Hazelwood Grove @hazelwoodgrove - Tumblr Blog

i cannot say it enough: RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP RESEARCH IS WORSHIP

research your ancestors, research your gods, research the land you come from, listen to the stories told by your family, your community, your elders and take notes. research research research.

malukeando-deactivated20241117

hey yall I'm looking for witch blogs that are active, if you are a witch please reblog this and I will follow you, I need mutuals ✨️

#I don't reblog/post very often #but I am still here

breelandwalker

Secular Celebrations - Samhain

And then we come to the best holiday of them all - October 31st, good old Samhain. Seriously, if you don’t like Samhain or Halloween, I’m just not sure we can be friends. We all know how it’s celebrated - ghost stories and guising and good times. And lots of witchcraft. So much. All the witchcraft. -cackle-

Samhain is the third and final harvest festival, the harvest of flesh. This is when animals would be slaughtered, and sacrifices would be made, and the dead would be remembered. This is the night that the veil between the mortal world and the spirit realm is rumored to be at its’ thinnest. I mean, it’s always pretty thin, it’s a VEIL, after all, not a theatre curtain, although that’s another good analogy. But around Samhain, the dead travel more freely. They’re moving toward their final rest, if they haven’t found it yet, or perhaps they’re coming back for a visit. Día de Muertos is another holiday that celebrates this, with feasts and marigold garlands and family altars called ofrendas.

So first and foremost, Samhain is a time to remember those who came before. I think this is going to be sadder and more poignant in the next few years than it might have been before. We’ve all lost so much. It’s nice to have one night in the year when we’re encouraged to remember the dead fondly and laugh about the good times, even though it might be hard at other times. Honor your deceased loved ones with a cemetery visit or a gift of food or flowers. Commune with the dead, if you wish to do so. Just remember to hang up and cleanse the house after, so no uninvited guests stick around.

And it’s not just your immediate family you can call on, but your more distant ancestors too. Remember that ancestors aren’t just your blood relatives, but also people who inspire you or bring you insight. Honor the witches who came before as well, and the ones who were called witches but weren’t and suffered for it.

Put out some fruit offerings - I usually use apples - or a few shots of alcohol or a dish of salt. Another tradition calls for carving the names of the deceased into apples or potatoes and tossing them into water as an offering. I think this one might be an offshoot of the old “bobbing for apples” party time, but it’s not a precursor.

Bobbing for apples is a throwback to older traditions where partygoers would use apples and other party food to perform simple divinations. An apple peel taken off in one strip would be tossed over the shoulder and the shape it formed when it landed was supposed to show the initial of your future spouse. Dishes like barm brack and colcannon would have little charms hidden inside that were supposed to tell the fortune of the person whose portion contained them for the coming year. So if you’ve got divinations to do, especially for love or fortune, this is the time. Cast your predictions for the coming year.

Carve pumpkins and make baked pumpkin seeds. Tell the tale of Jack O’ Lantern and his glowing turnip. Learn about the history of Halloween and Samhain and where they intersect.

Samhain is a holiday that pretty much demands bonfires. Between burning leaves and the symbolic sacrificial pyre, a towering pile of flaming branches is something that’s pretty ubiquitous in cooler climes. When I lived in Pennsylvania, there was always a farm somewhere that would host one, usually alongside other spooky seasonal festivities.

If you have the opportunity to visit another harvest festival or a Halloween fair or a haunted attraction, go and have some fun! It’s a time of year for celebrating the spooky side of life, the scary things that remind us just how alive we are. So put on those scary movies, decorate your home, and scare your friends and neighbors. Tell your favorite ghost stories and bump Spooky Scary Skeletons loud enough to disturb folks in the next county. However you celebrate your spooky side, indulge it as far as you’re able.

On Samhain, we let our witch flags fly. It’s the one time of year that even those of us still witching in secret are sometimes able to get away with living in the open, or at least, a little less in hiding. Celebrate your life as a witch, even if you must do so in private. Revel in the pop culture visibility that’s giving us more of a foothold in the “normal” world.

On a personal note, this is the time of year that I do my annual home warding. Part of it has to do with the need to refresh them because of the increased spirit traffic, and part of it has to do with Samhain being an easily-markable holiday. I perform a full altar cleaning, an offering with fire and whiskey to honor my ancestors and my patrons, plus whatever spells I need to do for divination or immediate needs. Then, I do a full ritual to unravel the old wards, clean the place out, and weave new protections that will last until the following year. I do patch them in the interim sometimes, if they need it.

If you have something big to do with your craft, Samhain is a good time for it. Or, if you need a break, it’s a fine time for that too. You’ll know what’s best for you at the time.

This is a season of remembrance. In addition to honoring those who came before, study the history of your chosen craft and of witches in general. Think about what brought you to the craft in the first places, and what keeps you going. If you feel like your inspiration is waning, it’s a good time to find ways of reinvigorating yourself.

Meditate on the year so far. What knowledge have you gained? What do you want to learn next? What do you wish you’d done differently? What has passed out of your life that you’ll miss? What do you remember most fondly?

Meditate on the nature of disguise. What metaphorical masks do you wear? When and where do you feel most like yourself? Is there some part of yourself that you feel compelled to hide, and if so, why? What face would you like to be able to show to the world? Is it maybe time to find ways of living more in the open, or is it safer to keep your mask on for now?

- Hex Positive, Ep. 011, "Secular Celebrations" (November 1, 2020)

Other Posts In This Series:

Imbolc

Spring Equinox

Beltane

Midsummer

Lughnasadh

Autumn Equinox

Samhain

Yule

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.

The Hex Positive podcast is a proud member of the Nerd and Tie Podcast Network.😊

lateoctobermoon

Legit the weirdest thing that has ever happened to me, lol

#ok but for reals tho #a faerie court passing by

ofpine

good morning to fairies elves gnomes sprites and other mischievous beings

absinthundblut

witchesversuspatriarchy

Full Moons 2023

grand-magnificent-deactivated20

hey, don't cry. comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) visible to us humans for the first time in 50,000 years before it'll leave us forever, ok?

[source] for all the images

grand-magnificent-deactivated20

some people are a little sad in the tags because they can't/couldn't see it, but that's ok!!! you looked at the sky and it is/was right there passing by to wish us farewell even if invisible to us!! we are/were connected to it in that moment, you don't have to have a visual to wish it a good journey 🧡

growing-yet-into-magic

Happy solstice, blessed Yule everyone!

No matter where you are, I hope you're well-fed and warm. I hope you've got something fresh-baked at home. I hope there are clean blankets waiting for you. I wish you a good read, a good game, a good show to enjoy.

When the sun goes down, I know your tomorrow will be brighter.

hedgehog-moss

“Life circles around trees; it is drawn in like a magnet. One crab apple tree in the middle of winter will pull in birds, possums, mice, deer, raccoons, wild children, and countless other forms of life. Animals and people will travel for miles to gather persimmons and chestnuts. Songbirds will flock to mulberries. [Trees] feed [us], keep [us] warm, provide money, shelter, medicine, and tools. These beings that feed on light do amazing work. Fruit, nuts, flowers, shade, wildlife, and wood—trees are offering, always offering. Stretched toward the sky, rooted into the earth, they offer a partnership. Partnering with trees is as natural as breathing. We inhale their exhalations and they inhale ours. We are designed to work with each other.”

— Akiva Silver, Trees of Power: Ten Essential Arboreal Allies (via exhaled-spirals)

rednines

I know I rarely post about it anymore, but I still make trees! Here is a brand new batch, including an extra large pride tree, an experimental moon tree, new colour combos that use a mix of glass, crystal, and gemstones, and new slightly different standard ring sizes due to a new ring source! If you're interested in any of these, or if you want a custom tree, just drop me a line ofc

#colnolwe #sorry guys #this is my art #small magics

therianomalocaris

Reminder that if you get that "joy of satan" copypasta that's been going around lately in your inbox, that's a literal honest to G-d not joking in the slightest Nazi neo-pagan group. Here is a Wikipedia link for those curious about what I'm on about here.

That specific copypasta makes them look progressive but I trust y'all to be the smartest cookies in the whole fuckin' pantry and not publish the ask, since it has a direct link to their fucked up website and even dunking on them or publishing with a warning might make your followers look it up to see what's up.

Don't increase their traffic, delete it, and if you really want to warn your followers do what I'm doing right the fuck now and simply make your own post with an info link that isn't a direct conveyor belt leading straight into their own propaganda machine.

And for the love of G-d always do your research when receiving anonymous recommendations for organizations or websites. I don't know how I'm supposed to end this post, peace and love or whatever.

Hey friends! If you have sent us a message in the last couple of weeks, please know that we have gotten it and it will be answered! Colnolwe is grappling with some (honestly pretty deep) existential dread right now and is struggling to come up with the energy to complete his half-written replies. Thank you so much for the questions, and blessed be!