#tolkien witchcraft

[nerdy-grimiore]

. : Correspondences - Thranduil : .

Element: Earth / Spirit

Epithets: The Elvenking, The King of Mirkwood

Imagery/Symbolism: Nature, Elk, ‘Royal’ symbolism, ‘Noble’ symbolism, Forests, Seasons

Crystals: Moss Agate, Malachite, Green Adventurine, Emerald, Peacock ore, Green Jasper

Colours: Green, Blue, Gold

Tarot Card: The Emperor, Judgement

Scents: Pine, Vanilla, Sandalwood, Musk, Frankincense, Cinnamon

Numerology: 1, 7, and 6

Herbs: Rosemary, Basil, Mint, Thyme, Cloves, Garden Sage

Offerings: Green Candles, Jewellery, Flowers, Stuff found in nature, Gold Candles, Leaves

Devotional acts: Learn Herbalism, Go for a walk in the woods, Practice safe foraging, Show kindness to deer and elk, Connect with nature, Connect with the seasons

What to work with him on:

Connecting with nature

Herbalism

Understanding animal symbolism

Connecting with the seasons and the change they bring

[samwisethewitch]

We're doing a Lord of the Rings movie marathon tomorrow, which will be the first time I've watched the whole trilogy in one sitting. To celebrate, I decided to make a full day of hobbit meals to eat as we watch.

I apologize in advance, but I need a place to geek out about my Book Accurate Shire Cuisine, so this is going to temporarily become a food blog for a few hours tomorrow.

[chronering]

[ image credit : sepide-donne on DeviantArt ]

— Manwë correspondences

name :: Manwë , Súlimo (Quenya) , Mānawenūz (Valarin) , Aran Einior (Sindarin) , Amân (Adûnaic)

position :: Vala

titles :: King of Valar, High King of Arda, Elder King, Lord of the Breath of Arda, Viceregent of Eru

correspondences :: wind, air, ruling, royalty, purity, authority

herbs/plants :: lavender, sage, mint

crystals :: sapphire, amethyst, blue lace agate, rainbow fluorite, howlite, selenite

elements :: air

planet :: Saturn

tarot cards :: The Emperor, The Fool, Suit of Swords, any King card

numbers :: 21

candles :: blue, white

magic types :: elemental, intuition, clairaudience

devotional acts :: spending time outside, listening to nature, singing, honoring his wife Varda, visiting and donating to bird sanctuaries

offerings :: incense, poetry, bird imagery

[cottageatlas]

im trying to use here tumblr again after quite a while so if you’re in your 20s like queer medias, your favorite season is fall and want to be moots hmu

[elluendifad]

Hi!! Could you talk a little about what following Tolkien elven religion is like for you? (Only if you want, of course.)

I'm a very newly awakened elf and I've just started reading the silmarillion. I haven't even gotten that far yet, but already it's the most connected I've felt to any religious system/religious lore before. I'm considering practicing Elvish religion, but idk. I feel a little strange saying I want to practice a religion from a work of fiction, y'know? (Please don't take this as me saying your beliefs are strange— I think they're incredibly cool. This is very much just a me thing.)

Anyway, I guess my question is something along the lines of How did you realize this was the religion for you/What do you believe wrt Tolkiens work being or not being fiction?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and doubly so if you choose to answer! Have a nice timezone :))

Alatulya, welcome kin! this one is a little long so there is a break. i also accidentally hit publish early, so we will see how editing it works lol.

table of contents: 1. my personal history and variety of practitioners 2. dealing with fictional mythology + my fave paper on this 3. specifics of tolk elven religion

Eldarin religion has been my primary religion (buddhism and my eclectic animistic witchcraft also there and co piloting) for seven years. I have been working with other eldar on our own group experience of this religion for two or a bit more years. I have taken a bit of priestly service role of collecting and organizing materials and keeping track of the calendar, which we call Loa and which assigns different holidays and themes in order throughout the year. i suspect this role is agreeable and natural for me as minya, but that anyone could do it. the degree of demand differs depending on the person, and i would say that much of my time is set to thinking of or practicing our religion. others have less involvement, and some of us feel our cosmology and philosophy is more cultural than religious the way humans might think being a member of a religious group should be. as for my own journey of getting here, i have been otherkin for most of my life and many years of that was 'generally a nature spirit type thing.' which became 'an elf but i am not sure what kind.' which then became 'oh god… am i one of those hoity toity tolkien elves?' bc there is a cultural expectation among elfkin that tolk elves are more dour and care what color clothes you wear or something… turns out that is not true! or, at least, i have not met these grim arbiters of what is becoming of the firstborn! reading the silm and other texts in the legendarium to fill in what i had absorbed from the hobbit and lotr (books and movies) was the lightbulb in the dim cellar. i use a mixed spiritual and psychological theory of origin and function for my several theriotypes and elven kintype, and this experience filled in some gaps i had just been sitting with. i personally feel that i am living one continuous eldarin life--awoken at cuivienen among the minyar, lived and died, spent my time in mandos, and was reembodied here. my sense of memory is dim, and i generally assume that is just a sign that memory is not necessarily important for this part of my life the way it was in arda. it is a great honor to live this life and to find other eldar and folks of all kindreds to share my love of life with. it was natural to transition from my magic and religious work with nature spirits to a cosmology centered on the legendarium-some of the spirits i still work and live with admit they are maiar, others are not maiar and are of the many kinds of spirit and sprite that entered into ea after its foundation to explore. our working relationships and the techniques i use for magic have stayed much the same. so how i do it is just one example in a variety.

2. i will answer first on dealing with the fictional aspect and wrestling with the nature of constructed or pop culture or modern mythology spirituality-the individual beliefs differ there, too!

for my part, i do not think the legendarium is a factual history of this actual world we currently live in. i do think jrrt was channeling something, and may or may not have been kin himself of arda reembodied here.

i think ea, like most faerie realms, is both here and not here and you have to open yourself up and step into it. once most people have experienced the enchantment of an otherworld, they are never fully able to drop the sense of it. i do feel that the legendarium makes a suitable mythopoetic 'history' for powers and themes that apply to both this world and ea and where they overlap, and that the legendarium becomes more historically factual the closer you move into ea and the further you go from current earth.

there is a lovely paper that i surely have annoyed everyone with titled the tolkien spiritual milieu by Markus Altena Davidsen of the university of leiden that really gets into the anatomy of constructed religion and what is present in certain medias that lends itself to that anatomy, which he calls 'religious affordances' in the text. it details a number of groups of many varied beliefs in the tolkien spiritual sphere, some active and some long gone, and i feel that it is a great way to expand one's vocabulary and mental concept of constructed religion and the wide variety that is possible in such constructions. the pdf is available from the university website here

if you check out mr davidsen's other published papers on that website, there are several others also relevant to fiction sourced mythology and spirituality including some by other authors.

3. that being said, there are religious affordances for the eldar in the texts, but not necessarily enough for a fully fleshed out practice as is prepared and given to new members of various world religions. it will take a bit of crafting, but we elves do love to craft! most of us blend legendarium cosmology and philosophy with practices or philosophies we are previously familiar with, like neopaganism or judaism or etc etc.

we have developed some structure in the forms of: a multiply layered observational calendar for the six seasons, eight holidays, twelve months, and seven days of the week; the fourteen valar and several named maiar associated with certain valar; the panentheistic experience of the creator Eru; and the use of witchcraft, meditation, devotional or worship activity, enchantments, glamor, and arts like music poetry painting crochet etc.

most of us practice our own personal flavor by ourselves, and group rituals or ensorcelments are rare at the moment. we are all exploring, and i would be thrilled to hear about your own explorations and what calls to you!

sooo… basically i have a worship and work relationship with our gods and supportive spirits, and give observation on the schedule of the loa. i have daily practices, like offering of beverage an thanks or an oil anointment of my body, and then weekly practices like an eruhini veneration and well wishes for the dead. and monthly practices on the full and dark moon, which is focused on the vala of that month, where i usually do spellwork for the constellation. there are holidays at the start of each season and at the solstices, where i will sometimes do magic for the group but is usually about the personal journey. the one time another elf was physically with me i did do some small rituals including that elda. my herbalism work is inherently religious to me and i also count both learning and practicing herbalism as a devotional activity, same with going on walks or drumming.

i invite you very earnestly to reach out any time and through any means you are comfortable with, and i wish you a very blessed full moon of winds. hantanyel ar namarie!

[faerybones3]

Which Witch

Fíli x witch!reader

cw: canon-typical violence, non-sexual choking

word count: 3k

prologue | series masterlist

Chapter One

three years later

Nothing could be heard above the screeching coming from the hundreds of goblins surrounding you, all clambering over each other to get a good look at the group of dwarves they had just caught on their front doorstep.

You sat, hunched at an awkward angle, with your head shoved between your knees, inside a makeshift cage made out of what you guessed were human bones. The commotion with the new prisoners had piqued your interest, and you tried to get a good look at who was being brought before the goblin king, a great hulking thing with protrusions and tumors growing out of every crevice on his massive body. He sat on a throne with a muck-filled bucket underneath, and several smaller goblins lay underneath his throne as a staircase for him. Your cage sat just to the right of him.

The goblin king stepped down from his throne and demanded to know who they were and how they had come to be in his kingdom. You wondered the same thing, privately, to yourself. As you watched the scene, you reflected on your own adventures and how you yourself had been captured by goblins. You had been traveling solo through the Misty Mountains when you stopped to make camp in a small cave. Exhausted as you were, you did not inspect the cave thoroughly. The goblins had sprung out of the walls and grabbed you in the middle of the night, taking your weapons and forcing you into this cage, where you had been sitting for days now. You had no idea why you were not already dead.

You also wondered to yourself if the dwarves had been in that same cave when they were taken, and if they had made the same mistake of not checking it properly for goblins.

When no one said a word, he became enraged and demanded that they be thoroughly searched. The goblins poked and prodded and searched thoroughly enough by goblin standards, ridding the dwarves of their weapons and throwing them carelessly to the ground. One sword in particular caught the king’s attention, and when he realized what it was, he jumped back and screamed, more infuriated than ever that these dwarves would come to him with Biter, the sword that had killed many of his people. You were quite surprised as well, as that sword looked to be made by elves and you knew quite well the enmity between their people and the dwarves.

Suddenly, the Great Goblin turned to you, fury in his eyes. You shrunk back.

“You know them don’t you, witch? They sent you ahead to scout out a way in!” He screeched. “You seek to destroy my kingdom!”

You shook your head furiously and shrunk back even further into your cage in a futile attempt to escape his wrath.

“I don’t know them, I swear!” You yelled.

The Great Goblin was seeing red, too enraged, too incensed to listen to reason. He started to bang and thump on the top of the cage, the bones threatening to break and crush you. Of course you didn’t know these dwarves, and you didn’t know how he had come to that conclusion, but the goblin didn’t need a reason to display his vileness. He wanted someone to pay for these imagined crimes, and you were the first person within reach.

“I don’t . . . believe you!” he squawked, before ripping apart the bones separating you and grabbing your arm, yanking you roughly out of your tiny cage. You stared at him, eyes wide and watery, as he lifted you up by the collar of your shirt and slammed you back down again to the floor of the rock his throne lay upon.

You yelped and tried to right yourself before the Great Goblin could grab you again, but he was too big and too quick for you. He pulled you up by your arm and twisted, making you scream out in pain.

By this point, some of the dwarves were yelling for him to stop, that you were telling the truth, anything to draw his attention away from you. Of course the goblin king did not hear them and did not care that they were speaking at all. He had you again, by the throat now, and he had started to squeeze as you clawed desperately at his bulbous arms, trying unsuccessfully to get him off of you.

You felt your feet start to lift off from the ground and you began to panic, eyes bulging. You were kicking and scratching at him and trying to scream but no sound left your throat. It could not end like this. You fought to keep yourself conscious, but the giant goblin was too strong, grinning as he squeezed the life from you.

The dwarves watched the scene unfold before them in shock and terror, but what could they do against such heedless evil? Some of them tried to fight off the goblins holding them down, but it was no use. There were too many of them, and they could not help you.

Your legs were twitching and your eyes were starting to close when suddenly there came a bright light from somewhere in the large cave and you were thrown to the ground before the dwarves, gasping and choking. You faintly saw a large figure wearing a pointed hat and wielding a sword in one hand and a staff in the other, from which the light seemed to be emanating from. You tried and failed to pick yourself up off the ground.

Everything seemed muffled and deafeningly loud at the same time, and your vision was blurry at the edges. The group of dwarves behind you and all the goblins had been knocked to the ground as well. The light dissipated and the pointy man started speaking, but you could not understand what he was saying. Before you knew it, you felt a pair of strong hands lift you from behind and saw the dwarves hurry to gather up their weapons.

Fighting had broken out amongst the dwarves and the goblins, the dwarves holding their own quite well. You, however, could do nothing but watch and try to catch your breath.

The hands that had lifted you began to half lead, half drag you in the direction you realized the dwarves had started running, following after the tall man who had saved you all. You found your feet and began to push the hands away, your vision becoming slightly stronger and clearer. A young, exasperated face stared back at you when you turned around, giving you an expression telling you that if you did not move quickly, you would most certainly be left behind.

“Come on, hurry!”

“Give me a sword.”

You knew he had heard you but he did not answer, instead grabbing your hand as if he didn’t quite trust that you were well enough to walk on your own. The two of you ran after the other dwarves, closely followed by the horde of goblins when they realized that their prisoners were escaping.

The man in the pointy hat led the group over the rickety wooden bridges of goblin town, trying to get to the winding tunnels that would lead them out of this hell hole. All the dwarves had retrieved the weapons that had been stolen from them, and were fighting off the goblins in their way. You had not been so fortunate, and you felt helpless when you had to rely on the other dwarves for protection while running. You noticed that the young dwarf leading you out had twin swords and considered just taking one from him, but thought better of it.

You had not made it very far when out of nowhere, the Great Goblin rose up and blocked your path.

He looked right at you and snarled, “You thought you could escape me!”

The Great Goblin swiped at the tall man, but he dodged.

“What are you going to do now, wizard?” He growled.

The wizard was quick as he thrust his staff into the goblins eye, blinding him. He then made two quick slashes in the goblin’s gut and throat, killing him. The goblin king fell and the bridge collapsed, taking you and all the dwarves with it, down into the black depths of the cave.

With a great crash, you all somehow landed safely, albeit piled on top of each other, on the cave floor and made a run for it into the deep and dark tunnels, looking for any sign of an opening or daylight.

At last, you came upon an opening in the rock, guarded by two particularly fierce looking goblins. However, the dwarves made quick work of them and in no time, you were out into the open, breathing in the fresh air of the early evening. You did not have very long to enjoy your freedom though, as the dwarves continued to run into the trees lining the mountainside. You followed them until they finally stopped to catch their breath.

The wizard started to count each of them, saying their names aloud and counting on his fingers. When he reached 13 of them, not including you, he paused and asked where their hobbit was. You did not remember seeing a halfling in their group when they were brought before the goblin king.

The dwarves start to argue amongst themselves about where he was last seen. At the back of the group, you tried to hide yourself somewhat behind the dwarf who had helped you, the younger one with blond braids. You suspected that they had not had the time to register your presence and you were not keen on being questioned at the moment. Some of them were blaming each other and one with three distinct braids shaped like a star claimed he saw the halfling slip away. It was then that one of the dwarves, the tallest of them and the most imposing, said in a displeased tone that he believed the hobbit had left them and gone home.

“We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone.”

You sensed that there was some deeper feeling hidden by his obvious resentment for their 14th member. Considering his tone, you also made a metal note to not get on his bad side if you could help it.

At that moment however, you saw a small profile walk through the trees toward them. You assumed this was the halfling as you saw all the shocked expressions on all of the dwarves' faces, especially the tallest of them.

They began to ask him how he got past the goblins but you had stopped paying attention. You could feel something moving in the earth now. You reached down and touched the soil with your fingers, which brought all of their attention to you. They looked at you like they had completely forgotten about you. Their eyes were kind though, and some of them looked at you with worried expressions, taking in your already bruising throat and battered body. The wizard took a step towards you with silent questions in his eyes, a little too knowing for your comfort.

“We need to move,” you said, so quiet that only the two young dwarves in front of you had heard. They exchanged a look.

“And who are you?” questioned one of the dwarves in what you could only describe as a fatherly tone.

“We need to move now,” you repeated, a bit louder this time. “Do you not hear it?”

Everyone looked around at each other, confused. You looked at the wizard, and he understood.

“Wargs,” he said. “Run!”

You heard them before you saw them, a great pack of wargs, advancing down on you from the top of the mountain. You ran as fast as your legs could carry you, weaving in and out of the trees. A few wargs ran ahead and tried to attack the group, but the dwarves fought them off. Up ahead, you saw that you were coming up on a cliff.

“Up the trees, quickly!” called the wizard.

The dwarves at the front of the group started expertly climbing the trees near the edge of the cliff, but you knew the wargs would catch up before they were all up and safe. The wargs were coming up on you fast, and they needed more time.

Without thinking, you stopped suddenly, and turned on your heel, ignoring the shouts from the other dwarves. While running, you had managed to get in the middle of the group, the two younger dwarves still at the back. The blond dwarf was right in front of you and you stopped him with an outstretched arm.

“What are you doing!” He shouted.

“Give me your sword!”

“What? No, come on!”

You sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying to help you, halfwit!”

Before he had time to be offended at your remark, you grabbed his arm and yanked him so that he was pulled ahead of you. When his back was facing you, you grasped the hilt of one of his twin swords and pulled it out of its sheath. Your movements were so quick that he barely had time to register what had happened before you shoved him forward between his shoulder blades. You yelled at him to run and turned back to the fast-approaching wargs.

Fili barely realized that he was missing a sword, and was too preoccupied with climbing a huge tree alongside his brother, as they had reached the edge of a great cliff and could run no more. He was halfway up when he noticed you, still on the ground, doing something peculiar.

A flash of indignance rose up in his chest as he looked down at you with his sword in your hand.

“What does she think she’s doing?” came Kili’s voice. “She’s gonna get herself killed!”

“Wait, look,” said Fili, leaning forward in the tree. “What is she doing?”

You were mumbling in a language Fili did not understand, repeating the same words over and over again, getting louder each time. The other dwarves were a mix of panic and vexation, all looking between you on the ground and the wargs who were getting closer and closer with every breath.

Fili’s indignance turned to awe as he saw a strange kind of rippling energy emanating from your fingers, spreading out through the sword. He did not have a word for it, as he had never seen anything like it, but it was beautiful and uncanny to his eyes. As the energy went through the sword, it started to give off a faint glow. Then it was traveling down your arms and encircling your entire body, and you were surrounded in it. As you continued chanting in that foreign language, a phantom wind lifted your hair from your neck and made your buttoned tunic flutter.

You were on your guard as soon as the wargs entered the clearing. They snarled and growled as they started to circle you, effectively taking your bait. They looked at you as if you were an easy meal. As the last of the dwarves climbed into the trees, you looked back to the wargs, and you smiled.

Two more tense seconds later and one of them suddenly charged and you exploded into movement, the sword in your hand almost invisible as it slashed and sliced at the beast. You were a flurry of skilled movement and Fili could do nothing but stare as one after another of the wargs rushed at you and were taken down.

Something bright caught the young dwarf’s eye and he looked up to see Gandalf throwing flames from his staff down onto the wargs, cutting off their path to you. Some of the other dwarves caught on and began throwing loose branches and pine cones down to the wargs as well. Pine cones were not nearly as effective as flames or a sword, but they hoped to at least distract some wargs enough to give you some time to fight them off.

Things, however, turned quite sour as the last rays of sun disappeared behind the skyline, and the goblins began to worm their way out of their holes and hiding places and into the cold dark of night. A great group of them, enraged by their king’s death, charged out of the mountain tunnels and descended on you.

You were skilled enough in combat and well protected by your magic and the fire sent by the wizard, but you could not take on a hundred wargs and goblins by yourself. While the wargs stayed clear of the fire, you knew the goblins would jump through it to get to you. Just as the pack of goblins reached you, you heard yelling coming from up in the trees. You looked up, and saw a dozen of the great eagles circling from above. Some dove and swooped, clawing at the goblins and wargs.

As you turned around to run, a stray goblin, half on fire and crawling on the ground, grabbed your leg and slashed at you with his jagged knife. You stumbled to the ground and suddenly it was on top of you with its blade raised.

“You’ll pay for this, witch!” It screamed.

At that moment, a great eagle swooped and easily plucked up the goblin, carried him several hundred feet into the air and dropped him off the cliff to his death. You sucked in a long and uneven breath, stumbling to your feet and limping through the trees. At the wizards command, the dwarves had begun to drop from the trees they had climbed, to be carried away by the eagles. There were only a few of them left now and you knew you needed to hurry.

Reaching the edge, you looked down the several hundred foot drop off the mountain. You took in a shaky breath, praying to any gods listening that something would catch you, and jumped.

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

After what seemed like hours, the great eagles deposited you and the dwarves onto a great Carrock. You slid off the eagle that had carried you and stumbled a bit on the uneven rock beneath your feet.

When the two younger dwarves arrived, the blond one walked right up to you and snatched his sword from your grip with a slightly disgruntled look on his bearded face. You were too dazed and weak to protest, all of your energy now going into keeping yourself upright and standing. You looked around at the horizon lethargically, taking a step forward. Turning around again, the blond dwarf was now looking a bit worried and tentatively reached for you, perhaps to steady you. Your brain started to go fuzzy and your vision darkened. There was a sharp pain in your abdomen that you hadn’t noticed before, probably due to the adrenaline coursing through your veins. The pain felt like it was spreading up and through your fingertips, and you noticed that the magic you had used before had all but dissipated. You barely saw the other dwarves jumping onto the rock from their eagles, but they were giving you strange looks and you wanted to tell them to stop looking at you like that.

You started to stumble and fell hard onto the rocky ground, landing on your side. You heard someone curse in a foreign language from above you and yell for someone called, ‘Oin.’ But they were so very far away, and you just wanted to sleep now. The last thing you saw before everything went dark was a golden braid with a hand carved bead woven into it, dangling from a handsome face, and your own hand, reaching out to touch him.

[ashabellq]

Bir kez daha yürüyorum. Kaldırım taşları bile ağıt yakıyor artık bana, öyle ki sert vuruyorum ayaklarımı. Üzülüyorum işte, kırgınlık mı bilmem ama sana kırıldığım için de üzülüyorum. O, sensin çünkü, kimsenin ulaşamayacağı o yerdesin. Ben kimim ki sana kırılayım, küseyim, arkamı döneyim? Benim kırgınlığım kendime.

[breakerofhalos]

J.R.R. Tolkien’s concept of “secondary creation” represents a prefiguring, and perhaps inspiration to Chaos Magick, and also a form of Catholic syncretism that echoes the protestations of Elizabethan mages such as John Dee. In this sense he represents a touchstone to pre-Stuart understanding of magic as being a domain of theology rather than wholly oppositional.

One could also argue that this makes Tengwar a sigil alphabet in a A.O. Spare sense. In this essay I will…

[fru1t--bat]

Some things I'm interested in because I need relatable mutuals..

Reminder, I also am like a minor, so if you're an adult please be careful 😇😇

Cowboys

RDR1 & RDR2

Arthur Morgan

The wild west

The Victorian era

Pretty much the whole 19th century

Appalachian folklore

LOTR, and like all of the Tolkien universe

Skyrim

Music, folk, bluegrass, country, Appalachian mountain music

Writing

Art

I love learning about occult and witchy stuff

Banjo, guitar and bass

Elves

Vampires

Bg3

The phantom of the opera

Like anything fantasy or mystical

Books

[donutsdiah]

Yinerva: The Lake of Life

Hi I just publish my fantasy novel on Wattpad! The story is about a daughter of a witch who never want to be like her mother. She wants to use her spell and potion to help people, but could she?

This novel contains Norse mythology creatures such as elves, orcs and dwarfs but the main character is a human. I'm so sorry if you find any grammatical mistakes, but I do make sure to make it as beautiful as possible I can do. Interested?

🪄Read now here🪄

Also I update this every Tuesday so stay tune and see you in the comment section 🧹✨

[troldrik]

introduction post ‹𝟹 🌱

my name is rian, im 19 and im from denmark ^-^

my pronouns are they/them and he/him

im a scorpio sun, leo moon, and virgo rising

infp

autistic and celiac

im a writer, a witch, and a person with too many interests to count

i crochet

my favorite animals are sharks and orcas, and foxes

if you wanna talk to me DO IT im slow at replying but i want to talk i swear

i yap about..:

Mostly kpop at this point tbh

My ult is Ateez (bias Mingi, Yeosang)

Tomorrow x Together (bias Beomgyu/Hueningkai)

Cravity (bias Woobin, Allen, Wonjin)

Seventeen (bias DK)

F1 (Ferrari enthusiast)

Percy Jackson

Marvel (X-men and spider-man specifically)

The Moomins

BBC Merlin

The Witcher

Tolkien

Narnia

Monster High

DNI

none pretty much

under 16, over 25

don't be a dick ?

dicks will be blocked

[nerdy-grimiore]

. : Correspondences - Samwise Gamgee : .

Element: Earth

Epithets: The Gardener, The Friendly one, The Ring-bearer’s Accomplice

Imagery/Symbolism: Plants, Flowers, Woodland animals, Mushrooms, Fae symbolism, Grassland symbolism

Crystals: Emerald, Fairy stones, Moss Agate, Fuchsite, Tree Agate, Fluorite

Colours: Green, Orange

Tarot Card: Page of Pentacles, Page of Cups

Scents: Pine, Carnations, Honeysuckle, Passionflower, Strawberry, Tangerine

Numerology: 4, 6, and 3

Herbs: Peppermint, Chamomile, Lavender, Thyme, Orange, Allspice

Offerings: Flowers, Plants, Foods you’ve made for him, Herbal teas, Fruit, Crafts you’ve made for him

Devotional acts: Show kindness to your local environment, Do crafts, Learn Herbalism, Start a garden, Show kindness to your local fauna, Honour him, Frodo, and the fellowship

What to work with him on:

Herbal magic

Healing

Cultivating prosperity

Cultivating creative Inspiration

[cursecuelebre]

Top Recommendations for Norse Pagans that aren’t Problematic.

There is a lot of books by people who are racist and part of far right side of Heathenry and I’m going to try my best and list the books I have that helped me on my path that isn’t problematic and have questionable intentions. Books and YouTube channels.

Anglo Saxon Socerery and Magic by Alaric Albertson. He is very knowledgeable in his work and path especially on runes which includes the rune poem to make your own interpretation and witchcraft side of things. He even talks about the Elves which I appreciate because not a lot of Norse authors talk about them. It’s more Germanic than Norse but I can’t see any problem adopting certain aspects since they are very similar. I will say he does take himself a bit serious at times but his information is so good and worthwhile. I have not read his first book on Travels through middle earth but it focus on more the pagan side.

Poetic Edda and Prose Edda: it’s what every Norse pagan needs. It’s the foundation of Norse paganism not bibles but myths and tales that can help along our journey. There is tons of translations, but my favorites are Dr. Jackson Crawford Poetic Edda and Anthony Fawkes Prose Edda. But look into other sagas as well like Volsung which Dr Jackson Crawford also wrote about.

Beowulf. More of a Germanic tale but again includes it has roots of Germanic sorcery, traditions, religion like the concept of Wyrd (Fate), the runes, and values within his society like loyalty and mythical creatures. Again there is many translations even Jrr Tolkien did a incompleted version of Beowulf but I think Tom Shippey finished that version I could be wrong. Nonetheless explore more than one, the oneI have is by Seamus Heaney.

Grimm Fairy Tales this mostly German Folklore but it’s still quite important to learn about in German folk magic, creatures and entities in German folklore tends to be very real to the practitioner in their spellwork.

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith a very progressive outlook in Norse paganism, he talks about creating communities in Norse paganism and calling out and denouncing Nazis in the community how Norse Paganism is inclusive and how to be open to all types of people. But he has a beginner approach to the deities, beliefs, values within Norse paganism.

Look into a lot of academic sources that’s where you will find a lot of information on Norse paganism and religions.

Tacitus Germania - A Roman historian talking about the Germanic tribes their culture and customs.

Saxo Grammaticus history of the Danes

The Viking Way by Neil Price it goes good in depths about magic in Scandinavia like Seidh

Dictionary of Norse Mythology a quick guide to northern myths, if you are trying to find a specific god and you don’t have time to look up in a book it’s in there with great information to each one.

Children of Ask and Elm: History of Vikings by Neil Price on Scandinavian culture during the Viking age

Some YouTube Channels

The Norse Witch: Bente lives in Germany and their channel encompasses all of Norse paganism more around magic. They do interviews with other Norse witches of folk magic like Icelandic and Danish. Even gives good book recommendations and advice on general spellwork as well!.

Dr Jackson Crawford he is an author but he also has a YouTube channel. He was a professor in Colorado on Norse culture, mythology, and language and now is a full time YouTuber. He did a series of videos on the runes which are more historically accurate. Discusses the myths and the language and what do they mean. Jackson Crawford isn’t a Norse pagan nor he doesn’t care if you are one but just letting you know he isn’t coming from a pagan perspective.

The Welsh Viking also like Jackson Crawford but still has really great knowledge on Viking culture.

De Spökenkyker who is a channel that focus on German Folk magic living in Germany who is a practicing German Folk Witch.

Please feel free to add on any recommendations that are helpful and useful to the Norse pagan Community!

[outofangband]

Textual significance of Morwen being accused of witchcraft

Aka the essay draft I’m posting earlier than I should be because I wanted to post this on my birthday

my tag for this topic is word ran among them where there are way too many posts. I’ve written at length about the implications in universe and real life connotations but here are some thoughts on why Tolkien chose to include this detail in The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin

This is my first draft of this, written as bullet points. I’m going to make a more essay style version with more sources. Pretty much all of these I have posts about, and as I said, I’m very fixated on this topic so I’m definitely looking forward to elaborating a lot of this

I actually have studied the history of witchcraft accusations and their sociopolitical contexts for years and I’m so happy it’s going to such great cause :/

cw: discussion of misogyny both in universe and historical

It’s also worth mentioning that while these accusations didn’t exist in the very first drafts of The Children of Húrin, such as the book of lost tales version, they exist in pretty much every version that Morwen herself exists in as Morwen (that is, not in the book of lost tales versions or versions of The Lay where her name is different)

-It makes Morwen’s situation precarious when her survival is needed for the plot and the doom; she’s hated and feared and shunned but not directly attacked due to that fear. She’s alive but in danger, poverty and isolation.

It also puts the reader in fear for her. Good things do not happen to women who are accused of witchcraft

Witch hunts and witch trials are events that bring cruelty, paranoia and betrayal. The invoking of this adds to the bleak atmosphere of post Nírnaeth Hithlum. The phrasing, “word among them” or rumor ran among them, depending on the version , adds to this atmosphere of paranoia and whispers, and not knowing who to trust.

-It highlights the regressive beliefs of her accusers*. and emphasizes certain aspects of Morwen’s character. Morwen is very clearly not a witch. She is however a severe and intelligent woman who canonically challenges the men around her.

She’s also presumed to be a widow. Historically, especially when women were thought to be the property of their husbands, it has often been unmarried women and widows who were persecuted as witches*

The exact reasons given in the text are somewhat vague. “But so great was the beauty and majesty of the Lady of Dor-lómin that the incomers were afraid and whispered among themselves that she was perilous and a witch skilled in magic”, “proud and fair as a queen she was…Witchwife they called her and shunned her”. These descriptions alongside other descriptions of Morwen’s personality and countenance can easily track with commonalities among women who have historically been accused; she is fiercely independent, blunt in her words and proud.

“These were women given to speaking out, to a bold tongue and independent spirit. It is no surprise that such unwelcome, even feared speech, could be mistaken for wicked enchantment”Mona Chollet wrote in a recent nonfiction book on the history and legacy of witch hunts.

-Morwen specifically being related to the elves (“he had thought that he looked in the fell eyes of an elf”, “word ran among them that she was perilous and a witch who had dealings with the elves”, “Witchwife it is but elf friend in the new language”) also is used to show how deeply Melkor has managed to turn human and elven populations against each other

I cannot say if Tolkien intended this but this aspect mirrors a common theme in witch hunts historically. I talked about this before but many if not most accused women were accused of either obtaining their alleged powers through communion with non humans or otherwise engaged with them.

I have…way too many posts about this specific connection

-I also definitely want to do more about what exactly the lore is for witches in first age Beleriand, what it’s believed they are and what it’s believed they can do

-Morwen being feared by the occupiers mean that she is largely left alone by them. She’s still suffering, we know there were times that she and Niënor nearly starved, and its implied she faces harassment and intimidation but despite the doom on Húrin’s family, she is able to resist being driven from Hithlum for decades.

Morgoth canonically sews dissent, mistrust and prejudice. The prejudice of the occupiers here has the potential to interfere with Morgoth wanting to use Húrin’s family to hurt him. This fits neatly into Tolkien’s themes of evil hindering itself.

-It highlights her as a cultural outsider. It is specifically Morwen, a refugee and exile who is accused of having sinister powers and alliances with an enemy. I think this is especially interesting because, in the earlier version of The Children of Húrin, the occupiers were comprised largely of men from Hithlum

-It adds to the power of her character and makes parallels with other confrontations and struggles with villains that members of her family have. It’s easy to parallel for example the lines about Húrin not being daunted by Morgoth’s eyes or Niënor staring down Glaurung with the encounter between Morwen and Brodda. And while it is true that he might not be quite as powerful or dangerous as Morgoth or Glaurung, if he kills or hurts her, she’s going to be just as dead or traumatized as she would be if he were a god or dragon. Her courage is extraordinarily powerful and harrowing. Does this make sense?

Anyways happy birthday to me, thank you for reading all of this and for your patience with my rambling which I have done so much of on this topic and will continue to do more of

End note: I wanted to add another note about how the position Morwen is in can also be used to show Aerin’s bravery in helping her; Aerin takes great risks to help her people and the danger she faces for her aid to Morwen is even more extreme; she faces extreme physical abuse for it. But I have several posts about this already and I think it deserves its own post

Sources

Fearless Wives and Frightened Shrews: The Construction of the Witch in Early Modern Germany

Mona Chalet, Stacy Schift

[greater-than-the-sword]

"General magic concepts can be filed under "how this world works" aka. "natural law" or "a metaphor for other (non-demonic) spiritual concepts". After all, fictional worlds don't have to work the same way as real ones."

Think of magic this way as basically a fancy form of electricity. It's not communing with spirits, it's just a natural force.

Meanwhile, real witchcraft and sorcery tend to be making deals with other powerful beings in exchange for more power, immortality, raising the dead etc. It's communicating with things more powerful than yourself to gain more power. Or even directly harming or destroying others for more power. Always at a price (one you don't comprehend at the time).

"A fancy form of electricity" is ONE way to present fictional magic, but it is NOT the form I favor, because any book where magic is only that; is actually just prettier science fiction.

Look at Tolkien's books. Is the magic in Lord of the Rings only a fancy form of electricity? Well, no, it is not.

Now, Tolkien does not explain this in Lord of the Rings, preferring to leave it mysterious. However, the elves' "magic" (which they do not think of as magic) is actually based on the power of their spirit or "fea". So, when Luthien grows her hair by dozens of feet in a single night, she is doing this by the power of her fea due to the fact that she is being a higher order of being (essentially a demigoddess) that has the ability to exert some innate willpower over its own physical appearance.

In Tolkien, every character with an elvish bloodline has this fea power by some degree, however small, which is why Aragorn has supernatural healing powers and why a being like Sauron was able to use his corrupted archangel like fea to forge the One Ring.

But more importantly, what do these things *symbolize* in the narrative? The ability for elves to use their fea in this way symbolizes humans' ability to create in imitation of the creator God.

The One Ring serves as a character in the narrative due to being basically an extension of Sauron's will. It does not operate on any specific science like principles.

Gandalf's magic is not rooted in electricity-like power levels, but his angelic status and the power of his fea as relative to other beings and the purpose and mission he was sent to achieve in Middle Earth.

Consider other series with magic in them. In Peter Pan, Tinker Bell's pixie dust makes people fly because she represents the imagination of childhood (and childishness sometimes) and because imagination can make you metaphorically fly, not because pixie dust has scientifically measurable lifting power.

And so on, and so forth.

[elluendifad]

Earenya meditation and offering

Below is a long transcript of a weekday observation for tolkien elven religion <3 Thursday is Earenya, the day of waters and the three Valar associated with water.. It is a day of the external waters of the world (Lord Ulmo), and the internal waters of our hearts (Lord Nienna) and our bodies (Este.) These three Valar are communed with, worshiped, or worked with on this day. My practice every single day is to give a potion offering to the Valar of the day and meditate on their place in my life. Sometimes the moon phase or month changes how specifically i focus on this practice.

Starting out with seven minutes of silent sitting with this drone in the background, just breathing and feeling the flame of my fëa, the light of the flame imperishable in the world around me. Slowly, the boundaries between my ideas of things and the reality of them goes fuzzy and soft.

Then, prepping my offering for today. Just clean drinking water with a little potion of powdered lion's mane, rhodiola, and orange, then tincture of mullein. Stirred while admiring the swirl of the water counterclockwise, opening the nets of my body and heart to release what it has caught over time.

I stand and sing lindë elenlotë using my finger to mark the points of the star flower: like a clock, 4-- Elenya, 8-- anarya, 2-- isilya, 7-- alduya, 12-- menelya, 5-- earenya (today! the warmth of Ulmo's joy washes over me), 10-- valanya, and back to 4-- arda.

I then face the directions and intone them one at a time: East, Rómen. (also 12 on the star: menelya, the day and direction of Varda and Manwe) Downward, Undo. (5 on the star: Earenya, day and direction of Ulmo and Nienna) North, Formen. (10 on the star: Valanya, day and direction of Tulkas and Vána (though valanya is day of all valar, not just those two.)) Within, Enda. (4 on the star: Elenya--day of Varda and all elves, but direction of Orome and Nessa) West, Númen. (8 on the star: Anarya, day of the sun and fiery valar, but direction of Namo and Vaire.) Above, Vilya. (2 on the star: Isilya, day of the moon and cool/silvery valar, but direction of Este and Irmo.) South, Hyarmen. (7 on the star: Alduya, day of the two trees and day and direction of Yavanna and Aule.) facing same direction, intoning Illúve for the illumination of Eru we all share.

Because today is Earenya, day of waters, day of Ulmo, Nienna, and Este, I crouch and set my offering down and put both palms on the floor to either side of it.

"Hail Ulmo, lord of all waters in the world, whose waves carry the sound of the original song of creation and stretch over all the width and depths of the world. You touch my life at every possible layer and support me in ways i cannot fully know. Thank you, for your joy in the creation, for staying with my people in all forms of exile, for your warnings and protections. Enjoy the fruits of my cup, which are your fruits--this clean water is your gift to me. My joys are your joys, and my sorrows are your sorrows.

"Hail Nienna, Fui, whose heart stretches across all darkness and all time, to every wound and uncertainty. Thank you for the cleansing process of grief, the waxing and waning of suffering that lets wisdom grow. Thank you for your constancy in my life and the depths of compassion you enable in my heart. Take the fruits of my cup, the waters of my tears and my labors. My joys are your joys, my sorrows are your sorrows."

I then stood with the cup and lifted it upward, Vilya, the direction of Este and Irmo.

"Hail Este, who teaches me my trade and has designed so many wondrous plants in communion with other Valar. Thank you for your kind attention to our bodies and their capacity to heal, and for the wide interwoven web of plants and other life that can heal and feed one another. The fruits of my cup are absolutely yours, the fruit of my learning herbalism, which could not be without your constant inspiration and remonstrations. My joys are your joys, and my sorrows are your sorrows."

I then faced south and held my cup outward.

"Hail Lord Yavanna, giver of all fruits and maker of life: this is your month, Yavannie, the month of final harvest. This time is rich with food and light, though soon it will wane and fade. Thank you for the cycle of life and death that feeds and makes food of all. My cup is your cup, my joys are your joys, and my sorrows are your sorrows.

I sat a while with the cup to my chest, breathing in joy in the light of our flaming souls, and then drank the offering after the Valar had their time to enjoy it.

This was crossposted a couple of places including cohost.