Witchy Wonderings

Hey! I'm Crow, I'm twenty and queer. I’m an empath, and my practice is eclectic. I’m happy to give free tarot readings! Just ask! I’m a Hellenic polytheist/pagan. I work with Zeus, Apollo, Hermes, and Dionysus. (Forest picture is by James Mills)

[vintagereject]

Artist's Sketch of a Swallow, Thebes, Egypt, ca. 1479-1458 B.C.

[evilios]

This is controversial to some for whatever reason, but Gods can and do lie. Any God, including Apollo, is capable of being dishonest and/or withhold the truth from you in casual conversation if They believe it’s best for you.

Pretty sure the only time a God is completely honest is when you personally agree on Them being so with you, or when you request a prophecy from one of the future-seeing Deities (Moros, Apollo, Jupiter). Prophecies can be twisted, unclear, but are never wrong unless the diviner misunderstood something.

Other than that, lying is a normal thing for a God to do.

Update: I do not support exclusion of Apollo from what I’ve enlisted. He’s not “purer” than any other God (and following Him doesn’t make you so). He’s also not the God of truth (aside from prophecies).

[cajunwitch101]

[crazycatsiren]

This is your daily reminder:

Your haunted doll is not evil. She is just bored.

If anybody says you're too old to play with dolls, send your haunted doll after them.

The demon you summoned approves of this message.

[khaire-traveler]

Sometimes the gods are loud, yelling with voices of crackling thunder and waves smashing against rocks. Their ear-splitting cries are heard for miles.

Sometimes the gods are quiet, whispering with voices of sunbeams through the window and honey dripping onto toast. Their pleas are muted, near silent.

Sometimes the gods don't speak at all, and no matter how you try, you cannot hear them - not in sunbeams or thunder or birds singing on the rooftops.

When the gods are silent, the world grows still. Motionless. Everyday bleeds into the next. A sense of heaviness grows in my chest with each day they've gone silent. Heavier and heavier - until I can no longer bear the weight.

[dessalines-raised-sword]

Revolutionary French Unions on a strike now???? Revolutionary French unions???? Where are my navel gazing western leftists at?????

[spectrumcore]

Undocumented workers speak out over ‘exploitation’ at Paris Olympics venues

Gaye Sarambounou is used to toiling long days for a pittance. He's a Malian living in France with no working papers, but it's a situation th

For three months Sarambounou, 41, worked between eight- and 11-hour shifts for 80 euros per day.

Obviously, "overtime was never paid," he said ruefully. 

"I accepted because I know my situation. If you don't have papers, you do all the hard work, all the crappy jobs. You have no choice," he said as he boiled water on a stove on the floor of the tiny room he shares with four compatriots.

"Everyone knows what's going on, but nobody talks about it", said a smiling Sarambounou, who was kicked off an Olympic building site last year after a raid by labour inspectors.

[maceofpentacles]

good morning!! happy ares day, make sure you blow him a kiss before you punch someone in the face today!!

[akindplace]

Crazyheadcomics

[headspace-hotel]

One of the folks in the group i'm facilitating/leading was like "I'm so glad the younger generation is starting to get into this stuff!" (meaning conservation and native plant gardening) and it really hit me how most people working in their local communities for environmentalist causes are older Gen Xers and up

There's a serious problem with Gen Z not knowing how to seek resources and groups and organizations that don't exist online, and that's most of them because they're being run by people with minimal internet literacy

On the other side, there's a problem with the people who are most knowledgeable and deeply involved not knowing how to reach numbers of people using the internet

But it is the first thing that worries me more

[grison-in-space]

Generationally, though--and this is something I have observed as a millennial doing a variety of kinds of organizing over the years--I don't know that younger people are necessarily all that better at knowing how to advertise their efforts online, either. Advertising and getting your message out there is a thing that takes skill and practice, and I suppose if there's one thing I could encourage would-be organizers to do, it's to practice trying to reach out to local communities using any avenue that you can think of.

Like: okay, if the local resources existed online, where would you-the-younger-person go looking for them? Would you know where to look? Would you know how to find online indexes? I'm bringing this up because I think that the framework of social media often encourages folks to passively react to things that wind up on our feeds (rather than actively searching for it or forming interactive relationships with people), and it's really hard to figure out how to use the Internet to bring local organizations through that kind of more passive, undirected stream.

I suppose I'm knee-jerk thinking in the vein of: how do unconnected people who want to be connected search? How actively are they taking a role, or are they sort of vaguely following social media posts about things and hovering fretfully on the edges of discussions? That's not to say that lurking isn't a valid way to engage with stuff, more that it can be hard to develop the skills to transition from passively consuming dialogue with folks online to actively organizing locally and connecting with other interested people. Those of us who are terminally online tend to be even shyer about that for a wide range of reasons. So... would creating more local online resources solve the problem, or is it more efficient to use other signpoint places like local libraries or the websites of local land extensions to point interested people to local information about land stewardship?

[thatdisasterauthor]

Gonna second @grison-in-space here a bit. Marketing is HARD. And it is even harder now today than it was even ten years ago. Why? Because marketing doesn't give two shits about people anymore. You're not trying to get people interested, you're trying to get computers interested and hoping some people also happen to get interested as a side effect of that. The "acceptable" return on investment for internet marketing has PLUMMETED over the last 10-15 years. And it was never all that great to begin with.

If you want to get people involved, you need to center your marketing back on people. Post in libraries. Organize events at schools. Partner with other organizations. Make friends with the Girl Scouts. Set up a table at the neighborhood BBQ.

[karrakazz]

something that rly creeps me out…..occasionally ill see videos or articles for christians or christian missionaries that say something like “what you need to do is make friends with non christians and really get them to trust you and THEN you start preaching to them and bringing them to jesus” and that is….man how much would it hurt to know that the only reason someone’s hanging out with you is to convert you to a religion you were never interested in. maybe this is a real friend, someone you really really feel like you connect to, and all of a sudden you cant hang out with them without being scared they’ll bring out the jesus stuff.

[karrakazz]

charlie youre blowing my third eye WIDE open

[libraryjournal]

[signal-failure]

Person with housemates can study.

Person who has spent all their cash on rent and food still has a place to get out of the house and do something interesting.

Cool community classes and community art shows.

ESL tutoring.

Tax prep and forms.

[talixagain]

tbh fuck anyone who says a single bad thing about libraries

[diplotomodon]

Not content I normally reblog but libraries are super important and our world would be diminished without them.

[smallswingshoes]

The library was how I was able to read so many books as a kid that my parents wouldn’t have been able to afford.

[insomination]

Libraries are one of the only places on Earth that treats people the same no matter how much money you have. We can’t lose that.

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

(mushroom haters look elsewhere)

what is lovelier than some lovely little buttons, all sauteed up in butter, dressed with salt and a dash of pepper?

i am having a mushroom moment

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

uh. doubtful?

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

oh also recipe tip - if you dont like the spongieness of most mushys but enjoy the scent/flavour, I'd recommend trying to get some oyster mushrooms, thinly slice em lengthwise, and fry em in butter, s&p.

They crispen up real nice so it sidesteps that whole squishy texture issue that lotsa folks have with mushrooms

also if anyone knows where i can fucken get another bag of DJ&A whole baked shittake mushrooms that doesn't require me to journey to a whole fucken costco about it... i would be VERY grateful

[briarpatch-kids]

I slice them and then let some of the water evaporate in the pan first before I add butter because mushroom texture REALLY squicks me out. It gives it a more meaty texture

You can also powder up dried mushrooms and stir them into whatever you're cooking to make your food more savory tasting and bulk it out without adding mushroom texture. Powder dried mushrooms though, don't buy mushroom powder, it has a lot of filler in it and costs like 10x as much as crushing a handful of dried whole mushrooms.

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

This is now the Mushroom Tips Post

Please post thine mushroom tips in the notes so that others may glean wisdom from the mycelium network

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

update: I have used the last of my mushrooms to make a beef n mushroom buldak ramen

spoicy

[khaire-traveler]

Since Lord Apollo is a god of music, I'd like to think he's fucking bomb at playing the kazoo. Like, he's a beast playing that thing.

And I bet he loves to annoy the shit out of Artemis with it, too, being siblings and all.

-

Artemis: *focused on aiming an arrow quietly at a stag in the distance*

Apollo: *rises out of the bushes next to her, kazoo in hand* *loudly plays Careless Whisper, scaring the stag away*

Artemis: >:(

[w00dw1tchold]

Simple Fuck Around and Find Out Oil

*This is a recipe I created myself with very little research. I plan on developing it more as time goes on but it's brand new for me. I'm not experienced in oils and would love feedback and to hear how others go about making intention oils.

Need:

Rosemary

Nettle Leaves

Canola Oil

A jar you can seal

A marker

How to:

Cleanse the items you're using and yourself first. Then start by focusing your energy so you can direct in into the herbs with your set intention. Pour the oil in and make sure to leave some room at the top. You don't want to fill it up to the brim.

Now we're going to tell the herbs what we want them to do. I charged the rosemary with protection and added that first. Next, I charged the nettle with protection and warding and added it in. I made sure to put emphasis on the nettles stinging qualities, specifically asking it to "sting" those who meant me harm. Rosemary is both purifying and protective, which will give the oil a back off vibe.

I did have some trouble focusing my energy tonight, which is why I spoke to the herbs as I added them in and made sure to talk myself through grounding. It's important that you trust yourself here.

I put the bottle on my windowsill after drawing a pentagram on the lid. (Use whatever protection symbol or sigil you'd like.) Make sure to shake it well on a regular basis. I plan on leaving it out for a full month to let the oil experience the whole moon cycle. I recommend instilling your intention again when you go to shake it. Doing this every day will give it a good kick, but there's no need to stress about it. Tend to it when you can.

After the oil is done "cooking" you can use it in any protection charms or spells you'd like to have a "fuck around and find out" quality. Enjoy!

[cryptonature]

The earliest cephalopods date back to the Cambrian period. They predate trees and land plants. So, the Earth knew tentacles before it knew leaves. Anyway, sweet dreams.

[skaldish]

It just occurred to me that every book I've read on "achieving enlightenment" always involved some level of "fake it 'til you make it" which is probably why they were ineffective.

[skaldish]

If I were to take a whack at defining enlightenment, I'd define it as self-illumination, as in, the practice of shedding light on all the things about yourself you've kept in the dark. By bringing light to the darkness, you make all the unknown things known, and this is where knowledge associated with enlightenment comes from.

[skaldish]

And this doesn't necessarily just involve the self as a conceptual entity but literally everything about life experience and living in a relative world.

[pixiebeepopples]

I pretty much only see the concept of “fake it ‘til you make it” in terms of enlightenment and it seems to go hand in hand with the Laws of Attraction and Assumption.  I’ve never understood how you can fake something enough for it to no longer be an issue.  I suffer from PTSD and there’s no way that I can fake mental soundness to achieve not having it.

[leafygreenstreet]

Personally I think fake it till you make it is very sound advice, but only for certain things.

I used to have real bad social anxiety, still have it a bit. Couldn't speak to people or give presentations. Now I talk to others much more easily, give workshops, run social events, got a job in customer service etc. And I did that in large part thanks to the fake it till you make it approach. Because that helped remove the barrier of "what if I fuck up" and let me put myself in situations that let me discover things weren't scary and helped me get used to doing these things and gain experience with them.

But that's for a very particular problem. How it would work for ptsd or "enlightenment" (insofar as enlightenment exists, considering it's a fluid term) I have no idea. It's not going to heal trauma and it's not going to release you from the cycle of samsara either I don't think.

[skaldish]

This actually touches upon something critical I've missed: When it comes to "fake it til you make it" and C-PTSD, you are still faking it even when you make it.

For me, faking it is almost always counterproductive, because my C-PTSD brain interprets "You just have to fake it" as "It's dangerous to be authentic for this process."

In order for me to derive genuine meaning from any experience, I have no choice but to operate out of a purely honest principle...and that can only happen when my brain feels like it's safe to do such a thing.

[pixiebeepopples]

Oh my gosh you put my thoughts into words!!!  This is honestly what I was trying to grasp in my head but I just couldn’t quite get there!!  THANK YOU!

[skaldish]

You’re welcome.

It also just occurred to me that “fake it ‘til you make it” may just be the adult way of saying “Play pretend about it!” which of course would be an effective way of adopting new behavior, because narrative play is incredibly powerful and transformative.

(I had no choice but to make my self-narrative an exclusively cognitive process for many years though, which might be why “do a thing to be a thing” doesn’t always land with me.)

[cryptonature]

When magic calls you to the deep woods, it will be dangerous.

Go anyway.

Why not?

We are armored with impermanence, we fragile humans.

Go.

Go because you want to.

Because, in the end, that want creates all you are.

Go.

Because, in the end, anything that breaks you must also make you whole.