Of Fire and Crows

What do fire and crows have in common? Both can bring very bad news. A glimpse into my worship of Loki and Apollo, as well as all things witchy. You can call me Dovah. Side blog of keybladesxbankais.

[holy-ring]

i had a more complex version of this sigil initially as well as the simplified version but i realised i liked the simple version more so!!!

[leepacey]

I say, jolly good show, chaps. And did I panic? I think not.

[zombeesknees]

#the comic relief who is genuinely comic  #and who makes the ‘incompetent bufoon’ trope actually work as an endearing quality as originally intended  #well played movie - well played  #john hannah  #WHAT A FOX

[antivillain]

#but! BUT!!!#THE GREAT THING ABOUT JONATHAN#IS HE’S NOT INCOMPETENT#he can read ancient Egyptian albeit not as well as his baby sister#he clearly has an interest in archaeology if only for treasure-related reasons#he had to go through intensive schooling to get the sort of permit required#to even have digs of his own#WHICH HE CLEARLY DOES#on a dig down in Thebes#he says and Evie believes him#Jonathan reads from the Book of the Living and he’s an excellent shot with a rifle and is clearly a boxer#Jonathan is SO COMPETENT and SO IMPORTANT#while simultaneously being plucky comic relief without JUST being plucky comic relief#u get me?

[star-anise]

Jonathan, like Phryne Fisher, clearly hasn’t taken anything seriously since 1918.

[jkthinkythoughts]

And, I would suspect, for similar reasons.

[thebluemeany]

^^^This. Jonathan being in World War I makes total sense. It’s almost impossible for him not to have been. Given his age and background, he probably volunteered in 1914.  

Of course he’s going to not take anything seriously. Of course he can shoot. The drinking, the skittishness, the recklessness, the sense of ‘keeping your head down’, the scepticism about traditional heroism….

The one with more actual experience of death, carnage and fighting is Jonathan. Not Rick. Not Ardeth Bey. Jonathan.

When Rick says ‘I’ve had worse (situation/odds)’ and Jonathan replies “ Me too”. That’s probably true. 

Drop The Mummy into the real world context and that’s a character who’s going to have seen a lot of his school friends die, along with the myths and tales of heroism they were raised on. Sort of makes the line where Evie’s scolding him for drinking/messing about a lot darker…

Evie: Have you no respect for the dead? Jonathan: Of course I do, but sometimes I’d rather like to join them.

[gingersnapwolves]

I HAVE SO MANY FEELINGS RIGHT NOW

[deadcatwithaflamethrower]

*record scratch*

Wait a minute. Why is it being assumed that Rick and Ardeth wouldn’t have fought in WWI, as well? Johnathan isn’t that much older than any of them–in fact, there is a good chance that he, Rick, and Ardeth are all of an age. Just because Johnathan’s hair is thinning doesn’t mean he’s a decade older.

It was a LOT easier to lie about your age back in the day. So much easier.

Johnathan is the soldier who fought in WWI and became disillusionsed with pretty much everything except wanting to live (most of the time) and live well–and where is the shame in that? He would have seen some of the darkest shit humanity has to offer, and he kept going. And the thing is, though, archaeological digs at that time were DANGEROUS. Not from curses (usually) but from assholes who would turn up with guns to try and steal anything you discovered. Johnathan never really STOPPED having to deal with dangerous pricks, it was just less dangerous than death raining down from the sky in bomb, bullet, and mustard gas form all the time.

Rick grew up in Egypt as an orphan. What paperwork? He joined the French Foreign Legion, which fought in World War I in some seriously critical battles on the Western Front in Europe. Rick is the soldier who quickly grew disillusioned with everything, but he didn’t know how to stop being a soldier. Johnathan had a career and schooling to fall back on. Rick had guns, the talent of not dying easily, and not much else. When the army finally left him behind because he was literally the only survivor of his last FFL battle, he literally didn’t know what to do. At all. “Looking for a good time” was code for “Please someone give me a fucking purpose.”

Ardeth grew up in the desert. He probably never enlisted…but if you think his people didn’t fight against invading forces during WWI, think again: that region of North Africa was swarming with soldiers on both sides, and they alll tried to claim everything they stumbled over even while in the midst of fighting each other. Ardeth spent his entire life fighting to protect what belonged to him, what belonged to his people, and trying to keep assholes from stealing things that didn’t belong to anyone (for good reason). By the time the war was over, Ardeth was disillisioned in everyone except his own people, and seriously fucking done with stupid idiots who stole in the name of archaeology. He is completely (justifiably) resigned to the worst when Rick the Magic Survivalist returns to Hamunaptra.

[serpentine-sorceror-deactivated]

This has been another episode of “Actual History adding context and depth to character behavior”

[filthybonnet]

I love when “The Mummy” fandom comes out to play. But it’s even better when the history side of tumblr is also in “The Mummy” fandom.

[knottingthewind]

Every time this post comes around I am compelled to watch The Mummy again.

[rachelladytietjens]

There is an explicitly nihilistic ‘old soldier’ in the movie too, just to drive home the point.

Winston: “Is it dangerous?”

Rick: “Well, you probably won’t live through it.”

Winston: “By Jove, do you think so?”

[i-am-the-brunette]

@steficek-knedlicek here’s some unnecessary facts and now I’m tempted to watch The Mummy again

[obaewankenope]

The comedic nature of The Mummy misleads people into thinking it’s just a jokey movie but it’s got a lot of stuff in it that hits Hard when you pay attention. This is set post First World War. It’s set in a country that has finally began to kick British rule (although, as usual, the British still occupied Egypt) in 1922. It’s set in 1926, so that freedom is brand new and makes everything very charged politically. 

Jonathan is a rich kid who was raised on stories of heroes and the honour of war, shoved knee-deep into the trenches and learned first-hand that his teachers were liars, the stories untrue, and that the honour of war was for the generals not the soldiers in the trenches being taken out by mortar and mustard gas. 

Rick wasn’t raised like Jonathan and knew there were no heroes to start with. No grand stories to share and believe in the wonder of war. Life is a constant battle and if you don’t keep fighting, then you die. So he joined the French Foreign Legion and he kept damned fighting. 

Ardeth is the outlier in that his entire culture differs to Rick and Jonathan’s. He’s an outsider to the world that places Rick and Jonathan as above him because of their skin colour, their nationality, whatever. Ardeth knows that heroes aren’t always easy to find but they’re out there. They just happen to be people who don’t give up, who fight and fight, and do what’s Right even if it means their death. Ardeth and his people saw war and it’s impossible to not be drawn into it somehow, either as victims or allies to one side or the other. He learnt that war has a cost and that the growing industrialisation of the West made that cost So Much Higher. Swords aren’t the primary weapon now, you don’t fight your opponent up close. Now war is distant and bloody and the crack crack crack of broken silence.

None of them have lived easy lives, either from the beginning or through events greater than any of them. But The Mummy shows very damned well that you can cope with what you see, what your experience.

You either try and pretend it didn’t happen, joke and laugh and hide how you really fear (Jonathan). Or you keep going, surviving from day-to-day and fighting because that’s what you know keeps you alive (Rick). Or you put your damage aside and focus on what needs to be done for the Greater Good because you can’t give yourself the time to break because people need you now (Ardeth).

This movie shows the trauma of war and how little support was given post WWI to survivors because the idea of soldiers having trauma was a shameful, alien concept. Not when single rifles and swords, bows, and arrows, were the way of war, coping was known how to be done. But with machine guns, mortars, and gas designed to kill or drive you mad… how do you cope with that when you’ve never really been taught how to cope with weakness? How do you be vulnerable, admit it, and let yourself heal when you’ve never been taught how?

The Mummy makes it laughy and jokey and keeps it light, but there’s a very real thread of the Cost Of War woven throughout it. Intentionally or otherwise, it’s a damned good representation of the fact that the First World War was a war like no other that came before.

[justanothercinemaniac]

I think I’ve reblogged a version of this before but there’s been A LOT added since.

[repost-grimoire]

I feel like not enough people know that you can just go do witchcraft. Like yeah, all the pretty and aesthetic things you see online can be really expensive, and if you live in a place where witchcraft is frowned upon it can be hard to hide things, but your practice can literally be anything you want.

Part of my practice is making friendship bracelets with colors of what I want to manifest. I learned morse code and tie my goals into the bracelet. It look like a normal bracelet, no one would know the difference unless I told them. Your manifestations and spells can be verbal and whispered to the wind, your sigils can look like doodled stars or stick figures, your altar doesn't need to be anything more than the tools you use (if you even need an altar). You can put spells together based on what you have and what the things around you mean to you.

You do not need to buy things for witchcraft or have a very visible practice, just do what feels right for you. Your practice is what you make it.

[wyrd-gazer]

If you're looking at how to discreetly worship, one way I like to do it is to devote what I'm drinking or eating to the gods/spirits. While eating/drinking, I try to focus on the flavours and textures as well as the one/s I'm devoting it to (easier said than done, it takes more effort than expected, at least for me).

I'm pretty limited to what I can give as an offering on an altar, so I find this works really well.

[blackwattlenemeton]

Some of my most meaningful offering experiences happened when I was using this approach - I recommend trying it too!

[thescarlettbitch]

Your gods may be upset. Your gods may be angry. They are allowed to be angry and upset. They are not angry and upset with you. They are angry at our government and our fellow citizens.

They are not angry at you.

Read that again. They are not angry at you. They know it's not your fault. They know you did your part.

You did your part. They are not mad at you. They are going to help you survive this.

[jaded-witch-baby]

Casual late night reminder that witchcraft does not always need to involve spells and candles and crystals and cards. Some days it is my embroidery and my tea against the world and that is OKAY

[twelfthremedy]

Athena Offerings

Large altars:

Olive oil

Honey

Wine or juice

Bread

Olives

Pomegranates

Pears

Olive tree bark or leaves

Blue, gold, red, and white candles

Dragon's blood, frankensince, orange blossom, cedarwood incense

Large crafts such as pottery, textiles, etc.

Ship figurines

Snake skins

Figures of owls

Helms (toy or otherwise)

Shields (toy or otherwise)

Lance or spears (toy or otherwise)

Trophies and medals you've won

Your favorite books

Small/hidden altars:

Roses and sweet smelling flowers

Spices, especially cinnamon

Crystals such as lapis lazuli, azure, turqoise, onyx, star sapphire, ruby

Drawings of owls, snakes, ships

Small crafts like art, paper crafts, candle making, embroidery, or small items made by sewing or crocheting

Wool

Golden jewelry

A difficult test that you got a good grade on

Your job resume

Your diploma or graduation cap

Owl feathers

The playing card Queen of Spades

Pencils and pens (you can ask Her to bless them and use them for tests or writings)

Craft supplies such as needles for sewing/crocheting

Take some of your hair (gathered from your hairbrush) and wrap it around a spindal and offer it to Her

Actions:

Learn about self-defense

Learn about your rights

Defend and stand-up for others who need help

Create art dedicated to Her or of Her

Make or listen to music for Her

Make hymns or poems dedicated to Her

Handmade crafts for Her

Your work in general! Yes, really, She enjoys her devotees to work hard at their job(s), crafts, or classes!

Study and learn new information or skills

Read and learn about Her history

Learn more about the politics of your country/state, write letters to your senator or mayor etc.

Read

Learn about welding

Grow an olive tree

Wear clothing with her colors (royal blue, gold, orange, yellow, emerald green, red) or with owls on it

Wear jewelry with her favorite crystals

Play strategy games

Decorate your room with owls

Pray to Her for wisdom, knowledge, strength, help with studying, and help with your work or crafts

Self-care bath spells and rituals

Sources:

https://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/07/10/goddess-athena/amp/

https://occult-world.com/athena/

https://vocal.media/futurism/ways-of-worship-athena

[restingsword]

while i’m sure it’s certainly cool to be chosen by a deity for worship/devotion, i think there’s something beautiful about choosing them instead. having little to no signs from a deity, but seeing them and saying “yes. yes. yes. you are the one i want to devote myself to. work on myself for. be a part of your life as you are mine.” as a practitioner and then setting forth. i personally feel like we don’t have many options in life, so it’s nice to be the one to decide.

[skaldish]

To piggyback: Consider also that a deity might be just as jazzed about being chosen by you. I imagine it's similar to how we get when we're chosen by kitties and puppies.

[windvexer]

[m0urning-ang3l]

stop because this actually made me feel so much better about doing this

like up until this post i thought that gods had to give you signs to work with you now that we’re in modern times (idk if that makes sense sorry)

but actually choosing a deity to work with sounds nice

Apollo and Hypnos here I come 😼

[skaianbruja]

Here's a (not so) friendly reminder that Santa Muerte isn't pagan. She's fucking Catholic

Devotees with far more years of experience than me have already stated countless times that it is incredibly disrespectful to divorce Santa Muerte from Catholicism

If you are seriously that uncomfortable with Catholicism (or even Christianity in general), then may I suggest leaving Santa Muerte alone and go bothering one of the many actual pagan death / underworld goddesses out there

[skaianbruja]

Since this has gotten a few likes, I'm reblogging this to add that if you are a non-Latine white person who is interested in Santa Muerte but are uncomfortable with her ties to Catholicism, please consider researching Hekate and modern Hekatean Witchcraft

There is honestly no reason to paganize or whitewash a Mexican Catholic folk saint whose open/closed status is a subject of constant debate among her own people, when an unambiguously open actually pagan goddess associated with death, the underworld, and magic already exists

[ofcloudsandstars]

Celestial Sigils

Of Clouds and Stars Personal Sigils method 2 - Manifesting a Wish

This method is a lot more structured than my other style and instead of how the first evokes a feeling or emotion, this turns a wish or statement into a symbol. It has its own set of rules and sometimes can get abstract but its easier to use cause MATH is involved! Just kidding not really math, but numerology.

You begin with the numerology alphabet chart. Write out your wish, spell, intent and then tally up the numbers. (I have three examples below)

Once you have the numbers, you can tally up the symbols. Most will be dots, but if the same letter is next to each other then you will replace that dot with the symbol corresponding to the number of the amount of the same letters that are next to each other. For example the in WILL there are two LL’s so that will become a crescent moon since the crescent symbol has 2 points.

Once you have your points figured out, there is a number order arrangement, it’s kind of like a spiral, but it moves clockwise outwards. Think of it as how the spiral grows from nothing and as it expands it gains size and value. So 0 is the center and 9 is the furthest out.

Keep reading

[the-witchyforest]

How to read Time with Tarot

:by the-witchyforest

TAROT TIME

WANDS: Days

SWORDS: Weeks

CUPS: Months

PENTACLES: Years

If you pick for example 5 of swords, that means 5 weeks of time. The number of the card is the number of the time. If you ask "how soon will this thing arrive?", the symbol of the card is the equivalent of time you need to wait.

Another way to read the time is based on the season.

TAROT SEASONS

WANDS: Spring

SWORDS: Autumn

CUPS: Summer

PENTACLES: Winter

[breelandwalker]

2023 Witch's Calendar

For all my witches out there, here's a handy list of the 2023 dates for the major holidays, full and new moons, and special events. I've listed my sources at the bottom. Dates and times for all events are calculated for Eastern Standard Time, USA, Northern Hemisphere. Adjust for your location as needed. Enjoy!

WOTY Holidays and Solstices

February 1-2 - Imbolc

March 20 - Spring Equinox / Ostara

May 1 - Beltane

June 21 - Summer Solstice / Midsummer

August 1 - Lughnasadh

September 23- Autumn Equinox / Mabon

October 31 - Samhain

December 21 - Winter Solstice / Yule

Full Moons

January 6 - Wolf Moon ♋

February 5 - Snow Moon ♌

March 7 - Worm Moon ♍

April 6 - Pink Moon ♎

May 5 - Flower Moon ♏

June 4 - Strawberry Moon ♐

July 3 - Thunder Moon (aka Buck Moon) ♑

August 1 - Sturgeon Moon ♒

August 31 - Blue Moon ♓

September 29- Harvest Moon ♈

October 28 - Hunter's Moon (aka Blood Moon) ♉

November 27 - Frost Moon ♊

December 26 - Cold Moon ♋

Fun Fact: The title of Harvest Moon is given to either the September or October full moon, whichever falls closest to the autumn equinox. In 2023, as in 2022, that month will be September.

New Moons

January 21 ♒

February 20 ♓

March 21 ♈

April 20 ♈

May 19 ♉

June 18 ♊

July 17 ♋

August 16 ♌

September 14 ♍

October 14 ♎

November 13 ♏

December 12 ♐

Special Events

February 20 - 2nd New Moon in lunar month

April 20 - Solar Eclipse

May 5 - Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

August 30 - Blue Moon

September 29 - Penumbral Lunar Eclipse

October 14 - Solar Eclipe (Annular)

October 28 - Lunar Eclipse (Partial)

Mercury Retrogrades (in case you need them)

Dec 29, 2022 - Jan 18, 2023

April 21 - May 14

August 23 - September 15

Dec 13, 2023 - January 1, 2024

SOURCES:

Moon Info - Full Moon 2023

Calendar-12.com - Moon Phases 2023

Full Moonology - Full Moon Calendar 2023

Moon Calendar - Full Moons and New Moons in 2023

Yearly Horoscope - Mercury Retrograde 2023 Dates and Times

Your Zodiac Sign - 2023 Astrology Calendar

The Pagan Grimoire - The Wheel of the Year: The 8 Festivals in the Wiccan Calendar

=

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. 😊

EDIT: Updated Jan 6, 2023 to correct full moon signs and include additional celestial events. Enjoy!

[anotherdayforchaosfay]

Pagan supply stores are "we sell appropriation for 5x what you would pay if these were for an open practice!"

Example? Three of the four pagan shops I've visited in my area are packed with things that shouldn't be there. At all. All owned by white people who have the awareness of a WASP who puts Buddha heads on display.

Shop One: full of Hoodoo/Voodoo stuff, owned by a white woman who dresses in hippie fashion and tries to come off as ethereal and holier than thou.

Second shop: full of Hindu and Indigenous stuff all marked as Wicca, and when I pointed out how incorrect and very wrong it is, the owner went on about how there's only one god and one goddess and the test of us are just confused.

Shop Three: looks like a mall souvenir shop full of Satanist stuff marked as Wicca (I left wheezing because of how hard I was laughing) and bottles of stripper glitter being sold as fairy dust. Oh, and they had little booklets on how to contact fairies using the glitter.

Y'all will have better luck finding supplies at the grocery store and/or dollar store. Those little chime candles sold for $1.50/each at the pagan shop? The ones that fit in the itty bitty cardholders? You can get a box of 100 in a variety of colors for $15 online. Just look up chime candles. Convinced you need some special crystal for those vibes? Go to a rock shop. They don't markup the price like so many pagan shops do. Altar cloth? Go to the fabric store, buy the fabric your want, hem the edges (go to a seamstress or tailor if you want to) or use a pretty scarf.

I've gotten my best stuff from paying artists for the work like @torque-witch and the painted/altered statuettes they find. Oh, and they sell vintage stuff like candleholders.

I make my own altar and tarot mats because I'm a quilter. Make them look however I want. Or however you want (if you commission me). I used a pretty head-kerchief for years, and have since passed the scarf on.

Personally, I just like shiny things as decorations around my home. Rocks and crystals are just pretty things to me. My favorites are the ones I've found on the beaches and many streams and rivers in my area.

The only genuine and good pagan shop I've encountered since moving across the country eight years ago is @portlandbuttonworks

Not all pagan shops are bad, but very few of them are good and genuine. If you're uncertain, don't buy anything.

Baby witches, the money you spend is meaningless. You don't even need an altar. Carry a little card around if that's all you can or want to do. You don't actually need the things to be a valid witch. Anyone who says you do is lying and/or in a cult.

[torque-witch]

Couldn’t agree more! Happy to now live down the street from a metaphysical shop that consigns local artists and is really inclusive - but I’ve also had someone legitimately tell me that another Pittsburgh shop is run by a Shapeshifter 😂😬

P.S. they were not, indeed, a Shapeshifter…

[spellbookbitch]

The store that sells a brand

[upthewitchypunx]

All of this! Look to what have on hand, check your space cabinet, take a trip to a thrift shop, look into rock hounding in your area.

Thanks for the shout out to @pbwzindistro and @portlandbuttonworks I try to carry a few useful things. @lemonbalmgirl knows the dregs I've searched through to find stuff that is not utter misappropriated garbage.

The whole "all gods are one" thing is so frustrating. It's such a colonialist attitude of ignorance and privilege.

[ptah-ikemi-ka]

when it comes to Supplies, go to Bookstores, Dollar Stores, second hand shops, you can get anything at a supermarket, like Target/tesco whateevr you have or if you like me, cant drive, shop online, and better yet, just use stuff in your house.

[mellowseptarian]

Hello Tumblr :)

Can you please reblog this is if you post about

witchcraft

paganism/polytheism (all kinds, but esp. norse, slavic, celtic, gaulish and irish)

spirituality

weather magic (esp. storm and rain related stuff)

shadow work

kemeticism

crystals

herbalism

I will follow :)

[thevirginwitch]

vintage headers, dividers, and other images for your digital grimoire/book of shadows

i've compiled several images i've been using for my digital book of shadows, and thought i'd share some of my favorites!

[magicraven]

Why is no one talking about this book? It’s literally a bible for baby witches and nice book to recall information, the amount of good stuff that this book contains is incredible.

[the-broken-stones]

Just so we’re clear

Men can be witches. Trans persons can be witches. Nonbinary persons can be witches. Genderfluid persons can be witches. Agender persons can be witches. 

Gender has zero influence on a person’s witch-hood. 

And terfs can suck it.