seem really unique to me and the explanations, further instructions and extra knowledge that she provided makes getting this box a vital recommendation for me if you are interested in learning something about a new topic(ancient Egypt in this case) and getting a variety of things connected to it.

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Crystals, Mystery Box, Witchy Things | LEAVE A COMMENT
March 9

The Next Step On My Crystal Journey – Scultupres And Crystal Carvings!

Welcome back to everyone who already read my last article, where I talked about how I started my crystal journey and hello to everyone who is new 😉 If anybody wants to refresh their memory or has just not read my other post, you can do so *here*. In this one, I want to tell you what happened since and also show you how my crystal collection grew, while mostly using pictures from the Etsy Shop where I got all of them. That’s because crystals are actually very hard to photograph if you don’t have the right set-up and I want to show all of them to you in their full beauty, but I will always link the shop and I highly recommend checking it out, if crystals are something you are interested in 😉 So, all rights for the pictures are reserved by the Etsy Shop Owner from MariMagicShop!

So, in my last post, I talked about how I was curious to see if those crystals actually have some kind of healing energy to them, which could help me balance my life a bit. To this, I have to say, that I probably don’t use them right at the moment. Because it’s not like you get those crystals and they will just give you the energy that you need, it’s actually connected to some effort you have to do to make them work. Mainly charging them with energy from like the sun and the moon or other crystals and also cleansing them with certain rituals like smoke and water. Most of these things I was not able to do in the last month because of different reasons, being my mental health and personal problems mostly. The only times where I really tried it out was when I charged my clear crystals with moonlight on the day when I got a new vaccination shot or the day before(Coincidentally both times there was a full moon, so that’s why I was tempted to try it out :P). I was hoping to not get any side effects from those shots and I have to say that I did not have any. But I don’t feel like I have done things like that often enough to actually be able to say: “Yes, that happened because of my charged crystals” xD This is why I will refrain from saying anything definitive at the moment, maybe you will hear more about it in a future update 😉

What I can tell you though, is that I got into a kind of sub-scene of crystals which is focussing on buying and selling crystal statues or crystal carvings. I am not 100% sure if those are the correct words in English but just for explanation: If I talk about sculptures I mean 360° fully sculpted stones and when I talk about carvings I mean stones that might be flat on one side, but have a cool carving on the other side. I actually got different ones within the last month and I really wanted to share them with you, because healing energy or not, they make me really happy 🙂

All rights for the pictures are reserved by the Etsy Shop Owner from MariMagicShop

The first one I got right after Halloween, which I guess is pretty obvious because it’s a sculpture that’s made to look like a Halloween pumpkin wearing a witch’s hat^^ I felt it was very fitting to me and my personality since I love Halloween, which pumpkins are a universal sign for and as you know I also love hats(and would love to own one like that one day too xD). It’s made from a high-quality orange calcite crystal which is said to have some powerful cleansing energies but also helps speed up development and growth. Which is why I feel like it’s a great stone to have around and obviously the perfect choice colourwise for a pumpkin sculpture^^ I always have it around when I work and I especially love the way the had was done, it looks almost as it would have a life of it own 😉

All rights for the pictures are reserved by the Etsy Shop Owner from MariMagicShop

The next crystal sculpture I got is an anatomically correct(supported by a friend of mine who is getting trained in a medical field :P) heart made out of silver sheen black obsidian, which looks absolutely stunning, doesn’t it? Like most black stones the obsidian stone stands for protection and also are said to help calm down, which is what I really need most of the time. It’s also the perfect size to squeeze in between my hands when I am feeling really anxious. And you know when some people like to say something needs to be as black as their soul? I kinda feel like that heart has the same vibes 😛 Kinda badass and powerful 😉

All rights for the pictures are reserved by the Etsy Shop Owner from MariMagicShop

With this one, it’s less of a full sculpture and more a decorative piece made out of a crystal orb and a mystical deer holder. I actually got those on my birthday this year and maybe I just want to show them off xD That’s why I am taking them in, even though they might not 100% fit the theme of this post 😛 The deer is made out of wood and the orb is made out of a so-called honey calcite crystal, which looks great combined! The honey calcite is said to give more self-confidence, drive and perseverance in problem situations. The deer does not do anything special besides holding it in place, but it does that very well 😛 Together they are perfect to put next to my bed when sleeping to hopefully prepare me for the next stressful day or just put a smile on my face when I wake up to look at them^^

All rights for the pictures are reserved by the Etsy Shop Owner from MariMagicShop

Here I’ve got the first “carving” which is portraying an owl holding a skull in a very stunning way. The carving is made out of labradorite which has been polished and shines in very nice colours under the right light. Labradorite is said to encourage creativity, spur imagination and strengthen memory. I got it to put next to the laptop or keyboard to help me be productive but also have something cool to look at while doing work and stuff xD Which make the fact that it has a flat back very useful actually! Looking forward to having it with me always^^

In the end, I have to say that I am pretty happy with everything that I got so far, it really brightens up my mood to look at my crystals, rearrange or just touch and feel them from time to time. At this point, I don’t care about the genuineness of the energy behind them, to be honest, but of course, should I become a believer someday, I will let you know 😉

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Crystals, Personal Life, Witchy Things | LEAVE A COMMENT
August 4

About Crystals and Magic

Hello, people of Wonderland, and welcome back to a story post of mine^^ With this post I don’t want to be informative since I am no expert on the field, but I want to tell you about the experiences I made. So keep that in mind when reading it, I am a mere beginner, if so at all xD But I am very interested in all of that, so I wanted to tell you about my research and findings!

Collage of the diffrent Itemas I got and will talk about in this post: a purple amathyst cluster, a white/tranparent selenite heart, a turmaline, a rose quarz pendelum and a glas wand filled with cleary crystals.
I got these pictures from the Etsy Shop and I will use them again and put a link to the shops below! So all right go to the Etsy shop owners 😛

Since I was a child I had an affinity with stones. I liked to collect them especially when they were shiny or smooth, take them with me as souvenirs from trips, or just keep them around to fiddle with them in my hands. They always seemed to make me calmer or happier for no reason or at least no apparent reason that I could think of. Lately, I have been down because of many stressful things happening in my life and my mother bought me a stone necklace, which is completely unrelated, she did not do it because I was sad, but because she likes to gift me pretty things. Anyways this stone necklace sparked my interest in stones again because while wearing it, I actually felt better and I loved playing around with the pendant above my chest.

I started thinking about rock tumbling, which is the craft of making smooth rocks for jewelry or decoration purposes. But that’s a bit complicated because you need several fairly expensive things and at best have a cella or porch where you can let your rocks tumble so they don’t disturb yourself or your neighbors. Unfortunately, I don’t have both at the moment so I discarded the thought of taking it on as a hobby for now. But I still couldn’t get rocks out of my head and I started researching about the properties many nature-based believes such as Wicca and Pagan ascribe to them. They say they can be used for healing, cleansing an area, or protecting it. Even though when they talk about it, they refer to them as crystals, which sound so better much better than rocks, so that’s what I will be calling them mostly too from here on 😛

Of course, it’s totally normal to be skeptical at first and think: “How can some rocks or crystals or whatever you want to call them, aid me in my daily life?” and I think it’s totally valid to be asking questions like this. I consider myself a rational atheist person, so I normally don’t believe in stuff that isn’t proven, but I always had this spiritual side to me too and this thought of: “Why shouldn’t there be some magic in this world?”. Maybe that’s why I like to write about it in my stories too xD And since I am an open person in general, I thought I should at least try it out and see if some crystals can bring a positive change to my life, no matter how small it might be.

On this topic, I also want to talk about a psychological effect called a self-fulfilling prophecy. I am sure you have heard of it before since it’s also used in books and movies sometimes 😉 Basically, the effect describes that when a person thinks something will happen hard and long enough, it actually can happen. Of course, you can’t wish for a puppy and magically get it, but some thoughts can trigger actual physical or mental reactions from your body. Most of them are sadly bad reactions like panic attacks, becoming sick, or having a false pregnancy just to name a few. But they can have positive reactions too, for example, the same way they can trigger a panic attack they can also stop it or you can literally talk some positivity or bravery into yourself if you need it. So coming back to the topic of crystals even though they might not have a positive effect on people’s lives which could be proven scientifically, it is very well possible that it still has that effect on some people.

So with all of that said, the best-case scenario would be that these stones actually help me feel better or more balanced in life, either because of an actual nature-based energy effect or because of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Worst case scenario would be, that those crystals would really just be shiny stones, but then I could still use them for a cool decoration of my home or even as references when I am drawing! So basically I can’t really go wrong here, that’s why I looked for some stones and their meaning on the internet and bought some to try them out! If you stuck with me till this part of the post, I guess you are at least somewhat interested in the topic, so I will tell you now which stones I bought and what effects they are supposed to have, enjoy! And a quick note: As I am writing this article non of the crystals have arrived yet, which is why I am using the pictures from the Etsy shops(all rights go to them!) and tell you about the stuff I have researched. I can’t tell you about the actual effects yet, but I might write a second post after some time 😉 Let me know if you would be interested in it!

Picture of the wand: a glas vile filled with clear crytsals(unpolished) with a polished clear crytsal ball at the end and a polished clear crystal tip, The ends are connected to the vile with a metal strip.
Magic wand made with clear crystals by KristallundKessel on Etsy


The first thing I got was actually not even “just a crystal” it’s actually a magic wand made out of glass and clear crystals 😛 Now I know what you might think, but hear me out first xD A magic wand is actually used in some wiccan and pagan practices, but not in the way you would think from seeing movies and reading books 😛 So there are no flames or light supposed to come out of it, when you use the right spell, they are more used in rituals to focus your own energy and lead them to objects you do your rituals with, kinda like a conductor. There are also supposed to help with sending negative energy away from your body. And they can come in many different shapes and sizes such as full carving out of a crystal or being made out of a tree twig. Some can be bought in shops, but technically you could also make your own out of things you find in nature that you are somewhat intrigued by. Now I am not crafty when it comes to woodcarving and stuff and as I mentioned before, I am intrigued by crystals, so when I saw this wand, I really wanted to get it and try it out 😛 If you want to know more about the topic of wands, I can recommend one of the videos I have watched on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLKA9ECQ-vc (Enchanted Endeavours Ep. 14 by Harmony Nice).

The hand of the seller holding some random Turmaline crystals, which are black and look like they are cut right out of a mountain, very rough.
Raw Turmanline crystal by KristallundKessel on Etsy


The second item I got is one of these raw turmaline crystals, you might have seen them used in jewelry before, but in the refined version where they can actually shine in different colors. I have to say from the picture they remind me of coal a bit, but I am mesmerized but the deep black color of them too. Like most black crystals those are said to be very good at getting rid of negative energy, protect you from new negative energy, and thus are one of the most powerful protection stones out there. Some of the people I came across on my research actually advise having one of them by your side at all times(if you believe in that of course, no pressure). They are also said to make the user be more aware of certain developments and processes in their lives, which makes them able to control them better, which actually sounds perfect for a little control freak like me xD

The seller holding a rose quarz pendelum on a short metal chain.
Rosequarz Pendlum crystal by KristallundKessel on Etsy

The third item I got is a rose quartz pendulum, again something which has a second practical purpose aside from the energy effects. Of course, you have seen or heard about pendulums before too, they are mostly used for deviation and radiesthesia. Now we have another one of these beliefs VS science dilemmas because of course, actually predicting the future is highly unlikely. But you can see this pendulum more as a way to understand what you want subconsciously instead.
There are kinda two ways I have learned about how to do that, one easy and one a bit more complicated way xD The easy way is basically just to asking the pendulum a question and then thinking about what you want the answer to be. Of course, technically you would not need a pendulum for that, but I guess it can help some people. The other way has to do with meditating. Basically, you try to let your subconsciousness send small waves through your nerves that get the pendulum to swing a certain way. The goal here is not to just swing it consciously yourself, but to let your subconscious mind take over a bit. I have not tried it yet, so I don’t know if it will work, but maybe I can tell you in the future 😉
The crystal used to make the pendulum is rose quartz, maybe the most popular one of these crystals to be used in Jewelry, so I am sure you have seen it before! It’s said to be the most popular healing stone too, which is also why it’s used often in these face rollers to make a headache go away for example. It’s also said to be the stone of love and might connect you or be of help in love rituals 😉

The seller holding a heart shaped selenite crystal in her hand, very polished and about half the size of her hand.
Selenite Heart by Adelaidespath on Etsy

Next up is a selenite heart, which I want to use as a palm stone. A palm stone is basically a smooth crystal specifically used for fiddling around with. Selenite seems to be perfect for that since it’s said to calm the mind and help with hyperactivity such as heighten the concentration level and give vitality. I really like how big it is and I already kinda know I will love touching it xD It’s also very popular, maybe because of its ascribed properties or maybe because it’s a very soft stone that can be carved a bit more easily, so you can see many selenite stones with engraving on them. I specifically decided against that, because I wanted to keep it as smooth as possible^^

The seller holding the amathyst crystal cluster, which also looks very rough and natural.
Amethyst Cluster crystal by KristallundKessel on Etsy

Last but not least I will be getting an amethyst cluster^^ I got really interested in it because amethyst is actually my birthstone and these stones should connect very well with the user, thus working even better. Also, my favorite color is purple and I always wanted to have a raw stone cluster like this anyways xD They not only look very stunning but they can also be used to recharge other crystals with energy again. So what I gathered from my research is it’s always a good idea to have one of them around 😉 Amethysts themselves are said to be is said to have very calming energy as well, which is why many people sleep with it near their beds and it’s also said to reduce anxiety.

Those are all the crystals I will be getting hopefully soon and I am looking forward to them very much. Even though I am not really sure if they will really help me mentally or physically in any way, I try to keep an open mind. And to be honest, knowing that I will be having them in my apartment soon and being able to look at them and fiddle around with some already makes me happy. So I think I really can’t lose here 😉 If you are interested to know if they actually have worked or not, let me know and I might make a part two^^ Also tell me about your experiences with stones and crystals or questions that you might have about the topic. So feel free to leave a comment!

Greetings and good wishes
The Mad Hattress

Category: Personal Life, Witchy Things | LEAVE A COMMENT