somewitchymusings

[somewitchymusings]

Digital offering to lady Nyx

[somewitchymusings]

"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

[somewitchymusings]

End-of-year witchcraft in the Southern Hemisphere

I've been thinking a lot about how we do end-of-year witchy stuff during the summer. Many of the witchy creators I follow talk so much about winter being this great time to reflect on the year, with the Winter Solstice being this cosy, meditative time for reflection. They then speak to the welcoming of the sun during the solstice, allowing you to dream big for 2024 and set those goals and intentions which get brighter with the sun, etc, etc. Naturally, these kind of descriptions and energies aren't super helpful for me in the Southern Hemisphere. As such, I have been trying to cultivate my reflections and new-year dreamings to move with the unique weather.

I just celebrated the Summer Solstice/Litha. It was sunny, I said prayers to Helios, bought some sun flowers for my home, and did a big spring clean. I feel a big clean before harvest season/Lammas or the "height" of the hot summer makes most sense for my practice. It clears out space for the upcoming year and helps me ground before the busyness of Christmas.

Although that day happened to be sunny, as I write this post a great thunderstorm is rolling in. Living in Naarm/Melbourne (Australia), our weather is pretty inconsistent (yeah the: "melbourne has 6 seasons in 1 day!" comment is pretty true). The Wurrundjeri people and other Kulin nation peoples call this season Garrawang, Kangaroo-Apple Season. It is characterised by changing, thundering weather and long days with short nights. I honestly feel that this chaotic weather suits the "silly season," especially as a queer person when holidays are always that bit trickier. I'm no chaos magician, but I think it would make a lot of sense to harness that in a way that feels good to you. I think this energy is overlooked by trying to fit our experience of weather to the (Celtic, and frequently Americanised) Wheel of the Year - just because it is "summer" really doesn't mean it's all about sunshine magick. Especially in Australia where summers can be a brutal time for many crops.

For me, this shifting weather has been an opportunity to reflect on the previous year of 2023. Not just reminding myself of things I achieved, but things I didn't. Some goals can move into the new year, but many I came to realise were just unrealistic or didn't actually resonate with me and the things that make me happy. I have a tendensy to over-interlectualise my problems - trying to find reasons for not achieving or under-achieving. All of this is, of course, a whole bunch of capitalist brain-rot, but nevertheless the perfectionist in me struggles with the New Year. Instead, I try to reframe and witness that there is a lot that is entirely outside my control. I'll be writing out some of these things on paper, burning them, and blowing them out to the wind for the chaotic weather to take away - a symbolic reminder to go-with-the-flow and that the wheel keeps turning. I don't know about others, but The World and Temperance have been showing up in my readings pretty consistently.

I see this time as very 9 of Wands vibes, like a message of push through: there's more goodness to come! (i.e. the wands court cards, and the harvest season/Lammas/the height of summer). But also, there will there be much change, and change is good (i.e. New Years, this thundering weather, how Autumn proceeds summer). Feels appropriate that the 10 of wands - a card of carrying too many burdens - proceeds this. We then get that lovely playful page of wands, keen to explore and create. End-of-year reflection, to me in the Southern Hemisphere, is not so much a cosy, introspective time; but instead a fiery, chaotic, energetic time. I have to actively cultivate calm moments, because everything else is shifting. And as everything shifts, I'm finding ways to go-with-the-flow and shift with it - honoring what I can't control.