#witchy musings

[divine-crows]

Would people be cool with me sharing my astral/hedge work travels? Is that a thing that's acceptable to share???

[liminalwings]

Sometimes I poke my head into the pop culture magic tags and see if there’s anything for the two pieces of media I occasionally feel a ‘ping’ for working with and there’s very little (Black Jewels ‘Trilogy’) or none (Melanie Rawn’s Dragon Prince series, particularly the Sunrunners). Ah well. 

[blakegatomon]

Imbolc musings

In an effort to be better about celebrating the old holidays this year, I have spent a chunk of today planting seeds for herbs and veggies, as well as enlisting my toddlers help in filling in some holes our dog made in the backyard. It's no complicated ritual, but it's enough. I already feel more centered than I have in months. I simply don't have time for complicated things anymore...but celebrations don't have to be complicated. On Ostara, I will hopefully harvest what I planted and plant something new. Or maybe I will teach my toddler how to dye eggs. I may not be able to celebrate the day of either, and I have made my peace with that. But adding s.all things to the routine is helping, and I hope this year stays as positive as its started.

[marzipanandminutiae]

wanting to talk about having a different Millennial Teen experience than the former "popular kids" who make all the nostalgia tiktoks, but not wanting to sound NLOG-y about it because you're 30 and you realize that Different doesn't mean Better

[musingmelsuinesmelancholy]

4, 8, 12 for the december ask game

4) Do you have any favorite holiday foods? What magical correspondences do you assign to them? LOBSTER STEW LOBSTER STEW LOBSTER STEW. very fond of orange zest French toast, my father made this every Xmas morning, and homemade gingerbread. I don't really have any magical associations with those foods.

8) What Spirits or Deities reign over this time of year in your practice? Can you tell us about them? Mary, Eve (as first mother) St Bride (as midwife to Mary) St Columba of Sens. Female Ancestors. The dead in general. Epona, Cernunnos, Maponos, Matronae as divine ancestors, Sucellos and Nantoseulta as underworld gods, Rosmerta as a goddess of prophecy. The Devil; I've come to understand the days before feast days as important times for him. December is, for me, a time to honor female ancestors (beloved and mighty) as well as to engage with prophecy/divination. So Eve, Mary and St Bride are celebrated this month. St Columba's feast day is Dec 31st. Shes a very interesting saint. French and Spanish, would've been alive when it was Gaul/Gallica. Virgin martyr survived being sold to a brothel via an attack bear, then survived burning via miraculous rain and then was beheaded. Saint of witches, hags, sorcerers, rain and I believe protection from fire. Epona leads the hunt searching for Maponos, Cernnunos is another candidate for both the leader of the hunt and Dis Pater as well as lord of the dead- possibly. Sucellos means good striker and he could also maybe fill the role of Dis Pater and/or lord of the land of the dead, so I find this time of year fitting to honor him as a god that creates and upholds the boundaries (I understand this as a very liminal weird [wyrd] time). Nantoseulta is his consort. This is very much a time of the dead, the underworld and the hunt for me. Interested in getting to know Folhmault more as I believe it rises around the solstice, would've risen two days before my birth.

12) What do you do to rest in your practice? Do you take time off from spiritual matters, meditate or take care of your spiritual self in some way? to prevent exhaustion and burnout for example? This is a heightened time of spirit contact for me, so it can be busy! However as my foremothers are so important rn I am able to seek rest, solace, guidance and wisdom in them. I like planning my focus for the coming year this month as well, prevents me from feeling anxious and rushed when the time comes to do the thing. I do have a meditation routine and I am, very slowly, developing a religious routine. Both these things grant me peace. I dont take time off per sey as I do not see a separation of the witch from the ginger gremlin.

[buggedboi]

Personal goals be damned, we can't materialise individualism in this climate emergency, what future does a goal under capitalism even look like? Cultivating a community that truly roots for each other, cares for each other, provides mutual aid and support and demands what we need from our governments and local councils as a powerhouse, or indeed, reject that nonsense entirely.

It is possible, despite what we have been forced to believe. Hope is within us, there are enough people who want and desire the world you envision - we are here. We just need to come together and share the hope

[sourdoughservitor]

oops I disappeared!!!! I'm trying to be back!!!

I decided to bind my own grimoire, that I would have a greater connection to it than simply to a pre-made journal. Here are some pics!

I've kinda gotten into bookbinding in general now lol. eventually I want to make my own bookcloth but for this I actually used wallpaper from a discarded wallpaper sample book! Yay garbagecraft 🗑 ✨️

[harleyquinnzelz]

Character Poster - 'Minxie the Cat'

"It's supposed to be good luck, you know." Monkey D. Luffy looked up as the young woman approached, though her gaze was set ahead, taking in the sight of the sea. Zoro lingered close behind, keeping a close eye on Minxie as she leaned dangerously far over the railing, enjoying the way the ocean breeze felt on her face. "What is?" Luffy asked curiously. Minxie finally turned her attention fully onto the straw hat pirate, lips quirked up into a mischievous smile. "Having a cat on board, of course." A wide smile split across Luffy's face as he regarded the young woman. "Is that true?" He asked, looking to Zoro and Nami. Zoro simply shrugged his shoulders, gesturing to Minxie. "She would know," he said. From behind him, Nami rolled her eyes. Still smiling, Luffy turned back to Minxie once more. "You'll be the crew's good luck charm then," he announced. "And with you with us, we'll definitely get to the Grand Line and find the One Piece!" He threw his arms into the air with a loud whoop. Minxie smiled softly, exchanging a look with Zoro who didn't seem quite as amused at Luffy's excitement as she was before turning her gaze back over the expanse of the ocean once more.

inspired by this edit

tagging: @allaboutocs @ocappreciation @decennia @nejires-hado @mystic-scripture @margoshansons @bravelittleflower @ocs-supporting-ocs @hiddenqveendom @susiesamurai @elmunson @starcrossedjedis @jvstjewels @foxesandmagic @arrthurpendragon @villain-connoisseur @asirensrage @eddiemunscns @emilykaldwen @stanshollaand @endless-oc-creations

[smileflowcr]

Jun Soohyun, 22 años, 01/03/2002, piscis, estudiante de artes.

[runes-and-bones]

i finished reading witchcraft and magic in 16th and 17th century europe the other day, and my opinion did a complete 180° during the course of the read.

initially, i was chugging along and interested in the history of the witch trials from an academic perspective (as opposed to reading about it in witchy books that are notorious for being full of shit). i was glad to see the takedown of murray's witch cult and the acknowledgement that most of the people who were punished for witchcraft were actually christians, not the secret ancient pagan cult that totally existed, you guys!

but he completely lost me when he tried to deny that misogyny was a motivator in at least some (if not most) of the witch trials.

there was a passage about halfway through where he said (paraphrasing) that misogyny was unlikely because women and children made accusations of witchcraft as well. completely ignoring the fact that women absolutely can be misogynistic and children can learn those behaviors as well...

it's already wild to me that he would deny misogyny as a motive in the first place because we still have access to texts like the malleus maleficarum, which is brimming with misogynistic horseshit. he even acknowledges the malleus maleficarum in this work, but downplays its role.

the part of this work that thoroughly soured my opinion of it was toward the end though. this is what he had to say:

"But there is a distinction between hating women and having a poor opinion of them, and while the lowly reputation they enjoyed may have made it easier for women to be suspected of witchcraft, it is not quite so clear that misogyny proper had much responsibility for witch prosecution."

excuse me? "the lowly reputation they enjoyed"? i really don't believe women were having a good time or benefiting from their "lowly reputation", actually. further, the above quote came directly after the following:

"A host of biblical passages proclaimed this message, summed up in the famous description of woman as 'the weaker vessel' (1 Peter 3:7). Aristotle, too, had held that women were inferior to men, blaming this on a defect in the process of their generation. It was even questioned by some writers whether women were really human beings, or whether they belonged to some lesser species."

so bro literally talked about historical prejudice against women, then denied that historical prejudice could have fueled the witch trials where women made up the majority of the victims??? bonkers behavior.

tl;dr

this read seems to give good information on what we know about who was being accused of witchcraft, where the myth of the demonic witch came from, how different countries dealt with their witchcraft scares, and how many people were actually accused/punished/murdered during these trials, among other things.

however, the author mucks it all up with his refusal to acknowledge misogyny as being part of the problem. (which also results in him stating that if you squint hard enough the persecutors were well-intentioned, aCKtuALly.)

(i should also mention i only had access to the 1st edition from the 80s. hopefully some of this was revisited in the 2nd edition, but idk since i don't have access to it. if there's anyone who has read the 2nd edition, i'd def like to hear if these sections were changed in any way.)

[ladyseidr]

@florietiae asked: ❝  i might need your help with this spell.  / sam @ jess! witchy power couple, witchy power couple ! ❞

"Sure thing. Two witches are better than one." A breath slipped past her lips, the hint of a laugh. "Imagine if I'd said that in front of Dean a couple of years ago. Do you remember the look on his face when I told him my grandmother was basically a witch?" A bit like Jessica had grown another head and one might need to come off. Not funny in the moment, but certainly in retrospect.

One last grind of mortar and pestle left the cedar ground fine, and Jess rose from her seat. She carried it over with a smile. "Here. Could always use the protection, right? So," she reached out to take Sam's hand, "everything's in place and cleansed. Do you just need my energy, or is this about to get complicated?"

[divine-crows]

Something I wish I was told as a beginner witch is that I don't nessicarily need to work with a familiar or guide in order to have a fulfilling magical journey.

I would always beat myself up, following any "meet your familiar!" tutorial I could, just to feel like I was somehow failing at being a witch because nothing really called to me or felt like it belonged to me.

So, as a moreso intermediate witch speaking to the masses- it's okay to not have a familiar, it's okay to not want one, it's okay to march to the beat of your own drum, it's okay to have other forces in your life guiding you instead (deities, ancestors, etc.).

Having a familiar or spirit guide doesn't define who you are. You define who you are. That's what makes you a witch.

[musings-on-wisteria]

Currently imagining a cleaning-product style commercial for different herbs and their magical uses.

“Cedar won’t just sweep away those pesky Bad Vibes, it both cleanses AND protects, to keep your home feeling blessed for longer!!”

and then there’s an animation of someone with a ponytail sweeping little dismayed ghosts around with cedar twigs

[ahogechef]

"Hee hee hee~! If you dare to visit this lovely witch for Halloween, then she may bestow upon you a lovely treat! Come to my lair if you dare~!"

( AKA a 🍬🍭Halloween-themed inbox call! 🍫🎃:3c Like this post and I'll throw Kaede into your inbox to give your muses some homemade treats~! )

[musingmelsuinesmelancholy]

1 for your ask game!

Hi! I’m assuming you mean the June ask game? Lmk if I’m mistaken :)

1) as a witch, somebody with a foot in each world, what anchors you?

Animism and having a very ‘normal’ non magical partner- he keeps me grounded haha. Animism reminds me that everything, from rock to tree to river to building has a spirit. Spirit doesn’t only exist in some far flung and immaterial way.

[guttingknots]

My vibe for summer