Chronically Feral

Chronically (ch)ill Christopagan witch Any pronouns 🖤🩶🤍💚

[chronicallyferal]

About the Witch/Blog

Hey, I’m M! I’m agender and use any pronouns. I’m a parent, have chronic health issues, and live in a three-generation home in some suburbs, but it’s still pretty close to nature.

For lack of better terminology, I’m a Christopagan folk practitioner reconstructionist

and usually my sources are academic papers and old books and stuff from various places: England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland (all of where my ancestors are from), plus a bit of traditional American folk ways from various regions that my ancestors may have practiced. The results are uniquely my own and, in all likelihood, nothing like what my ancestors actually did, while still honoring them, I think.

I grew up in a high-demand religion and I’ve had to do a lot of deconstruction in the last couple of decades, but I’m in at peace with who I was and who I am now. I also grew up with animism, to a point. It was basically my mom telling me everything has a spirit and that we need to respect everything, which I found out later not everyone believes. I was also raised to believe that science and spiritual belief are complementary. I don’t do dichotomies here.

Although I’ve been researching and practicing for some years, I’ve realized I’m starting to forget some the sources of my practice and belief and wanted to start keeping some kind of record. I write things down about folklore sometimes, but I don’t usually write anything down as regards my own personal practice.

I love nature, including the darker side of it. I also deal with death and animal remains at times, so if that will be a problem, just avoid the #animal remains and #vulture culture tags. Maybe someday I’ll learn to link tags.

I’ll also sometimes reblog funny stuff, solar punk stuff, random stuff, whatever, cause idk it’s my blog and from my brain and I don’t focus well so I guess my blog doesn’t either

I will never knowingly share anything “made” by AI! I also know I’m anything but infallible, so if you notice me reblogging something using AI, please let me know and I’ll delete it

Also I’m occasionally political, so if that’s going to bother you just kindly leave, please. You don’t need to announce your departure.

I’m 40. Never thought I’d still be alive at this age, and while there were some close calls, I’m pretty proud of making it this far. If you’re under 18, I’m not going to block you or anything, but don’t dm me, please. I don’t care if you like/reblog/whatever else. I grew up during the wild west of the internet and I’m just glad we’ve progressed past a/s/l >_< (there’s a little vintage emoticon for you, as a treat)

P.S. I also have a fandom side blog but I follow from this one. If you want to check it out:

@franhellachaela

A fandom blog 😌 I follow from my main blog chronicallyferal Tbh it’s gonna be mostly Franchaela rn bc I need somewhere to be feral about the

[ghibligif]

[roadkillandcrows]

Raven skull I found recently.

[figbythistle]

Surviving a five-day migraine, celebrating my first day with some little relief by painting!

[god-is-in-shambles]

Okay maybe this is a hot take, but as a Folk Catholic, there absolutely needs to be more accountability for Christianity in general for all of the terrible things that have been done in its name, especially the Catholic Church. I need you guys to read this carefully, I am not saying that all modern Christians are bad, or that they should be personally held responsible for the Crusades. What I am saying is Liberal/Leftist/Progressive Christians and Conservative/Traditional Christians have one thing in common and that is their Christianity. As leftist Christians, we need to seriously think about why Christianity has been co-opted by terrible people throughout history, and what we can do to stop it. One of the things we can do to stop our religion being run by bigots is by learning about the history of colonization, forced conversion, the crusades, the persecution of Jewish and Muslim people, Christian Nationalism, and many more topics that show the bad side of our faith. We must not only learn about these things, but face them head on. We cannot continue to sweep it under the rug. Because if we do, then it gives more power to Conservative Christians, since there is no one fighting against them. (Im thinking of starting a substack so I can get all my thoughts and ideas out in a more organized manner, but I just needed to get this out of my system.)

[chronicallyferal]

I use my Kinder World app as a digital altar and right now it’s an altar dedicated to safety for queer people (I named the plant in the rainbow pot Safety, and dedicated its growth to that). It’s no longer got support but I think you can still download Kinder World for free if you’re interested. You can grow plants and use self care practices to water them, earn dog treats to buy decorations, and decorate rooms.

[rosieandthemoon]

St Dunstan in the East Church Garden

[chronicallyferal]

How do you know if something is medically dire if it’s something you deal with all the time?

[herbalisyl444]

permaculture + witchcraft 🌳🕸️🗺️

i want to make a larger substack post on this subject soon, but i'm finalizing my permaculture design for my property right now and this is on my mind!

first of all, what is permaculture? in Practical Permaculture: For Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth, the author describes it as "meeting human needs through ecological and regenerative design".

permaculture design is already based around using natural systems as a frame of reference, such as fractals, spirals, grids, networks, & tessellations. building systems based on a bee hive or on leaf veins gives an extra connection to that source which we can imbue and utilize magically.

i also think that the entire property design process can become a hypersigil, alike any "art form". enchanting while designing, and integrating enchantments into the designs, can be done throughout the length of the design process.

specific locations and species/cultivars of trees and plants may be used as a wide-ranging hypersigil, or features may be designed to be specific altar spaces.

when you eventually set up gardens, or other designated areas of vegetation, you can also enchant and commune with the plant and seed spirits as they are planted. identification and pilgrimage through wooded areas may be followed by devotion. wards and other spellwork can be planted or affixed within structures and gardens put in.

i hope this post provided any of you with some ideas! if you are a witch interested in permaculture, i have some book recommendations under the cut:

Practical Permaculture: For Home Landscapes, Your Community, and the Whole Earth; by Jessi Bloom & Dave Boehnlein

Holistic Homesteading: A Guide to Sustainable and Regenerative Lifestyle; by Roxanne Ahern

The Vegetable Gardeners Guide to Permaculture: Creating an edible ecosystem; by Christopher Shein (available on Internet Archive)

if you are an urban witch i'd highly recommend Toolbox for Sustainable City Living; by Scott Kellogg & Stacy Pettigrew (available online)

thorn dividers by @pixopix

[progressivemillennial]

“If I have one message to give to the secular American people, it’s that the world is not divided into countries. The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don’t know each other, but we talk together and we understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.”

― Marjane Satrapi, Iranian graphic novelist

[velutfortuna]

Goodnight, and rest in peace, Marjane Satrapi. Thank you for your work and your voice. May we hear you.

[goldenrayofsolar]

Tips to Start a Cheap Garden

Start small and use what you have. You can use old milk cartons, old cans or even plastic fruit cartons.

I would recommend with starting off with flowers since they are usually easy to grow.

Get cheap seeds at Dollar Tree, especially flowers. They usually have seeds starting around Easter time. Their seeds are not perennial but super easy to take care of.

Also check your local library for seeds (especially for vegetable or fruit seeds). My public library has a seed library that is free to use.

Or use seeds from fruits and veggies from your local farmers' market.

For soil, check your local Lowe's/Home Depot/Tractor Supply for sale on soil. (Sales usually happen around spring break/Easter)

Check your local city (or cities nearby) if they have free mulch and/or compost. My local city gives free compost and mulch for residents and cheap options for non-residents.

Label the containers with masking tape and sharpie. Take photos of the care instructions on the seed packets and keep in separate folder on your photos app.

Dollar Tree also has cheap containers, gloves and gardening tools. I've used mine from there for around 3 years now and they are still going strong. You can also use a spoon and fork if you don't want to get extra tools.

General rule of thumb for watering is if the first inch of the soil is moist, the plant doesn't need water.

Gardening shouldn't be hard or scary. Start off small in the first year. These tips also work great for apartments and rented homes. Let me know if you have any questions.

[zinesbycee]

(nods sagely) (nods basily) (nods rosemarily) (nods saltly) (nods star anisely)

[witchqueenofthemoon]

Border embellishments from Little Red Riding Hood, Trina Schart Hyman.

[chronicallyferal]

Borage, Borago officinalis, Starflower

Native to Mediterranean area

[ohholydyke]

In honor of St Joan of Arc’s feast day we should all dress a little queerer, get weirder about God and the saints, and fight to overthrow the government

[thehelperwitch]

"I am not afraid, I was born to do this."

~Johanne d'Arc, patron saint of soldiers, prisoners, visionaries, and the genderqueer. A quote I use as a mantra in my day to day life when I feel my courage falter or my convictions become weak. La Pucelle, pray for us.

[cheshmenoor]