All Manner of Strangeness

Animistic paganism, sigils, and general witchiness Asks, Sigil Requests, Reading Requests

[allmannerofstrangeness]

[ocean-in-my-witchy-soul]

Giving Thanks

So last week I struggled to write a short story for a contest. I’m a writer, so it was distressing, especially since the contest entry was more than fifty bucks, so I was kinda in A Place about it. I wasn’t feeling the story, I was struggling for any sort of progress, and generally was having a hard time.

The day it was due, with only a handful of hours to go, I turned to my husband while on a shopping trip, stressed and freaking out a little.

“Is there a Norse god of writing?”

He thought about this for a moment. “Well, Odin is a storyteller, a writer, the master of the runes,” he mused. “And there’s Kvasir, who was literally turned into the Mead of Poetry. But for your work, you’re probably looking for Bragi.”

Ah, a son of Odin. Kinda in my exploratory wheelhouse. And a skald! So I go forward.

When we got home, I took the opportunity to burn some incense (amber) and pray. Kinda. It was pretty informal, though ritualistic, and I just kinda… rambled about how I hope to be a writer, how I hope to tell stories, and how this is just a step in what I hope to be a long and fruitful career. It’s hard to imagine the divine listening to me, in a way that makes me consider just how small we are, and it was a bit of A Moment.

I lit the incense, bowed a final time, and turned to my computer.

I rewrote my entire story in four hours, had it edited in twenty minutes, and pressed “Submit” with eight minutes to spare.

Let me be frank: I certainly believe this was divine inspiration. Whether Bragi inspired me directly, or if I was just buoyed by having prayed and focused on this, I can’t say, but I’ve never been so productive.

So, I made him a cake.

Apples, for immortality in song and story (and in deference to his relationship with Idunna

Masala (spice mix), for warmth and flavor, for appetite and enticement

Brown sugar, for sticky-sweet words, to promote hunger and eagerness to consume

Cakes remind me of celebrations and revelry. It’s intrinsically a feel-good food, something shared with friends and strangers alike. We bond over cakes at birthdays, at retirement parties, at promotion celebrations and sometimes just because it’s a Monday and we deserve goodness in our lives. We share cake, in all its sweet glory, and we gift it with stories and gossip.

So, figured it was a good fit.

Fast forward to cutting a piece for Bragi and setting it on our super utilitarian little altar and setting up some candles and another piece of amber incense. I pray, again, thanking him for his inspiration, for the influence he had wielded on my behalf, for inspiring some good work. I reiterated my love for storytelling and the craft of it, and that I look forward to learning more about how to properly honor him and his domain.

And I was just so fucking moved that I cried.

It was good. It was very good.

I’m going to leave that little piece of cake on my altar overnight and then take it to the river and gift it to the wilds.

==

Cake recipe: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/old-fashioned-apple-cake-with-brown-sugar-frosting-recipe

[ozqaleume]

wék and wéré, sá í wanderd þus / dún þe stæyrs tó yonder scutel bus / kud not bé fúnd éfen burg of hæm / until a lít on stémé sóp of klæm

(I thought all the food places at Seatac were closed, until I found some early morning airport chowder)

[allmannerofstrangeness]

🔮🍻🔮

[allmannerofstrangeness]

The world has been ending for a long time

We're just finishing the job so we can all finally start over right

[wodneswynn-deactivated-deactiva]

Look, sometimes murders of crows will blacken the sky at your coming and ravening wolves are gonna follow in your wake, and you’re just gonna have to deal with that, and everybody else in the Costco is just gonna have to deal too

[allmannerofstrangeness]

Emoji sigil for sending love to someone: ❤

Typing charges it, texting it to them casts

[strangesigils]

“This Image Cannot Be Used For Magic Towards Me”

You can either draw this on yourself, hidden in plain sight when you get your picture taken

OR

make a digital version of this sigil and phase it over the picture (with opacity at 1%) that you plan to post.

[mollyspersonallypersonalblog]

A thing I animated to protect your dash from evil energies~

[hexereiwitch-deactivated2019052]

Hey guys I was bored so I made a witch type generator 

;)

Reblog and say which one you got

[themixedwitch-deactivated201812]

Aesthetic garden witch. Surprisingly spot-on.

[allmannerofstrangeness]

Stoner norse witch. Someone has been spying on me.

[notusingthisanymore-dmme]

A suggestion for non-Indigenous neopagans: The Norse fylgja (plural fylgjur) is a concept that suits the way white people tend to talk about spirit animals, but without all the yoinking and stomping on closed cultures.

The fylgja is a spirit that follows and protects an individual from the time of their birth and can take the form of an animal. In those cases, the form it assumes is typically representational of a person’s own spirit, but it can also appear as a human as well, though that can have slightly different implications about the nature of the thing. Keep in mind, though, that seeing one’s own fylgja is said to be an omen that a person’s death is near.

[myth-keep]

Fun fact for all you out there, fylgja means ‘to accompany’ and is largely where the idea of a witch’s familar stems from. Familiar is a perfect alternative if you can’t pronounce this

So if ya keep saying spirit animal I’m gonna fight you

[corvid-420]

This couldn’t be a more obvious portent if it fell from the sky on a clear day.

[betthearm]

August 24, 2018

Instead it rose from the water, which makes it an exponentially more terrifying portent.

[saintoflostmonsters]

Sweet, love a good apocalypse rock

[allmannerofstrangeness]

It is upon us

[evilwickedme]

it’s amazing to me how unaware culturally christian people are of… the fact that they’re culturally christian like

they really just. don’t know. and won’t listen when people tell them that like

even if you’re an atheist, the way you talk about God and religion is christian af

y’all truly believe that you can celebrate christmas completely secularly, devoid of any connection to christianity

y’all just have no idea and it shouldn’t shock me anymore but it still does sometimes

[evilwickedme]

From @littleoceanbabe

You are exactly proving my point.

Why is it that your family gathers on Christmas in order to celebrate peace? Why not Eid? Why not Rosh Hashanah? Why not a million different holidays from the literal thousands of existing religions?

The reason you’re celebrating on Christmas of all holidays is because you’re culturally Christian. It’s not something to be ashamed of - you just need to be aware of it.

[ex-libris-craux]

Huh. I’d never thought about it that way.

[vaspider]

I know, right?

To be honest, I hadn’t either, not on any bone-deep level, until I started seriously considering converting, and it was only when I started realizing it on a personal level. But, then, I am also lucky in that we live in a school district where Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah and several other non-Xian holidays are given days off, which is just not the norm anywhere but in those gosh darn liberal enclaves on the coast. :P 

[gnollgirl]

This feels really relevant to me too. I stopped being Xian over a decade ago, and I felt…annoyed, honestly, that I was still expected, by family and friends both, to celebrate all of the major Xian holidays even despite being at that time an atheist/pagan. And that’s only increasing my discomfort now that I’m converting to Judaism.

I don’t even know if I can keep having conversations about religion with my parents anymore, our views on faith and holidays and deities are so different now.

[vaspider]

My parents basically just ignore the fact that @dadhoc and @mistresskabooms and I all converted. I hoped right up until the last second that they would show up to our Adult B’nai Mitzvah, especially knowing I was giving the sermon, but, welp, they didn’t. 

Our class has gotten close though so it was okay. My mispacha was there, and one of the other converts in the class, her dad came, so that was good.

Off topic, so anyway.

[vorpalgirl]

I’d also like to add (for the fellow Gentiles out there) it’s NOT just the “obvious” things like Celebrating Christmas, either. It is so, SO many “little things” that you don’t realize ARE Christian-influenced, that you might not even if you stopped and thought about it, because they’re SUCH a part of “secular” culture that you just assumed That’s The Way It Is For Everybody. I had no idea for example, that the idea you had to have a witness in order for a marriage between two people to be “valid” was something not all religions and systems shared, until a Jewish person over on the NaNoWriMo forums corrected me and said “actually, you can do it just by the two agreeing if they’re above a certain age, in Judaism; it’s still considered religiously valid”. In the USA, for a marriage to be LEGALLY recognized by the State? It HAS to have both an Officiant (not necessarily a Priest or Pastor of your own religion; sea captains, judges, and anybody who gets the right piece of paper, can do that), and a Witness. I know this, because I am Legally Married and it was part of the process; I had to get a friend to Officiate and a second friend to sign off as Witness on the paperwork. And I knew on some level this was partly from “religions” “traditionally” requiring it…but I had NO IDEA this was really a Gentile thing, a Goy thing, in specific! I just….assumed that since verifying it happened was “logical”, all religions would naturally require at LEAST an Officiant OR a Witness if not both, “though I could be wrong” I (very thankfully) admitted. Which in hindsight, is a big Assumption, thank goodness I left myself open for correction lol. And see, I wasn’t even RAISED going to Church; my parents were ~liberals~ who basically raised me Agnostic. But I was raised by a dad whose parents were Protestant, and a mom who went to Catholic school as a kid. I grew up in the American South. I grew up in America, and America is so darn Christianized, that it doesn’t matter that such things aren’t a requirement in Judaism, because they’re a requirement in Christian practice, so they become a requirement in the secular realm as well. Even the very definition of “religion” is often mistaken for REQUIRING a “belief in the supernatural or a literal higher power” - not because this is in any way anthropologically accurate (not only does Judaism technically allow for the opposite, so do some variants of Hinduism; There’s posts on that blog that covered it better actually but you might have to dig for them; at least those both mention it), but  - ding ding! That’s still how many people in the West think it’s “defined” because that’s the requirements of the Christian religion. A belief in a literal higher power. Like, I have seen Culturally Christian atheists INSIST that you cannot possibly be “religiously Jewish” AND an atheist/not believe in a literal higher power, only to be corrected by actual Jewish people that “uh, no? That’s not how it works, you’re thinking of CHRISTIANITY?”.  Because they were so entrenched in the Christian Definition of Religion, it never even occurred to them that there was such a thing as a “religion” that did it differently than that. Because even “secular” society in the West usually defines it that way, because Christianity does.

Heck, the idea of “Judeo-Christian” is…heh, well. Ask a Jewish person or two and if they have the energy you’ll probably get a nice rant on why that term is a serious misnomer; but it’s VERY common to treat Judaism as if it was just the “precursor” to Christianity, as if Christianity is just an extension of Judaism with an extra set of Books, and it’s…it’s not. It’s REALLY not. That thinking stems from Christian cultures trying to simultaneously erase actual Jewish culture (where it actually differed from theirs), and pretending that theirs ~supplanted~ it and ~took its place~ like the New and Improved version, which… of course, being that most Christian sects insist that Christianity is The One True Religion, of COURSE they did.   

Even the idea of weekends is pretty much derived from the habit of most Christians to make Sunday a Sabbath and “day of rest” (some Christians do actually use Saturday instead - much like Jewish folk do - but Catholics and a majority of Protestant sects use Sunday).

Even some Really Big “little things” are more Christianized than you think though. The gender binary, and even the idea of “physical sex” being binary, is a social construct that mostly European Christians inflicted on everybody via colonialism and its influence on “science” and culture in general. Turns out it’s not the “natural default” for societies at all, oops (warning, that link is a LONG read but very handy and enlightening, if at times depressing).

There’s…I mean off the top of my head, that’s it, but there’s definitely more I’m not even remembering and I’m sure quite a few that I’m not even personally  aware of yet.  Personally, I’ve found that the more I learn about other cultures, religions, history, etc, the more I realize how very insular and Very Specific and perhaps even culturally weird in the grand scheme of things, my own upbringing was. That’s not a bad thing though! As far as I’m concerned, it’s just helping me learn what my biases and assumptions are, so A+ 10/10 recommend expanding your awareness of this stuff. <3

[madgastronomer]

Yyyyyyup. I was raised Culturally Christian by a Baptist-turned-atheist and a Catholic-turned-12-stepper (seriously, she approached spirituality through the lens of the 12 Steps for the longest time). I cannot get either of them to understand that no, really, I only do Christmas to please them, it’s not my thing. I cannot get them to understand just how Christian their worldview really is.

And OMG, the arguments I get into with atheists, who absolutely HATE IT when you tell them that the god that they’re referring to is the Christian god, and that my gods don’t work like that, that not all concepts of the soul work like that, that not all religions do that thing, etc, etc, ad nauseam.

Which is not to say that I don’t still have plenty of Culturally Christian stuff going on myself. I still say Merry Christmas to anybody who says it to me, just automatically. I still say Bless you when someone sneezes (I really need to break myself of that one). And even after almost 25 years of being actively pagan/polytheist, I still run up against things where there’s a little bit of Christian assumptions in my theology. It’s annoying as fuck.

I don’t have the same perspective as a Jewish person, whether converted or not, but I also get very frustrated with Cultural Christianity.

[witchy-subversive]

that’s really interesting, I hadn’t thought of a lot of this but wow it’s true. And really kind of unfortunate.

[allmannerofstrangeness]

I'm a pagan convert, but something in my bones will always be mormon, and as long as I live in these united states my little christian turns of phrase (I'll absolutely yell "jesus" when surprised) will always be facilitated. It's impossible to really get out of it completely.

[allmannerofstrangeness]

Mythic time is such a wild concept; the idea that, to gods and heroes, all events are simultaneous. It's divine superposition.

Ragnarok has happened, will happen, and is happening. Loki is bound and free. Odin is always on the tree taking up the runes, always wandering the earth looking for a place to rest, always gathering the slain. The world is constantly being created. Ymir and Baldr are alive.

They know what's coming and they do everything the same way anyway, because gods are always fundamentally Themselves.

[auricwitch]

Ultimate Protection Magic Masterpost; Part 1

PERSONAL PROTECTION

Jar Spells & Pouches

“Bubbly Friend” Protection and Cleansing Jar Spell

“Tough As A Nail” Protection Spell

“Portable Barricade” Spell Jar

“Protect My Ass” Spell Jar

“Stay The F*ck Away From Me” Protection Jar

Jar Spell for Protection

Witchywoman’s Protection Jar

Shiroinightmare’s Protection Bottle

Gender/Sexuality Protection Jar Spell

Sea Witch’s Protection Bottle

Stormy Protection Spell Jar

Elemental Protection Jar Spell

Dragon Protection Jar

Protection Jar Against Bindings & Hexes

Basic Warding Jar

Making A Witch Bottle (Charm)

Witches Bottle for Protection

Potent Protective Witch Bottle

Blood Magic Protection Jar

Mini Protection Vial

Ares Protection Pouch

‘Sweet Tooth’ Spell Sachet

Protection Pouches

Protection Pouch

Protection Sachet

Protection Sachet for School

Amulets

Simple Protection Amulet

“Untouchable” Charm Ward

Subtle Protection Amulet

Coral Protection Amulet

Sunglasses Enchantment

Ways to Make Amulets

Simple Protection Necklace

Strength & Safety Amulet

Protection Vial Necklace

Wonder Woman’s Bracelets

Sword & Shield Graveyard/Spirit Jewelry

Nasty Witches’ Brew Protective Jewelry

Bath/Shower Magic

“Armour of Love” Protection Bath

Powerful Cleansing Bath

Simple Purification and Protection Scrub

“Master Protector” Body Scrub

Gossip-Stopping Scrub

Shower Disks for Protection

Pine Protection Balm

Kitchen Witchcraft

Purification and Protection Soup

Fondant Potatoes for Protection & Prosperity

Self Love & Protection Recipe Spell

Abundant Apple Pie Cookies

Grandma’s Pumpkin Bread

Potions

Cleanse & Protect Spray Potion

Rose Shield Potion

Protection Potion

Pisces Protection Potion

Return To Sender Vigor Potion

Bucking Bronco Vigor Potion

Charge Vigor Potion

Spells

Bravery/Protection Spell

Aroma Veil Spell

Protection Spell for Queer Folks

Spell For Protection While Coming Out As Trans

‘Hiding Secrets’ Spell

Stronger Than You Spell

Protection Against Bullies

“Belittlement Barrier” Spell

Expecto Patronum

Substitute Spell

Curse Decoy

LoZ Magic Armour Protection Spell

Riddikulus Charm

Snowdrop Protection Spell

Method for Protection Against Undesired Spirits or People

Evergoing Spell

Rose Quartz Shielding Spell

Protection Candle Spell

Protection Chant

Night Protection Spell

Night Protection Spell #2

Protection Against Curses, Hexes & Bad Energies

Maka’s Black Blood Dress

Mars Celestial Fire Surround

Plutonic Protection Spell

‘Dark Dome Close’ Sailor Pluto Spell

Moon Tiara Magic

Jupiter Thunder Crash

Mind Blast Spell

Metal Claws Spell

Expelliarmus

“Back To You, B*tch” Protection Spell

‘Return To Sender’ Spell

‘Backfire’ Curse Repelling Enchantment

Engraved Hourglass Nebula Curse Return Spell

‘Trainer Chose Squirtle’ Spell

Black Salt Spell for Protection & Absorbing Negativity

Protection Spell Against Negative People & Psychic Vampires

Wards/Rituals

‘Don’t Go In The Dog Park’ Ward

Nail Polish Ritual

PC Magic Warding Ritual

Positive Energy/Banishment of Evil Incense Ritual

‘Fire Rose’ Healing & Protection Ritual

Protection Ritual for the Downtrodden

Sigils

I Am Shielded From Acts of Violence

I Am Protected From Unwanted Spiritual & Physical Entities Who Would Do Me Harm

Protection From Evil Spirits

I Am Safe

I Am Safe At Work

I Am Aware of My Surroundings & Protected

I Am Protected From All Negativity

I’m Protected From Negative Vibes

No Negative Energy Can Affect Me

I Repel Ignorance and Negativity

Protection From Bad Intentions

Protection From Unwanted Eyes

I Am Safe From Fascists

I Am Safe From Transphobia

Those Who Would Harm Me Suffer Their Own Ill Intentions Turned Back On Themselves

I Am One With The Forest

Earth Protection

Protection + Happiness

Ace/Aro Protection Sigil

Protection Sigil/Charm

No Evil Can Touch Me

Sigil for Protection Against All Forms of Magickal Attack

Sigil to Protect One Against All Forms of Possession

Sigil of Protection

Protection

Protection

HOME PROTECTION

Spell Jars

Simple Home Protection Jar Spell

“I Don’t Know Sh*t My Dudes” Protection Jar

My Home Is Protected Spell Jar

House Protection Jar

Home Protection Spell Bottle

Peace & Protection Bottle

Peace & Protection Spell Jar

Home Purification/Protection Spell Jar

Sleeping Beauty House Protection Jar Spell

Mama Cat’s Evil Eye Protection Jar

Sprays & Washes

House-Warding Spray

All-Purpose Cleansing Spray

Protective House Wash

Protective Floor Wash

Rituals

Protecting Yourself And Your Home (Basic Ward Ritual)

Three Elements Home Blessing & Protection Ritual

‘Protect My Space’ Pouch & Ritual

Wards

Quick Protection Ward

Prickly Protection Ward

Protective Storm Ward

Patronus Ward

“Let Only Good Energy In” Horseshoe Ward

Moonbeam Ward

“The Hedgehog” Green Witch Ward

Pumpkin Wards

Complex Bramble Ward

Weaving Protection Wards (ADVANCED)

Spells

Simple Protection Spell

Simple Herbal Protection Spell

Simple Hearth & Home Protection Spell

Home & Body Protection Spell

Clearing Negative Energy from a Room

Home Protection Steam Spell

My Home Is Protected Spell

“Protect My Home” Spell

Home Protection Spell

Home Protection Charm

House Protection Spell

Spell to Protect Your House

House Protection Charm

Threshold Protection Spell

Protego Totalum (Harry Potter Spell)

Four Shells Protection Spell

Pine Cone Prosperity & Protection Spell

“Little Lurkers” Home Protection Spell

Home Protection Spells

A Series of Protection Spells

Strong Home Protection Spell

Home Protection Tip

Home Protection Tip

Sigils

My Home is Protected

My Home Is Protected

This Home Is Protected

Sigil for Protecting One’s Home

Protect This Home

My Home Is A Safe and Healthy Environment

The House I Come Back To Is Safe For Me

Only Positive Energies May Enter My Space

Negative Forces Do Not Enter Here

GRIMOIRE PROTECTION

Spells

Simple Protection Jar For Your Grimoire

Grimoire Protection Spell

Hidden Object Charm

The Serpent’s Lock/Serpent’s Key

Sigils

Protection From Prying Eyes

All Prying Eyes Are Diverted; This Grimoire Is Cloaked In Invisibility

This Item Will Not Be Found

I’m Safe. This Object Is Safe.

The Book in Which This Sigil Is Written Cannot Be Lost or Stolen

This Grimoire Is Protected

This Grimoire Is Protected

My Grimoire Is Protected

Grimoire Is Protected From Those With Ill Intent

This Book of Shadows Is Protected

This Book Is Protected

[part 2]

[asftfvnkkgvn]

Archetype Inspiration ↳ Myth | Werewolves

[mxmaebie]

If you were a deity that was being petitioned, what three offerings would people bring to appease you?

[arachnospooky]

Orange chocolate, bones covered in moss, and handmade art from the petitioner.

[arcreads]

Food. Money. Sex.

[systlin]

1. Money. 

2. Craft supplies. 

3. Coffee.

[allmannerofstrangeness]

Simply-prepared meats, vodka, and secrets