#but i'm playing it safe!!! and also asking my psychics for advice probably

[sprolden]

as a reminder, the exact wording of the prediction is "if you kiss your true love, he will die"

[andtheyweresquirrels]

Merlin, season 1

Mind that I remember almost nothing from the other seasons, I used to watch it on cable when I was in elementary/middle school. But here are some highlights because I rewatched it too quickly to have separate thoughts for every episode:

Merlin is in love with Arthur.

That's it, thank you for reading.

I'm joking, but have you seen how he looks at him? He's like Aziraphale looking at Crowley! Maybe worse!

I love everyone's dynamic with each other:

Arthur and Merlin: I think it's pretty obvious I like how they interact with each other, and all I like is there in the narrative. Merlin keeps Arthur's pride in check, he changes him, he protects him in the shadows, and he knows the importance of Arthur's role in the future of the kingdom. Arthur is challenged by how Merlin feels free to speak his mind, the only other person that has probably ever spoken so directly with him is Morgana, and even she has to keep herself in check because she's a woman. It's pretty evident from how they act and from their roles in the story that they complement each other, none of the two can bring Camelot to greatness without the other. Also, I think Arthur is attracted to the (partly just perceived) freedom from responsibility that Merlin has, while Merlin, in some ways, wants the power that royalty has, so their friendship satisfies their impossible desires.

Gaius and Merlin: father and son, great support, perfect balance between letting an almost-grown child do their thing, scolding, worrying and giving advice. I love that the last episode ended (not counting for the hook for season 2) with those two. If I can't have uncle Iroh, I want Gaius to be my cool old uncle. Better yet, I want them both and I want them to go play cards together.

Merlin and Gwen: poor unfortunate Gwen, can't you see he's already in love? But also, they stand for one another and have a great friendship; they understand each other because they're in a similar condition.

Gwen and Morgana: great friendship. It doesn't feel unbalanced like Arthur and Merlin, maybe because the show is not as focused on them, but I often forget that Gwen is Morgana's servant. The only time I felt a difference in power in the episode where Gwen's dad dies, because we see the different approaches between Morgana and Merlin, both hating Uther for condemning Gwen's father, but in the end Merlin treats Gwen as a peer and asks her if Uther should die, while Morgana plots against Uther without consulting Gwen (also tries to break her father free without consulting, which, I gotta say, I understand more, but it's still another instance of going over Gwen's head) but maybe that says more about the future developments of Morgana's character than anything else.

Uther and Arthur: Edipus complex. But for real, their complicated relationship is a big classic for a traumatized father who doesn't share the burden of ruling and wants his son to never make his same mistakes and a son that has to please his father because he is the king. (Ovb, I'm not really taking this seriusly. They're characters, and I'm not a psych-person. Though I am a fan of Psych, the TV show about a guy that fakes being a psychic to solve crimes.) Anyway, the DRAMA they have, I love it. Also, there's a scene in the last episode when Uther takes dying Arthur to his chamber, and while he carries him he falls to his knees, and it looks like La Pietà (Michelangelo's in particular, but also the various representations in art in general), which is, in essence, a mother (a father in this case) crying for the death of her child. Dunno, maybe I'm reading too much into it.

Uther and Morgana: father and daughter in a patriarchal society, what else do I need to say? A lot, actually. It's incredibly interesting how their relationship slowly deteriorates, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. But also you can see that they care for each other, that Uther's not merely keeping her safe for the promise he made to her father, and though she often goes against his will, he's family. But there's the elephant in the room, she has premonitions and he fears everything related to magic, their bond is probably doomed. Again, I love the promise of drama.

Gaius and Uther: old friends with power imbalance, they clearly represent what Merlin and Arthur should not become. To the viewers, Gaius is the only one that can show us what happened in the past, specifically what Uther did and what happened to make his the way he is. Only when Gaius pushes, the two together help us understand (through the past) the present and the future of Merlin (and Arthur, and Camelot, and magic, if you want to expand).

Arthur and Morgana: I guess the narrative wants me to see them as possible romantic partners, but I can't shake the idea that they work better as siblings. They find common ground by being constricted by Uther's will, they grew up together (at least since Morgana was 10, maybe they knew each other before) and at the start of the season they bicker a lot. I imagine this bickering is to show the audience they actually like each other but they're too proud/afraid to do the first move, but I fear this will turn Morgana's character into a tragic romantic interest. I feel that the "I know you as well as I know myself because we grew up together and sometimes you are infuriating" works better as siblings, but that's just a preference. I have other things to say about them, but I guess it's more about Morgana than their dynamic, so I'll keep it for later.

Other thoughts:

Neither Merlin nor Arthur have an actual canonical hetero-attraction moment* (for now) and I find this both perfect for my plan to prove that Merthur is canon (let me dream for as long as I can) and kinda interesting from a cultural-analysis perspective. We (the general audience) just assume they are straight because that's the norm. Of course there are nuances, because the ship is very popular, but the narrative doesn't want us to perceive them as possibly romantically involved (because as much as I want it, they'll not end up together T.T), yet it doesn't try to distract us from that possibility. Because it doesn't have to, it shouldn't be a possibility, it's actually not one, and it's assumed to be this way. Anywayyyy, my love for Pierre Bourdieu's works is showing, so I better stop talk sociology and go back to the normal kind of sorcery.

The character of Morgana. Wow, it's just wow. Imma make a separate post about her because this is getting too long.

*I don't consider incantations for Arthur, and Merlin reads to me as possibly arospec and/or ace because he so doesn't see Gwen's tentative flirting. (Also, as I so thoroughly established before by just saying that he is, he's in love with Arthur.)

[breloomdaycare]

my family's going to be watching my grandma's Leafeon and Espeon while she's... away, for a while. I figured that I should ask a professional for some advice on watching them because outside of general feeding I'm unsure of what to do for them.

You're in luck! These two tend to have very similar needs and wants, and they're two of the easier Eeveelutions to take care of.

Leafeon are lazy, in a good way. They tend to spend all the time they can laying in the sun, and get really gloomy when the weather's bad. If you live somewhere cloudy, a good suggestion would be a good indoor grow lamp. Your Leafeon will probably huddle up under it or in a window and spend most of their day there. Also really important is keeping their water clean. They really don't like stale or stagnant water, so changing it out at least twice a day really helps them. A better solution, though, is a drinking fountain. Not only do good ones have built in filters, but wild Leafeon tend to live near clean rivers. The sound of flowing water can really help calm them in new and strange environments. So even if you don't get a fountain, I do recommend playing river sounds near them. It really does help.

Espeon also really enjoys the sunshine, though not as much. Their psychic energy builds up from uv rays bouncing around in the crystal on their head, so when they use it up, they'll shut down in a good patch of sun. Your biggest challenge will be the Espeon's curious nature. They don't tend to get scared as much if there aren't predators around, since they can sense a creatures intent towards them and know when they're safe. But in a new environment, they'll want to map it out as well as they can. Keep an eye on them for the first few days while they get used to your place, and just make sure they don't get into anything dangerous. Once they register an area as uninteresting, they're pretty unlikely to go back again. So just move dangerous stuff out of the way for a minute while they explore a given area and they'll move on soon enough.

Leafeon tend to stay in one place for a while, so they don't often need walks. They do much better with finite spaces they can control and monitor. If you have a garden or yard, I'd recommend letting them out for a bit each day. They won't tear up any plants or anything, but like to search for fertile soil to put their feet in while they nap. We keep window planters for the little guys around here :) a good sized pot of potting soil also works.

Espeon, on the other hand, will need walks. Like I said, they do better than most in new environments, and love to explore. It doesn't need to be a physical walk, though, since it's more for the scenery. So they do well on car rides and in public spaces. But they can 100% be leash and harness trained. They're also hypoallergenic and extremely well behaved, so most places with a "no pokemon" rule will make exceptions for Espeon, just be sure to ask first.

TL;DR - sunshine, clean running water, and walkies :) They'll get into a rhythm pretty quickly, and that Espeon will let you know if something's wrong.

[grimoireoffolkloreandfairytales]

Hey! I'm the anon from slavicafire's blog asking about Yugoslav witchcraft traditions. I;m a child of recent immigrants from the ex-yugo regions and I'm trying to reconnect w/ my roots. Could you give me a very basic outline of simple traditions that might be common from the region? Hvala puno (:

Hi anon! Glad to see somebody interested in our traditions, that is always amazing. I hope this helps you.

Disclaimer, I’m not professional. This is just stuff pulled out of my own amateur research and love for balkan lore. Anybody with better understanding please pitch in.

First, to reiterate what likely everybody told you, Slavic traditions are very variable and unique, depending on which country you are looking at. While there is obviously much similar things, not all Balkan countries have same lore. So I would suggest looking up where your ancestors are from, and then digging in research ( sometimes there are differences even between like, villages in same country, which makes things both beautiful and amazing and irritating and bothersome).

Second, I am sorry to say that information can be kinda hard to come across when searching for Balkan sources. As result of most countries being ‘’still in development’’, (at least when compared to West), decades of communist regime which didn’t care much for spirituality, big influence of Christian church and being kinda small in population, there isn’t lots of people interested in such things, at least not openly. There has thankfully been revival and rise of interest in last years but ah still takes lots of work to find like minded people. You should have some luck searching through Tumblr and Reddit.

Rest of info under cut, keep on read more so we wouldn’t bother people with big wall of text.

Now, I want to say ( in case you aren’t already aware, in which case excuse me and forgive for taking up your time) that if you do research in Serbian or Croatian for veštica you will most likely come upon fantasy books, fairy tales and such. More folkloric stuff will talk about things like selling your soul to Devil, eating hearts of your family, soul leaving your body to do misdeeds and similar. Rather interesting stuff, which could be used for interesting if little dark path, but less easy to put in practice and being generally very Christian story about evil monsters ( I assume you can’t leave your body in shape of moth so you would cut up your neighbors and relatives and eat their insides but hey what do I know, that might work for you). If you are interested in hearing about that though please send me ask again!

What I assume you are looking for, and is generally much more likely to be practiced ( today too in some villages) are činjarice and vračare. These words while literally meaning something like charm-doer/maker and similar, are more like village wisewomen, cunning folk and similar, people who practiced mixture of magic, medicine, old Slavic lore and Christian beliefs, midwifery and superstitions. If you ask your parents, grandparents, relatives and similar, I’m sure they would be able to tell you of encountering or at very least hearing about at least one weird old woman who claimed to be able to read your fortune, help with fertility, protect you against evil eye… If you ever meet such old woman, remember they will most likely be very insulted if you call them witch. Some wouldn’t even call their workings magical, and many are very intensively Christian.

So, some advice which I hope will be useful. Traditionally those women (and probably some men, though I didn’t hear of it happening. Probably happened but people don’t like talking about such things because people are dumb) worked alone. I assume one witch was enough for one village. This doesn’t mean that you can’t join a coven or work with friends and learn from others, simply that solitary path is open to you and that lots of those witches worked on their own, combining superstition, tips passed to them from others and their own knowledge and thoughts. There is no hard tradition to stick to, you can freely experiment, and don’t listen to people who say you need witch’s blood or some nonsense like that. You only need your will and heart and what works for you.

Then, remember those people lived in villages and most likely worked at farm, in fields, with cattle.. They likely lived together with their families ( unless they were of course widows with no nearby relatives or spinsters). Point is, they didn’t have fancy stuff, because they had to take acre of cows and dung and carrots, so you shouldn’t feel bad about not buying athames, wands, cauldrons and such if you can’t or don’t want. You can repurpose normal ordinary stuff around you in magical tools. As Granny Weatherwax would say, witch can use kitchen knife to do magic and make a bread. Some would argue it is still good to have separate tools for magic, or regularly cleanse and charge your cutlery so energy wouldn’t get too muddled, and that is good approach too. Look what works for you. Suggestions for tools: mirrors, candles, knives, threads,stones, scissors.

If you want to get ideas for how to incorporate everyday things in your practice, look up tag cottage witchcraft, or hearth witchcraft, which is based on idea of making your home practices in magic. Remember that you don’t need to define yourself as anything but witch, or even that, if you don’t want. Think of ways how your passions and talents could be used as outlet for witchcraft. Sing your spells, paint your sigils, however you want. Balkan witches let their craft go out through ordinary stuff too.

Research herb lore! Living in villages and near woods Slavic witches always worked closely with herbs.  That seems to generally be witch thing, as herbs were for long time basis of spices and medicine. Research what herbs you can get your hands on (spices and weeds are easiest I’d say) can be used for, both magically and as teas, tinctures and similar ( remember that herbs should never be used instead of actual medication, and that you don’t need to bother with them if you don’t want to). Some starting points-generally, oak is associated with Perun, strength, protection and ancestors and was heavily respected and venerated. Walnut is associated with darkness, death, misfortune and evil witches and spirits so I’d say it would for example be good for curses. Hawthorn was used as means of protection against demonic spirits and evil creatures, especially vampires.

Research correspondences! People for example believed that certain workings should be undertaken only on certain days, such as holy days of saints, or that magic was best to be done on Friday. Water has different powers depending on day and place it was taken- frozen water or melted ice is used for spells of forgetting, but generally water is used for healing and purification, though time and place and way you collect it can charge it differently. Salt is of course as always amazing for protection and cleansing. Colours are also good start- black for death darkness misfortune, red for life and protection especially against spirits, white for purity cleansing contact with dead and positive energy and so on. Some things require really weird steps. For example to protect yourself from plague you needed to pull over yourself a shirt made by several naked old woman outside during Saturday night ( which I hope you will never need, and have serious doubts for how successful it would be)… If you are in for more ritualistic path it may work for you.

Spells, often called bajalice ( I’m not sure how to translate, except it vaguely means something like murmured song, or chant  I think) were either passed down, picked from folklore, or straight up invented. They consisted of several lines and often rhymed, in fact many of them sound like nursery rhymes. Some are full of seemingly nonsenses, others call upon saints.

They also often had psychical component, a piece of paper, poppet, anything…Those were used as anchors for spell, and if you were casting for other person, closer those objects were to them spell worked better. Good luck and blessings were often in form of amulets person carried on themselves, curses often required burning object or burying it in victim’s backyard.

As with all witchcraft I’d say, sympathetic magic is one of basics. Hair, nails, blood, names, images, all those are often necesarry to work magic upon another. Be careful what is done with yours.

There is strong focus on body with Balkan witchcraft (especially hair). If you feel comfortable explore it, learn about it. Your body is wonderful and reveling in it can be very beneficial not just for magic but for your health, in flesh and mind both. Just stay away from things talking about stuff like putting menstrual blood in potions or anything unsafe. If you want to explore blood magic take care. Just cutting or pricking yourself isn’t good at all.

Look out for superstitions. Most of them contain ritualistic roots. Think and ask why they are done, and how can they be used in practice. Knock on wood for good luck or to prevent bad things, it calls out to spirits. Pinkie and index finger pointed on person is used for casting curses of evil eye variety. And so on…

You don’t have to work with dead, but as amazing zmija already mentioned, there is always something undead. Graveyard dirt is powerful. Look out for ghosts and similar creatures. If you want, try to connect to ancestors or tend to graveyards. Forty days after birth and death are when such forces are most active. Our dead are always with us, and those who have passed on often frequent and play with those who replaced them.

Treat nature well. Remember that it is full of spirits ( some of which may be similar to undead-is rusalka a water nymph or drowned girl, domovoi entirely spiritual caretaker of home or ghost of distant ancestor ). Try to connect with them, to reach out if you feel safe. Dragons, vampires, fairies ( zmey, vampies/upyrsi, vilas in english sources) were most important to Balkans, as well as creatures of wilds like snakes and wolves.

Spaces American side of tumblr would call liminal are important. Thresholds, crossroads and watermills are folklorically connected with magic a lot.

Balkan Traditional Witchcraft by Radomir Ristic  from what I heard is very good book, if little awkward to read as it is translated in English.  Journal for the Academic Study of Magic  from what I have heard has some stuff on South Slavic magic in issue 2 and parts of it are  put up online, such as  The Human Body in Southern Slavic Folk Sorcery Andrija Filipovic and Anne M. Rader.   Solvenska Mitologija ( The Slavic Mythology) by  Nenad Gajić  is great start if you want easy to understand and comprehensive list of Slavic creatures, beliefs, lore and so but I don’t know if you can find it out of Balkans. Belgrade publishing house Metaphysica also apparently has some stuff, no idea if it is good.

If you know Serbian or Croatian, I would suggest websitehttp://www.starisloveni.com/index.html, which is pagan site and also has forum (you need to be registered though).  I have also found several threads of that topic on  https://forum.krstarica.com/ and https://www.ana.rs/forum/ though they require digging, especially for good stuff. Site is also bit less modern. I have recently came upon  https://thewitchandwalnut.wordpress.com/, a Wordpress blog of Balkan witch from Canada which seems very informative. @everett-the-mage is very awesome blog with lots of content on Croatian folk magic and lovely Etsy shop and lots of recommendations for reading.

I hope this helps at least a little! Good luck with your journey!

[whys]

Hi love 💖 I want to ask you for an advice... I want to do a Ouija session because I want to comunicate with a person of my family but I'm pretty scared and IDK what to do... (what's ur opinion? It's dangeeous?) I know you did Ouija before and you can help me with this 👼 hope u having a good day lu 💖😊

You’re such a sweetie pie 👼🏻💖 I feel so honored for u to ask me!! I’ve been playing around with them since I was little, and have a very modest collection of vintage boards, so I’m rly excited about this ask! 😊🔮 I hope that doesn’t sound insensitive tho!! I don’t want you to think I’m taking joy in your stress, I promise that’s not my intention! I’m so sorry about the loss of your family member 💔 This probably isn’t what you want to hear, but I have to say I don’t think it’s a good idea. The thing about ouija boards is even if you surround yourself in positive energy, safe light, prayer, etc you still never know who your conveying with. They, as in the spirit, may say things that seem like that of your family member but it could very well be a dark entity seeing your vulnerability and acting as your loved one to get closer to you. So with that in mind, I definitely don’t recommend this route in contacting your family. BUT do not fret! There are countless other ways!! You should go on the lookout for a medium that would be able to channel your loved one so you could clearly give and receive messages to one another. I know the thought of a medium is a little scary in itself as well. They cost money, you don’t know if they’re even legit, and just psychic abilities in general can be a little daunting. With some research though you can relieve a lot of that worry! 🕵🏻‍♀️ Google is definitely your friend when it comes to finding a reliable psychic. If I’m thinking correctly, there might be a database of trusted psychics somewhere on the web but I could be wrong… if I am, can someone please make one bc that would be amazing! 😅 Another thing I would try is looking up how to tell a real psychic from a phony. I do know those lists exist!! That way you can have some knowledge in your pocket and some more confidence on the subject. You can find what psychics are in your area by just searching on Yelp! Some even have reviews!! You can also try going to your local new age shop, you know the ones full of crystals and incense, everything’s fair trade, and everyone who works there wears long skirts and has braids in their hair? Lol And asking the employees if they know of anyone who could help! They’re typically very open and are happy to help! If meeting someone in person makes you anxious I highly suggest looking into Etsy!! There are quite a few people with psychic abilities, as well as astrologers, tarot card readers, and people with such talent. And what’s great about Etsy is that there are always reviews to read on the person!! From what I’ve seen this is the most affordable option! A lot of readings on there are pretty cheap! Speaking of online psychics, STAY AWAY from any of those 1-800 “chat with a psychic now first 5 min free” bullshit, they’re total scams. 🚫👎🏻If you decide to go the psychic route, try taking the time to yourself to meditate. Once you’ve fully relaxed and are bathed in peace try mentally sending a message to the universe and asking for help. Like, “Please give me guidance on finding the psychic connection to (family member)” Or just whatever feel right in your gut. You could even send a message to your loved one to send you towards a psychic they want to converse through. If you wanted to do it that way, once you’ve relaxed completely and have cleared your mind, think of the face of the family member. Really focus on them, even repeating their name if it feels right. Send them your energy, feel it flow from your heart chakra. Then once you feel connected ask them to guide you to the psychic they believe will connect the two of you. Afterwards start looking for a psychic, hopefully you should stumble upon someone and feel like a strong gut instinct like ~this is the person I need to connect with~ Trust your instincts!✨ I hope this could be of some help!! If you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask!! Sending you love, luck, closure, and protection on your journey sweet soul!! 💖😽💕