Occultists, witches and spiritualists really need to stop peddling the lie that spirituality, witchcraft, paganism, etc. isn’t a psychological phenomenon as well as a mystical one. Your psychology will in fact, fundamentally inform your experiences with spirituality.
And we also need to stop pretending that spirituality and witchcraft are somehow contrary to mental illness. Or that having a mental illness means you can’t do witchcraft.
I’ll be completely honest with you guys and say that certain people with certain afflictions are more predisposed to different “mystical” experiences than others. I don’t think it’s a great coincidence that I am so great at visualization given that I was raised in a severely neglectful household. It doesn’t surprise me that many pagans are lonely people. This doesn’t mean to say that spirituality is “filling” a hole within anyone (although if it is, that’s great for you) but more so that, well, this path is unpopular for a reason. Alternative subcultures are alternative for a reason, and outcasts and rejects usually find a home there for a reason.
This also doesn’t mean to say that people who engage in witchcraft and spiritualism are inherently mentally ill. There is still a difference between hallucinations and spiritual encounters. And there was never any rule that said that both of these things cannot happen to a single person. For the safety of yourself and others we should be aware of the warning signs of dissociation and hallucination, but that doesn’t make anyone “wrong” for experiencing those things. And experiencing those things doesn’t mean you cannot explore spirituality or do witchcraft.
I hate it when “spiritualists” who are actually just anti-vax conservatives push the narrative that people with mental health issues cannot participate in spirituality. I also despise the notion that mental health issues are inherently a sign of an energetic imbalance. We’re all walking around with a special concoction of brain soup in our heads, it doesn’t surprise me that Ares devotees tend to have BPD, that many Aphrodite devotees struggle with self harm, that many people who work with angels have paranoia or generalized anxiety.
There was never any rule that said that you cannot use your deities or magic to help you cope with your mental health. I know some people will say “the Gods aren’t here to be your friend or hold your hand through life” but I’ve seen no evidence to suggest that’s true. I see no reason why a God like Ares couldn’t help his devotee with BPD come down after a bout of rage, I see no reason why Dionysus couldn’t help his devotee with their alcoholism or substance abuse, I see no reason why Aphrodite couldn’t help a devotee with relapse or negative self talk.
Witchcraft and paganism were historically used as a tool for survival, to bring people ease, to help people feel safe and secure, blessed and protected. That applied to all people, including those with mental health issues.
Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've been online it feels like but I would like to give a slight update about my spiritual life and self growth that has been happening.
I've accepted that I can never have enough knowledge but I can be aware of what I do know and acknowledge it.
As you know, you only learn what you are ready to learn. And maybe you are learning this for the first time.
I've signed up for a Wiccan education group that is local, I attend the first call tonight. I never considered myself Wiccan and I don't think I plan on it. I don't enjoy labels but I enjoy learning what is ready to share and this is willing.
I've learned about my actual blood family, who they are, where they are, and how we are connected. I have the most amazing opportunity because I have family land. Deeded to my family before Canada was a country. We have history and roots I get to follow, appreciate, honour and learn from. I never felt love like the love this land has.
(two photos of the land)
I'm learning a lot of lessons. I used to get overwhelmed thinking I needed to learn everything at once cause one think makes me question something else, making me question more and more and more. It is never enough questioning. Never enough knowledge or learning. But that is okay.
It would be very overwhelming to learn all there is in the universe at once. It would never allow such. So I breathe and wait for my knowledge to settle and fill me till I'm ready
Áine, an Irish Goddess of Summer and sovereignty, frequently depicted as a red mare and most commonly associated with County Limerick folklore, midsummer and St John’s Eve.
Me 4 years ago, an "Eclectic Witch": Listen guys, you can do this however you want, but to me magic is all about how you frame things in your mind. Gods are real in the aspect that they exist in our collective unconscious and working with them feeds them energy, which in turn gives them power. What you believe in creates mechanisms that fuel your magic.
I highly recommend going on a walk and taking photos of every tree or bush you find interesting to identify them.
This way you get to learn about the native plants around you! I learned we have many hawthorn bushes and trees, cherry blossoms in the park, oak trees and so many different breeds of pine trees and transplanted trees from other countries!
I have created a dropbox with pdfs I have gathered over the years, I have done my best to only allow access to documents which I found openly available through sites like JRSOR, Archive.org, or other educational resources with papers available for download.
That being said I ALSO recommend (I obviously have not read all of these by they are either in my library or I intend to add them)
📚 Celtic/Irish Pagan Books
The Morrighan: Meeting the Great Queens, Morgan Daimler
Raven Goddess: Going Deeper with the Morríghan, Morgan Daimler
A Circle of Stones: Journeys and Meditations for Modern Celts, Erynn Rowan Laurie
Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom, Erynn Rowan Laurie
Ireland's Animals: Myths, Legends and Folklore, Niall Mac Coitir
Celtic Cosmology and the Otherworld: Myths, Orgins, Sovereignty and Liminality, Sharon Paice MacLeod
Celtic Myth and Religion, Sharon Paice MacLeod
A Guide to Ogam Divination, Marissa Hegarty
The Book of the Great Queen, Morpheus Ravenna
Litany of The Morrígna, Morpheus Ravenna
Celtic Visions, Caitlín Matthews
Harp, Club & Calderon, Edited by Lora O'Brien and Morpheus Ravenna
Celtic Cosmology: Perspectives from Ireland and Scotland, Edited by Jacqueline Borsje and others
Polytheistic Monasticism: Voices from Pagan Cloisters, Edited by Janet Munin
📚 Celtic/Irish Academic Books
Early Medieval Ireland 400-1200, Dáibhí Ó Cróinín
The Sacred Isle, Dáithi Ó hÓgáin
The Ancient Celts, Berry Cunliffe
The Celtic World, Berry Cunliffe
Irish Kingship and Seccession, Bart Jaski
Early Irish Farming, Fergus Kelly
A Guide to Early Irish Law, Fergus Kelly
Studies in Irish Mythology, Grigory Bondarnko
Prehistoric Archaeology of Ireland, John Waddell
Archeology and Celtic Myth, John Waddell
Understanding the Celtic Religion: Revisiting the Past, Edited by Katja Ritari and Alexandria Bergholm
A Guide to Ogam, Damian McManus
Cesar's Druids: an Ancient Priesthood, Miranda Aldhouse Green
Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, Miranda Aldhouse Green
The Gods of the Celts, Miranda Green
The Celtic World, Edited by Miranda J Green
Myth and History in Celtic and Scandinavian Tradition, Edited by Emily Lyle
Ancient Irish Tales, Edited by Tom P Cross and Clark Haris Slover
Cattle Lords and Clansmen, Nerys Patterson
Celtic Heritage, Alwyn and Brinley Rees
Ireland's Immortals, Mark Williams
The Origins of the Irish, J. P. Mallory
In Search of the Irish Dreamtime, J. P. Mallory
The Táin, Thomas Kinsella translation
The Sutton Hoo Sceptre and the Roots of Celtic Kingship Theory, Michael J. Enright
Celtic Warfare, Giola Canestrelli
Pagan Celtic Ireland, Barry Raftery
The Year in Ireland, Kevin Danaher
Irish Customs and Beliefs, Kevin Danaher
Cult of the Sacred Center, Proinsais Mac Cana
Mythical Ireland: New Light on the Ancient Past, Anthony Murphy
Early Medieval Ireland AD 400-1100, Aidan O'Sullivan and others
The Festival of Lughnasa, Máire MacNeill
Curse of Ireland, Cecily Gillgan
📚 Indo-European Books (Mostly Academic and linguistic)
Dictionary of Indo-European Concepts and Society, Emily Benveniste
A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principle Indo-European Languages, Carl Darling Buck
The Horse, the Wheel and Language, David W. Anthony
Comparative Indo-European Linguistics, Robert S.P. Beekes
In Search of the Indo-Europeans, J.P. Mallory
Indo-European Mythology and Religion, Alexander Jacob
Some of these books had low print runs and therefore can be difficult to find and very expensive... SOME of those books can be found online with the help of friends... 🏴☠️
library genesis might be a great place to start... hint hint...
hello there, hope this finds you well. hope it's alright to ask, but have you any thoughts on going about attempting to connect with spirits linked to another land/culture (i.e. the good folk) while in a different land?
Hi there! Thank you so much for asking, I'm always happy to try and help when I can.
Sorry I left this for a few days, truthfully I've been trying to come up with an answer.
I suppose the first thing would always be research, an investigation into the type of interaction the Aos Sí have with people and where they live etc.
Maybe do a case study of specific places with prominent activity. Hell just type "fairy" into Duchas.ie
(Now kind of SPG/UPG alert.) I have also found a lot of luck with the IPS Journeying method. Definitely helped me connect with the ungods of locations across the country. Here's a link to the basic course which kind of gives you the run down (link) and here's a link to an actual one that brings you somewhere, a so called level 2 journey (link). As with most things in the Irish Pagan school, the free stuff here is great but the payed stuff isn't really worth it. Between the two things I've linked you'll be able to do them just fine anyway. (SPG end)
While I welcome the question, I fear I may not be the best person to ask about this. I work mostly within the culture I live in with the ungods of this land so this is a bit outside of my area of expertise.
I do know specifically that there are many great and well researched irish pagans on here who don't live in a celtic country. So if you are one such people can you please help answer this question with some insight into what you do/how you do it.
I hope you see this anon. I've been very dissatisfied with the lacking answer I had so I've been doing some research and this article (link) from Paganachd.com is probably the best thing I can find to answer your questions.
It's specifically written from the perspective of people living in North America but I feel it could be applied wherever you are. Not sure I'm 100% on all of it, there are bits that are a little 🤨 but it is the best I resource I could find to help you.
I did like this bit though about learning local customs to avoid causing any offence to local native spirits but not appropriating those customs:
"Ceremonial taboos and traditions vary widely from region to region, but one thing about which there is consensus is that pouring alcohol on the ground or in the waters is not good. It will call spirits you don't want to deal with, and is seen as poisoning the Earth. The idea is not to mimic or adopt Indigenous Peoples' ceremonies, but just to learn if there are any other Celtic practices that you might want to avoid doing, if to do so would anger or offend the local spirits."
Hope this helps! If anyone has any other advice for them please do share too.
How do y'all write out your spell workings? I'm not looking for any spells or tips on how to actually write the ritual.
I'm wondering if people write down their hopeful outcome, how they are working in the mundane world for it to come to life or how they track the progress of the spell and goal outcome.
Does this make sense?
I've had a book of shadows and Grimoire for well over a year and I've never filled one and I feel as if I have left out a lot of information over the past few years but I don't know how to improve besides the basic "write everything" but I have a seperate book for my therapy work and mundane shit so I never know where stuff should go.
Does anyone else struggle with this??
(added photo of my BOS and a workbook on Chakras and I use my BOS to store my learning and writing from this book)
Ready your gathering baskets and your best shoes for traipsing, witches - it’s time to greet the Flower Moon!
Flower Moon
The Flower Moon gives us the fulfillment of the first flush of the Pink Moon, with fragrant blossoms greeting us at every turn and heralding the merry month of May. The floral name for this particular cycle is shared by a number of indigenous nations, include the Algonquin, Anishnaabe, and Dakota. Other names include Budding Moon and Frog Moon (Cree), Planting Moon (Dakota and Lakota), and the Moon of Mulberry (Choctaw).
European names for this moon include Milk Moon (Anglo-Saxon) and Hare Moon (Celtic, allegedly). Some modern pagan circles also call it the Grass Moon as well, since the flourishing of grasslands is more common in some areas than the appearance of flowers.
This full moon peaks during daylight hours in the Western Hemisphere (around 9:53am EDT), so the moon may appear to be full on both the nights of the 22nd and 23rd.
What Does It Mean For Witches?
As we pass the spring rites and move toward the summer season, it’s the perfect time to celebrate your growth and the ways in which you want to flourish. This is the season for romance and love, and not just that which comes when we put on flower crowns and go a-Maying. This is a time to love ourselves as much as each other, to celebrate our bonds, and to be reminded of our own beauty and strength. Remember the things you love about yourself and consciously take a moment to remind your loved ones how much you care for them.
It is also a time to celebrate fertility, be it animal, vegetable, mineral, or spiritual. Put new plans into action, start that project you’ve been meaning to do, embark on that new hobby or activity you wanted to try. If you have a long-term goal or a big project, now is the time to outline your path to completion and plan how to direct your energy so you don’t burn out halfway through. Don’t hold back - break through the walls of imposter syndrome and anxiety, indulge in your creative urges, and let your inspiration soar. What you choose to plant and nurture now determines what you will harvest later in the year. And above all, remember to have FUN!
What Witchy Things Can We Do?
If you’ve been feeling the urge to do some flower-related magic, now is the perfect time! Familiarize yourself with the wildflowers in your area and if possible, maybe grab your basket and scissors and go on a foraging trip. Remember to properly identify flowers before picking them, don’t overharvest, and don’t take anything from private property without permission or from national parks full stop. You can press the flowers with a notebook and something flat and heavy, or you can dry them in hanging bunches, in a cardboard tray, or in a low-temp oven for later use.
This is also a good opportunity to get your hands in the dirt and connect with the land where you live. If there are plants in your care, take a little time to do some pruning and watering. Check them for spring pests and treat where needed. Give them some love - talk to them, sing to them, encourage them to grow tall and strong and abundant. Bless them as you tend their plots and reaffirm your commitment to be a good caretaker.
As an exercise, try making flower crowns, garlands, bouquets, wreaths, or centerpieces using plant correspondences, flower language, or color magic for a desired effect. This can be done with real flowers or silk ones, depending on how long you want to keep them around. Try your hand at making flower water with roses or other blooms - it makes a wonderful base for moon water!
Experiment with recipes for dishes and drinks that use edible flowers too! Whether it’s color-changing butterfly peaflower tea, sweet and peppery nasturtium, adorable pressed pansy shortbread cookies, or the tried-and-true comforts of chamomile, flowers have many tasty secrets to offer. Don’t be afraid to add botanicals to your health and beauty routine as well! (Just make sure nothing’s going to negatively interact with your meds or irritate a pre-existing condition. Safety first!)
Whether you do so with your near-and-dear, your witchy circle, or by yourself, celebrate everything that blooms - including you!
Happy Flower Moon, witches! 🌕🌼
Further Reading:
Additional Lunar Calendar posts by Bree NicGarran
Flower Moon: Full Moon in May 2024, The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Moonrise and Moonset Calculator, The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Flower Meanings: Symbolism of Flowers, Herbs, and More Plants, The Old Farmer’s Almanac
Floriography, the Language of Flowers, AllFlorists.co.uk
Flower Power: Flower Moon Spiritual Meaning and Stunning Magic, The Peculiar Brunette
How to Dry Flowers 5 Ways, MasterClass, June 7, 2021
DIY Floral Water or Hydrosol, Patti Estep, Hearth and Vine, July 4, 2021
17 Edible Flower Recipes, Better Homes and Gardens, March 8, 2022
(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)
On this day of Venus I have decided to take a step back from working with Aphrodite or a deity.
I've never considered my devotee as I felt it was a title needed to be earned and even with her altar being set for over a year and my following her, I never felt like a magical devotee but a student studying them.
I wanted to learn and understand Aphrodite, so I researched everything I could and I don't think Aphrodite is a guiding spirit for me and I am okay with that. I will always love her, but my path has been guided away from this area of Magic currently.
I don't think I'm ready for a deity yet, I would want to worship and pray to them daily and I'm not ready for that rigid routine and practice.
I hope this makes sense! I've done a lot of self reflection over the past two weeks with Aphrodite at her Altar, and I can tell you it feels different. It is all still the same but it's not alive. Aphrodite has done her job with me.
I'm not perfect or healthy yet like I thought I would be. But I actually like myself unapologetically. I like my magic, my face, my body, my sexuality, my hair, my personality, my everything. So yea I think I'm done with Aphrodite
A blooming witch @differentwitchflower - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
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