What Do You Do With Leftover Spell Ingredients?

How many of you gather all the ingredients for your spell work, work your spell, and then wonder what you should do with the candle stubs, herbs, stones, and other magickal goodies that remain in your workspace?  The question about what to do with those leftover spell ingredients is likely one of the most frequent questions I get, and luckily, it’s a pretty easy answer.  

Let’s go through this step by step.

Is it something you worked with energy for and want to keep?  Some examples would be charging a stone or ritual tool.  If you directed energy into an object or created something special, it’s absolutely fine to hold onto it as long as it is positive energy.

Typically, you don’t want to hold onto anything you use in your spell work that you can’t cleanse in some way, unless you are intentionally charging something with energy that you want to use.  If you intentionally charge it, you know it’s something you want to keep.  Suppose you have an object that can’t be cleansed and has questionable energy.  In that case, you want to remove it from your magickal space and potentially your home, depending on the energy you are working with.  This is part of why I always recommend you go mini whenever possible.  

Working with crystals, stones, or minerals in our spell work is common.  You can reuse them as long as you cleanse them.  If they are water-safe, rinse them in cool water.  If the stone you are working with is not water-safe, cleanse it with white sage.

A lot of things can be burned safely and effectively.  This is a great way to cleanse the items by giving them back to Mother Earth.  You don’t have to have a ritual fire, but be careful what you are using that fire for.  In other words, don’t make S’mores on top of something that has negative energy that you are releasing.  Please also be sure that you aren’t burning something that will harm the environment if you do this.   

You are going to find things that you cannot burn.  These items can usually be buried safely.  You will find many a witch with a spell ingredient graveyard in their yard.  The Earth will reclaim the objects, cleanse the energy, and break them down.  Sometimes, you will have objects associated with energy you don’t want in your life.  If you are working a spell to help remove someone from your life or cut a cord, you wouldn’t want that type of energy in your yard either.  In that case, I would make a trip to the forest and find a quiet place in the woods to bury your objects.  Again, be mindful of what you are burying and make sure it’s something that will break down.  

What if you have something that isn’t safe to burn or bury, or you don’t live where this is practical?  It happens.  You can properly dispose of things in the trash.  You want to do it differently than tossing it in on top of yesterday’s half a ham sandwich and leftover corn.  Do something to put some closure on the item.  So, for example, you could put them in a paper bag and wrap them three times around with some twine.  In doing so, you are closing the energy on these objects.

Have a magickal day!

Much Love and Many  Blessings,

Jasmeine Moonsong