somnia

sapphic divination witch | she/her | 20+ a tired university student by day, a sleepy witch by night 🍵

[a-sleepywitch]

Intro post! ⌦ .｡.:*♡

Artwork by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

╔════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ════╗

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ About me

• you can call me Somnia!

• in my early 20s

• she/her, queer

• as you may have inferred, I have problems with my sleep

• an artist and a writer in my spare time!

• also a 9 of swords and the tower apologist

• hoping to learn and expand my craft while on here, as well as make friends!

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ About my Craft

• I consider myself to be primarily a divination witch, but I dabble in love magic, chaos magic, workings with the fae and norse folk practices. I also do shadow work and dream interpretations.

• Other hobbies that influence my craft include literature, art, psychology, typology, history, mythology, folklore, fairytales, astrology and philosophy.

• My practice is secular and I consider myself agnostic.

• A broom closet witch, but have been practicing witchcraft for ~7 years.

Masterpost

╚════ஓ๑♡๑ஓ════╝

I do not tolerate any sort of bigotry or otherwise inappropriate behavior on my blog.

This is a safe space for beginners, other practitioners, people who want to make friends, etc! This is also a hex positive blog.

I’m not a proper educational source and should not be viewed as such, as I primarily use this blog to discuss various topics on witchcraft and offer advice based on my personal experiences and practices!

‿︵‿︵‿︵୨˚̣̣̣͙୧ - - ୨˚̣̣̣͙୧‿︵‿︵‿︵

◛⑅·˚ ༘ ♡ I’m always open for asks and messages, so don’t be afraid to reach out! Just keep it respectful, please :>

[maceofpentacles]

i don’t think that we should shame people or belittle them if they find spirituality or witchcraft through it being a “trend”.

just because it’s becoming more “mainstream” doesn’t mean that people aren’t going to be genuine in their spiritual path or witchcraft experiences.

[a-sleepywitch]

i completely agree with this! i also don't think we should shame people who get into it because of the aesthetics either, because for a lot of practitioners who are visually driven or artistic in some way, myself included, aesthetics could very well play an important part in someone's craft.

i also find that people who are skeptical of newcomers because it's becoming more "mainstream" are more or less just trying to be gatekeepers (and not the healthy kind that do it for the sake of maintaining the privacy of their craft or to keep closed practices closed). Especially now that new age and other harmful forms of spirituality are becoming so prevalent, I think it's important that we as a community are open and welcoming to newcomers.

[pageofpomegranates]

How do y'all interpret the seven of swords? And better yet, if you read reversals, how do you read it reversed?

It's been a bit of a stalker card, especially in reverse, and I'm having trouble connecting with meaning.

[a-sleepywitch]

I usually break down all minor arcana cards into their suit and numerological meaning storytelling wise before I take imagery into account, so for me, seven is all about introspection, gathering wisdom and self reflection (which then leads into 8, where the actual work gets put in). Meanwhile swords is about the mind, communication, psychology, etc. I'm not sure what deck you use but assuming it's leaning into classic RWS imagery, it typically depicts a figure who appears to be "stealing" swords and is kinda sneaking away while making sure no one's looking. Generally speaking, anytime i get the seven of swords, I tend to interpret it as me missing something that's right underneath my nose, which prevents me from reaching the wisdom/level of introspection that I need to get through whatever mental hurdle I'm currently going through.

I don't really read reversals since I read all cards neutrally, but I used to read the reversed seven of swords as a self deception thing, where I myself am the reason that I can't reach the mental clarity that I want because I'm "stealing swords" from myself. Not sure if this made any sense, but I figured maybe breaking down my thought process with this card might be helpful? ^^; Obviously I'd tweak my interpretation of the card depending on the context of the reading and other cards, but this is the general gist. Hopefully you'll figure it out!! Sorry if this wasn't much help.

[ellie-mae-astrology-deactivated]

Astrology and Elemental Imbalance

Elemental imbalances occur when an individual has a limited element present in their birth chart and most often an excess of another. An unattended imbalance can cause stress of extremes of an element being projected by ones personality (Think of the knights in the Tarot).

Having 10 planets in the natal chart, including the rising sign, we naturally have a high chance of having an elemental imbalance in our birth chart and personality.

An imbalance of elements often looks like a minimum of 2 planets in an element, often seen as only having 2-0 planets missing from being familiar with that elements associations.

Having aspects from planets  that naturally contain the missing elemental energies prominent in the natal chart (example, if you lack air but have many mercury aspects), this can aid the elemental lack, though it will not necessarily bring the elements in ones personality into balance for the planet will still be in an excess sign (example mercury in pisces), and it will still act accordingly to the element it’s placed in.

Fire Signs: Aries/Leo/Sagittarius 

Air Signs: Gemini/Libra/Aquarius 

Earth Signs: Taurus/Virgo/Capricorn 

Water Signs: Cancer/Scorpio/Pisces

…

Signs, symptoms and manifestations of having a limited element in the chart

Limited Fire:

Lacking passion and enthusiasm to do things

Having difficulty standing up for yourself

Tending to drift along with the flow of things which ends up being time consuming and making things progress slower than others

Feeling easily offended by harsh words or criticisms

Feeling uncomfortable around those who are quite flamboyant and expressive

Can’t stand noise of fast movement of things and people

Being highly introverted

Often feeling a lack of creativity

Lethargy and low energy often

Inertia and lack of motivation to take action

Feeling cold often

Often being too passive

Hypersensitivity to everything/everyone

Limited Air:

Leaping before thinking which ends up resulting in problems later on

Cognitive issues

Disconnected from others (either from self isolation of difficulty relating to people)

Limited socialising

Difficulty understanding other perspectives and ideas

Prefer expressing the self through non-verbal ways of communicating

Not a fan of social media and/or technology

Quiet (or very loud) speaking voice

Difficultly conveying thoughts and ideas cohesively

Tending to care more about ones own endeavours or how one self feels over another

Putting oneself down in analytical and ‘logical/rationalising’ areas of life (aka “Im dumb because i don’t know or understand this”)

Getting too emotionally involved with people, places and situations

Having a difficult time when it comes to standing back and rationally observe whats going on.

Limited Earth:

Having difficulty creating a practical plan and routine

Not caring too much about the material world and possessions

Having a difficult relationship with ones own body (can develop eating problems, wanting body modifications, excess dieting and bodybuilding)

A difficulty getting in touch with the body and its functions (can’t tell if hungry or full, if its hot or cold ect)

Having a difficulty staying grounded and often day dreaming

Giving things away to freely

Having a poor sense of taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing in one form or another

Difficulty creating the reality one wants

Not feeling connected to nature or animals

Getting too lost in thoughts, ideas and feelings and forgetting the reality of whats going on around you

Not caring about money or material possessions making the day-to-day life difficult

Not bothering keeping track of money and bills

Avoidance of hard work if possible

Easily physically fatigued

Limited Water:

Difficulty bearing with ones own emotional nature and that of others

Repressing emotions then realising them in private when they overflow

Becoming angry/agitated

Difficultly empathising with others

Not truly understanding what one is feeling

Expressing feelings inappropriately (getting angry over the little things/being calm when a tragedy occurs ect)

Rejecting ones own pain/refusing to feel it

Getting frustrated with those who are in an overly emotional state

Trying to rationalise and make feelings a practical and manageable thing

Thinking oneself out of feeling (excess air)

Expressing rage then calming down immediately after (excess fire)

Over spending (excess earth)

Difficultly in discriminating or recognising inutile hints and psychic messages

Avoiding closeness and touch of others

…

Signs, symptoms and manifestations of having an excess element in the chart (3+ planets in element)

Excess Fire:

Feeling restless and having trouble sitting still/relaxing

Constantly thirsty/Drinking very little water

Feeling restless

Fluctuating Temper/Easily provoked

Loud and bold (at inappropriate times)

Over enthusiastic about ones own passion

Expression can overbear others at times

Can be desensitised to the feelings of others

Frustration when things are going ‘slow’

Leaping before looking

Excess air:

Talking too fast/Too loud/Too much

Not listening to others

Excess thinking to the point of blurring out reality

Dominant and sometimes intrusive thoughts

Fluctuating emotional stability

Difficulty relating to others on an emotional level

Detachment to people, places and things

Over intellectualising and over processing things

Consistent/loud mind chatter

Inability/Difficulty relaxing due to a need to move or fidget

Short attention span

Excess Earth:

Stubbornness

Low energy/Vitality

Slow process on tasks

Can lack drive and enthusiasm

Set in ones own ways

Emotionally distant by focusing only on what the 5 senses can provide

Focus on material gain and maintenance

Excluding family and relationships for work

Over/Under eating

Obsession with body (for good or bad)

Overworking ones self

Slacking and lazing around excessively

Excess Water:

Fearful and oversensitivity

Focusing too much on feeling to the point of creating a foggy reality

Not seeing reality for what it is

Living in a world of daydream

Feelings hurt easily

Fluctuating emotional state that can be difficult to control

Lacking drive to take action

Avoidance of everyday tasks if possible (chores/jobs/managing money)

Excess desire to connect with the higher realms and detach from the body

Physical weakness/lethargy  

…

How to balance your elements

When we are unbalanced, we either draw others to use (or us to them) to act as an external reflection of the things we lack within ourselves, however, its possible to engage in other activities that can help bring our elemental lack into appropriate balance that can allow for self-healing and improved wellness.

At times due to elemental imbalances in out chart, we may be drawn to another who has excess of the element we lack (even signs) as to experiences a sense of ‘ying and yang’ by interacting with another. You may find you personally may greatly clash with another, yet you are reluctant to part because they seem to ‘fulfil’ you in a way you can’t explain.

For the element you lack the most in your chart, see the table below to find out ways you can help bring the lacking element in your personality.

[a-sleepywitch]

I don't do this often, but sometimes, if I'm having a really hard time with my craft or aspects of it, I'll just cleanse. I'm not really a proponent of over cleansing, I cleanse very rarely which is just a personal choice thing. But if you've been feeling groggy and gross for a few days because you've been stressed and procrastinating and have a lot going on, and then take a shower, it feels really alleviating afterwards. That's sort of how I treat cleansing!

[oddlittlemiss]

Sun Phases

The Sun is just as powerful and magical as the Moon. Although the moon takes 28 days to complete one full cycle, the sun completes its cycle within a day. Making it perfect to perform specific rituals/spells if the moon isn't at the phase you want.

Of course, Sun Magic carries its own energy as does the Moon. Some rituals/spells might do better during the time of the moon.

Dawn

This phase of the sun is connected to fresh starts, beginnings, or change. This is a good time for focusing on new jobs, new love or relationships, new path, or a new way of seeing things. Dawn is also great for rejuvenation such as renewal of hope and trust, recovery of good health, and restoring physical energy. Use this time to also consecrate your items.

Morning

The energy from the morning sun expands, making it very strong and active. Projects revolving around building, growth, or expansion works exceedingly well during this phase. Use this time to build on the positive aspects in your life, and resolve situations where courage is needed. You can also increase the warmth and harmony to your home, family, and relationships. Need to work on your heart issues (romance, sex, relationships)? Now is the time to handle those problems.

Noon

The sun is at full power as it peaks the sky at high noon. Matters of the heart, dealing with finances, justice, and protection are great to focus on during this phase. This is an excellent time to ask for extra strength and energy to help get through the rest of the day. Health magic does well during this phase too.

Afternoon

Descending from the sky, the sun energies become more receptive, less brash, and much more discerning. Set time aside to handle projects that need clarity, professionalism (anything requiring a strategic approach), business matters, communications, and all interactions with other people. Rituals focusing on exploration of ideas, adventures, and travel are also good to do during this phase.

Sunset

Slowly disappearing from sight, the energy of the sun is diminishing. Use this time to tie up loose ends, getting rid of bad habits, and eradicating personal aggravations such as; stress, confusion, and poor health. This phase is perfect to cleanse things such as tools, crystals/stones, a ritual space, or even yourself. Sunset can help uncover deceptions so, divination work is good to do during this time.

[witchofthewyrd]

The problem with correspondences

Beginner witches, listen up.

When I started practising, one of the first things I did was put correspondence lists into my grimoire. Or, I tried to. You see, correspondences are individual. To some extent, they’re based on history, folklore, mythology and medicine - but they’re also highly personal. You can look at ten different correspondence tables for the same herb, and depending on the herb, you’ll get similar answers - but you can also get highly divergent ones. The result? I ended up writing 5-20 different correspondences for a bunch of herbs and crystals that I had never even heard of. Do I remember them now, 7 years on? Hell no. 

There’s a few problems with this:

You don’t know which source to trust.

Sources may totally conflict.

You don’t know why those correspondences are listed.

You won’t know what you can and can’t swap out of a spell.

Correspondence tables often don’t provide sources or reasoning.

You may not have those associations, so they may not actually help you.

Correspondences are tools. They help you to focus your intent in your craft. What’s the point in getting the “right” colour, herb, crystal, element, and moon phase for every spell when you don’t understand why you’re using them, or they don’t help you focus your intent? 

So, what’s the solution? Figure out your own correspondences. 

This doesn’t have to be difficult! Let’s say I’m doing a spell because I have a cold. For me, being sick is associated with soup, lemon, orange, honey and ginger - because my Nan used to make me a hot drink with the last few ingredients in it. So maybe I’ll make that drink, or maybe I’ll make soup with fresh ginger in it. I’ll stir the pot widdershins first, to “banish” the sickness (because I associate counter clockwise with banishment or getting rid of something), then deosil to “bring” or “grow” my health (because those are my associations for clockwise). See? Easy! 

Okay, so how exactly do you come up with correspondences?

Well, some of them are pretty immediate. Think associating mistletoe with Christmas, or plants in your area that only bloom at certain points of the year. You can also consider:

history, mythology and folklore: throughout history, there have been associations with certain plants, colours etc. that you can read up on. Some examples include associating purple with wealth or success because the dye for purple clothing was highly expensive (Roman emperors wore it) and associating rosemary with remembrance, as mentioned in Hamlet. 

medicinal properties: even if you aren’t interested in herbalism, you could include plants with medicinal properties in healing spells. 

local associations: this is pretty likely to cross over with history and folklore, but considering local associations is important, too - especially since associations in world history and mythology may not apply to you and your path. You might also have certain associations with “local” in a general sense (see my post about food correspondences below).

cultural associations: think “pumpkin” for October, even in countries where aren’t particularly common. Are there any cultural associations that you have with particular things? (These may be some of your “stronger” associations.)

personal associations: what’s your personal experience? Did you fall into a rosebush as a kid, so you’d rather associate roses with pain than with love? Did your first crush give you a green handbag, so green is a colour of love for you? What do you find comforting?

These aren’t the only aspects to consider, but it’s a starting point. Depending on the type of correspondence you’re looking for, you could consider other aspects, too (like farming calendars for month associations and seasonal foods).

This isn’t to say there’s anything wrong with using or posting correspondence lists - I’ve posted some myself. They can be really useful - but be aware that those are someone else’s correspondences, not yours, and they may not work the same way for you as they do for someone else - and that’s okay! You have your own resources and your own experiences, and it’s your craft. 

I hope this helps! Check out my other posts about coming up with your own correspondences:

How to correspondence: food & herbs

How to correspondence: when to spell

[a-sleepywitch]

Been looking forward to that PAC you mentioned back in January <3

Ahh thank you so much!! I'm very sorry that I haven't gotten to it yet, I've been having some health problems which is why I've been very quiet on this blog in general for the past month or so. I'm hoping I'll be able to get back to posting regularly soon, but I'm very happy to hear that there's someone out there looking forward to my content!

[themothwingedwitch]

Here is a reminder to the witchcraft community that you do not need to double down.

If you believe a common misconception, and someone else responds with evidence that the thing you believe is wrong and historically inaccurate, you don’t need to die on that hill. You can go “oh shit, I didn’t know that! Now I’ve learned!”

It wouldn’t be a common misconception if it wasn’t. Y’know. Common. Lots of people believe the fake thing. They’re wrong too. Sometimes you’re wrong, and that’s okay. You don’t need to get offended. You certainly don’t need to pull out easily debunked “sources” to try and back yourself up. You’re making yourself look silly. Just be excited you learned a new thing. It’s okay.

Also, if you’re going to claim that your blog is even vaguely concerned with history… maybe pay attention to actual historical evidence. That’s also a suggestion. Y’know. Just saying.

[deactivated-blog]

a lot of folks mourn that witchblr isn't as active, and that's a fair thing to complain about, I think. a lot of stuff is reblogs and the same info being regurgitated, a lot of blogs feel they have to teach.

I think if we want to fix this, though, we need to be kinder to beginners. We need to defend them when someone comes in and picks apart every little thing they do. We need to not have lofty standards and to defend the fact that everyone practices differently!

maybe I've been unlucky, but I've seen a lot of folks try to post original witchy content and get attacked over it. Which is fine if it's appropriation or whatever, but if a christian witch is posting about using the bible in their magic, it shouldn't be acceptable for a pagan to berate them for that. This just ends up in the original content getting taken down and the blog going quiet.

I'm not good about this by any means. I get anxious about being attacked for not having a perfectly-formed practice I can easily explain. But if we want a lively witchblr, we need to look out for each other and maybe not try to force ourselves to be teaching blogs.

[a-sleepywitch]

Your three-part series on reading tarot is great! Really clear and easy to understand. I have vastly different personal interpretations of most of the cards from you, nonetheless your thought process is so well-articulated that I can also see how you got your intepretations. The different perspective is super helpful, I learnt a lot!

Thank you so much!! I'm really glad to hear that, as I'm always worried about coming off as too rambly and incoherent when articulating my thought process, so I really appreciate the feedback :>

[milk-pills]

Ida Lissner

[witches-ofcolor]

I talked about the placements and “states” of certain objects in magical work, and the purpose of those states, so now I want to elaborate on them and write down my own notes regarding them (also you wonderful witches, feel free to add on): 

To Burn Something: -To transfer to the spiritual plane  -To offer to spirits 

To Submerge Something in Water: -To cleanse  -To act as a binding agent 

To Let Something go in the Wind:  -To increase the speed in which a spell occurs and completes 

To Burry Something: -to ensure a spell remains  -to return to the earth as an offering 

As always, these are based off of my own experiences and research, so you’re all free to add your own bits! I’ve worked the least with the wind, so for those of you who do use wind as an element, please feel free to add on the wind part. 

[corvidae-witch-deactivated20230]

some tarot tips i've collected over the years

- when shuffling, pay attention to the cards that fall out of the deck. sometimes they have a special message for you.

- questions aren't always necessary when reading. letting the cards tell you what they need to helps to develop your intuition, and the relationship between you and your deck (or the spirit you are working with, depending on how you divine information).

- when reading with multiple cards (i.e. as a spread), try and string the cards together rather than interpreting them by their individual meanings:

recurring suits, themes, symbols, and numbers

proportions of suits and uprights vs. reversals

position of the cards (e.g. if people are present in the cards, where are they looking?)

colours of the cards (e.g. do any of the cards stand out more than the rest?)

- although each card has a core meaning, different decks with different art could emanate different "flavours" of the core meaning.

- draw a clarifying card if something confuses you, but try not to draw any more than two cards per reading.

[friend-crow]

A thing I've seen come up a couple times this week from atheists and theists alike is the assumption that atheists don't believe in anything magical.

Atheism is just an attitude towards the existence of gods, specifically. I am either an atheist or agnostic depending on the day, which doesn't even mean that I explicitly don't believe in the gods other people do -- I just have my own beliefs about what other people categorize as gods, which I won't get into because the specifics aren't really relevant to my point.

You can be an atheist and do witchcraft.

You can be an atheist and have a spirituality.

These things are not dependent on the existence of gods.

Atheism also really doesn't mean that you have to think religious people are idiots or compare all religions to Christianity.

[happyheidi]

Warwick Goble: The Art of Myth and Fairy Tale

[lightbluedaisie-deactivated2022]

The urge to bother my mutuals

[lightbluedaisie-deactivated2022]

[jaynotwayne]

reblog if it’s okay for your mutuals to bother you <3