#Counter Craft

[theduchessofboredom]

Very interesting article on LLMs, the hype around them and whether they are really doing anything to push writing as an art form forward, by Lincoln Michel, Feb 10 2025

Increasingly, I wonder if current LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude are the new hot-air balloons. Endless money and labor has gone into these models yet they really haven’t improved all that much. Sure, they’ve taken hold in a few niche areas—students cheating on take-home papers, code writers, Kindle store spammers—but they have hardly changed society on a level comparable to the car, computer, smart phone, social media, or anything else they get compared to. [...]

Better spell and grammar checks will be welcome. Quicker research seems useful. And so on. Yet none of this is pointing toward any kind of radical change in literary production or consumption, much less artistic innovation. It doesn’t point to a new type of literature. How is any of this—in the field of literature—akin to the radio, the computer, or the car?

The most obvious contribution GenAI has offered in the fields of reading and writing is, well, a way to skip writing and reading. [...] I will admit that I’m skeptical a technology whose primary utility (so far) is minimizing one’s time spent thoughtfully reading and writing is going to benefit writers artistically. Perhaps GenAI will help with social media publicity posts or the like. But the less time we spend reading with care and writing with intention, the worse our writing will be. [...]

I would expect a GenAI-powered literature, if it emerges, to be its own niche of the market. Not something that replaces traditional books. The reason for this is the book is a remarkably durable technology. It may not be the most popular technology, these days. But it really does what it is supposed to do and it is hard to find many ways to improve it. The book, to continue the transportation metaphor, is a bicycle. It has stuck around.

Go and read the whole thing, it's really insightful!

[younes-ben-amara]

الآن يمكن للجزائريين شراء مكافح فيروسات وحماية سيبرانية بالهاتف مباشرة وبسعر معقول للغاية: Ooredoo Bitdefender

ما هذه المجموعة من المختارات تسألني؟ إنّها عددٌ من أعداد نشرة “صيد الشابكة” اِعرف أكثر عن النشرة هنا: ما هي نشرة “صيد الشابكة” ما مصادرها، وما غرضها؛ وما معنى الشابكة أصلًا؟! 🎣🌐تعرف ما هي صيد الشابكة وتطالعها بانتظام؟ اِدعم استمرارية النشرة بطرق شتى من هنا: 💲 طرق دعم نشرة صيد الشابكة. بالشراكة مع ميكو أفرغ بريدك الوارد! 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #117 يومكم زين؛ والسلام عليكم؛ وبسم الله. 🎣🌐 صيد…

[thesilicontribesman]

Roman Gaming Board And Counters, Corbridge Roman Town, Northumberland

[orchidblack]

Spotted on Twitter.

[midwestbramble]

Traditional Witch Bottles

Spell jars have been fairly popular for a few years now so this type of working won’t be surprising for many of you. A witch bottle is a type of protection or counter magic that has been used for several hundreds of years in both England and North America.

⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ𖦹‏‏☆.𓋼𓍊 𓆏 𓍊𓋼𓍊.☆‏𖦹‏‏⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ

Contents:

History

Making a Witch Bottle

Conclusion

⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ𖦹‏‏☆.𓋼𓍊 𓆏 𓍊𓋼𓍊.☆‏𖦹‏‏⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ

History

Witch bottles have been in use since the late 17th century (the earliest reference we can find is about 1680), with their hayday ending about 1705. Now-a-days archaeological sites around old homes commonly dig them up around the foundations. They have been found all over England, and in the United States as far east as Pennsylvania and westward to at least eastern Texas. These bottles were used in two ways: 1) to cure a curse by putting the sender in so much pain they reversed it or they died, thereby breaking the curse, 2) to pre-emptively protect the occupants of the home from cursing and negative spirits. Both uses are made in similar ways, the placement afterwards is generally what changes.

The bottles found in the United States have generally been made of glass, of all shapes and sizes. England also had glass bottles, but many early version were made from a German clay pot, called Bartmann jugs, that had a male face with a beard stamped or carved onto it. These bottles were all found with similar items inside such as bent needles or rusty nails, and always urine. The pins are bent to make them of the otherworld and the rusty nails are thought to be as well. The urine has two different purposes, depending on which method is being used: the first method uses the urine to connect the curse with the witch (it was thought that some of the witch's blood would be in the urine of the victim), the second method uses the urine of an occupant of the house as a decoy. The decoy guides the curse or spirit towards the bottle, trapping it inside with the pins or nails where it can't get to it's actual intended target. When using as a countercurse, the pins are what gives the sender their pain.

⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ𖦹‏‏☆.𓋼𓍊 𓆏 𓍊𓋼𓍊.☆‏𖦹‏‏⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ

Making a Witch Bottle

Many practitioners make witch bottles today similar to above. There are many variations but I will put the most common way here for you to experiment with.

You will need:

a bottle of some kind (preferably glass or clay)

Bent pins or rusted nails (thorns work or barbed wire works too)

Pinch of salt

A full bladder

Extra tag locks for others to be protected that live within the home (including pets)

There is no set time to make a witch bottle. If you wish to have one you can go by your own timing systems, or Kelden, in his book "The Crooked Path," suggests during a new moon or a Tuesday during a waning moon. I say the best time to make one is when you need to use the bathroom. Take your bottle with you and pee like you're at the doctors office taking a urine test. Make sure you wash your hands after (and clean up the side of the bottle if necessary).

Add in the pins or nails, telling them to either trap inside ill intended energy or spirits or to cause pain to the one who has cursed you. Add a large pinch of salt, asking it to purify anything inside. If this is a protection, add in the tag locks for your housemates telling them that their role is to act as decoys and defend those they belong to. Now we use it.

For Counter Cursing:

DISCLAIMER: glass can explode when heated, use with caution.

The most common way of using a witch bottle for counter-cursing, is to heat the bottle in a chimney with the fire going. The boiling urine will shift the pins around, causing pain to the one who cursed you. It was thought that if the bottle exploded, the curse was lifted. Another way that this was used is to put the bottle in a dung pile (or a heated compost would work well), the heat coming from the decaying process will heat the bottle for you (along with the added benefit of calling them dung).

For Protection:

When used for protection, this bottle is usually buried somewhere around the home. Often this is under or near the front door way, under the hearth, or sometimes in the walls itself. Many people who rent, will put it in a closet or drawer near the front door. These will stay there until it feels as though they need to be changed out. Some people say to dispose of it by burning (I say bad idea), or throw it in the trash (safest).

Variations of this working can be found in:

Besom, Stang, and Sword by Christopher Orapell and Tara-Love Maguire

The Crooked Path by Kelden

Hex Twisting by Diana Rajchel

New World Witchery by Corey Hutcheson

Southern Cunning by Aaron Oberon

The Witch's Guide to the Paranormal by J. Allen Cross

New World Witchery Podcast

⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ𖦹‏‏☆.𓋼𓍊 𓆏 𓍊𓋼𓍊.☆‏𖦹‏‏⊹ ۪ 𖥔 ˑ ִ ֗ ִ ۫ ˑ

Conclusion

Simple and effective if you don't mind using bodily fluids. This is really a spell you can make your own if you understand how the pieces work. There are many variations throughout history that you can draw inspiration from as well if you don't mind a bit of historical reading. Some people add blood, other's sulfur, some will add pepper. What will you do?

References:

Is There a Witch Bottle in Your House? by JSTOR Daily

Civil War-era bottle found on highway median may be a rare 'witch bottle' by William & Mary University

'Witch Bottle' Filled With Teeth, Pins, and Mysterious Liquid Discovered in English Chimney by the Smithsonian Magazine

'Witch Bottles:' Why Are They Washing Up On the Shores of Texas? by an Austin, Texas News Station

America Bewitched by Owen Davies

Witch Bottles and Magical Jugs in the Folklore Journal

Images:

Title image made on Canva (with witch bottle image from Wikipedia unsourced)

Bartmann Jugs in the Victoria and Albert Museum

The bottle found in Virginia (second reference)

[recklesshorizons]

the ancient masters of vacation homes have granted the Wizard a permission to party!

[dyvimkisser]

Just like in the good old days...

[desh4d0wm4st3r]

why am I always delt batshit insane friends? why cant fucking steve from networking get them?

[younes-ben-amara]

وَفِّر للناس شيئًا يشيرون له: اِمنح الناس فرصة أن يعطوك رابطًا لشيء صنعتَه أو كتبتَه أو ابتكرتَه

ما هذه المجموعة من المختارات تسألني؟ إنّها عددٌ من أعداد نشرة “صيد الشابكة” اِعرف أكثر عن النشرة هنا: ما هي نشرة “صيد الشابكة” ما مصادرها، وما غرضها؛ وما معنى الشابكة أصلًا؟! 🎣🌐 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #102 🎣🌐 صيد الشابكة العدد #102💎 نشرة خبايا من كاتب الإعلانات عبدالله* تدخل حيّز الوجود🥫🧠 طعام الفكر🗃️ من الأرشيف✨ مُبشِّر🔌🧠 جدير بالاطلاع🔗 وَفِّر للناس شيئًا يشيرون له: اِمنح الناس فرصة أن يعطوك…

[amplexadversary]

I deserve the exclusive right to an ability to explode specific peoples' phones and computers with my mind.

Tag standardizing project reminded me of some absolute dogshit opinions I've seen pretty recently.

[thesilicontribesman]

Roman Decorated Gaming Counters, Newport Museum and Galleries, Wales

[mrwinter25]

Poison counter shirt

Helped my brother make a magic the gathering t shirt

[newsreleted]

TikTok set to be banned in the US after losing appeal

See More.....

[andromei]

made a cross stitch gift for my boyfriend :)

credit to @leo-fie for the pattern, this will make my boyfriend's little grimdark heart happy (modified it a bit but heyo!)

[misterradio]

bug board achieved and it looks really cool i think ^^__^^ um i forgot abt the giant beetle in the corner here but hes hanging on a necklace so hes fine

[shadowglens]

zev breaking into the chantry’s vault in denerim to steal kiernan’s phylactery