Aese, they/them, 30. Witch, magical practitioner, diviner, spirit worker, big ol' nerd. May or may not be a moth in a pointy hat. Food, spirit work, divination, and practical magic. TAROT READINGS & CUSTOM SPELL SERVICES: Open on Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/aesethewitch
Hello! I'm Aese, a witch, magical practitioner, diviner, spirit worker, and big ol' nerd. I'm officially 30, and I use they/them pronouns.
You can find my original spells in the tag #my spells, my original recipes in the tag #my recipes, other posts I've written or replied to under #aese speaks, and asks I've answered under #aese answers.
My ask box is always open for questions and conversation. Be kind, be mindful.
I'm a witch for hire! You can commission custom food spells, get tarot readings, and buy spell recipe cards over on my Ko-Fi page.
Rules for tarot readings can be found here (Tumblr post) or here (Neocities site).
If you don't see something on the commission page that suits you, or if you need to negotiate prices, send me a DM here or on Ko-Fi.
If you like what I do, you can also tip me or become a monthly supporter for bonuses like commission discounts and monthly tarot readings. Supporters of all types get early and sometimes extended or even exclusive access to my work!
I've got a website over on Neocities -- check it out here to peek at more of my original fiction, see better-formatted content, and more! Leave a comment in my guestbook if you visit!
If you also have a personal website where you publish anything witchcraft-related, I also run a webring called The Witching Hour Webring! Read more about it here.
I sometimes do free one-card tarot readings. Rules are the same as for paid readings and can be found here (Tumblr post) or here (Neocities site).
I stream over on Twitch with an irregular schedule. We do live tarot, video games, arts & crafts, spellwork, and more! Join our Discord for stream announcements, polls, community chatter, and events.
Another of my side projects is The Pages' Journey, a community-forward website that will (hopefully) someday be an eclectic divination resource for all skill levels. It's got a blog over @thepagesjourney for questions and announcements.
My other blogs are:
@aesesinkwell - Writing and TTRPG stuff (peep the pinned post over there for specifics and warnings - there's horror and explicit content in there)
@aeseofspades - Random reblogs and non-witchcraft posting
@accustomedtofightingasateam - Trigun brainrot blog
Ko-Fi Phishing Scam - Warning, Details, & What to Do if You Clicked the Link
Date of posting: June 3, 2026.
Heads up to my fellow Ko-Fi users!! There's a known phishing scam going around. The scammers are sending messages via commission messages. They're claiming that the account has been suspended and won't be able to receive payments until information is verified. They then provide a link to follow to "fix" the issue.
Do not click that link!! It will steal your information and possibly your money. Block the sender and delete the message. If you're concerned that your account has actually been compromised because you clicked a link sent to you, send a ticket to the real Ko-Fi support team and change the passwords on Ko-Fi and all connected accounts.
(Also, it seems like Ko-Fi is getting a lot of traffic right now, probably because of this latest blast of phishing attempts. Stay calm. Your account is fine. Only send a ticket if you filled out a suspicious form; and if you did click or fill out something suspicious, make sure you change all of the passwords on your Ko-Fi and all attached accounts.)
Since I'm me, let's take a closer look at the message, how this phishing scam is meant to work, and how you can spot these yourself in the future:
The goal of a phishing scam is to convince you that something is wrong and needs your immediate attention. Scammers want you to click a link or call a phone number in order to further convince you to part with critical personal information, such as your banking details, account passwords, home address, and more. Sometimes, they'll even download malicious software onto your machine.
The thing about phishing scams is that they require you, the recipient, to take action in order to work. You've got to click that link or make that phone call for them to access your accounts. If you block, report, and delete their messages, they lose.
Most phishing scams consist of a few key elements:
An urgent, inflammatory first line or email title
An assertion of authority (support, staff, etc.)
A brief description of what allegedly needs fixing, usually having to do with account issues, payment processing, or similar
A reassurance that this can be fixed with simple steps
A link to follow or a phone number to call in order to fix the issue
A deadline
Here's a screenshot of the message I received this afternoon:
We're hitting most of the common traits of a phishing scam, minus the deadline declaration. Still, when I saw the email notification that I'd gotten this message, I felt a little panicked! I know enough about phishing scams to spot them, and I recognized this as bullshit pretty quick, but I still felt that initial jolt of fear. The scam hopes that I'll take action on that fear alone, because oh god that's my money. You know?
So, I took a breath. Told myself I'd done nothing wrong, and if it was real (which it certainly wasn't), then I could contact support and figure it out. I logged into my account to have a closer look, and... Nothing. Everything was fine. No suspension notice, no big red prompt. My payment methods are intact with no warnings attached.
Interesting, no? I took another, closer look at the message. I grabbed a screenshot of it to send to the support team since they're tracking the situation and to talk about it here.
This is a very clever phishing attempt. The message itself is well-crafted. It's a little awkward in places, but the grammar is good. My guess is it's an LLM at work, generating text to send out. The emojis are a deeply unprofessional touch that would absolutely never be included in a message about something as serious as a suspension notice. The intention is to lower your guard and make you feel as though the "support rep" messaging you is on your side. It's meant to instill trust and camaraderie.
The description of what's going on is short, sweet, and to the point. Note the urgent tone and lack of details about why this suspension has supposedly occurred. A real suspension message would typically require at least a brief explanation of the reason for suspension, often including citation of site policies or a mention of reports being filed against the account. Nothing like that here.
It goes on to threaten my money, stating that people can view my page but that any payments they make won't be processed. It raises more questions than it answers -- will people be able to make payments and their money will hang in limbo? Or will those payments not go through? Or will the site not even allow payments to be made? This is by design, meant to cause a further spiral of anxiety that will lead the recipient to following whatever instructions they've been given.
And, oh! How kind! The process to fix this is super short and easy, and they won't even need me to upload any documents. What an odd thing to say. I hadn't even considered that it would require uploading documents... such as ID, perhaps. If the process is simple and purportedly safe, there's no reason to not do it right now! This assurance is aimed to prevent the recipient from putting the task off for later. It's also meant to entice someone who's particularly panicked to not go looking for other information or solutions -- because the best one is right here, no documents upload necessary.
And finally, the link. Click here to fix everything right now, it says. But take a closer look at that link.
It starts with the "ko-fi" website name, apparently on a page called "edit profile"... at a .my address. And then, of course, a bunch of random letters. It's the .my address that should raise the biggest red flag here. Ko-Fi is a .com web address, and all of their associated pages are .com, too. While I haven't clicked this link (and will not be clicking it, thank you), it will certainly not be going to a reliable settings page.
Again, the goal of a phishing scam is to steal your information by convincing you to click suspicious links. This scam in particular seems intent on getting you to "update your information" -- that might include your banking information, PayPal login credentials, Ko-Fi account credentials, and more.
You should never have to leave the website in order to verify or update this information. This isn't just true for Ko-Fi; it's true for pretty much every single website out there.
The other big giveaway that this is a phishing scam is that message at the very bottom, stating that this DM was sent because I have commission messages turned on. Commission messages allow people to contact me by clicking a little message icon on my commission listings. This way, they can chat with me about my services before buying if they have questions or want to negotiate details.
Ko-Fi support would absolutely not need to use commission messages to reach me. Beyond that, clicking the "Support" name should take me to an account page -- but it doesn't. It redirects me to my settings page, which is what happens when someone without an account messages. The company Ko-Fi has an account.
Beyond that, Ko-Fi support operates via ZenDesk. They wouldn't send a direct message about anything, let alone a suspension notice. I would have received an email with official Ko-Fi branding.
Which... in a way, I did. When someone sends a message on Ko-Fi, it generates an email to let the account owner know they've got one waiting for response. That means that I received an email that looked like this:
By sending a direct message through the Ko-Fi system, this phishing scam was able to make it look like the message was official. This is the real reason this phishing scam is so clever. An appropriately frightened and unwary person would see this and maybe not even log into their Ko-Fi account. They might just click the link from the email and follow whatever instructions they're given.
Put all this together, and I knew with absolute certainty that this was a scam -- one that will absolutely fool a lot of people.
Steps You Can Take to be 100% Certain a Message is Phishing
Even with all this knowledge and reassurance, it can be hard to know for sure that a message is a phishing attempt. Because, like, what if? You know? What if it's actually real?
First: Take a breath. Anytime you receive a notice about any account of yours encountering issues, take a second to calm yourself. If it's real, you'll want to follow proper channels to fix it. If it's fake, you don't want to be so panicked that you fall for a scam. Either way, give yourself a moment to breathe and calm down.
Second: Check your account. Close the email or the message. Don't click any links provided. Go to the actual website or app. Log in to your account and check for any prompts, pop-ups, or warnings in your account settings. If you can't log in at all, contact the support team of the site using their preferred channel(s).
Third: Check your payment processor(s) and bank account. Make sure there aren't any prompts, pop-ups, or warnings there, too. Make sure you can still log in okay and that there aren't any suspicious transactions that have gone through or that are pending. If there are, contact support ASAP; they might be able to prevent or reverse the charge, and they might be able to block any more from that source.
Fourth: Do a quick search online. See if anyone else is already talking about it. I found several Reddit threads talking about this scam, and it seems like it's evolved slightly since it first started appearing months ago.
Fifth: Check the website's support/help resources. A lot of websites have FAQs and other resources to help users with issues they might encounter. When any scam becomes widespread, the platform will typically put out official messages talking about it. They might also have blog posts or articles dedicated to the situation. If a problem is active and ongoing, they might even put up an alert banner to both warn users who don't know about it and assure users who have gotten the message(s) to not worry. Here's the one that's splashed across the top of Ko-Fi's support page right now:
Sixth: Message support. If you can't find any information, or if you interacted with the scam and are worried about being compromised in some way, send a message to the website's support team. Use their official channels to submit a ticket, send an email, or chat with a rep. If you're pretty sure you've encountered a phishing scam and you can't find anything about it, include screenshots of the message(s) so that support can properly investigate.
Seventh: Take extra security measures. If you're still worried after all of these steps and especially if you clicked a suspicious link, change your passwords. It's important to do this for every account attached to the one that's been compromised. (In this case on Ko-Fi, if you didn't click the link from the scammer, you shouldn't need to update any passwords or anything else.)
beginner witchcraft conversations: this is a helpful list of correspondence for attracting wealth I've found :)
Advanced witchcraft conversations: okay so you want to attract some wealth. What works for me is to gather the dew you left out on some coins during the Taurus full moon , astrally visit your Abundance Guardian (mine looks like a frog but yours might look different) and astrally connect your Abundance Guardians energy to the dew and put the coins in the frogs mouth as an offering. Anoint bay leaves with the Taurus moon dew water and mail them anonymously to your workplace. There are quicker ways but this one never fails me
STAY SAFE!! [ID: the Gilbert Baker pride flag with the words “Happy pride to all those who are unable to celebrate openly and safely. You are loved and seen!” in all-caps black text over it. /end ID]
Dove-Shaped Perfume Vials from the Roman Empire, c.50 CE: these glass vessels were filled with perfume or cosmetic powders and then sealed, meaning that their contents could only be accessed by breaking the dove's neck or tail
These bottles were created and used as unguentaria (otherwise known as balsamaria) which are ancient vessels that were typically filled with scented oils, cosmetic powders, balms, or ointments. Unguentaria could be crafted from ceramic, glass, or stone, and they came in various shapes and sizes. These dove-shaped vessels made of glass were especially popular during the second half of the 1st century CE, when they were produced and distributed throughout the Roman Empire.
Above: a dove-shaped unguentarium with residue from the original contents still visible inside
Each bottle was crafted from blown-glass that was carefully modeled into the shape of a bird; the inner cavity was then filled with scented oils or cosmetic powders, and the tip of the tail was reheated and compressed, effectively sealing the vessel.
Above: dove-shaped vessels that were opened and emptied long ago, c.50-100 CE
As this article explains:
The vessels were produced with glass blowing pipes by so-called "free blowing," and are for this reason extremely thin-walled, with body thicknesses significantly below 0.1 cm.
After the containers had been filled, the tail feathers were sealed airtight by reheating to protect the contents from moisture. Parts of the containers, such as the head or tail feathers, had to be broken off in order to access the contents of the vessels, which means that they were disposable packaging.
Above: dove-shaped vessels with the tips of their tails broken off
Most of the bottles were made from clear or pale blue Roman glass, but some were crafted with a dark blue, green, purple, or yellow appearance instead:
As cheap, mass-produced goods, the packaging consisted mainly of the conventional thin-walled and transparent Roman glass with an unintentional light blue colouring. Specimens made of intentionally coloured transparent glass (e.g. dark blue, dark green, violet or yellow) are less common. This may also have to do with the fact that the pink or white contents could be visually better distinguished and marketed if the vessels were made of the conventional Roman glass, which offered more transparency to the beholder than the intentionally coloured glass.
Above: a sealed unguentarium that likely contains scented oils and cosmetic residue, from Rovesenda, Italy, c.50 CE
Research suggests that many of these bottles were filled with cosmetic powders, including pink substances that have been described as "blush" or "rouge," while others were filled with scented oils.
Above: more dove-shaped unguentaria from the Roman Empire
Vessels with this design (which is often referred to as Isings form 11) have been unearthed at Roman-era sites located throughout Europe:
Evidence shows that these glass containers were widely marketed in the Roman Empire. The main areas of distribution are the central and northern Italian regions of Campania et Latium, Venetia et Histria, and Transpadana, along with the northwestern provinces of Gallia Belgica, Gallia Lugdunensis, Germania inferior and Germania superior [in what is now Italy, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands].
There is also evidence from the Balkan and Danube region in the provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia, and also from the eastern Mediterranean in the provinces of Achaea, Creta et Cyrenae and Macedonia. The distribution in the western Mediterranean seems to be limited to Hispania Tarraconensis.
Above: the severed heads of two bird-shaped unguentaria
Sources & More Info:
Glassware and Glassworking in Thessaloniki: 1st Cebtury BC-6th Cebtury AD: Bird-Shaped Inguentaria (Isings Form 11)
The Austrian Archaeological Institute: New Finds of Bird-Shaped Glass Vessels with Residues of their Former Content
The British Museum: Roman Perfume Bottle in the Shape of a Bird
Società Friulana di Archeologia: Glass Doves and Globes from Thessaloniki: North Italian Imports or Local Products?
Analytical Chemistry for Archaeology and Cultural Heritage: Compositional Analysis of Greco-Roman Unguentaria Residues
Metropolitan Museum of Art: Glass Bottle in the Shape of a Bird
The Billingsley family bought the Middle Ground Lighthouse from the Coast Guard for 2005 for $31,000. Aside from the deterioration they say it stunk to high heavens from birds making it their rookery.
The fixer-upper was no problem for this couple and their two college-aged sons. They happen to be a family of engineers.
It was a wreck, having been abandoned since 1955. But, with the help of other family and friends, it took them 3yrs. to restore, and now it's for sale, fully furnished. Offers should be in the $350k to $450k range. (Taking offers until July 4th). They still love it, but, now that the sons have moved out of state, they feel it's time to move on. And, now in their 70s, it's hard to climb the ladders and maintain.)
BEFORE & AFTER. Zillow wouldn't take the listing, so it has its own website. It will accommodate 10, but the most that they hosted was 45. Here are some before & after photos of the property. Of course, it's only accessible by boat. It's in Chesapeake Bay, Newport News, VA.
I wouldn't even know where to begin.
Yikes! Look at the before.
The porthole room only had a hole.
Now, it accommodates a lot of family & friends.
And, even has a cool mural.
The kitchen was basically non-existent.
It's pretty roomy and functional now.
It accommodates a ton of people. Imagine Thanksgiving here?
The bedrooms were in bad shape, too.
They were kind of creepy, too.
But, now they're cheerful and bright.
The deck.
This must be the bathroom door.
There's also a toilet under the stairs in the kitchen.
The cellar.
Looks like they keep the equipment down here.
And, finally, the lantern room. The Coast Guard has access to this.
Beautiful new lantern.
The owners said it's a fun place.
Historic Middle Ground Lighthouse, a fully restored private lighthouse in Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay. A rare, one-of-a-kind waterfront proper
