josephine-ann

[josephine-ann]

every person can feel freddie’s presence in their souls when they sing MAMAAAAAA UUHHHH, I DONT WANNA DIE, I SOMETIMES I WISH I’VE NEVER BEEN BORN AT ALL with all the air in their lungs i’m not joking

[josephine-ann]

Protect your Privacy

Farewell online privacy

[josephine-ann]

So proud of my mother for doing her own research after I sent her that meme. A sign she hung in her car window.

[josephine-ann]

I keep seeing this on facebook and the freemasons are reducing the image quality so I thought I’d upload it here and see

[josephine-ann]

ok kids repeat after me

vinegar and bleach makes chlorine gas, which is highly toxic

ammonia and bleach makes chloramine, which is highly toxic

rubbing alcohol and bleach makes chloroform, which is highly toxic

hydrogen peroxide and vinegar makes peracetic/peroxyacetic acid, which can be highly corrosive

be careful about your cleaning products and dont get yourself injured or potentially killed ok

[josephine-ann]

I will honestly never forgive y’all for going crazy over kylo ren. like u literally had poe and finn and u chose kylo. that’s like saying u would fuck jar jar binks over anakin or obi. rip to ur taste in men but I am different

[josephine-ann]

Building a Magical Home

One of my favorite quotes about the magic of homemaking comes from Cory Hutcheson, host of the New World Witchery podcast. He says, “Home is a transformational act. It is the thing you do to turn a space into a space… that is full of ritual and significance and meaning. So there is sort of this ongoing relationship you have with the space that makes it a home.”

The act of creating a home, of making a space your own, is inherently magical. But if you want to make your space feel a little more witchy, here are some ideas to get you started.

Charms and Talismans

Making your own magical objects can be a powerful way to bring magic into your space. The best thing about making your own charms is that you can make them look however you want, so it’s easy to disguise them as ordinary household objects. You can make a charm for any intention by combining objects based on their magical correspondences.

I’ve talked about protective charms in previous posts, so I’m not gonna spend a lot of time on it here. The simplest protective charm is keeping a large piece of iron under your bed to keep away nightmares, evil spirits, and negative energy. You could also make your own protection charm, like a witch bottle.

You can create a “happy home” charm to bring peace, harmony, and happiness into your home. This charm could include herbs like basil, rosemary, lavender, peppermint, and/or bay leaves, as well as other items that you associate with peace and good fortune, like lucky coins, crystals, or black cat fur. Write your desires for a harmonious and happy home on a piece of paper, fold it up, and add it to the charm. You could store these items in a green bag, bury them in your backyard (in this case, make sure you’re only using biodegradable plant matter — leave out the coins and crystals), or place it inside a household object like a lamp or an end table.

If you suffer from insomnia or other sleep issues, try making a dream charm to help you sleep well and have sweet dreams. To make a simple dream charm, fill a blue or purple bag with lavender, chamomile, peppermint, and any other objects that you associate with peace, restfulness, and sleep. If you want to have lucid dreams or receive psychic messages in your dreams, include a bit of mugwort. Place the charm in your pillow or under your mattress. (I personally swear by this one, as it’s helped a lot with my insomnia.)

Charms are great for homemaking magic because you’re actually creating a magical object, which can then become a permanent fixture of the space.

Magical Decor

You can use magical items to decorate your home to bring certain qualities into that space.

Hanging or displaying a broom is said to bring good fortune, protection from evil, and good hospitality. Cauldrons are used to represent the Goddess, rebirth, and raw potential. Horseshoes hung above door frames bring safety and luck to all who cross under them, and keep unwanted guests away. If you can get them legally and ethically, animal bones, teeth, claws, and feathers can represent the spirit and energy of that animal. You can also put up images of spiritual and occult symbols — I have an image of the Sun tarot card hanging in my bedroom to promote positivity and growth.

If you need to be a little more subtle with your witchy decorations, working with the magic of color is a great way to do that. Gathering a lot of items of a single color in one room changes the energy of that room. Here’s a quick guide to give you some ideas:

Yellow is associated with divination, mental clarity, the element of air, success, communication, and inspiration.

Purple is associated with divine power, spiritual awareness, mystery, astral travel, magic, and authority.

Blue is associated with healing, psychic abilities, the element of water, peace, truth, and patience.

Red is associated with protection, the fire element, sex, power, vitality, and love.

Orange is associated with ambition, creativity, breaking through blockages, and career success.

Pink is associated with romantic love, friendship, self love, compassion, and emotional well-being.

Green is associated with nature, herbalism, the earth element, money, wealth, prosperity, and luck.

Brown is associated with grounding, animal magic, stability, and balance.

White is associated with purification, cleansing, the full moon, new beginnings, healing, and spiritual growth.

Black is associated with protection, truth, outer space, banishing, and transition.

Decorating your home with colors that are meaningful to you can create a powerful magical space. You may also have your own color associations (for example, yellow is a very “happy” color for me), so feel free to incorporate those into your decor as well!

Growing Magical Houseplants

Most witches feel a very deep connection to nature and draw power from the natural world, but we can’t all live in a cottage in the heart of the forest. Even if you live in a tiny apartment in the city, you can still bring nature into your space by keeping houseplants. Many popular houseplants have magical uses, and many popular magic herbs can be grown inside. Here are a few to get you started.

Aloe. This is one of my favorite plants. Aloe brings luck and protection, especially protection on an energetic/spiritual level. I like to keep aloe in my bedroom to protect me while I sleep, as well as to bring luck and inspiration while I’m working at my desk.

Basil. Basil is very popular in money spells, and will attract prosperity and luck to your home. However, it also has protective properties — both spiritual protection and protection from bugs, since basil is a natural insect repellent! Basil can also be used in love spells, and is just generally a good plant to have around for good vibes.

African Violet. This flowering plant attracts positive spiritual energy into your space. It has associations with the moon and the water element, and is very good for promoting spirituality and psychic power.

Rosemary. Rosemary is one of those herbs that every witch should have on hand. It’s so darn versatile, it can be used as a substitute for virtually any other herb, and can be used for almost any intention. Some of the most common magical associations for rosemary include: cleansing, purification, protection, healing, mental activity, and enhancing memory. According to author Deborah J. Martin, there’s an old English saying that, “Where rosemary grows, the woman rules the house.” Like basil, rosemary is a natural insect repellent.

Lavender. Lavender brings peace, love, and gentleness, which makes it a perfect addition to any home. It can be used in spells for cleansing and purification, enhancing psychic abilities, and stress relief. Lavender is also a powerful addition to love spells. Keeping lavender in the bedroom can aid in restful sleep, while lavender in the kitchen will bring harmony to the home.

Sage. Sage is the most talked about cleansing herb, and with good reason. Unfortunately, a lot of the sage bundles you can buy at metaphysical stores are made with white sage (Salvia apiana), which is sacred to Native American peoples and is endangered due to overharvesting. Instead of buying those, why not grow your own garden sage (Salvia officinalis), which has a lot of the same magical properties? Growing sage in your home will purify the space and protect those who live there. Sage also has an association with wisdom and mental prowess.

Hoya. Hoya is a common houseplant that you’ve probably seen even if you don’t know it by name. It has a distinctive appearance with waxy, dark green leaves and clusters of white, star-shaped flowers. Hoya aligns and balances the energy centers within your body, as well as in the surrounding space. It’s associated both with grounding and with spiritual openness, so it can be great for balancing the two.

Peppermint. Peppermint has a variety of magical uses, but my favorite way to use it is for gently opening up blockages and getting things moving. It’s great for cleansing, but is more gentle than rosemary or sage. Place it in any room where you tend to do a lot of healing work, or where you could use some peace and love. Peppermint is also used in dream magic, so growing it in the bedroom may bring on vivid or lucid dreams.

Orchid. Orchids are used in magic for love and lust. Historically, orchid has been used in folk medicine to promote male virility and “Jezebel root,” used in American folk magic to attract wealthy male lovers, is a type of orchid root. If you live with a significant other, try growing an orchid in the bedroom to promote passion in your sex life. Otherwise, grow orchids in your home to promote love or to attract romance.

Catnip. If you have cats, they’ll love this one. Catnip is actually a type of mint, and has strong lunar associations. It’s said to make one more charming and attractive, and is especially useful for attracting women. At the same time, catnip promotes courage and fierceness. It is also, of course, associated with cats and feline deities, so this is definitely a plant you’ll want to keep around if the cat is one of your animal guides.

If you have a yard space that you can turn into an outdoor garden, your magical plant options are limited only by your local ecosystem. Some outdoor plants that have magical uses include roses, sunflowers, rue, lemon balm, and strawberries.

Creating an Altar

Altars are focal points of magical and spiritual energy. Many people, both witches and non-witches, find that having a designated space for their spiritual practice creates a deeper sense of sacredness and purpose.

An altar can serve lots of different purposes. Many witches use their altar as a magical work space to prepare spells, meditate, and do divination. You may choose to dedicate your altar to a deity, your ancestors, or some other spirit(s) you work with. You can also build altars for specific intentions, such as a money altar or a love altar — performing rituals at this altar everyday is a powerful method for manifestation. You altar may be some or all of these things, or it may just be a place to sit and connect with the spiritual.

You can set up an altar on any flat surface, like a shelf or table, or inside a container like a jewelry box. Your setup can be as simple or as elaborate as you like. An altar can be huge and complex, with statues and candles and flowers, or it can be as simple as a tealight and an incense burner. It’s all about what appeals to you.

Resources:

New World Witchery pocast, “Episode 143 — The Magical Home”

Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

“Candle colors and their meanings” by Michelle Gruben on the Grove and Grotto blog

Green Witchcraft by Paige Vanderbeck

A Green Witch’s Cupboard by Deborah J. Martin

“The Magic of Orchids in Wiccan Love Spells & Rituals” on the Art of the Root blog

[josephine-ann]

honestly, whose surprised anymore

With everything going on I think people are forgetting this happened today too:

[josephine-ann]

His name is pebbles 😭😭😭

[josephine-ann]

[josephine-ann]

I love this so much

After having and living with a grand total of 13 cats in my life

TIL: that shed cat whiskers can stab people and get stuck in skin.

Either that or my Partner is really good at finding weird ways to injure themselves.

[josephine-ann]

if someone close to you is disabled, you have to take that into account when you go places with them. you have to think about accessibility, fatigue, pain, flare ups, etc because its exhausting and hurtful when people who say they love you dont bother putting the effort in to make sure you ACTUALLY have a good time.

🔪abled people are required to reblog this🔪

[josephine-ann]

“I think someone has a crush on my Christmas light decoration”

via r/aww

[josephine-ann]

Cool questions!!!!

these are actually hella fucking cute y'all

1: when you have cereal, do you have more milk than cereal or more cereal than milk?

2: do you like the feeling of cold air on your cheeks on a wintery day?

3: what random objects do you use to bookmark your books?

4: how do you take your coffee/tea?

5: are you self-conscious of your smile?

6: do you keep plants?

7: do you name your plants?

8: what artistic medium do you use to express your feelings?

9: do you like singing/humming to yourself?

10: do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?

11: what’s an inner joke you have with your friends?

12: what’s your favorite planet?

13: what’s something that made you smile today?

14: if you were to live with your best friend in an old flat in a big city, what would it look like?

15: go google a weird space fact and tell us what it is!

16: what’s your favorite pasta dish?

17: what color do you really want to dye your hair?

18: tell us about something dumb/funny you did that has since gone down in history between you and your friends and is always brought up.

19: do you keep a journal? what do you write/draw/ in it?

20: what’s your favorite eye color?

21: talk about your favorite bag, the one that’s been to hell and back with you and that you love to pieces.

22: are you a morning person?

23: what’s your favorite thing to do on lazy days where you have 0 obligations?

24: is there someone out there you would trust with every single one of your secrets?

25: what’s the weirdest place you’ve ever broken into?

26: what are the shoes you’ve had for forever and wear with every single outfit?

27: what’s your favorite bubblegum flavor?

28: sunrise or sunset?

29: what’s something really cute that one of your friends does and is totally endearing?

30: think of it: have you ever been truly scared?

31: what is your opinion of socks? do you like wearing weird socks? do you sleep with socks? do you confine yourself to white sock hell? really, just talk about socks.

32: tell us a story of something that happened to you after 3AM when you were with friends.

33: what’s your fave pastry?

34: tell us about the stuffed animal you kept as a kid. what is it called? what does it look like? do you still keep it?

35: do you like stationary and pretty pens and so on? do you use them often?

36: which band’s sound would fit your mood right now?

37: do you like keeping your room messy or clean?

38: tell us about your pet peeves!

39: what color do you wear the most?

40: think of a piece of jewelry you own: what’s it’s story? does it have any meaning to you?

41: what’s the last book you remember really, really loving?

42: do you have a favorite coffee shop? describe it!

43: who was the last person you gazed at the stars with?

44: when was the last time you remember feeling completely serene and at peace with everything?

45: do you trust your instincts a lot?

46: tell us the worst pun you can think of.

47: what food do you think should be banned from the universe?

48: what was your biggest fear as a kid? is it the same today?

49: do you like buying CDs and records? what was the last one you bought?

50: what’s an odd thing you collect?

51: think of a person. what song do you associate with them?

52: what are your favorite memes of the year so far?

53: have you ever watched the rocky horror picture show? heathers? beetlejuice? pulp fiction? what do you think of them?

54: who’s the last person you saw with a true look of sadness on their face?

55: what’s the most dramatic thing you’ve ever done to prove a point?

56: what are some things you find endearing in people?

57: go listen to bohemian rhapsody. how did it make you feel? did you dramatically reenact the lyrics?

58: who’s the wine mom and who’s the vodka aunt in your group of friends? why?

59: what’s your favorite myth?

60: do you like poetry? what are some of your faves?

61: what’s the stupidest gift you’ve ever given? the stupidest one you’ve ever received?

62: do you drink juice in the morning? which kind?

63: are you fussy about your books and music? do you keep them meticulously organized or kinda leave them be?

64: what color is the sky where you are right now?

65: is there anyone you haven’t seen in a long time who you’d love to hang out with?

66: what would your ideal flower crown look like?

67: how do gloomy days where the sky is dark and the world is misty make you feel?

68: what’s winter like where you live?

69: what are your favorite board games?

70: have you ever used a ouija board?

71: what’s your favorite kind of tea?

72: are you a person who needs to note everything down or else you’ll forget it?

73: what are some of your worst habits?

74: describe a good friend of yours without using their name or gendered pronouns.

75: tell us about your pets!

76: is there anything you should be doing right now but aren’t?

77: pink or yellow lemonade?

78: are you in the minion hateclub or fanclub?

79: what’s one of the cutest things someone has ever done for you?

80: what color are your bedroom walls? did you choose that color? if so, why?

81: describe one of your friend’s eyes using the most abstract imagery you can think of.

82: are/were you good in school?

83: what’s some of your favorite album art?

84: are you planning on getting tattoos? which ones?

85: do you read comics? what are your faves?

86: do you like concept albums? which ones?

87: what are some movies you think everyone should watch at least once in their lives?

88: are there any artistic movements you particularly enjoy?

89: are you close to your parents?

90: talk about your one of you favorite cities.

91: where do you plan on traveling this year?

92: are you a person who drowns their pasta in cheese or a person who barely sprinkles a pinch?

93: what’s the hairstyle you wear the most?

94: who was the last person you know to have a birthday?

95: what are your plans for this weekend?

96: do you install your computer updates really quickly or do you procrastinate on them a lot?

97: myer briggs type, zodiac sign, and hogwarts house?

98: when’s the last time you went hiking? did you enjoy it?

99: list some songs that resonate to your soul whenever you hear them.

100: if you were presented with two buttons, one that allows you to go 5 years into the past, the other 5 years into the future, which one would you press? why?

[josephine-ann]

Michaelmas Playlist 🍁

Here is my playlist for the Autumn Equinox/Mabon/Harvest Home! Warm and cozy music with hints of darkness. Perfect for apple picking and long rides in the country. It can also be found on Apple Music under the name “Autumn Equinox 🍂” or by searching my name, Orion Burke. Have a blessed Mabon and a lovely Autumn Equinox!

🖤Orion

1. “When Fall Comes to New England” - Cheryl Wheeler

2. “Harvest Chant” - Reclaiming

3. “My Lady of Autumn” - Dave Webber & Anni Fentiman

4. “Harvest Time” - Sharron Kraus, Garham Metcalfe, & Jon Boden

5. “Margot Labourez les Vignes” - Bröceliande

6. “Harvest Season” - Heather Alexander

7. “Cruel Sister” - Rachel Unthank & The Winterset

8. “Hunting Song” - Pentangle

9. “Mabon” - Lisa Thiel

10. “The Scythe” - Gaia Consort

11. “Harvest Moon” - Sharron Kraus

12. “Persephone” - Kellianna

13. “Harvest” - Jenna Greene

14. “Go to the Very Edge” - Ruth Barrett

15. “Mother of Darkness” Lila 

16. “Marigold/Harvest Home” - Maddy Prior

17. “Demeter’s Daughter” - Shawna Carol

18. “Mabon” - Omnia

19. “Baba Yaga” - S.J. Tucker

20. “The Banshee/The Rosecommon Reel” - Daniel James & Peter Miln

21. “The Morrigan” - Heather Dale

22. “Twa Corbies” - Mary Jane

23. “The Mabon” - Damh the Bard

24. “All Among the Barley” - Damien O’Kane

[josephine-ann]

Mary Nasson, the Witch of York, Maine

The town of York, Maine is a quaint Colonial-era town that sits at the border of Maine and New Hampshire. The town has a rich history that is worth discussing at length, but here I will only discuss one attraction of interest - the Old Burying Yard.

The Old Burying Yard at York is not hard to locate. If you take route 1A and follow it into the historical section of town, the Old Burying Yard is directly across the street from the First Parish Church. It is a small and unassuming Colonial-era cemetery, surrounded by a low stone wall. It has a number of classic 18th-Century stones, bedecked with urns, weeping willows, and grimacing death’s-heads. The town’s second cemetery, it was the last resting place of York residents from 1705 to the 1850′s.

But tucked at the far end of the yard, past a monument to the victims of the Candlemas Massacre, past several large and imposing maple trees, sitting in its own little corner, is the grave of Mary Nasson. And according to local legend, Mary Nasson was a witch.

In a cemetery of unusual and historic headstones, Mary Nasson’s is in a category all its own. Approximately three feet in height, the top of the stone bears the image of a woman, wild-eyed, bare-breasted, with two frizzy buns of hair atop her head. Covering her grave is a large slab, between five and six feet in length. The headstone, which can be seen below, notes that Mary was a mother and the wife of a Mr. Samuel Nasson.

According to the stone, Mary was only 29 when she died and some say she was executed for her witchy ways. Some say the stone covering her grave was put in place to stop her from rising from the dead, though, according to some of the locals, it was ineffective - the graveyard is notoriously haunted. Although I could find no mention of the practice online, people have taken to putting coins on her grave, perhaps as a kind of offering. I cannot help but think of the x’s on the grave of Marie Laveau. At one point in time, the grave would have had a foot stone. I can find color images of it online, but cannot find any close-ups. (If you have details about this, please message me immediately).

This story is a lot of fun, but, historically-speaking, it is full of inconsistencies. The stone that the covers the grave would not have been strange in Mary’s day. Before the advent of electric lights and wire fences, stones such as the one that covers Mary’s grave were used to prevent animals from digging up the remains of the dead. They are called, fittingly, wolf stones. It has been speculated that the other graves in the cemetery once had them as well and that they were removed when the bodies had rested long enough to be of no interest to animals.

Because Maine was formerly part of the state of Massachusetts, it cannot be said that Maine did not, in some way, play a role in the New England witch hysteria of the late 17th-Century. That being said, Mary’s grave clearly states that she died in 1774, too far into the Age of Reason for a witch trial to occur in New England. Witches were not given Christian burials during that time period, either. If Mary had been executed as a witch, she would have most likely been buried in an unmarked grave, like the accused witches of Salem.

It could be said that Mary’s reputation as a witch has been inspired solely by her unique stone. There is, however, a unique set of legends about Mary that, to my ears, smack of authentic witch-lore.

According to some local legends, Mary was not a terrible witch, crawling from the grave, cursing the innocent. According to some, she was a healer, skilled in herbalism and in performing exorcisms. She would have been a wife and mother and she would have died very young. Little is known about her beyond her marvelous headstone. Intriguingly, there are no other Nassons in the cemetery. So where is her husband? Her stone bears a message from her husband that states, “I soon shall equal be when death shall stop my breath /And end my Time/God grant my Dust /May mingle, then, with thine.” A sign, to be sure, that he wanted to be buried by her side.

This was not to be, however. According to one website, he moved to Sanford, Maine after her death. According to the website “Find a Grave”, a Maj. Samuel Nasson, Esq. is buried in Sanford, Maine. According to his stone, he was born in 1745 and died in 1800. He had two wives. His first wife was Mary Shores, daughter of Peter Shores and Susannah Ball. This, without a doubt, is the Mary Nasson of York, Maine. They were wed on August 8, 1765 in Stratham, New Hampshire.  They had six children: Peter, William, Susannah, Samuel, George Hodgkins, and Mary. Samuel Nasson remarried and, on March 4, 1778, wed Joanna Tilden. They had several children as well: Thomas, Harriet Matilda, Joanna, and Sophia. According to Find a Grave, Samuel is buried beside Joanna.

According to the book, “Birth of the Bill of Rights” by Robert Allen Rutland, Samuel Nasson was born in New Hampshire, was educated in a “Congregational household,” and moved to York, Maine as a young man to pursue a career as a saddler and a storekeeper. Nasson was an upstanding member of the community. He served in the Revolutionary War and rose through the ranks from quartermaster, to ensign, to captain. He served in the Maine regiment of the Continental Army, fought in the battle of Long Island, and was promoted to the rank of major. He returned to Maine and became a merchant. He became involved in local politics. He started as a town selectman and ended his political career with a position in the Massachusetts General Court (hence, Major Samuel Nasson, Esq.). He was also appointed to the Massachusetts Ratifying Convention. He believed strongly in a Bill of Rights, opposed the Three-Fifths Compromise, and opposed the burgeoning nation’s power to tax its citizens to build an army. I write these details not to ignore the subject at hand, but to paint a picture of Mary Nasson’s husband and to show that he was a man of great character. All of these events would have occurred after Mary’s death.

Samuel Nasson’s grave provides us with a fascinating clue into Mary’s life as well - the name of her parents, Peter Shores and Susannah Ball Shores. According to the book “Kittery and her Families” by Everett Schermerhorn Stackpole, published in 1903, Mary’s family would have ties to Kittery (only a few miles away from her resting place in York). Anyone interested in her lineage would be wise to obtain a copy of this book (currently on Google Books) and research the Ball family. The text contains few details about their professions or social standing. It does mention the witch legend, though. It is described as being an old legend in a book published in 1903! I have long-suspected that Mary died during childbirth (which was common at the time). This book disproves this idea. Mary’s youngest child, also named Mary, was born in September 25, 1773 and Mary died August 28, 1774.

To paint the most complete picture of Mary, here are all of the details I have gathered about her. She was born in 1745, either in the Southern Maine or Northern New Hampshire. I cannot find any details about possible siblings. This lack of information leads me to conclude that she may have been an only-child (unusual for the time period). She married Samuel Nasson on August 8, 1765 in Stratham, New Hampshire. The same year, they moved to York, Maine, where Samuel worked as a saddler and opened a shop. They had six children. The youngest was less than a year old when Mary died. Mary did not live to see her husband’s military career. Undoubtedly, he would have grieved her loss immensely, as her headstone clearly shows. He would have remarried four years after her death. I do not know how he would have been able to raise six children on his own for four years, especially considering the younger Mary was less than a year-old when her mother died. Perhaps he was well-to-do enough to have staff. Perhaps he began courting his second wife a few years before they were married.

If Mary was an herbalist, she would have been a Christian woman. She was, after all, buried across from the town church in the churchyard. If she was a magic-worker, she may have used the Bible as a sourcebook for magic, not unlike a rootworker or a pow-wower. This is consistent with the idea of the herbalist-as-exorcist. This would make her more of a “fairy doctor” or a “cunning woman” - a benevolent magic-worker. Perhaps she was such a thing. Imagine Mary Nasson - selling her herbal cures in her husband’s shop! Or maybe it was her shop all along, forced by the laws of the day to be her husband’s property. I do not think it is fair to call her a witch, though. There is no evidence that she practiced maleficia and she would have taken offense to the phrase in life, whether she practiced magic or not. She may have been a healer, she may have been an exorcist, she may have even been a midwife, but she would never have called herself a witch.

According to local legends, the children who visit the park close to the Old Burying Yard have reported playing with a kindly woman who seems to mysteriously vanish or wander off. When asked who they were playing with, one local child responded, “Mary.” They say Mary rises from the grave to play with the local children. Her ghost is not a frightening thing.

The urban legends state that Mary’s grave radiates warmth. Upon visiting it earlier this month, I cannot say that it did. Not physically, anyway. The entire Old Burying Yard in York, Maine has an almost holy presence, a calming and saintly presence. It is said to be haunted and I have no doubt that it may be. If it is haunted, it is undoubtedly haunted by the ghost of a kind woman who died too soon. If her grave does radiate warmth, it is not hot to the touch, but radiates the warmth of a mother who was not only loving, but was well-loved.

Whoever Mary Nasson was, may she rest in peace.

[josephine-ann]

Advice on Cursing for Witches 💀

Think of the consequences. Make sure there will be no ill-effects of the curse other than the ones intended. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot! Spells are terribly hard to undo, so make sure the spell you cast gives the results you want.

If this is your first time cursing, don’t go overboard. Stick with what you know. There’s something about cursing that makes people go a little haywire. This is not the time to conjure up a demon if you have never called on one before. This isn’t the time to start making demands of dark goddesses you have not served or even been introduced to. It sure as hell isn’t the time to start messing around with Vodou or some other magical system with which you are not familiar.

Learn from your own traditions. Research the cursing traditions from your own branch of magic, whatever it may be. Even if you practice the most love-and-light kind of witchcraft, one of your predecessors has undoubtedly done something malevolent somewhere.

Protect yourself! There is a reason witches are known for living in cottages deep in the woods - they live far away from everyone else. If they’re calling on spirits or dark forces or whatever, they won’t disturb the neighbors. Consider casting the curse somewhere other than your own home, especially if you live in a place such as an apartment building where your neighbors are very close. Historically, witches may have gone to a crossroads or a cemetery, but do try to avoid getting hit by a car or arrested for trespassing.

Ward yourself! Place wards around your home, especially if you must cast at home. Ensure that your home is completely cleansed before and after the spell has been cast. You don’t want it coming back to you or leaving a kind of dark spiritual residue in your home (think: miasma).

Make sure you need it. Read the cards, do a bit of scrying - divine to make sure the spell you are casting is needed. Why put yourself through the paces if the victim is going to drop dead of a heart attack or move to Yemen?

Consult. Call on your guides, protectors, (familiar) spirits, ancestors, gods, goddesses, or all the above. Ask them to help you. If you do not have a working relationship with one or more of these beings, you may not be ready to curse. For me, personally, this would be the time to cast an actual circle protected by the spirits of the four ways.

Plan! Curses are best done when the Moon is waning or dark. Avoid casting curses when the Moon is void-of-course. Saturdays are ideal for curses, being the day of Saturn and all. Tuesdays are also nice, as they are ruled by Mars. You may wish to consult with a calendar of planetary hours and plan the operation for an appropriate hour, if you can. However, necessity is the mother of invention. If you really need the curse and feel strongly about it, it may be possible to cast it at nearly any time. Get creative.

Know the target. Make sure the curse goes to the right place. Get a taglock if you can. If you can’t, at least obtain a photograph. Curses should fly to their target like a heat-seeking missile.

Follow-up. After casting the curse and allowing yourself time to recover, use a divination method to ascertain whether the curse worked or not. If the curse was minor (or very embarrassing) the victim may never tell anyone that some misfortune occurred to them.

Keep yourself safe and good luck!