From Containers to Powders: Crafting Everyday Magic with Charity Bedell

What everyday objects in your home could become powerful magical tools? Charity Bedell returns to share her expertise on practical witchcraft and how ordinary items can be transformed into vessels for intention and spellwork.

Growing up in a household that blended Christian teachings with profound nature reverence, Charity developed a unique spiritual perspective that eventually led her to identify as both a pagan and a witch. Her father taught her early on that "Mother Nature knows what's going on" and that trees and animals possess their own spirits. This foundation, combined with her questioning after her grandmother's passing when she was thirteen, set her on a path of magical exploration that continues to this day.

Charity's published works reflect her practical, accessible approach to magic. In "Container Magic," she explores how jars, bottles, sachets, and even paper packets can serve as vessels for spells, making magic tangible and manageable for practitioners of all experience levels—even children as young as ten with proper guidance. She thoughtfully addresses the full lifecycle of magical tools, including the often overlooked aspect of how to properly dispose of them when their purpose is fulfilled. Her discussion of witch balls—protective ornaments designed to trap negative energies—reveals how traditional magical tools continue to serve important functions in contemporary practice.

Looking ahead to her forthcoming book "Powerful Powders" (March 2026), Charity shares how pre-charged magical powders can serve as ready-to-use spell components for days when energy is low but magical support is needed. By blending psychology, spirituality, and what she playfully calls "pseudoscience," she creates a practical framework for magic that appeals to diverse practitioners. Her seasonal practices for autumn and Samhain beautifully balance celebrating nature's cycles with honoring ancestral connections.

Ready to transform ordinary objects into extraordinary magical tools? Listen now and discover why Charity's final piece of advice—to trust your intuition and not let self-doubt sabotage your practice—might be the most powerful spell of all.

Charity is an established author in the fields of witchcraft and nature spirituality, with her works published by prominent publishers such as Union & Square (formerly Sterling Ethos) and Llewellyn. Her writing explores the intersections of magic, folk practices, and the spiritual connections with the natural world.
• The Good Witches Guide: A Modernday Wiccapedia of Magickal Ingredients & Spells (Co-written with Shawn Robbins)
• Container Magic: Spellcraft using Sachets, Bottles, Poppets & Jars
• Divine Dirt: The Art of Using Dirt in Magic, Ritual, and Spellcraft

Her forthcoming book, Powerful Powders: Recipes & Formulas for Magic & Spellcraft, is now available for preorder. This new work continues her exploration of practical magic by focusing on the creation and use of powders in spellcraft.
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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Charity Bedell
• 3:53 Finding Her Magical Path
• 8:32 The Good Witch's Guide & Container Magic
• 12:04 Witch Balls & Protection Magic
• 19:15 Divine Dirt & Powerful Powders
• 24:13 Autumn Practices & Halloween Traditions
• 28:24 Advice & Episode Closing

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:01

Welcome to Belief Being and Beyond with your host, Granddaughter Crow. Hey buddy, Granddaughter Crow here with yet another episode of Belief Being and Beyond. And I've got someone special that I'm bringing back on the show, uh, which is Charity Bedell. Now, just before we bring her on, I've got to tell you lots of stuff going on, lots of books, a new upcoming book, and we'll get into all of that. But before I bring her onto the show, I want to kind of give a little bit more of an introduction. So Charity is an established author. I think like coming up on four books almost, um, probably written other blogs and things like that. But her authorship is in the field of witchcraft and nature spirituality. And so she has been published by prominent publishers such as Union Square, which is formerly Sterling Ethos, and the Wellen. Um, also, her writing explores intersections of magic, folklore practices, and the spiritual connection within the natural world, which is what I love and am all about, all of those things, but I love the natural world. So we're gonna talk a little bit about each of the books that charity has already published, but let me just give you their titles right now. We've got The Good Witch's Guide, a modern day Wikipedia of magical ingredients and spells that was co-written by Sean Roberts. Also, container magic. Yeah, container magic. Spellcrafting uses sachets, bottles, puppets and jars. I mean, hands-on stuff, people. And then, of course, I had her on the show before with Divine Dirt, which I absolutely love. The art of using dirt and magic, ritual and spellcasting. But also, Charity has a new book coming out called Powerful Powders, right? Recipes and formulas for magical magic and spirit spell cat craft spellcrafting my tongue. So anyway, charity, it is really nice to have you on the show. Welcome. Hi, I'm glad we're back. I love it. I love it. So can you, in your own words, and I mean obviously you spellcasting natural world, pagan witch? What do you how do you identify? Tell us a little bit more about who is Charity Bedal.

SPEAKER_01: 2:56

Um I identify as both a pagan and a witch. Um sometimes I'll just identify as nature spirituality, um, but in general, witch, pagan, um, root worker, herbalist.

SPEAKER_00: 3:24

I love it. Charity, could you tell us how did you find your path? How did you get interested in, you know, just the root work, the the pagan, the the witch, the whatever it is that you are constructing and translating to us. How did you get started? What happened? Tell us the story.

SPEAKER_01: 3:53

Well, originally I grew up in um a very non-traditional Christian house household. My mom was raised Catholic, my dad was raised Baptist, and they wanted to raise me in a Christian church, but they didn't want it to be either one of those. So at this, but at the same time, uh my dad had his had a spirituality that went beyond uh Christianity and ex and a connection to nature, and he he was one of the people that told me that taught me grew up you don't mess with mother nature, and mother nature knows what's going on and what to do. Sometimes he would he would refer to you know Mother Nature, Father Sky. So while I did get raised in a Christian church, um I was also raised in a very nature earth-loving um trees are all have their own spirits, animals have their own spirits. And then um when I was thirteen, I my grandmother passed away from cancer, and I was very angry, especially at that god, because she was one of the sweetest and most wonderful women in the world, and like why would you take her from us? We need her, she's the cornerstone of this family. Um and so I started to question and I the and I knew that there were other religions out there, and I knew um about nature worship and venerating nature because my dad had multiple Native American friends and he would and they would just teach they're the ones that taught him about connecting to nature and nature as alive and so one day um it was around Thanksgiving shortly after my birthday and uh my cousin one of my cousins was up and um she's my second cousin, she is my mom's first cousin, and she wanted to get me something as a late birthday present slash early Christmas gift. Right Thanksgiving is right between my birthday and Christmas, and so she got found the book Teen Witch, and she she read a little bit of it and handed it to me and like would you uh would you like this? And I'm like, yeah, this sounds very interesting. I read the introduction for teens, I read the introduction my my worship is towards my god goddess and the Nordic pantheon, and I largely keep them separate. There are sometimes I tie them together.

SPEAKER_00: 7:07

I love it, I love that, and I love how it progressed with the foundation of earth-based, and I love how you understand that earth-based religions can come out in all different ways, and that you're like, Oh, that's fine if you do it that way, your God is real, this and that, and yet you come back to to the beauty and the magic of of what you of of who you are and and what you do. So, can you tell us a little bit more about the Good Witches Guide? I haven't had the opportunity to check that out. Give us a little what is that about?

SPEAKER_01: 7:56

So, my first book, and I co-wrote that with Sean Robbins. You want me to write a book with you? I took that as basically a sign saying, Hey, you're time to time to actually get pen to paper and get out there beyond your blogs.

SPEAKER_00: 8:14

So yes, yes, I absolutely love that. And how it came to you really is uh out of the blue, but it also is like, okay, now it's time for you to step into your authorship charity. Now you have to be an author, and I guess one book wasn't enough because then you go on to another book all about what do we have? Um, container magic. Tell us a little bit about what is container magic and what will people find when they get into your book?

SPEAKER_01: 8:52

Container magic um is basically what it sounds like. It's a book on spells using jars and bottles and boxes and various containers as the vessels for your spells. I cover witches' jars and bottles, I cover um witches' balls, I cover satchets and sharm bags, um, and I also cover um packets, jackets, and things like that that um people have might not have considered. Um and that was a lot of fun, and I had started working on bits and pieces of that a while before when I want uh something just for fun and to just process my own magical work and what I've learned and what I do. How to choose your ingredients, how to empower them, how to recharge your containers so they so that they constantly do their work, and also how to dispose of the container when the spell is done.

SPEAKER_00: 10:03

Oh that you just touched on something, how to dispose of the container when the spell is done. I like that because most people don't think about that. Can you give us just a little insight on what you mean by that?

SPEAKER_01: 10:20

Um for example, I have this right here, it is a um peaceful home ball I made for my home. It's got a couple crystals in it, it's got some herbs, and I have this set on my desk so it's the place I can easily work it, but I just freely shake and pray over it to keep it charged. When I feel I no longer need this, I will first you'll take I'll take off the top like this. Um would remove the herbs and I'll put and I'll put the herbs in the trash since their energy's already been used and they can't be used again for another spell. And the crystals, I will I will either toss them as well, or I will set them aside and do cleansing work and use them in a different spell. Um and then when it comes to different containers, some containers you can reuse, like jars and bottles. They have a couple rituals on how to cleanse and cut the energy from the spell that you just finished, so that way you can use it again.

SPEAKER_00: 11:28

Love that because that's ethics, that's like truly understanding what you're doing. I I love it. And you know, as a practitioner, sometimes you just come across the perfect container, and uh for me, I'm just like, oh my god, I love this container, what do I do with it? And so now I have you know a stack of containers, you know, glass jars, and I love it, I love it. So basically, listeners, if you have a bunch of containers because you're like Granddaughter Crow and you're like, oh, I was wondering what to do with that old mason jar or that old this or that, and you wanted to do some magic, I think it might be a good idea to pick up container magic because it seems to go through not only how to do those things, but probably gives a lot of ideas on what you can do with them, what you can collect and put in them. What age group is would you say? Because I mean, to me, I'm a Gen X, but that just really inspires my inner child, you know?

SPEAKER_01: 12:43

And that's actually one of the things I really liked about writing that book is that container spells are something that you could do with uh with some smaller children. I wouldn't I wouldn't suggest anything younger than like maybe 10 years old. Um, but around 10 years old, that's when I started wanting to learn about meditation and was starting to feel sense energy and things like that on a stronger basis. Um so there I have things like I have a hope chest in there, I have uh the spells for you know friendship and grades at school, but I also have things for like employment and love and lasting relationships. But in general, um I think 10 and I think 10 years and up could get something out of that book. Age-wise, I'd say 10 and up. But parents, please read it and look go through and select the type of things you want to explore and experiment and expose your children to. And that's why the statues and the charm bags, and even uh the paper poppets and things like that. Those are things that I think would be great. Because my um the paper packets is really it's all is all about drawing drawing images and symbols, um, writing out what you want, folding it and wrapping it with ribbon and carrying it with you. You can add in herbs or other things if you want, but that's really what the what it is. And so that's a simple exercise and spell that I think kids 10 and up could very easily get from and be able to work a spell, but yet not have it be overwhelming too much.

SPEAKER_00: 14:38

You know what I really enjoy about that is that it also can help that child to really think about their intentions and to really stay focused on those intentions by carrying it around and keeping that magic going. I think, you know, for adults, it's you know, we have we do that, but also if you can start at a young age, it can help you everywhere you go, you know, that focus, intention, because that's what it takes, right?

SPEAKER_01: 15:16

It is, and that's and that's why I think people uh at all experience levels can also find something because the approach that I use to magic is one that not everyone might, because I I approach that with a little bit with a mixture of psychology, spirituality, and um and a little and a little bit of pseudoscience. So when you when you take that sort of approach, it gives people that might not have otherwise looked at thinking of magic from a purely mental perspective or from a vibrational energetic science pseudoscientific aspect.

SPEAKER_00: 16:09

I love that because you know what, you hit on a point that I often think about is that sometimes with magical spells, especially if you're just beginning, or maybe you've been doing it so long and you just kind of became complacent audience, it's kind of like holding a spell in your mind is part of the spell work. It's a part of it, but actually bringing it into manifestation. And then, like I do the same in my writing, is I throw in a little pseudoscience, a little psychology, a little bit of explanation to kind of help people to understand, you know, yeah, this is fun, but there's also reasons behind it. So I love that not only do you offer that mental realm to us, but then you're like, now put it in a jar, now put it in a piece of paper, tie it with a bow, you know. That's what I enjoy is bringing magic manifest into the tangible, you know, dimensions that we that we live in. And you do that very well. Yeah, I I'm totally with you on that. Charity, you said a word that I would love for you to articulate. Um, you said witch ball. And I have heard this word, uh, but I think I'd like to go to an expert. What is a witch ball? What do we do with them? Because I I bought some and hung them in my window. And is that what I'm supposed to do? Talk to us a little bit about witch balls.

SPEAKER_01: 17:52

Witches balls like witches' jars are specifically for protection against baneful magic, evil, ill will, and spirits. Traditionally, it was against witchcraft, but we uh we know that when they when they were in the 1300s saying witchcraft, they really meant baneful magic, hacking you like curses and hexes and unwanted energetic forces. And yeah, you hang them in your window, you hang them over your front door. And what they do is depending on the style, is they essentially attract the e the spirit into the ball, and it's then trapped. Ah you can it is some some of them trap and destroy, and some just trap and confuse, and some just plain just just trapped. It just it depends on the thing. That's why um some witches' balls you'll see, they'll have things like needles and nails in there, and that's so they can attack and destroy and harm the evil spirit that's trying to harm you. Or you'll sometimes you'll have things like it'll have say things like glitter or um reflective materials like glass and metal, so that it confuses things.

SPEAKER_00: 19:24

So I love that. So if somebody wanted to start looking into creating a witch ball, would that be covered in your in your book container magic?

SPEAKER_01: 19:38

That is um the first thing I addressed in the ball spells chapter.

SPEAKER_00: 19:43

We did go into divine dirt on the last one, but for those who didn't catch it, um let's talk a little bit about divine dirt. And you know, the first thought that I have when I when I see divine dirt, I'm like, oh, sacred land, Mother Earth. But charity helps us to understand different ways that you can actually work with it past gardening. For example, the one of the things that I found so interesting was when you were talking about taking a walk and seeing an animal track, and that dirt that has the print of the animal is sacred and consideration. Could you give us a little bit more information about that?

SPEAKER_01: 20:32

Well, if animal tracks and foot tracks, um, and using the dirt from that from those is some of the oldest magic on the planet.

SPEAKER_00: 20:44

Well, it just goes straight in suit that you're going to be now releasing a book about powerful powders, people. We've got containers, we've got dirt. Now we're gonna get into the powders. So I I really will delve into that when you know when the book releases, but give us a little prelude because we can pre-order we right now. Check out Llewellyn, and there's other places that you can get it and and put your pre-order in. What is what is this about?

SPEAKER_01: 21:18

Um, actually, one of the things I really like doing and crafting are magical powders, because there are days when I want to cast a spell or work magic, but I don't necessarily have the energy to gather all the individual herbs and grind them and mix them and then do whatever I'm doing in the spellcraft. When I make a magical powder, I charge it with the intent. So, like a fast cash powder, I'm making it herbs, things like alpha alpha, cayenne pepper, cinnamon, and sugar. And then I and I combine them and I activate them similar to how you do with container magic. Okay. In essence, these magical powders are vessels for spells that are basically made and ready to go at a later date. You can just like with that fast cash powder, you could take a pinch of that powder, sink, say, an affirmation or chant, and sprinkle it on your shoe. Like every step that I take, more money I make. And sprinkle it on this put it on the inside of your shoe, and then that day, every step you take, every activates the energy in the powder, and that sends that energy out into the world. So powders are a great way to um make magical materials that you can use, you can make ahead of time to use on days when you don't necessarily have a lot of energy.

SPEAKER_00: 23:07

I love that. Specifically on that book. Specifically on that book at the closer time uh that it's coming out. I think March 2026 is the release date. Is that what we're looking at?

SPEAKER_01: 23:32

It's yep, set for March 2026. Um pre-order is available on Amazon and through Llewellyn.

SPEAKER_00: 23:41

So ah, I love it. I love it. So here's another topic that I would love to hear your thoughts on. At the time of this recording, we are headed into autumn. We just passed the autumn equinox this week. Now we're at the end of September, we're headed into October with Sowen. But as from your position, two-part question: how do you approach fall or autumn? And then how do you approach Soin or Halloween or all of that festival season or sabbat?

SPEAKER_01: 24:30

Um when it comes to autumn and the equinox, um, I typically try to have a season a small seasonal feast because the for me the solstices and equinox are really about connecting to what the land has to offer and the actual changes of the land throughout the year. And the other four Sabbaths are more about the myths and stories of a god and goddess. Um so I might do things or sometimes it might just be making um something like squash soup or um an apple pie. If I'm not gonna cook, I might do something like go out and just go apple picking and just be out and in nature, getting the last few f enjoying picking apples as one, you know, the last this is one of the last hardests of the season of the year and celebrating that things are gonna get harder, but we're still living life and growth right now. Yeah. And for for Halloween and Solen Um I c I go but I call it both because I tend to engage in both the religious and non-religious aspects of the holiday. Like I will gather, get lots of candy and little treats and make up little treat bags, and I will pass those out and I'm doing a costume and do all that. But I also do um more deep ancestral work. I um get I typically do a a really nice feast for Halloween and I try to give um I take a small portion of every item from our that we make. So if there's bread, there'll be a little bit of bread, a little bit of the vegetable, a little bit of the meat, and I put it on a small saucer plate, and I put then put that on my ancestral altar, which you can't see because that's the one that's up and hidden. Um but I leave it there for the ancestors. Um I haven't done it yet, but one of these years I would like to actually do a traditional dumb supper and actually set a table and set a physical place setting at the table and put the actual food and actually do that type that meal. I just it hadn't happened yet because we just haven't had a lot of the space and there have been other things that have come up.

SPEAKER_00: 27:30

So I love that. I think that that is one of the common themes throughout this season is the harvest, understanding that the earth is moving through uh another transition and that we are too. And I also love the feasting. Um we also, me and my husband also do a silent feast, and the way that we do it is we set the table and we invite in certain ancestors or gods or deities, um, and just eat in silence with some candlelight and really commune uh with that. And so I absolutely love those ideas. So as we're wrapping up, is there anything else that comes to your mind that you would like to share with the listeners?

SPEAKER_01: 28:25

Biggest thing is a a lesson that took longest for me to do is trust that you know what you that you actually know more than you think you know.

SPEAKER_00: 28:38

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 28:39

When it comes to doing things. Like I s I stopped myself from doing spell work for a very long time because I didn't think I I knew and knew enough about all the energy. I mean, I'm do I practiced the energy erasing techniques and I connected with the herbs and I would burn the different herbs and I'd get to know the spirits and the energy, but I didn't put it all together because I was afraid that I didn't know no. Right. And also when it came to like asking people asking questions about the holidays and stuff and myths and stuff, was for a long time frozen with fear because I'm like, wait, which one is this? Do I really know the answer? I don't. But it turned out I actually did. So try to try if you feel like if you think you know what to exactly what you want to do and how to do it when it comes to a spell or a ritual, just go out and do it because you will then find you will then later on regret not doing it if you don't.

SPEAKER_00: 29:48

I love that advice because I think that one of the uh things that come against a magician, a witch, or whatnot. Is self-doubt. We doubt ourselves and womp, womp, there goes the magic. It's all gone because we stop, we don't know. And so I think that's a wonderful piece of advice. Whether you started being a witch today or you've been a witch for centuries throughout lifetimes, always remember self-doubt is the witch's arch nemesis, is the magician's arch nemesis. And I'm really glad that you brought that up. You guys, I love having Charity on the show, and we are gonna have her back. Um, check out her links in order to follow her. Um, I've got them below. And um I just really had a good time because what we're talking about here is taking magic and then responsibly being able to craft work and spell work things that are right in your home: containers, dirt, and soon to come powder. I love it. Well, thank you so much, Jenny. Thank you, audience, for tuning in once again to another episode of Believe Being and Beyond. Have a wonderful holiday season and I love ya. See you on the flippity flip.