Witch Cottage Tour -- Get a Look Inside

 I always dreamed of a Witch Cottage of my own. In the woods, tucked away in a garden overflowing with roses and things that climb on arbors, or maybe overlooking the sea. At the end of February, my own little cottage -- okay, so it’s a children’s playhouse, but I have a good imagination -- was delivered to my Louisville backyard. I’d like to show you around! (As a little bonus, you’ll get a sneak peek at a DIY project I’m starting that I’ll be sharing here soon.) ... Prefer to watch this as a video? Watch here!

The cottage is located in a corner of my yard that is very not Instagram-ready. I guess we could say it’s the BEFORE picture on a Pinterest project. My husband and I got started on a fence and put in a little swing and the start of a fire pit the summer before last. Then NOTHING happened last year because … 2020. (Hey, something happened! I started this channel! AND I started my first ever vegetable and herb garden in another part of the yard.) But then a tree fell in what we discovered was our water pit, and we just sorta stopped. Until the Witch Cottage was envisioned!

We have beautiful, very cottagecore plans for the back corner. Lattice walls. Trellis and planter box entrances, stone paths. We’re going to raise the area with decorative stone to get it out of the swamp. I’ll have container roses, more herbs, and some other flowers. And Aphrodite will likely be out here when she’s not at Midian. (We’ll see how she feels about that. She does love a garden.) Oh, and we have one of those metal firepit container thingies to put out here. So, this will be a private ritual garden once all is complete. (Bye, neighbors!) 

Moving inside. This main shrine area is really familiar to regular viewers of the Blade & Broom YouTube channel. I’ve done a LOT of videos in front of this space. So, it’s actually a bookcase that was made by a friend about a decade ago, topped with a 1970’s bookcase headboard from a twin bed. All painted in the same white. I LOVE the amount of storage and display I have with this thing. This shrine is where most of my Spirit vessels and my own Fetch vessel reside. It’s also where I store most of my working tools. They’re either on or near this space. A couple of pieces I’d love to point out -- my Volva Stav (which I’ve described before as the grandmother of the Witch’s Stang), a Spirit vessel for one of my Allies on the top shelf of the main bookcase (made from a cane toad -- which is an invasive and overpopulated species in the Seller’s area, so a win-win for Crafting), the pentacle trivet I picked up at a flea market, and  finally the frame which always has a rotation of spectacular Witchy art from my friend and frequent collaborator John Birkel aka Jonathan Blackthorn.  Check him out.

My working blade and broom are in the video (on YouTube, but it was hard to get a good angle for a still-pic here). I’ll be honest, this is not a great quality blade, but I love the length of a Claymore to match the length of the broom. Plus, I just love a Claymore. (I had a spectacular Claymore once upon a time, but in a spasm of HPS disease, it was taken from me. We’ll probably talk about the dangers of HPS disease at some point, and I’ll look to getting a better sword later. For now, this one has loads of history and sentimentality.) And the broom is nothing but AWESOME. Ash handle, birch twigs, willow bindings. Made by Broomsquire of Dewy Rose -- not an affiliate. 10/10 highly recommend!

This area is my actual working altar. This is where I do certain types of workings that require a surface. It’s also where I keep my Book of Arte, my lamps, and my coven’s fetiches. There is storage underneath for supplies and “Workings in Progress.”

This is my beautiful Bucca. He has been with me for several years and was found for me by one of my best friends who is a goat lady. She knew and trusted the man who was selling the skull, so I know that this Old Goat lived a happy, horny life and died of natural causes.

My Aphrodite Shrine. She’s here inside in this special corner of the cottage, surrounded by ALL THE WATER, because I’m like that. There’s water from the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine. Blessed Water made by a Witchy friend of mine from Camp Midian. Aphrodite Ocean water I collected while swimming naked at midnight under a Libra Full Moon. Snow (now melted) collected under a full snow moon. More waters, too. Offerings made to Aphrodite that have been entrusted to my care. Bowls and cups, to be joined by more bowls and cups eventually. She keeps my wings, which I wear for certain workings. And She wears lots of my sacred jewelry. Some of those jewels are hers, but some are shared now, it seems. It’s like that sometimes.

In the central space (again -- hard to photo), I perform full-on ritual. This is my fully private indoor working space. It doesn’t look all decked out because I don’t honestly keep or need a lot of things in the space where I work, most of the time. In the next few weeks, I’m going to be showing you some different ways to lay the compass, and you’ll probably understand why I don’t need lots of elemental altars and other things right here where I communicate with Spirits.

Magic Carpet DIY concept -- I mentioned at the beginning of the video that I would show you a DIY project for this space. It actually involves the Compass. I will be using a black and white round tablecloth and some embellishments (along with my years of sewing and embroidery experience) to make a portable Witch’s Compass, complete with symbols sacred to my Tradition. I’m excited to be able to show you what that looks like in about 3 weeks.

That’s all I have to say about that for today, friends! I hope you found today’s tour informative -- or maybe inspirational! If so, bless me with the magic of the like button (and tell your Witchy friends that there’s good stuff happening here). I’d love to hear your thoughts and questions on this topic in the comments. Aaaand … if you’d like to learn more about how to practice Traditional Witchcraft, download my free ritual guide “Three Rites Every Traditional Witch Should Know”  -- or jump straight to the link for the Red Thread Academy of Traditional Witchcraft to check out the online Witch school associated with my Tradition.