Calenlily's Book Of Shadows

Eclectic pagan and baby witch, primarily drawn to green and kitchen/cottage witchcraft | Resources and inspiration

[calen-witch]

Altar alight for the longest night. Happy Solstice and Blessed Yule!

[magpied-illustration]

the longest night is over, the holly king is dead, onward to spring! 🌿🎀🔔

[theenglishladye]

Winter Solstice Blessings to you all!

[evilios]

Yes there are traditional ways of what an altar looks like when we talk about Roman and Greek altars. Yes, there are ones that we have the most written and archeological evidence of: altars with cult images and particular offering lists, and home larariums, and obviously structured creations by people who followed their local traditions.

Tradition is good, it shows us a blueprint to work with. Tradition is also not the only way things are done, and hell if I should elaborate that tradition of altar upkeep is something we learn from the most privileged and the richest of the past.

Think about all the effigies of wood and fabric we will never find, all the offerings of common folk we will never recover; ponder on what an altar could look like in the home of someone who had no access to gilded gifts, or marble, or stone statues. Think about all the terracotta figurines and limestone busts lost to time because those materials just don’t last as long as Roman concrete does. Wonder at what long-since-gone foods people shared with their Deities.

And remember, what we learn from archeological and written evidence is but a tiny part of history; don’t feel bad if you can’t follow it down to each and every letter.

[crazycatsiren]

White witches stop "smudging" challenge year almost 2023.

[stormwaterwitch]

Babes: call it Censing. Call it Saging. Stop calling it Smudging.

I know y’all can do better we can all stand to do better.

[fluidstatick]

UNLESS YOU ARE INDIGENOUS YOU ARE NOT SMUDGING. Censing (Latin), Rēcaning (Saxon), Saining (Scottish), Thymiaein (Greek), Kyphi (Kemetic/Egyptian), Takpirtu (Mesopotamian), Hallowing (Old English) -- there are so many options. A detailed breakdown of these smoke related cleansing rituals can be found here.

[coinandcandle]

Reblogging for these wonderful alternatives!!!

[polar-solstice]

Finding Your Witch Niche

I think young or beginner witches get caught up in those posts they see that label witches into discreet categories. And there is value to them. You’d rather ask a green or kitchen witch about herbs than, say, a techno witch, and you’d rather ask a Pagan about deities than a secular witch. But I think that new witches need to know that its ok to fit into more than one bubble, or no bubble at all, and that magic is about so much more than just those labels. 

Here’s how to find out what kind of witchcraft to practice:

Find the things you love in life, that make your breath catch and your fingers tingle

The things that you really, really feel the magic in

Apply spells and thought (and maybe prayer if you want that) to that thing

You are that kind of witch

For some of you that’s standing in a forest, or the heart of a city, or knee deep in the sea. For some of you that’s staring up at the night sky, or in the pages of a book, or any one of a million other things. Find your natural, intuitive conduit to magic, hold onto it like a lifeline, and see where it takes you. 

Its ok if its just one thing, or a million little ones. I have a tag on this blog and my main blog that I call “small magics”, and its for the little things in life that are so mundane that they’re magical. Things like flowers growing in the middle of a city sidewalk in a crack in the cement, or the possum that lives in the an apartment complex garden by my house.

Take that first sip of a hot beverage in the morning and the way that the warmth curls in your chest and infuse it with power for the day, or devote it to a god or goddess.

Note a particularly healthy tree and maybe leave the fae that guard it an offering. 

See a pop culture symbol that resonates to your bones? Fill it with your own magic.

Because if you are here looking to become a witch, if this feels right, then you’re right, and no label out there is ever going to take that away from you. The world tries desperately to take away your wonder and hope and power, and you have no business letting them. If you are here, looking to be a witch, then you’re already most of the way there.

[graveyarddirt]

Old Lammas Weekend

Time for some old calendar fun, and everyone’s invited!

This year Old Lammas Eve and Old Lammas Day fall on a Saturday (the 13th) and Sunday (the 14th) giving us the opportunity to celebrate #Old Lammas Weekend together. The 14th is also Honey Feast of the Savior [Медовый спас], a pre-Christian honey-blessing feast that was incorporated into the Orthodox liturgical calendar.

If you didn’t manage your first harvest rites or seasonal crafts earlier in the month this is the perfect time to catch-up. It’s also the perfect time to bless fresh herbs and this year’s new honey for devotional purposes.

So grab your baskets and bags, and hit those local farmers markets, hedges, woodlands, and vegetable gardens - let’s create a seasonal spread to bless and enjoy on Old Lammas Day and have a bit of fun while doing it.

Fri, Aug 12th [Barley Moon <- UK date]: PREPARE! Baking, cooking, crafting, decorating, and/or ritual bathing - do what you gotta do to get ready for Old Lammas celebrations.

Sat, Aug 13th [Old Lammas Eve]: PARTY! A joyous toast to the grain king and first harvest. Ice the beer (or lemonade), get that bonfire built, and have yourself a good time.

Sun, Aug 14th [Old Lammas Day]: PURIFY! Bless your spread! Honey, bread, honey-sweetened cakes, and fresh herbs are traditional. Homegrown or local produce is ideal.

Too hot to bake? Ain’t no shame in buying a fresh loaf of bread to drunkenly dismember on Saturday night. (😉) Seriously, though - feel free to tailor your #Old Lammas Weekend to your needs and your temperatures and your personal practices.

(The reality is that it’ll be too hot for a lot of us to bake or cook, so buy your bread and honey cakes guilt-free, and fire up the grill for a bbq if that’s your thing.)

Be sure to slap #Old Lammas Weekend into your tags, and if you don’t mind me reblogging your posts feel free to tag me personally [@graveyarddirt]. Grab that honey, harvest those herbs, buy that bread, chill the six-pack, make those dolls (corn husk & wheat weaving) - go, go, go!

[another-animist]

was thinking about deer today and how they shed their antlers every year

[paganpillar]

Friendly reminder that you are not obligated to worship the Gods as they were traditionally worshipped. Incorporating modern practices of ancient religions is just as valid. Remember that you can create a regime that caters to your schedule, health, and financial situation. They understand and appreciate the acknowledgment you are able to give.

[royal-wren]

Normalize laughing with your deities 

Normalize telling your deities jokes 

Normalize playing music for your deities at any time it feels right 

Normalize drawing silly little doodles for your deities regardless of skill

Normalize sharing a walk with your deities

Normalize soaking in the sunlight and dark mystery of night with your deities

Normalize letting your deities in, letting them be there 

Normalize shedding tears of joy and sadness and expressing negative emotions that aren’t pretty with your deities

Normalize various levels of intimacy both casual and intense with your deities 

Normalize following what works for you and your deities no matter what when it’s just about you and them, no one else

[calen-witch]

Gardening time! Got my first batch of plants bought and transplanted this weekend, for once I’m not procrastinating horrifically. 1. Bee garden with calendula and violas. 2. Cherry tomato planters with basil and marigolds as companion plants. 3. Green leaf lettuce and strawberries – I love keeping my kitchen garden in these rail planters.

Hopefully I’ll be doing round two next weekend, featuring herbs and hanging flower baskets. Still waffling on whether or not to plant the raised bed this year.

[calen-witch]

This weekend I saw wild roses and bluebells blooming for the first time this year, which is my personal marker of the transition from spring to summer! (Pictures taken on Thursday, and over the past few days I’ve already seen so many more and different flowers coming out!)

Gonna be wild strawberry season soon! 😍

[libraford]

When we talk about habits in witchcraft practice, I think it's important to know that the human body and mind have their own seasons and they may not be related to the seasons of the earth.

A more concrete example: every three years I get an upper respiratory infection, usually in the summer. I caught pneumonia when I was 12 and now I have to deal with it. While this usually happens in the summer, it doesnt happen every summer. I'm knocked flat for about a week and a half.

This is a season of the body: a temporary, but recurring state in which I go through an abrupt change.

A less concrete example: every few months I feel like I want to learn everything, do everything, meet everyone. My inner extrovert runs amok. This is not related to a season at all. My brain just wants to do everything. Then I go back into hermit mode for a little bit.

This is a season of the mind.

So if you skipped a major sabbat or haven't been keeping up with your practice or you find yourself moving away from something or towards something, just remember that you have your own internal rhythm and finding that your interest in something wanes doesnt mean you've given up.

[will-o-the-witch]

I've seen confusion about this a few times so let's clear something up:

With closed traditions, you are COMPLETELY 100% ALLOWED to:

Think about them

Talk about them in conversation

Learn about their history

Follow and talk to members

Ask questions about it in good faith

Think it's very interesting and cool

Find aspects of it relatable to your own philosophy

Accept willing gifts from members, or buy what they are willingly selling

Attend events if you're invited, or events open to the public

Eat or cook traditional food

Listen to traditional music

A lot of people seem like they're scared to interact with people from closed traditions because they're afraid somehow even looking our way will offend us. We're not angry people with secret social rules, we're just people. Like just be nice and you're fine

[will-o-the-witch]

This exactly. A lot of white gentiles heard about cultural appropriation and decided it was the perfect platform to virtue signal, and started yelling over actual members of these cultures they're claiming to "protect." Who needs to actually learn about other cultures when you can just hiss at people to stay away from them?

I've encountered spaces that straight up BANNED any mentions of closed practices to "protect" them from appropriation (and would even ask you to edit said culture out of your intro since who knows, you could be lying.) They genuinely told me "You can be Jewish, just not here." Imagine being such a good ally for Jewish people that you ban them from your discord server 😂

[tikkunolamorgtfo]

This is giving me horrible flashbacks to the time some gentile on here tried to argue that the non-Jewish partners/family members of Jews should decline all invitations to participate in our religious and cultural events, because their presence would be “disrespectful” to Judaism, and refused to back down, even after all of jumblr was like “Actually, continually refusing to do anything Jewish with your Jewish partner is at best rude, and at worst, blatant antisemitism.”

[somnambulant-seraphim]

Here’s some of the smaller items that sit on my Hestia altar. The altar ”table” is actually my grandmother’s old wooden sewing box. I keep pretty much all of my crochet and sewing and stuff in it now, as well as some herbs and witch stuff <|:^)

The pictures above contain some animal figurines, tiger’s eye (the necklace and two red pieces), brooches, some pouches holding small sentimental items, a cinnamon scented tea light (which I have a couple more of), a wooden thimble, some tiny snails I made with a knitting loom, as well as some spoons from my mother and grandmother. 

[theskepticalwitch]

Witchcraft is not homogenous. There isn't one path that's right. There isn't a standard herb association list. There isn't a standard color magic list. All of that is up to personal interpretation and cultural interpretation.

Red can mean love to some, and death to others.

Blue can mean sadness to some, and calm to others.

Rosemary can be "universal" to some, and specific for others.

My point is that your associations should be crafted by you. Figure out what works best for you, and base your craft off of that.

[creature-wizard]

Beginner Witch Tips

Everything is much, much more complicated and nuanced than you think.

You are underestimating the amount of research you need to do.

People who try to sell you on the idea that there’s a secret history or true religion that’s been covered up by a global conspiracy are very likely just Nazis.

Academic scholars aren’t perfect, but getting your history from academic scholars >>>>> getting your history from conspiracy theorists (who are probably just Nazis or Nazi-adjacent).

Make sure those spell ingredients aren’t hazardous to your health in some way. (And don’t just take the word of the people who sold them to you.)