DEAR READER
#extradirty
No title available
No title available
@theartofmadeline
Origami Around
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda
ojovivo
if i look back, i am lost
$LAYYYTER
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"
JVL
Sade Olutola
šŖ¼
Stranger Things
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Acquired Stardust
No title available
oozey mess
No title available
seen from India
seen from Germany
seen from Germany
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Lithuania
seen from China
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from India
seen from Hungary
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United Kingdom
seen from South Korea
seen from Australia
seen from United States
seen from United States
@brimstonewitch
having used tumblr as a teenager is a vaccination against using tiktok today
i realize youāre probably half-joking but legitimately having this level of control over what i see on my dash and not having the popularity of my posts determined by The Algorithm makes using tiktok feel like my body is fighting a Disease
āØWe are all made of Stardust āØ gifs (edits) made by me :)
I ended up having a really interesting conversation with some people at the bus stop today. They were getting out of some sort of āclean and soberā meeting and had starting saying how they were so bored because they didnāt have anything to do, and had to stay at home because all their old friends would pull them back. So I said something like, āSo this is the time to do all the stuff your parents told you they didnāt have money/time for!ā āWhatcha mean?ā āYou know, like when you were five and you REALLY wanted to have that toy or do that thing and you were like, āPlease mom please I gotta have this I gotta go do thisā and they went āHell no you think Iām paying for that do you want to goddamn EAT?ā ā And this light went on in their eyes. The lady is going to go check thrift stores for an Easybake Oven and I told her about Wilton cake decorating classes. The dude is going to Griffith Park and ride horses, because, āI always wanted to be a cowboy, and you canāt drink when youāre on a horse ācause youāll fucking die!ā Fuck it. This is what being an adult is. Sure itās bills and work and relationships, but damn it, itās also time to do the things you LIKE. I signed up for a free class/lecture on Water Gardens. Iām going. Itās time.
Jill. Jill you are wonderful.
no joke, this is such an important aspect of overcoming trauma. I mean the trauma of abusive parents, the trauma of broke ass parents who got toxic because of it, the trauma of capitalism. Like fuck it. Go to Wrestlemania. Build a shit ton of terrariums.
I took a stained glass class during the pandemic and now I have a hummingbird hanging in my kitchen window. And this year Iām finally getting chickens!!
This is literally why I have my Sailor Moon thermos.
it doesnāt even have to be the trauma of bad parents. It can be the everyday human pain of āI lost my favorite toy when I was 12 and never found it again.ā It can be the parents who loved you and fully sympathized with your desire to have the thing, but honey, we just donāt have the money right now. It can be the fact that you no longer live with your brother whoās highly allergic to dogs, so you can finally have the dog you always wanted that you always understood why you couldnāt get, and you accepted it, but it was still painful. It can be the Atari games or Nintendo games or Sega games that donāt exist anymore that you played in your childhood.
As Iāve gotten older Iāve realized ā you donāt have to be suffering some great trauma, something unusual and particularly damaging, to feel pain. You donāt have to have lost your entire home in a hurricane to have lost something you truly valued and miss a lot. You donāt have to have had toxic parents to have been denied some things you wanted because they just didnāt have the money, or the resources, or the health.
Time is pain. Loss and disappointment are part of human existence. But you donāt have to try to justify why your specific loss or disappointment is especially bad to admit that it hurts and do something to rectify that hurt in some small way.
scars in fiction: I got this trying to save my lover from an assassin- but tragically, I was too late. now I carry the mark of my failure with me always, and I can never forget~
scars in real life:Ā so I was trying to open macaroni sauce with a paring knife
Tell me how you got your scars in the tags
Beginning a new craft;
THE BASICS:
a sideshow magician with all the drappings and distractions is likely to be called an act. True power can conjure from all that is present but not observed.
Visualization
The Four Elements; fire, earth, water, air
Spirit, soul
Being bipolar with major depressive disorder, my craft is grounded in the basics of daily life. Without a dime we have all the time to focus on the power of the mind. The most important tool. You can spend to your hearts content but your craft will take time to cultivate. Just like it takes time to cultivate (find) yourself.
Visualization
If you feel "silly" imagining yourself having a great day, or washing yourself in a cleansing sunshine, you're not gonna be able to manifest shit. Magick is creation and you cannot create without visualization. It will be referenced in every spiritual/magical pursuit
The Four Elements
š„FIRE š„ - Anytime you can get beneath the sun you can charge yourself. Visualize a white orb in your solar plexus. Grow it like a fire underneath the sun, expanding to your chest, abdomen, legs and head until it covers your being. Carry this fire with you.
Every meal is fuel for your inner fire. Chew with intention. Personally I see too many people disregarding the vitality of food. Leaving too many distractions about and shoveling food into unnoticed taste buds. Each slowly. Finish a whole bite before beginning the next. Fuel your fire.
Candle magic (safely) - see color magic for correspondences
šEARTH š - Personally, my body is my earth. Sacred. To protect my body I must also protect the earth. Fucking recycle and pick up trash when you go to beach. We have all had to compromise with plastic in our lives for financial and practical reasons so I'm not here to cry plastic witch. Do what you can, and we all know we can do more. Wanna connect with the Earth? Get to it!
Ground yourself. Stand barefoot on solid ground and feel the Earth. Plant yourself. Visualize the roots of every being connect beneath the surface, feel your connection, ground yourself in the gravity of your world.
šWATER š - every bathing is a ritual. Why do you shower if not to clean yourself? Let the water wash over you, everything unserving washes away. Visualize the weight of the mess leave your head, run down your hair and out the drain.
Drink with intention! Being former food service and retail sometimes my first drink would be soda or alcohol and not till after midnight. My craft first began when I started to see water as the element of my being. Water washes everything clean, it moves life forward, use it as such.
š¬AIRš¬ every second of every day. Air is life. Without air earth and fire suffocate. With air water transforms beyond other elements abilities. With meditation, practiced organized breathing and emergency response breathing (how to trigger the parasympathetic system) you can practice the strength of your breathing and it's ability to unburden a worried body.
With each breath feel the strength of your lungs expand. The blood of your heart pump to your extremities, your brain inhales all the senses as oxygen fills your being. Visualize the air flowing in and out of you. Strength in, weight out.
Soul, Spirit
I define my soul as "my being", to mean my current existence. I have my body which manifests my physical world, my mind which comprehends and analyzes my world, and then my "being", me, my soul.
To find your soul and work with it I feel you need to first find the magic around you. The elements are always with you and your relationship with them must be as intertwined as the soul is.
Personally my daily rituals drive my day, being and frankly, are essential to managing my health conditions. With the weight of depression and home circumstances I never developed basic self care regimes. As I got older I didn't care enough about my existence to maintain any. That's when I realized the magic of my mind. My mind is what manifests my world and drives my body. Left unchecked my mind has destroyed my body and left my soul to hide. I integrated magic into my morning "rising ritual" that I find helpful to staying in tune with your magic, first developing your craft or without actual "tools"
DAILY: no cost witchcraft
Rise with the sun (I can't have the shades drawn I will sleep for actual days and never move)
Before leaving your bed, stretch your toes out, feel your muscle roll down your leg. Stretch your arms, follow your body like a hillside rising. Your body is your earth, the world of your being. Fuel yourself in the sun
Visualize your day. Picture yourself returning to this spot, the window is dark and room is softly lit, what fulfilled your day. Do not ruminate on your upcoming day. This is a time of potential not doubt
Bathe. Cleanse yourself, prepare your body for your day.
Coordinate clothing with color Magick and daily intentions. Basic protection is intention so USE WHAT YOU HAVE ALREADY.
Meditate. Finding the soul is quieting the mind. Start slow. Don't think " I can't meditate for an hour so I can't do it". You have to start small and it's always hard. We are busy beings, the world is crowded. Reaching mindfulness is a skill to be practiced not inherent.
The elements are with you. If you want to become a master of your mind and manifest your life you will use the basic elements and what's around to create your magic. If you wanna become powerful with nothing, start by using what you already have.
I love this! I would like to add though, I know visualization is very difficult for some people. Not being able to visualize doesnt make you any less spiritual or any less of a witch. You just have to find what works best for You.
we gotta work on the accessibility of our knowledge.
I LOVE the community emphasis on doing research, especially for beginners, in witchcraft, paganism, occultism, astrology, etc.
however, most of the resources for learning are books, and it can be pretty intense reading. Being dyslexic, iāve found this to be inaccessible. Even audiobooks just donāt cut it for me, iām too much of a visual & kinesthetic learner.
Ive seen a lot of people answering questions with āgo read about it.ā Ive even seen some attitude that the heavy readings weed out the people who are only interested because itās ātrendy.ā but itās also intimidating neurodivergent folks away.
even after iāve read something, i may have to read it three more times before i fully understand it. I feel like iām working double or triple time.
Iām trying to find new ways to pass on the knowledge iām learning, so those after me have another option than to suffer through the reading like i am.
& if you know any good resources out there that ARENāT books, please share them with me!! Iād love to compile a database haha.
i totally agree with this; reading isnt always an option! and to be completely honest, iāve fallen into this trap of saying āgo research itā without actually giving any resources for someone to research with, but in attempts to fix that, heres some non-reading resources!
YouTube
- HearthWitch they make videos that are beginner friendly, as well as intermediate and advanced, that inform, educate, and spread awareness about witchcraft. the only drawback i can think of is that their videos can run pretty long, so those with attention deficits may struggle with these. they also have a tendency to get technical.
- Chaotic Witch Aunt well known on a witchtok, they are a fantastic resource for beginner witches, and for those just beginning or interested in deity work. their videos range from 5-20 minutes, and are not very technical or hard to understand from a beginners standpoint.
- Eadig is a witchcraft resource for beginners who does an excellent job explaining witchcraft basics to provide a foundation for baby witches. i particularly like that they have references and supplemental studying resources in the description, not all of which are reading. their content is also shorter - between 5 to 30 minutes, and i highly recommend this as a place to start. the only drawback is that they have not posted in a few months.
- The Witch of Wonderlust is a more vlog style witch who i wouldnt necessarily consider as a resource, but more as a low-energy watch for those who are burnt out or otherwise dont have the energy for something more complex.
Podcasts
disclaimer: i dont listen to a lot of witchcraft podcasts, but i have tried to compile a list of witchcraft podcasts who keep in mind closed practices. however, i can only do so much and some of these may recommend use of a closed practice that i do not condone! All of these were found on Spotify, but may be accessible elsewhere.
- Cats, Tea, and Witchcraft a witchcraft podcast aimed at beginners and those curious about it. their non-interview episodes are less than an hour and may be a better option for those with attention deficits.
- Witchcraft Off the Beaten Path is aimed at all skill levels of witchcraft and discusses abnormal or unconventional forms of witchcraft. their episodes can run a bit long however.
- Go2BOshunās Black Witchcraft Handbook is a resource for Black witches that covers all African practices (such as hoodoo, juju, etc.) as a white witch, i have not listened to any of these episodes, but i wanted to of course leave resources for Black witches as well! this podcast is only meant for Black witches, so please do not listen if you are not Black, as it is not intended for us.
- Witchās Gathering: Witchcraft Discussions and Education. this is a podcast that i would really only recommend to 18+ intermediate or advanced witches who are looking for a low energy listen. they post very irregularly, but are pretty funny and easy to digest.
WOW thank you so much @ghoulishgrimoire š¤ this is a great list, reblogging again for more visibility!!
I also want to add a podcast,
Magnolias and Magic (previously known as āwitchcraft with a side of saltā). Iāve listened to a few of their episodes so far and they have some interesting discussions about the witchcraft community! The ones i listened to tackled questions like āhow literally should we interpret myths?ā āhow are we failing newcomers?ā āshould new witches work with deities?ā and discourse topics like twin flames, intention, gate keeping, etc.
thereās a few hosts and sometimes guests, so i appriciate the multiple perspectives and that they donāt all agree on the same things.
Cool Tip
If you are like me and always need to be working on something to keep your anxiety under control, during this quarentine why not helping scientists by looking at pictures of some neat penguins? or even galaxies?Ā Thereās this site call Zooniverse, where you can help on scientific projects by analyzing pictures and data!Ā Right now my favorite project has returned, called Penguin Watch (where yeah, you get to watch penguins, itās amazing)
you basically have to analyse photos looking for penguins, their chicks, eggs or even predators and human interaction But there are lots of interesting projects you can help in areas such as biology, physics, historyĀ or even art:Ā
Oh and the best part, some institutions even accept it as volunteering/service hour requirements for graduation and scholarships!! Itās helping me a lot during this time, so I thought it was worth sharingĀ
Zooniverse is awesome. They have a relatively new project classifying and transcribing recordings of vintage Cuban radio around the revolution.
Another project is about the fan and hate mail sent to Orson Welles after the broadcast of War of the Worlds.
Another project is rescuing data from handwritten records from a Scottish weather station.
Omg this sounds so cool? And it would definitely help me feel like I'm doing something important and making a difference (even though I cant quarantine)
My best advice to new heathens is, don't trust people or sources blindly. Keep your wits about you and develop an opinion based on facts and variety. The complexities of history will always catch the linear thinking off guard.
100 Witch Tips
Listening to your own intuition will always be useful. Learn to trust it.
Put almonds in your pockets for good luck.
Lemongrass essential oil kills fruit flies.
Use a charged crystal on top of your Wifi router, or anything that needs a boost.
Salt in a hula hoop for casting circles.
Evernote and Google docs are amazing for online Grimoires.
Snow-globes can be used in place of crystal balls.
Donāt leave any naturally coloured quartz (amethyst, rose) in the sun, itāll fade. Unless you want it to fade.
You can use crayons in place of candles.
Meditation!
Be careful of setting stuff on fire, move all flammable objects before lighting something.
Clear quartz can absorb negativity.
Be specific when asking questions/doing spells.
You can turn songs into spells, it helps a lot when youāre just starting.
You can make cheap runes with a sharpie, clear nail polish, and rocks.
Thrift stores ARE YOUR FRIEND!
Rosemary can be used in place of any herb.
Clear Quartz can be used in place of any stone.
http://biddytarot.com is a good place to read in-depth Tarot meanings, really helps if youāre starting out.
Suck on a peppermint when youāre studying something you need to remember, then again when you need to remember the thing.
Incense ashes = black salt.
Cleanse by moon, charge by sun.
Wear colours that correspond to your intent for that day, subtle and effective.
Got a needle and thread? You got a pendulum.
Just about any cards can be used for divination. Playing cards, pokemon cards, etc.
You can find images of the Rider-Waite deck online and print them onto cardstock.
Craft stores usually have REALLY CHEAP jars.
Music is magical, use that to your advantage.
LOCKETS!
Just about any mirror/reflective surface can be used for scrying, donāt let Etsy fool you with those 50$ mirrors.
White candles can be used in place of any candle.
There are also candle apps!
Birthday candles!
CANDLES!
If you bake, draw sigils in the batter/dough before baking.
Stir liquids clockwise for a luck/health boost, and counter-clockwise for banishing and ridding of negativity.
If you need to subtly cleanse, sage and saltwater in a spray bottle. Be mindful of plants and pets.
Sage can smell like weed sometimes, keep that in mind.
Peach and Avocado pits ward off negativity.
If you donāt like working with blood, Halloween blood and pomegranate/cherry juices are great.
LIBRARIES!!!!!!
Keep a notebook with you constantly in case you need to write something down.
Write wishes on bay leaves, then burn them to make them come true.
Cleanse yourself in the wind.
To get candle wax out of a jar, pour some boiling water in it then leave it for a while, the wax should be floating on top. Be careful!
Selenite and Amethyst are good for dreams.
Pressing flowers really is useful.
You can make your own tea blends pretty easily, just be careful about knowing what is/isnāt edible.
Set a sigil as your phone background, then plug it in to charge it.
Write sigils with makeup while youāre doing it.
Warding will be your best friend.
Use common sense!
If you want to grow herbs out of cans be sure you poke holes in the bottom so excess water can run out.
If you canāt throw salt everywhere, make a salt water spray instead.
You can draw over sigils with glow in the dark paint to see charging effects.
Use plastic ziploc bags in place of jars; cheaper!
Coffee filters can be used as herb bags.
If a spell calls for an ingredient that happens to be in a tea you own, cut open your own tea bags.
You can make altar/shrine books.
Colour correspondences for sigils.
You can do virtual altars via pinterest, video games, etc.
You can glue envelopes into your BOS to hold things like sigils, recipes, etc.
Brick dust works the same as black salt.
Make a google doc/keep a notepad with you for ideas throughout your day.
Instead of burying jars in the ground, use non-bleached toilet paper tubes.
You can buy one big pot and plant many herbs in it.
Chew mint gum during money spells.
Write sigils on your nails using nail polsh pens
Rice water is used for prosperity and success spells.
If you have a computer, you can make your background your altar.
Have an altar by a window, so your items are always cleansed/charged.
Uncooked spaghetti makes lighting candles a lot easier.
Use oil diffusers if you canāt burn incense.
Wicca is NOT the only path!
Glass can be substituted for quartz.
Dedicate a stuffed animal to your deity to bond with them.
A good blood substitute = crushed iron tablets.
Attach crystals to the cork tops of your jars as an energy channel to charge jar spells.
You do NOT have to do magic everyday, it shouldnāt be a chore or something you dread doing.
Brackish water (salt and fresh water) is good for cursing.
Donāt eat things that arenāt edible, and donāt sniff things that arenāt sniffable.
When enchanting your car, draw sigils on the wheels so they charge when they turn.
Donāt make offerings that degrade the environment!
More jar alternatives: bowls of ice, unbleached paper, bell peppers.
Donāt bury jars, please.
Just donāt do it.
White sage is endangered in America, grow your own.
Breathe.
Compile a list of songs that have names corresponding to herbs and ingredients to put in a spell playlist.
Do not substitute fantasy for fact.
Donāt do spells on someone that goes against their free will.
Empath tip: Carry blue goldstone.
Salt cleanse yourself with any salty snack, crisps, pretzels, etc.
Frankincense is an insect repellent
Put mint in shoes for luck (and an air freshener!)
Garage sales are amazing.
Place a candle in the window to welcome sunlight.
Bells can be used for cleansing, too.
Witch Hazel is a natural toner, good for your skin, and is used for protection!
Rain washes away bad vibes, negativity, and cleanses.
Just, um, dont put essential oils on your actual food to kill fruit flies...I really hope y'all know better
Practical Things I Think Witches Should Research
Cultural Appropriation
Closed paths and practices
Cult warning signs
Spiritual Discernment
Herb interactions (i.e. how they interact with your medications, if they are poisonous, if you are allergic, can you ingest them, etc.)
Fire safety (for candles, smoke cleansing, incense, etc.)
Crystal Care (learn if your crystals will dissolve in water, if they can be in the sun, if they can be in the cold, etc.)
Pet Care (make sure herbs don't have poor interactions with your pets, make sure you know what to keep away from them, etc.)
shitty witch tip #232
dual wield wands
š© Witch Red Flags š©
These are some things that I consider red flags in witches I have come across before:
Believes only women can be witches.
Believes that magic/spirituality/energy/crystals can cure mental illness, physical illness, chronic illness, and disorders.
Doesn't respect closed paths or practices.
Tells others how their paths should be.
Won't stop telling witches they need to protect themselves from deities.
Thinks they are more powerful than anyone else, won't stop talking about how powerful they are.
Judges all witches with Wiccan rules.
Treats baby witches like they are somehow idiots and don't deserve respect.
Calls themselves a fancy title without being able to back it up.
Thinks hereditary witches are more powerful/better than first generation witches.
These are just a few I've noticed. If you know of any others, add them in reblogs or replies!
"Dianic Wicca" -- heavily infested with terfs/radfems and lesbian separatists (note: not just worshiping Diana)
References Silver Ravenwolf or Raymond Buckland (look we all have our dumb phase but I'm gonna wait until you grow out of yours)
"All gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" you're like halfway there buddy keep going (and maybe drop the gender binarism and cultural assimilationism on your way there)
"G*psy witch" no you are not
"Godphone" my god said to tell u ur a dink
Tells you they can help you be more powerful or you NEED them in particular
Honestly anything that would go on a culty warning list
Listen if you saw a christian saying that shit would you nope off the face of the planet? Then stay away.
Ever, EVER tells you to go off your meds, or that any modern medical or scientific improvement is "clouding your senses/magic/third eye/pineal gland" (I have seen this claim about fluoridated water like PLEASE)
Claiming "natural" is better for you than "man-made." That's a great way to get yourself hurt bud! Nature doesn't make shit especially for humans, even when it happens to align with our needs (which is often the result of human intervention ANYWAY), and humans and our works are not separate from nature, even when they're objectively shitty.
Seriously there is cyanide in apple seeds "Mother Nature" does not CARE. Yeah we need to work to protect and restore nature etc but don't woobify it. Nature isn't Good or Evil it just IS.
On a similar note: Gives lists of herbal remedies without providing any safety information. If it has any effects, it has side effects and the potential to cause harm. Period.
Acting like Science is evil, or unfeeling, or inferior to magic. Again, if you'd laugh at a christian saying it, stay away.
"Only white people can follow the Norse pantheon" naaaaaaah
Claiming witch-hunters were targeting secret pagans instead of just heretics and self-sufficient women.
Acting like Wicca is "ancient" or calling it "the Old Religion" or tracking it back further than Gerald Gardner aka the guy who invented it.
"Wicca and Witchcraft are the same thing" lmao even more recent Wiccan books don't claim that
Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong about anything but that goes for everything.
Which reminds me
Refuses to be corrected or to consider other points of view.
Very good additions to the list!
Anyone Can Talk To The Dead
I'm tired of this notion that only mediums/psychics/witches can talk to the dead because it's just not true. Everyone and anyone can talk to the dead, and it's healthier to do it yourself than to do it with some stranger (if you don't want to do it alone, I suggest being with a friend, family member, or therapist) due to how personal it is.
Talking to the dead is exactly what it sounds like. It's talking. It's not exactly a conversation, though, and it doesn't have to be. Talking to the dead is to make you feel better, not the dead person. And that's okay. You don't need to get responses from the dead in order for this to be beneficial to you, I'd wager that it's actually better for you in the long run to not get responses (so you can learn to deal with the finality of death better).
So, how do you talk to the dead?
Go somewhere calm and private. It could be at an altar, at the grave of your loved one, in nature, or in your bedroom.
Think about your loved one, remember them, think of their appearance, their personality, etc.
Talk. Say everything that you have been wanting to say to them. Tell them you miss them. Tell them you're feelings. Tell them all the stuff you wish they saw. Tell them anything. Allow yourself to grieve for them.
After you're done talking, thank them for listening. Tell them that you love them (if you were that close), and take a few deep breaths. If you cried, or experienced intense emotions, take this time to help calm yourself down.
Anyone can do this, and I encourage everyone who wants to talk with their deceased loved ones to do this.
Benefits of talking to the dead personally rather than through someone else:
You are able to confront death head on, this is a skill that everyone needs and it's one of the hardest ones to learn. If you don't feel like you can do this without a therapist, that is completely valid.
You can feel safe to talk about extremely personal things.
You get to be the one communicating directly with your loved one, this is a far more personal experience.
You can get closure with their passing, something that only you can find for yourself.
This can help you with growing your spirituality as well (another very personal experience).
If you get a sign, you will know it was a real sign, not someone trying to scam you (there are many scammers in the spiritual community, unfortunately).
I hope this maybe helps someone who wants to reach out to their deceased loved ones. You have more power than you think, you don't need to be anything in order to do this. You don't need to practice anything, research anything, belong to a certain religion, or anything in order to do this.
Positive thread time:
What's your favourite song right now?
Mine is - Wintergreen by The East Pointers !
Ruin by So Below!
simple self care can be a ounce of fresh air āØ
