#wisewomen tradition

[magdalene-spirit]

Shaming is Control 🗡️

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—

When you are shamed

In front of others

Someone wants to control you

To take possession of your precious life-force

And direct it for you

To decide for you

Where it must go

Soon your innate creativity

And deep body wisdom

Will be collapsed

Next time your innate

Body wisdom ‘speaks’

Through the Mother Tongue

Of sensation

To warn you of danger

Around you in the intent of other people towards you

You can no longer hear Her voice

You have been shut down, numbed and collapsed by strategic, systemic shaming

You can no longer adequately respond to danger

And instead you override

Your knowing and push forward

Your boundaries have been violated

Now you can no longer tell

Where & who you are

You feel lost

You feel empty

You can’t feel your own

True vibration of being

Your inner warning system

Has been corrupted

Now your natural response

To avoid what is wrong for you

Can be medicalised

As social anxiety etc.

And you can get some pills

To push you forward

To deplete your inner life-force

To use your inner life force

Pursuing things that are not

Really true for you

That are not of the Soul

The Self within

You have been tricked

Into abandoning yourself

Into self-betrayal & self-sabotage

You have betrayed the true creative Soul life, to build the life, from the inside out that is true for you

#socialanxiety #shame #wisewomen #wisewoman #wisdom #bodywisdom #wisewomentradition #awarebody #bodyawareness #sophia

[wytchoftheways]

The moon is full! So naturally some oracular workings will be happening after the sun goes down. First I must cleanse and feed my tools, specifically my crystal ball since I tend to only use it during the full moon (for whatever reason) then its time for some divination! 𖤐

💫🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕💫✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

[templeofmaatknoxville]

WildWomen, WiseWomen & Witches - A new paradigm for Maiden, Mother & Crone

I run a small private group on FB with adjacent sites at IG & YouTube on the Feminine Divine - A safe space for women moving forward during a lot of cultural change. The following essay was written for my previous Patreon by the same name. I hope you enjoy

Maiden, Mother & Crone The times are changing… with the growing awareness of the spectrum that IS gender, the range and diversity of expression, the many colorful and unique voices that are part of our humanity, it is time to reevaluate in our ongoing effort to Restore the Goddess, some of the more traditional forms perhaps needing a bit of an update to evolve into a more inclusive and embraceable form of the Feminine Divine.

I have spoken to many women over the decades who have expressed great dissatisfaction with the Great Goddess archetypes of Maiden, Mother and Crone. From discussion on the fact that a Maiden does not mean virgin, to the ageism that is intrinsic in the form of the Crone to the feminist movements of the 70s that exalted the independent woman, not for her womb, but for her intelligence and power and to many other patriarchal nomenclature we can no longer embrace.

It might be a time for a deeper dive into this concept and new ways to embrace the concepts represented. For quite some time, I have chosen agrarian terms to express this 3-Fold Goddess… with the sprout of a plant being the maiden, the bloom or fruit of a plant being the mother and the seed itself, in the dark earth, the crone. This is a really lovely way to approach the energies of the Goddess, but more importantly, we must examine the various thresholds that are part of our feminine experience, expressed in divine form.

We are WildWomen, WiseWomen and Witches… Maiden: I think of the Maiden archetype as ripe with youth, empowered by passion and dancing precariously on a precipice of life & death… challenging mortality with an independent spirit, self-assured and maybe even cocky, with a deep connection to Nature that will remain throughout her days. She is like Diana of the Forest and a sister of the Dryads, fierce and untamed. She is a WildWoman, young and with lots of energy, driven by a rather naïve sentiment retained from childhood, but coming face to face with her own power…the New Witch just beginning to blossom on her path and deepen her connection with herself by connecting to nature. She is the seed of the WiseWoman and will hold fast all the experiences of this time in her life as they inform her future. If you are in the Maiden phase, how you relate to the Mother or Crone (Blossom and Seed, Young Woman and Mature Woman) will be different in these years… The Mature Woman will be a mother or a mentor and the Crone will be an elder who perhaps you have been taught to respect, or have chosen to honor because of a special connection, like a grandmother or teacher.

Mother Mother…We must never allow this role to be devalued. Being a Mother, bearing a child is a phenomenal and life-changing experience. As a single mom, I have great respect for the responsibility that comes with this and as the daughter of an amazingly spiritual woman, I am thankful for how I have been ‘mothered’, but just like me, my mother was a woman first. And not every woman chooses to be a mother. That does not make her any less of a woman. This is the one ‘concept’ within the 3-Fold Goddess that has become the most problematic, at least at this moment in time. How many young, fertile women hear “when are you going to have a kid”? OR “when are you going to settle down and start a family”. These are patriarchal remnants of a cultural fabric that is unravelling, so it is incumbent on us to weave a new and stronger tapestry that honors women as autonomous, unique and sacred beings.

So, how do we redesign? Blossom for Mother is a simple start, but let’s examine the period of life that Motherhood encompasses. I use the term ‘mature’ woman because she is no longer an ingenue’. She has experiences under her belt that make her wiser, more discerning, but perhaps not yet free or even finished with patterns and habits that inhibit her growth. She has greater resources, more refined desires and hopefully, a strong support system not only of family, but other strong and confident women. I think of Hera and Brigid, but also of figures like Mary Magdalene and the Goddess Sophia, perhaps the most supernal expression I know of Feminine Wisdom besides Shekinah.

The Mother is the ‘Presence’ of the Goddess, comprised of the experiences of her youth while shaping the events of her future, preparing for a time when life will slow down, her responsibilities will diminish and the body will need more rest. As someone who is knocking on the door of the Crone (delightfully so, I might add) how I now relate to those in their ‘Sprout’ or seedling phase as more than one generation removed, as the ‘younger generation’ to whom we must provide as much support as we can. As I leave this sense of ‘mother’ albeit raising my grandchild, I see more with the eyes of the Crone…

As a mature woman, I engage with the Goddess much differently than I did as a young woman. Then, she was the Great Mother Isis and the Independent Goddess Diana… I looked up to Her, sought Her guidance. Now, I think of Isis as my sister. It was actually a very natural development. When I work with Hekate, I go to Her Hearth, sit beside the fire for a spell and converse with Her as if She was my older and wiser sister….

Crone And now, when I work with the Crone, I see a true WiseWoman, shaped by her experiences and allowing life to flow gracefully and eternally, awakening to worlds not only beyond death, but beyond time, space, perspective…. The Crone is the Elder, the Sage, the Seer, the Shaman, the WiseWoman in the Woods. Her knowledge is buried deep in the earth, where the seed of ‘All-Potential’ lies dormant from one season to another, always part of the cycle… what must it be like beyond this dimension? Does the same cycle apply?

So The Great Goddess is all these things… She is Maiden, Mother, Crone, Daughter, Sister, Lover…. Provider, Savior, Destroyer…. I encourage you to start embracing a more inclusive paradigm, not just the politically correct terms, but the ones formed in compassion and empathy for all human life. That is why I chose Sprout, Blossom and Seed. My Blossom is fading, but the seeds that will result will help create a new generation of love and hope.

[melancholia-ennui]

What often gets lost in the modernist rhetoric we inherited from the Enlightenment is that actually things like medicine have always worked more or less the same way:

We try various cures to see what alleviates the symptoms.

If a cure works consistently enough (and doesn't kill the people using it quicker than environmental average), we pass that cure down to the next generation.

When we find patterns of similar symptoms with similar cures, we build myths and theories to explain why those cures tend to help those symptoms, and then we develop related cures for related symptoms on the basis of the similarities encoded in those myths and theories.

We've improved upon this method over the years in various ways - controlled trials are a lot better at determining what's helps with a given symptom than just trying various plants, ointments, and charms, for example - but in many ways the basic method is the same, there are still many areas where we either have no theory for why something works or we know our present theories are largely or partly wrong (many forms of antidepressant fall into this category), and there are also certain areas where our medicine has gotten worse, or at least, has not gotten better as it should have done, due to the hegemonic power and incentive structures which direct medical funding and research in our present society. (E.g. AFAB, trans, endosex, disabled, non-white, and otherwise marginalised bodies are often poorly understood and poorly treated by the medical establishment, and I struggle to believe this was as true, especially for AFAB people, in the days when most medicine outside of court physicians and battlefield medics was seen as 'women's work' and handled by village wisewomen, hedgewitches and other predominantly women-led healing professions.)

The long and the short of it is, people today aren't really any smarter than people have always been. We've accumulated a greater body of human extelligence, but we still ignore huge chunks of that body of knowledge (whether due to societal prejudices, the myth of progress, or some other self-inflicted barrier), and we often fail to make good use of even those bits we do pay attention to. The myth-making of mediæval alchemists and hedgewitches seems fanciful to us now, but anyone whose ever studied science and the philosophy of science to any kind of advanced level knows that while the myths we tell ourselves now may be more predictively powerful (in some or most cases), they're still not really 'true' in any strict sense of the word. And we can still learn a great deal by looking back at the traditions developed under different myth-structures, and trying to understand what worked, and how they worked, through our contemporary conceptual frameworks.

And speaking of scurvy, I am eternally amused by the thing where some ancient form of healing that was born in a time where people didn't know exactly how the human body works, or what causes it to stop working sometimes, that still somehow worked. Like how so many old folk medicinal plants were listed as a cure for various ailments that - from a modern view - are clearly just symptoms of scurvy, and the plant itself is rich in vitamin C.

I recall reading some story, no recollection of the exact time or place, where the king of a large empire suffered from constant horrible headaches and was incapable of falling asleep unless drugged or blackout drunk. Sick of taking temporary fixes to dull the pain and having to be sedated every night, he called up some old sage healer who was said to know how to fix things nobody else could explain, and the healer heard his symptoms and went

"Hmm. You spend too much time being a king. Your skull is packed so full of kingly thoughts that they don't all fit in there and that's why your head is in pain. You need to spend time not being a king." And prescribed him to schedule three days every month where he must go to a peasant village where nobody knows he's the king, live with a family there under a fake name and identity, work in the rice fields with them, eating the same food and sleeping on the same mats. Absolutely nobody is allowed to address him as the king, speak to him of any royal or political matters, and he himself is not allowed to think any kingly thoughts or think of himself as the king.

And naturally, this worked. Taking a regular scheduled break from a highly stressful office desk job to completely decompress, paired with physical exercise in the form of hard but simple physical labour, plain and simple food and Just Not Thinking About Your Fucking Job All The Time does help chronic stress, which here was worded as "spending too much time being a king clogs your brain."

Sometimes you do have ghosts in your blood, though I'm not entirely sure whether you should do cocaine about it.

[talldarkandroguesome]

4th of Morning Star, Middas

I do not know what happen. It did not work this time. Why did it not work?

I keep racking my brain to think of why it would not summon Leythen. I used all the same components, recited the same words, had the same intent. So why should it not have succeeded?

I keep thinking of the process. Did I do something different? Was I standing slightly in a different angle in the cardinal direction? Did I miscalculate north?

Honestly, how do wizards keep up with so many factors? I know I did it right. I checked everything at least three times, most closer to seven or eight times. There is no way I did that wrong. I used instruments to ensure I marked everything correctly.

The only possibility might be that it is something to do with the ingredients themselves? Could there be something about the strain of nirnroot or one of the other ingredients? Something in the way it was grown or the soil it drew nutrients from? Is the focus losing its strength? Was the offered libation not of sufficient fortification?

I will try again once we return to Morrowind. I am out of the proper incense anyhow. And perhaps with all the components the kind I know are used for such summonings, I will have greater success. Or any success.

I can also look at the literature on such rituals that is kept in the Temple library. Perhaps there are other ways, forgotten ancient methods, which will work better. I have the perfect excuse, as the keeper of the family crypt, to have an interest in such things. There is much I still have to learn about such magicka. I am new to it and if my attempts in other schools of magicka are any indication, I do not find particular ease in learning from traditional methods. Perhaps older types of magicka will be easier for me to learn.

If only I could ask Luayl for assistance. I cannot, of course, he is beholden to the House and might well have to share my interest, if nothing more substantial, with them. If only uncle Urnel were to learn about it, I should not care, but it is likely that other members of the Council might be far too interested in such knowledge.

There is the Farseer or other wisewomen of the Velothi I might ask if I cannot succeed on my own using the knowledge I find. It is an option.

For now, we continue to make the journey back to Morrowind. We have a large box of salted and dried fish for our cooks to make use of. And there are gifts for all the staff. There are also some for Mother, Father, and uncle Urnel. We have a few for those we wish to foster a good relationship with in the New Life, mostly political, but also friends. I sent off Fennorian’s package while still in The Reach. A few things for all of House Ravenwatch, but in particular, some of the alchemy reagents that the Reachmen so prize. I am sure that he will find ample use in them. For the Count, I found a particularly handsome broach, a sort of talisman, that I thought he might find interesting. It seemed to fit his aesthetic as I know it. If nothing else, its construction is of rather unusual materials and it is said to have some interesting properties.

Sildras picked out the gift for Gwendis, he was very insistent upon that. And he wrapped it up with a letter and would not allow me to see it. When I started to look for something for Adusa-Daro, he told me that he knew better what to get and insisted on doing the same as he had for Gwendis. I only hope the gifts are appropriate. If not, then that they were selected by a child will go a long way in insuring that it will not be of any offense.

Tel’s gift, as usual, had to be selected with much care. I gathered a set of painting pigments from western Skyrim, from The Reach, and from Black Marsh. I also found a small bound book of watercolors from Hissmir, mostly of the scenery, which I know Tel likes to paint. I hope it will be something that they will enjoy. I do not know if they have ever been to Black Marsh before, so perhaps it will be something new and exciting to inspire them.

We are back on the river boat now so at least I can try and get some rest. Avon tells met that I look as though I have put one foot in the grave with how little sleep I am getting. Leave it to your closest friend to know how best to insult you.

[witchfashion]

Historic Beginnings of Modern Witch Style

We all know the archetype and style of the witch woman today, but ever wondered where does it all stem from? Here are some facts behind the historic beginnings of witch style...

Earliest coned shaped hats were found in China. The remains of mummies found there were of sisters accused of practicing magic in Turfan between 4th and 2th century BCE. 

Witches of Subeshi - click here to check out the story and the pics of the mummies. Not for the faint of heart. 

In the Middle Ages in Europe people associated pointed hats with Jewish religion and... Satan. In Hungary for instance during the Witch Hunts, Jewish people were accused of practicing devil worship and magic, and were made to wear the horned skullcap. 

In America, the Quakers were accused by Puritans of being devil worshipers even though the Quaker styled hats back then didn’t match the accusations. 

In medieval Europe, women who brewed beer were considered and accused of being witches, and they actually did wear pointed hats similar to those we see today in media.

A 16th century English prophetess called Mother Shipton wore a tall, conical hat and gave out some surprising predictions regarding the arrival of the internet. Her real name was Ursula and she had a large, crooked nose, hunched back and twisted legs. Her mother had to give her up to the local family because she was completely alone and raised the girl in a cave of all places for two years before securing her a better place. 

Since people mocked her early on because of her appearance, she went back to the forest and near the cave where she was raised and got interested in observing and studying nature. She made remedies from herbs and plants, and later on realized she could predict the future. 

She is believed to have foretold the Black Death, the Great Fire of London, the defeat of the Spanish Armada and the end of the world. And the internet. 

“Around the world, men’s thoughts will fly. Quick as the twinkling of an eye.”

In parts of East Europe before Christianity took off there, the pagan Slavs used to consider female principle of creation and death as rather important. Over time, to end the reign of old Gods and Goddesses, fear based stories and specifically made religious propaganda of women being seduced by the devil turned things around. Back then and even today, women were often called to nurse the elderly or the dying. It didn’t take much to point and accuse the women of being the ones inflicting death itself though. 

According to History.com, the earliest depiction of a witch riding a broom dates to 1451 in the manuscript of a French poet by the name of Martin Le Franc. Two women with brooms are depicted as Waldensians who were a Christian sect that accepted women as priests and were thus in part branded as heretics by the Catholic church. 

A pagan fertility ritual among rural folk in Europe involved jumping over a stick or a broom and or dancing during full moon for the growth of their crops.

Another possible reason why witches were depicted flying with brooms were some historical findings which say that witches made herbal ointments and applied them to their intimate areas or skin to avoid getting an upset stomach and to get high from it. 

“ Priests frequently leveled accusations of sexual magic at European women. The penitential books refer often to love potions. [Rouche, 523] But sexual witchcraft went beyond those, or even the dreaded (and popular) impotence magic. Early medieval writers show that women were using herbal medicine and witchcraft to control their own fertility and childbearing. Bishops in France, Spain, Ireland, England and Germany enacted canons forbidding women to undertake means of controlling their own conception, herbal and ceremonial, as well as to end pregnancies or perform abortions. 

 Though the Church described them as sorceresses, the wisewomen, herbalists, midwives and elders belonged to a spiritual tradition rooted in the land. Mother Earth gave healing herbs that restored life to the body, balanced it, healed wounds or disease, promoted conception or prevented it. Women who desired children prayed to ancient goddesses and petitioned them at holy rocks and pools. These animist divinities were invoked in childbirth, to help the mother and strengthen the newborn, for knowledge about how to conceive and how to not conceive children. (Often they ended up transformed into Christian saints, allowing a seamless transition of their rites and symbols.) The pagans knew the cycles of life's renewal to be infinite, and appealed to the same deities in death.“ Suppressed Histories, by Max Dashu.

[willareece]

From the author of Wildwood Whispers comes a spellbinding novel of magic and self-discovery when a woman escapes her abusive husband and finds shelter in a magical orchard.

Virginia, 1969.

Rachel Smith has found peace in the Appalachian Mountains. Sequestered in Morgan’s Gap, an idyllic small town, her days are spent simply tending its lush apple orchard. She studiously avoids thinking about her past. If her dreams are haunted by memories of her violent husband and longing for the child she was forced to hide, that pain is borne away by fresh mountain air and apples that taste as sweet as honey.

But Rachel wasn’t meant to live in the shadows. When she dares to venture beyond the orchard, she discovers a tight-knit community of wisewomen who honor the old mountain traditions—those who stitch and stir, brew and tinker—where she learns to feel safe. A world of magic unfolds for her, a world filled with new friendships and possibly a new love.

Yet, Rachel’s past is creeping in. She must learn to harness the strength of the wildwood—and herself—to protect her newfound future and community before its torn apart.

[feministstruggle]

The Role of Patriarchal Religion in the Global Oppression of Women and Reclaiming the Sacred Feminine

Feminist Forum March 26th 11-1 PST on Zoom Get your tickets now on Eventbrite! Have you ever wondered why women have become so devalued and debased that we are degraded routinely as pornographic images, driven into prostitution, sold as property, coerced into child marriages, our bodies violated and mutilated, our right to bodily sovereignty and self-determination threatened or non-existent?  Has it always been this way?  Is prostitution “the oldest profession”?  Have we always been told we must be pure and virginal while men are allowed sexual license and even excused for rape?  Or have we been systematically groomed to be subservient and obedient, taught that our only choice is between Madonna or whore, that we are to blame for the “fall from grace”, intimidated and silenced by belief systems that teach us we are inferior, and punished severely when we defy these messages? Most people believe that there has always been patriarchy, that women have always been treated like sex objects and chattel, blamed for men’s violent behavior, disrespected, dispossessed, disregarded, and treated like lesser humans unworthy of equality since the dawn of time.  This is not the case.  Once there was a Goddess, and things were different. Join us for an examination of the role patriarchal religion has played, and continues to play, in the subjugation and oppression of the female sex.  As the U.S. veers toward becoming more and more a patriarchal theocracy, it is time that we gather our courage and finally look this beast in the eye.  And it is high time for women to reclaim our birthright:  the Mother Goddess.  Featured speakers: Max Dashu: 

Max Dashu founded the Suppressed Histories Archives in 1970 to research women’s heritages in the global cultural record and make them visible. She uses images to teach about matricultures, ceremony, medicine women, witches, female rebels and untamable women, as well as patriarchy, conquest, and systems of domination. She is the author of Witches and Pagans: Women in European Folk Religion, a forthcoming book on women in Hellenic mythography and patriarchy, and two videos: Women’s Power in Global Perspective, and Woman Shaman: the Ancients. Her current course is Matricultural Eyes via Teachable. See more photo essays at https://www.facebook.com/Suppressed-Histories-Archives-333661528320/photos Ava Park:

Ava cares about only one thing: nourishing the primal power of Woman to guide the world to goodness. Ava is the founder of The Museum of Woman, revealing the hidden history of Woman from the Paleolithic to the present through the stories and statues of Goddesses, Queens and Wisewomen; the founder of The Goddess Temple of Orange County, the women’s spiritual circle of The Museum of Woman; and the author of The Queen Teachings for Women with Ava, © helping women access their Four Powers of Woman, © Maiden, Mother, Queen and Wisewoman, with emphasis on the Powers of the Queen Archetype, the most denied, dismissed and demonized of the female archetypes. When the Queen shows up in Woman, patriarchy melts.  Enjoy her inspiring YouTube videos on her channels: Museum of Woman, Goddess Temple of Orange County and Queen Coach. Nina Paley: 

  Nina Paley is the creator of the award-winning animated musical feature films Sita Sings the Blues and Seder-Masochism.  Seder-Masochism is a film loosely following a traditional Passover Seder and events from the Book of Exodus, retold by Moses, Aharon, the Angel of Death, Jesus, and the director’s own father. But there’s another side to this story: that of the Goddess, humankind’s original deity. Seder-Masochism resurrects the Great Mother in a tragic struggle against the forces of Patriarchy.  She also has written a book, The Seder Masochism: A Haggadah and Anti-Haggadah.  Her newest project is Apocalypse Animated, illustrating the Book of Revelation. Ms. Paley has been deplatformed, banned, and blacklisted for saying penises are male. Carol A. Bouldin, LMFT Carol has worked in the mental health field with individuals, groups, and families in a variety of settings including inpatient, outpatient, corrections, substance abuse, and private practice, specializing in women abused as children. She is a longtime feminist and utilizes a feminist therapy approach in her work with women. Carol has done research on Christian orthodoxy, attitudes towards women, shame, and rightwing authoritarianism,and is interested in the psychological impact of patriarchal religion on women and girls. Role of Patriarchal Religion in the Global Oppression of Women Resource List Read the full article

[primitive-roots-conjure]

This amazing 1998 documentary shows how the Gullah descendants of Mende people from Sierra Leone preserved an old mourning song in the Georgia Sea Islands, in their ancestral language, though they no longer understood the words or the meaning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0OirdYGdlY&fbclid=IwAR0pswn-sXg7zmWZeoxPTjGAduYDoAhLnJBf9nBhY0HiSkk4j1tYSTHuPw8 In Harris Neck, in Georgia's coastal islands, in the 1930s, Lorenzo D. Turner recorded a 50-year-old woman singing. Her song preserved the longest known text in an African language in the North American diaspora. It was later recognized as Mende by a grad student from Sierra Leone, on the basis of a single word, kambei, which had funerary significance, and he published a translation of the song. The singer's grandmother had been born into slavery, a descendant of many West Africans trafficked to Georgia because of their expertise in rice cultivation. Slave traders paid a higher price for people with this skill, shipping captives from the rice-growing countries from Senegambia to Sierra Leone and Liberia. More than 45% of those trafficked to Savannah were taken from Sierra Leone, out of Bunce Island which was used as a holding area prior to the Middle Passage. The channels these Mende people dug for rice plantations still remain in Georgia. A group of Gullahs returned to Sierra Leone, and performed this melody for their African hosts. They discovered that one word, tombei, could be traced to a specific place. Anthropologists took recordings of the song around that region, and at first people recognized one or two words, but not the song. Cynthia Schmidt decided to try one more place, just outside the boundaries of the area they had searched in. To her amazement, people began to sing the song, which included the words “Everybody come together, the grave is restless, the grave is not yet at peace.” (starting around 15:25 in the video at link) #ancestors #ancestral #egun #egungun #elders #respect #tradition #bakulu #funeral #muertos #wisdom #wisewomen #spirituality #africantradition #keepthefaith https://www.instagram.com/p/B2lLgdFnEor/?igshid=1qyvt3aio0hjg

[shadg2k3]

A Brief History of Green Witchcraft

The practices of the modern green witch came from folk healers and practitioners of folk magic. The modern green witch finds their foremothers and forefathers in village herbalists, midwives, healers, wisewomen, and cunning-folk who performed particular services for their communities.

The jobs of these spiritual ancestors of the green witch usually included midwifery and preparation of the dead for burial, as well as the use of many plants to heal mind and body. These people possessed knowledge of both life and death. They knew what kinds of which flora could create both states of existence. These earlier green witches, while often respected, were more often feared or mistrusted because of the knowledge they held. They were often marginalized by their communities and lived alone or away from the social center of the community. Even today, society is often uncomfortable with those who possess knowledge not held by the common person.

It is also likely, however, that the spiritual ancestors of the modern green witch chose to live apart from the center of the community because it is harder to hear what nature has to communicate to you when you are surrounded by people. Being closer to the forests and fields made it easier for the cunning-folk to commune with the energies of the living world of green and to gather what they needed.

Practitioners of folk magic, those who live on the second branch of the green witch’s family tree, are not necessarily separate from the first. Sometimes the healers were also spellcasters who performed folk magic particular to the region (such as Pennsylvanian pow-wow), but more often they were just grandmothers who had a talent for ���fixing” things. Folk magic is composed of traditions and practices that have been handed down in a geographic or culturally specific area. It generally focuses on divination for love and marriage, agricultural success, and weather prediction.

Owen Davies, the author of the fascinating Cunning-Folk: Popular Magic in English History, explains that as opposed to being healers, cunning-folk originally dealt mainly with lifting bewitchments from people who believed themselves to be the victims of a curse or of some sort of spell. Witchcraft was the soil in which the careers of the cunning-folk grew; when popular belief in witchcraft ended, the roles of the cunning-folk ended as well.

[charlottedabookworm]

-

Nyx had never forgotten.

But he hadn’t always remembered.

-

They’d always been there - The Dreams. Every morning he’d wake up with shattered, disorganised images behind his eyes, some emotion - grief or loss or fear or, sometimes, rarely, joy or love - burning in his chest that he hadn’t understood. Not then.

He couldn’t remember a time without the dreams.

Just like he couldn’t remember the first time that he’d meet someone he didn’t know and his blood had pounded in his ears even as his heart whispered I know you.

He remembered when Selena was born, though. He remembered how he was so certain his mother would have a girl, even when the wisewomen were certain she was having another boy. He remembered feeling antsy the entire day, remembered the murmur in the back of his mind of lateshe’slatewhyisn’tshehere, remembered the way he’d relaxed when his mother had finally fallen into labour because this was right.

Remembered the way he’d cradled her to his chest and the tears that burned at his eyes and the hey ‘Lena that slipped from his tongue without thought.

It was the first time he’d realised something was wrong, the day his little sister was born (again, the day she was born again). When he’d looked up from the babe in his arms to the white faces of his mother and the midwives.

He’d known her name.

Nyx shouldn’t have, he hadn’t been told, his mother had only just decided, and he couldn’t have guessed; Hemera would have been the traditional name but that wasn’t what was chosen. It wasn’t what he said. He shouldn’t have known her name, but he had.

And that was the day he realised not everyone was like him, not everyone knew, not everyone had the Dreams.

He realised he was different when he was five years old, but he still didn’t remember.

Not then.

Not until he was 17, Selena’s screams still ringing in his ears, her body cradled in his arms as he begged her not to go, as he put pressure on gunshot wounds and blood flooded his hands, as he shook and sobbed and plead, as he apologised over and over and over- Nyx held his baby sister, watched her die in his arms (again, she was dying again) and then he remembered.

They weren’t dreams at all.

They were memories.

-

(Nyx had never forgotten.

It just took him 17 years to remember)

-

When Nyx Ulric was 32 years old, he failed. Again.

He failed his King, twice - the first time when he left the man to die, impaled upon a monsters sword, and the second when he’d failed at the last mission that King Regis had given him.

The second when he hesitated. 

Nyx hesitated and Glauca survived. Nyx hesitated and his best friend died. Nyx hesitated and the Oracle died. 

He was supposed to protect her and he-

He hesitated - blinded by pain, by fear, by cowardness, by the little voice in his ear that murmured that he should just give up - and Princess Lunafreya put on the Ring herself and she burned with it.

So did every daemon in the city.

It wasn’t enough.

(It was never enough for the Gods)

The Oracle was dead and the prophecy - a prophecy that wasn’t fully known, because those who knew the entirety had fallen - couldn't be fulfilled and it was Nyx’s fault.

He’d picked himself up and dragged himself to the little prince - to the King, to the son whose father Nyx had left to die - and he’d given him the Ring and it wasn’t enough.

The world was dying, and it was all because Nyx failed.

So they’d hatched a plan, the six of them.

I wish we could just go back and fix it all, they’d all whispered more than once in those days of darkness. I wish we could just go back, they’d joked, wry and tired and weary. I wish we could, they’d said, over and over and over, and then, one day, they’d stopped wishing.

Instead, they’d started thinking.

Time travel was supposed to be impossible, confined to sci-fi and fantasy and angry wishes, everyone said so.

But they weren’t ‘everyone’.

They were the Chosen King and his Shield, a mathematical genius and a brilliant strategist, a man who had survived two Kings and actual Immortals.

And then there was Nyx, son of a Priest of Ramuh. Nyx who was an Ulric.

Nyx who knew the entrances to the Ways.

Time travel didn’t seem so impossible when they put it all together, when they planned and planned and planned.

It was a fool's errand, they knew, but the end of the world made fools of them all.

They stepped past the Gate, wrapped in a King’s magic.

-

Nyx had never forgotten.

But he hadn’t always remembered.

He wasn’t the only one.

[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!

[templeofmaatknoxville]

The 5-Fold Kiss of the Goddess

From the now defunct Patreon: WildWomen, WiseWomen & Witches

One of the first works that influenced my path, and which I worked through faithfully for 2 seasonal cycles performing all the rituals with my teacher & magickal partner, was The Witches Bible by Janet and Stewart Farrar, British Traditional Witchcraft at its very beginnings. As part of the Wheel of the Year, as outlined in that book, we often performed the Great Rite as part of each sabbat.

Within that rite is something called the 5-Fold Kiss that the High Priest performs upon the naked body of the High Priestess. It begins with the High Priest kissing both feet of the High Priestess and saying, ‘Blessed are thy feet that have carried you on this path’, or something similar. The High Priestess performs the same ritual on the High Priest. Here is an accessible version to use as a reference. https://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos173.htm

In this more intimate version, WE are the Lover AND the Beloved. This is intentionally a very intimate ritual for you to perform, alone, in sacred space with a full-length mirror, if possible, to connect to the Goddess within and without. Allow yourself to grow deeper roots into the core of who you are as a divine woman and embodiment of the Feminine Divine.

If you have body issues, like me, this can be somewhat difficult to perform. When I was younger, I’m not sure I could have and done it with the freedom and authenticity that really makes it powerful. Now that I am older, I LOVE my body… it looks like the body of a woman! This ritual is very meaningful to me. I feel like it channels my inner Het-Heru (Hathor) and other Goddesses of Love & Beauty.

You can perform this as part of a ritual bath, in the privacy of your bedroom, or in a secluded place in Nature. It’s a rite that truly takes courage, because it connects to an acceptance we have often denied ourselves because of wounds to the feminine, and to the beauty and wholeness of the feminine form.

RITUAL Set up some music, preferably instrumental and atmospheric. The 852 Hz frequency is powerful in ritual of this nature. I like to have the steam going in the shower and place a little essential oil in a little spot in the shower. Have a few candles, enough lighting so you can see yourself well in the mirror. (And of course, safety first with your candles. Never leave unattended, especially if you have cats.)

Affirmations: Start with some affirmations, things you know it is important to say to yourself, like: You are powerful, “I believe in you!”, “You are the body of the Goddess!

5-Fold Kiss Begin with the feet. I kiss the tips of the fingers on both my hands, and reach down to touch my feet and say: “Blessed are these feet that keep me connected to Mother Earth”

Kiss your fingertips and place them on each knee, saying: “Blessed are these knees that have knelt in prayer to the Goddess of the Earth”

Kiss your fingertips and place them over your sacral chakra: “Blessed is the Divine Womb that has birthed the Arts of Life”

Kiss your fingertips and place them on your breasts: “Blessed are these breasts that have sustained life and love within their embrace”

And finally, hold your fingers to your lips: “Blessed are these lips that speak with reverence of the Goddess Within & Without”

You may choose to offer up a prayer of healing to your chosen Goddess or one you associate with healing. Sekhmet is a good energy for this type of work, as a netjert of healing, the WiseWoman. Then there is Lilith, who now represents the power of the feminine in this modern world, an independent and WildWoman, and of course, consider the Witch in all of us, gifted with our own medicines to share.

Radical Self-Acceptance - It is important to take some time to honor this body that has been the vehicle of expression for your soul, been the vehicle for your experience of the world around you and the life you have created. The more fulfilled you are, the more your world will fulfill you. As Within, So Without. As Above, So Below.

[forestandfjord]

The Sacred Scenes of Cræft | 2019 . Cræft, origin Old English, meaning 'power, force, strength, cunning of a skill', and the holistic wisdom connected to it. "A hand-eye-head-heart-body coordination that furnishes us with a meaningful understanding of the materiality of our world." - Alexander Langlands, from Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts. . "Attempts to trace [the word] witch to it's Indo-European roots have been inconclusive.. two separate roots have been reconstructed as *weik, meaning to bend, turn, move. From it came the Anglo-Saxon, wik-, meaning to bend, twine, twist and turn. The root associated with spinning, twining and plaiting. Women's cræft of spinning, weaving, plaiting, wickerwork and knitting reflected a central sacrament of tribal European religion. It was the image of the Fates' transformative power, under whatever names they were known... . In spinning and weaving and knitting, weirding women partook of the Fates' power to shape and transform reality. They were literally witches, bending and twining and binding the fibers of being." - Max Dashu, from Witches and Pagans . . #woolwitch #sacredarts #crafter #wool #sheep #wildwoman #witchcraft #theoldways #goddessworship #ancientcraft #storyasmedicine #winterwonderland #sharingalaska #thealaskalife #seasonspoetry #ancestors #spinning #wisewomen #handcrafts #wip https://www.instagram.com/p/BtjsrQjBAlH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qn9xdnuw5vth

[herbanwytch]

Yes. It happens just like that. This has been one of the blessings of this time of isolation. I have rediscovered hearth, relationship and myself in a way that I did not expect. I have learned to say “NO” to protect myself and my family in a way that I never knew I’d need to, and it feels so good. My space is sacred and I’m enjoying sharing it with only those who are caring for themselves as we have been caring for each other. I am learning to be comfortable taking that same “ No” out into the world and distancing even from friends without shame. I know others are choosing a different path, but this is mine and every step forward into it is a step that makes me stronger and more creative. It is the path of the Crone...a traditional and ancient path of power. A quieter activism than I am used to, but a fire that burns steadily without sputtering. I have spoken with many women my age who are experiencing something very similar and I am so grateful for it. Are you? #crone #witch #witchesofinstagram #tradionalherbalism #wisewomen #wisewomengathering #women #mothers (at The Herban Inn) https://www.instagram.com/p/CCD82oqJRuu/?igshid=ge7i3knr920a

[talldarkandroguesome]

17th of Last Seed, Morndas

Tel and I went to the Mages Guild so I could send messages to Plays-With-Fire, only to discover, he had come to Davon’s Watch! We brought him to The Watch House Tavern for a meal, drinks, and a chat.

I was honestly very excited to see him in person. I can trust that no one else is going to see the messages or change their meaning. In fact, he told me he had spoken with Mother directly. I was pleased to hear she is well. Father has apparently received some new honors for discovering, and by discovering I mean funding an expedition where others risk their lives to recover and bring back to him for credit, an ancient tome from the first era on the life of Saint Veloth after first coming to Morrowind. Apparently it is about early worship and life. He is claiming it will help to make the Tribunal Temple more adherent to the old ways. It was rather a surprise to hear him talk about returning to a tradition that certainly includes venerating those he calls Anticipations. Mother and I of course call them the True Tribunal, for that is what they are. But he has some strange notion that it will move people away from modern values that pollute tradition. Propaganda, more like.

I have heard from Avon about the Clan. Things are well. Qau-dar and the spouses sent me all sorts of sweet encouragements. Even Ko’Ahnni seemed worried on my behalf. I have promised to bring back sweets from my time away to make up for my absence. Sildras is growing and becoming more proficient in his studies, both with the wisewomen of the Clan and with Avon. Avon says he and S’Fair have been spending a lot of time together. I imagine it is lonely for Avon to have most of his company with a child. Not that it is not good for Sildras. But Sildras also spends more time with his peers now and that leaves Avon to his own mind. A dangerous place for a mer so cerebral to start.

After the meal we were invited back to the Mages Guild where Plays-With-Fire did some checking on how we were doing since having been in Coldharbor again. He assured us that we looked fine and then bid us adieu after taking messages for me. Tel had none to deliver apparently. I had hoped we could have shared more time, but he was recalled on a Guild matter.

Being that dusk was soon to settle on the town, I decided to fill our evening with some shopping to show Tel my apologies for what had come between us. As well as to get more tavern appropriate clothing. And, perhaps most importantly, to put Tel more at ease. I realize how long it has been since I made a proper offering to my Prince. I will need to do so before Uncle makes more demands of me. So making sure Tel is deep on my side is important.

Of course, Tel complained the whole time. They said they did not need to shop. Said their clothes were fine. Said they still had stuff from my last gifts. I would hear none of it. I dragged them along anyhow. At the end of the night we stayed at The Watch House. I wanted some pampering for Tel. Scented bath in room. Flowers on the bed. Oils and incense. Even a massage. Nothing to make Tel uncomfortable. Just to work the muscles.

Tomorrow I find a distraction and make my offering.