cloveconifer

[cloveconifer]

NAZI PAGANS FUCK OFF

So because I damn near went over the table at somebody this past weekend, I'd like to remind everyone to WATCH FOR NAZI DOGWHISTLE SYMBOLS IN WITCHY SPACES.

Look them up (because there are a LOT), educate yourself, and keep your eyes open at gatherings and on the socials. If something seems skeevy, it probably is.

Remember - the first Nazi that walks through the door of your community space needs to be told to get the fuck out immediately and in no uncertain terms. Doesn't matter if they're being friendly or patronizing a business or "just there to check out the vibes." They do not belong there, they are not welcome, and they endanger the safety of the entire group. Because if you let one in, their goosestepping buddies will follow.

Don't wait for them to cause trouble. Throw them out. The first one is always there to test the waters.

No place in the circle for fascists.

[cloveconifer]

I'm so happy to be in a religion that acknowledges nature as sacred. Little sights like this are so spiritual and sublime.

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a reminder that the trees you grew up with have not forgotten you and the way your feet padded along the ground.

the breeze that sweeps through the foliage once swept through your hair and between your fingers.

the moon has not forgotten you, in fact she still watches over you during the night.

[cloveconifer]

Welsh Folklore

Black cats, often considered banes and the companions of dark entities elsewhere, are welcomed in Wales as felicitous granters of bright fortune and good health.

"Cath ddu, mi glywais dd'wedyd,/ A fedr swyno hefyd,/ A chadw'r teulu lle mae'n byw/O afael pob rhyw glefyd."

"A black cat, I've heard it said,/ Can charm all ill away,/ And keep the house wherein she dwells/ From fever's deadly sway."

- Welsh folk-lore: a collection of the folk-tales and legends of North Wales by Elias Owen, 1896

[cloveconifer]

"How can I be a witch/pagan without falling for conspiracy theories/New Age cult stuff?" starter kit

Posts & Articles

Check your conspiracy theory. Does any of it sound like this?

Check your conspiracy theory part two: double, double, boil and trouble.

QAnon is an old form of anti-Semitism in a new package, experts say

Some antisemitic dogwhistles to watch out for

Eugenicist and bioessentialist beliefs about magic

New Age beliefs that derive from racist pseudoscience

The New Age concept of ascension - what is it?

A quick intro to starseeds

Starseeds: Nazis in Space?

Reminder that the lizard alien conspiracy theory is antisemitism

The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis is Racist and Harmful

The Truth About Atlantis

Why the Nazis were obsessed with finding the lost city of Atlantis

The Nazis' love affair with the occult

Occultism in Nazism

Red flag names in cult survivor resources/groups (all of them are far right conspiracy theorists/grifters)

The legacy of implanted Satanic abuse ‘memories’ is still causing damage today

Why Satanic Panic never really ended

Dangerous Therapy: The Story of Patricia Burgus and Multiple Personality Disorder

Remember a Previous Life? Maybe You Have a Bad Memory

A Case of Reincarnation - Reexamined

Crash and Burn: James Leininger Story Debunked

Debunking Myths About Easter/Ostara

Just How Pagan is Christmas, Really?

The Origins of the Christmas Tree

No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired By Odin

Why Did The Patriarchal Greeks And Romans Worship Such Powerful Goddesses?

No, Athena Didn't Turn Medusa Into A Monster To Protect Her

Who Was the First God?

Were Ancient Civilizations Conservative Or Liberal?

How Misogyny, Homophobia, and Antisemitism Influence Transphobia

Podcasts & Videos

BS-Free Witchcraft

Angela's Symposium

ESOTERICA

ReligionForBreakfast

Weird Reads With Emily Louise

It's Probably (not!) Aliens

Conspirituality

Miniminuteman

Behind The Bastards

[cloveconifer]

growth in witchcraft as shedding of snake-skin

Sort of obvious, but I had to learn it (like everything else) the hard way. And as spooky season approaches and people may be revitalizing their practices after breaks, I want to say something that might end up saving a couple folks from a lot of frustration and heartbreak:

Just because it worked that way for you in the past, doesn't mean that's how it works for you now.

I mean this in a literal, making-stuff-happen with magic and sorcery way.

You guys have heard the adage that some spirit guides are with you for life, some for short periods, some for just one lesson, etc., right?

Well, the same can be said for sorcerous techniques.

I don't know if I just shed techniques like hermit crabs shed shells or what, but this happens to me a lot. Here's the kind of thing I mean:

You used to do readings with a specific little ritual involving a prayer and incense, but now that technique seems to produce incorrect readings. It feels flat and you can tell you're not connecting.

You used to be able to tie intent into knots and carry the thread around with you all day to conjure specific little occurrences, but now it barely seems to work and manifestation is spotty.

You used to be able to converse with spirits by going into a deep meditation, but now when you try you can hardly connect and it's like their messages are getting blotted out.

And I think sometimes when these things happen, people tend to process this with:

self-blame (I'm not a devoted enough witch, I brought this on myself!),

scapegoating spiritual allies (I used to pray to Hekate before divination but now my divination doesn't work, so Hekate must be mad at me), or

developing personal doubt (I used to think magic worked but now I can't replicate my own results).

When the reality is, if you're a magical snickity-snek and you've shed your skin, you might be slithering about in the soil trying to do the little old things that no longer fit the bigger, better you.

Sometimes this "shedding" is very obvious and we can feel and taste it. "Shedding" may come before, during, or after a period of intense personal transformation. It may come in a numinous moment when you hear a single phrase, or view a single image, that makes you become the Hanged Man and see reality in a whole new way.

But it can also happen without us really noticing it. I might put down my tarot cards for a couple months, pick them up again, and suddenly the ways I used to read don't work for me any more.

It's not because I'm a bad reader, or that the spirits have abandoned me, or that magic isn't real.

It's because what used to work for me doesn't any more, and now I just need to find new techniques.

So if you're trying to pick up what used to work and it just doesn't seem to be helping any more, consider that it's just like outgrowing an old set of clothes. Nothing is wrong with you, or the clothes. It just doesn't fit any more.

Since I think it'd be frustrating as hell to read a post like this without some actionable steps, below the cut are some ideas that might help you develop new techniques if your old ones seem to be failing you.

Start with your beliefs

Examine your own rituals and see if what you're doing still matches what you believe. Let's say you used to pray to Hekate and light incense before divination, but now you do that and your divination doesn't work.

Do you believe Hekate is allowing your divination to be possible? Do you believe she's the best goddess to seek aide from at this time?

What role does the incense play? Is it an offering to Hekate? Is it to feed the ancestors who supply you with interpretations? Is it just to set the correct tone and atmosphere?

Maybe you've grown in your relationship with divinity, and you now believe it's more proper to call on gods with formal prayers - but your divination ritual still uses a simple, improvised prayer.

Maybe your understanding of Hekate has changed and it feels more suitable to call on different powers.

Maybe you feel strangely about constantly "paying" gods to help you, when they say they don't need it - and lighting the incense makes you feel awkward.

Change what you're doing to match what you believe. That's always a solid first step.

Examine your own emotions and reactions

Try performing rituals (from the smallest ritual of stirring intent into coffee, to full-blown compass-casting affairs under the full moon) mindfully.

Be aware of what you're doing as you do it, but also try to examine your own reactionary thoughts and feelings.

Suppose my ritual of stirring my coffee seven times clockwise to manifest a desired emotion doesn't work any more. It used to work great, for years, so I do it quickly. But now it doesn't work, so I do it mindfully.

And while I'm stirring, I watch a few thoughts pop up to the surface: why am I doing this seven times? I'm stirring my coffee for too long and staring into it like an idiot, and it's embarrassing. What if someone thinks I'm weird?

If any individual step of a ritual makes you feel embarrassed, stressed, or avoidant, or if you feel relief from not having to do that any more - that technique is probably not serving you very well.

Seek out methods that make you feel excited, hopeful, empowered, or interested. Or, at the very least, ones that don't make you feel bad.

Be open to shifting your paradigm entirely

Going back to the stirring coffee thing, maybe I think stirring seven times is too much. So I try to stir my coffee three times. But that still feels clunky.

Then I get into left-handed vs right-handed stirring, because someone might have said that doing stuff with your right hand is for blessings.

Then I try out a new little inner mantra while I stir X times with Y hand.

But it's just not working. No matter what I try, it feels like walking barefoot on a gravel road.

So maybe I just need to do something entirely different.

Maybe numerology isn't my thing any more. Maybe now, I just need to embrace my inner divine creator.

Maybe I should think about the ultimately powerful creative energy within rich, black soil - and as I pour my coffee, I can imagine that I'm pouring pure creative energy into my divine cauldron. When I sprinkle in a little sugar, I'm seasoning that creative power to my personal tastes - and no matter how many times I stir it, when I drink that creative power, a new reality blossoms from within me.

No numbers. No memorized chants. No left hand/right hand stuff. Just me, imagining myself as a planet, drinking pure creative energy that will bloom out of my aura as wildflowers bloom in the spring.

Ask for help

I'm not called fool for no reason, and after a couple years of being unable to astral travel - after having successfully done so for years - I finally sat down and asked my spirits for help.

The answer was immediate and simple. So simple, in fact, that I was confident it wouldn't work at all.

Well, of course it worked. I spent years trying to figure out the problem on my own, trying time and time again to use an old technique that I was confident would work. It took a goddess like four seconds to tell me the new way it worked for me.

Even if you're not in communication with spiritual allies, you can still perform divination to help troubleshoot your own magical skills. Try asking a series of questions: what doesn't work for you any more, what you should try, and what you should avoid trying.

When divining, consider the different "levels" of application. A reading that means "don't use excessive force" might refer to high-level life stuff, like, you're working too hard on all your responsibilities right now, learn to relax and the magic will come. But, it might also be referring to something very specific, like, you're trying to raise huge amounts of energy in individual rituals, break them up into smaller spells where much less force is required for each one.

[cloveconifer]

finally got around to redesigning the celestial and seasonal celebrations of the pagan year to make em more cryptid- happy belated litha folks!

[cloveconifer]

𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐢𝐬 - 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠

this week i've really fallen in love with the act of praying.

i've been praying to my deities first thing in the morning and sometimes even right before bed. i've been keeping them updated on life, and really taking the time to strength my bond with them.

and it got me thinking - why didn't I do this earlier?

I think coming from a catholic background, I was always told how to pray and what to say. I was taught the structure from an early age and learned it until it felt comfortable and second nature.

but with paganism, there aren't any structures to follow - there aren't any rules to learn and memorise. you have the power of doing your acts of worship in any way you want - and that can be a little daunting for someone like me.

I didn't know the right things to say or how to structure it - and I guess I didn't want to look stupid 'doing it wrong' if that makes sense.

until it dawned on me that prayer is just a conversation. it doesn't have to be magical and one of a kind. It can just be a good morning or even a thank you to count and sometimes that is all you need to keep that connection alive with your deities + loved ones.

so for those overthinking it like I was - remember it doesn't have to be a massive grand gesture to be special.

sometimes deities just like to know that you're doing okay ‪‪❤︎‬

this gif is not mine.

[cloveconifer]

Mossview- Rosie Holding

[cloveconifer]

by Caitlin

[cloveconifer]

i don't really interact much with paganblr, but I am 1000% certain of this: if you use an ai art generator to make so-called devotional art out of computer slop--- a computer which cannot think, cannot feel, certainly cannot worship--- furthermore slop which poisons and pollutes the very Earth that all pagans should hold dear--- if you use an ai art generator for devotional art, you are actually insulting the gods, the Earth, and all the ancestors

in short: pick up a fucking pencil and draw stuff yourself, the meanest and sloppiest stick figure surrounded by cartoon flowers is superior to any garbage that a machine spits out

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[cloveconifer]

When I say "connect with nature" I don't just mean the aesthetic forests with deer and beautiful flowers.

I mean the weeds growing through concrete, the fungus that grows on the rotten shed, the nettles that always seem to return and the scary, spindly cellar spider in the corner of the bathroom.

Nature is not always pretty or magical - the pigeons and seagulls you swat at are nature too, the wasps and flies that hover by your meals are animals too, store-bought strawberries and the leaves that fall from your neighbour's tree are not all that different from the Giant Sequoias and it's seeds.

If you want to connect and understand nature, I mean *really* connect to it, in it's entirety, you have to seek out and learn about the ugly, scary and mundane things as well. You don't have to like it, just don't forget that it's there.

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My one bit of advice for anyone who's looking into a pagan or polytheistic religion, especially if coming from a Christian background and/or a culturally Christian part of the world: you've got to be ready to compartmentalize and look at different parts of the world through a not cultural Christian lens, because many parts of the world don't work that way.

The sky above isn't Heaven everywhere and beneath the earth isn't Hell everywhere. A sky god isn't God the Father everywhere and an Underworld god isn't Satan the Devil everywhere.

Learning about the cultures and the people that these religions, mythologies, and folklores come from is important.