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@liminal-bruja
Hi, I’m Nimhe ! (Pronounced: Nim-me; yes, just like the spider from Skyrim). I’m a 23-year-old two-spirit artist who’s been spending the past two years trying to reconnect to my culture as much as possible.
On this part of my journey, I’ve decided to get back into spirituality and really find myself, I suppose. I’ve been through a lot; and the more I try to reconnect, the more at peace I feel. I’m hoping this will further help me.
Anyways, that’s really all I have to say. Thank you.
🌱Some helpful tips to keep healthy house plants🌱
Black Out Vision Spell-a simple spell to stop someone from looking for/thinking of you
Ok, TBH I did this on the fly when I got sudden inspiration. This was aimed at an undesirable suitor.
Items:
Black/banishing candle candle (for wax)
Black/banishing ribbon/thread
Paper
Black pen
Name of person
Spit
Waning moon (optional)**
Somewhere dark to place it
Method
Light candle. On a small piece of paper write the person’s name you want to go away.
Underneath draw an eye, to represent their sight, so to speak (doesn’t have to be pretty or detailed)
Using the pen, black out the eye completely, while saying things like, “ I blacken your vision, you cannot and do not see me, you do not think of me at all. I blind you of my presence, etc.” I made it up as I went.
Spit on the black eye ( if you do it before blacking it out, it will be difficult… I made that mistake)
Fold it up as much you can or want, to seal and trap.
Tie the black ribbon over the folded paper and pour the black candle wax onto it to seal.
This step depends on your practice. I put it in a small black box (until I want to dispose of it) but others may want to bury or burn it.
rb this and tell me the piece of media, art, literature, music, etc. that you feel was the turning point in the development of your personality
“Knives and Pens” by Black Veil Brides 💀💀 it all went downhill from there.
Btw, I made a fb group for Latinx/indigenous witches called Brujas of the PNW. It's for all genders though ❤ 😚
If you're tired if being talked over by or talked down to by Whyte ppo, this is the place for you. Feel free to share to get the word out.
@witches-ofcolor. Feel free to share
Another addition to my list of Closed practices!
This one is about Palo Santo. While I am unsure whether or not Palo Santo is endangered, it IS true that it is being over-harvested and over commercialized for the sake of modernized spiritualism. From what I also understand it is a Sacred plant to Hispanic cultural significance, specifically Brujeria (I hope I spelled that correctly) spirituality.
That being said the harvest of this plant never actually HARMED the Palo Santo tree, as those who used it, waited for the tree to shed pieces of its bark/wood AND EVEN THEN they would allow it to rest on the ground for a significant amount of time before they gathered it.
There is also a specific ritualistic use for using this type of wood as well, and overall I believe is a closed practice in an attempt to protect this species.
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Good alternatives to using Palo Santo would be Birch, Pine, Oak, and Palm. Depending on where you live, you can get an abundance of wood from your back yard!
(Please do not intentionally harm the wildlife!! Harvest from what has already fallen, and dehydrate from there. Thank you!)
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Please remember to keep an open mind, and be courteous of the history of the items you intend to use in your practice!
This is for the anon whose white friend is appropriating Hoodoo
Nonblack Latina of Color here. I just want to correct a misconception you have. Hoodoo is not open to us. Whoever told you that Hoodoo is open to nonblack Latines may have confused it with Brujería, which is something I've seen before, especially from people who are neither Black nor Latine
I can't say "why" for sure, but I think it may have something to do with both of them being closed practices that originated from / are influenced by Afro Diasporic practices. However, Hoodoo and Brujeria are two different practices originating from two different communities and as such have different standards as to who is allowed to practice
1/2
Like witches-ofcolor said. Hoodoo is for Black people only. A nonblack Latine practicing Hoodoo is still cultural appropriation.
One one hand, Brujería would not exist without Afro Diasporic (and Indigenous LatAm) influences. However, unlike Hoodoo, Brujería is open to anyone of any race as long as they are Latine. That means yes, even a white person can theoretically practice Brujería if they are Latine
Does that mean the white Latine in question should practice Brujería? Well that's complicated. There is a number of us who agree that Brujería should really only be open to Afro & Indigenous Latines and their Mestize descendants. Now keep in mind that Mestize is not a race and that white Mestizes exist
So can the theoretical white Latine practice Brujería? Depends. Are we talking about a white Mestize? We're willing to welcome them, but we do urge them to take certain precautions and listen to Afro & Indigenous Latines and to Mestizes of Color. On the other hand, if we're taking about a first generation white Latine whose parents both came from Europe or the Anglosphere, than we would honestly prefer that they don't touch it
2/2
Thank you for the long, detailed answer anon!
On “Dead” Cultures and Closed Spiritual Practices: Why Colonialism Is Still A Problem.
Let me start this by saying that, as far as my knowledge of Paganism and Polytheism as a whole goes, I’m what the internet witch community calls a “Baby Witch”. I’m stating this out of the gate because I know there will be lots of people, including witches who have more experience on the craft than me, who might decide to ignore what I have to say based on that fact alone, stating that I’m not knowledgeable enough to give my opinion about this.
Here’s the kicker: I’m a ‘baby witch’, yes, but I’m also a twenty-six year old Venezuelan woman. I’m an adult. I’m Latina. I’m a Christian-raised Pagan,but I’m also a Latinoamerican woman over all other things including that. I grew up on this culture, these are my roots. It is because of this background than I’m writing this post today.
Looking through the “Paganism” and “Witchcraft” tags of this website, I’ve seen a few posts throwing indigenous deities and spirits’ names around on lists alongside deties of open cultures. Yes, you can know better by doing your own research and not going by what just a random Tumblr user wrote on one post (as I hope its the case with everyone on this website), but the fact that pagan beginners are still getting fed misinformation is still worrisome to me.
There’s nothing like reading a so-called expert putting Ixchen (Maya), Xolotl (Nahuatl) and Papa Legba (Vodou) on the same damn list as Norse, Hellenic and Kemetic deities and tagging it on the tags aimed at beginners who might not know better to truly ruin your morning. I’m not mentioning user names here: If you know then you know.
To quote @the-illuminated-witch on her very good post about Cultural Appropriation:
“Cultural appropriation is a huge issue in modern witchcraft. When you have witches using white sage to “smudge” their altars, doing meditations to balance their chakras, and calling on Santa Muerte in spells, all without making any effort to understand the cultural roots of those practices, you have a serious problem.
When trying to understand cultural appropriation in witchcraft, it’s important to understand the difference between open and closed magic systems. An open system is one that is open to exchange with outsiders — both sharing ideas/practices and taking in new ones. In terms of religion, spirituality, and witchcraft, a completely open system has no restrictions on who can practice its teachings. A closed system is one that is isolated from outside influences — usually, there is some kind of restriction on who can practice within these systems.”
A counter-argument I’ve seen towards this when someone wants to appropiate indigenous deities and spirits is to use the “dead culture” argument: Extinct cultures are more eligible for use by modern people of all stirpes. It is a dead culture and dead religion. It would be one thing if some part of the culture or religion was still alive, being used by modern descendants, but the culture died out in its entirety and was replaced, right? They were all killed by colonization, they are ancient history now, right?
Example: “If white people are worshipping Egyptian deities now, then why can’t I worship [Insert Aborigen Deity Here]?”
To which I have two things to say:
Ancient Egypt’s culture was open and imperialistic, meaning they wanted their religion to be spread. This is why Kemetism is not Cultural Appropriation, despite what some misinformed people might tell you. Similar arguments can also be made for the Hellenic and the Norse branches of Paganism, both practiced by people who aren’t Greek/Norse.
Who are you to say which cultures are “dead” and which are not?
Religious practices such as Vodou and Santería certainly aren’t dead, not that it keeps some Tumblr users from adding Erzuli as a “goddess” on their Baby Witch post, something that actual Vodou practitioners have warned against.
Indigenous cultures such as the Maya and the Mapuche aren’t dead, despite what the goverment of their countries might tell you. The Mapuche in particular have a rich culture and not one, but two witchcraft branches (The Machi and the Kalku/Calcu). Both are closed pagan practices that the local Catholic Church has continuously failed to assimilate and erase, though sadly not for lack of trying:
“The missionaries who followed the Spanish conquistadors to America incorrectly interpreted the Mapuche beliefs regarding both wekufes and gualichos. They used the word wekufe as a synonym for ideas of the devil, demons, and other evil or diabolical forces. This has caused misunderstanding of the original symbolism and has changed the idea of wekufe right up to the present day, even amongst the Mapuche people.”
For context, the Wefuke are the Calcu’s equivalent of the Familiar, as well as reportedly having more in common with the Fae than with demons anyway.
This and other indigenous religions are Closed because it is wrong for foreigners to just come and take elements from marginalized groups whom are still fighting to survive and that they weren’t born into. To just approppiate those things would be like spitting in their faces, treating them and their culture like a commodity, a shiny thing, a unique thing to be used like paint to spruce up your life or be special.
I know some of you are allergic to the word “Privilege”, but on this situation there really ain’t a better word to explain it. You weren’t born here, you don’t know what it is like, you are only able to see the struggle from an outsider’s point of view.
If a belief or practice is part of a closed system, outsiders should not take part in it. And with how many practices there are out there which are open for people of all races, there is really no excuse for you to do it.
Why Colonization Is Not “Ancient History”
If you have kept reading all this so far, you are probably wondering “Ok, but what does Colonization has to do with any of this?”
The answer? Everything.
With the general context of culture appropriation out of the way, let me tell you about why the whole “dead culture” argument rubs me the wrong way: Here in Venezuela, we have a goddess called Santa Maria de la Onza, or Maria Lionza for short, whom’s idol statue I have been using to illustrate this little rant. If you happen to know any Spanish, you might recognize the name as a derivative of Santa Maria, aka the Virgin Mary, and you are mostly correct: Her true indigenous name is theorized to have been Yara.
And I say “theorized” because it is a subject of hot debate whether she was really ever called that or not: Her original name, the name by which she was adored and worshipped by our ancestors, might have been forever lost to history.
That’s the legacy of colonization for you: Our cultures were stolen from us, and what they couldn’t erase they instead tried to assimilate. Our ancestors were enslaved, their lands and homes stolen, their artwork and literary works destroyed: The Maya and the Aztec Empire were rich in written works of all kinds, ranging from poetry to history records to medicine, and the Spaniards burned 99% of it, on what is probably one of the most tragic examples of book burning in history and one that people rarely ever talk about.
People couldn’t even worship their own gods or pass their knowledge of them to their children. That’s why Maria Lionza has such a Spanish Catholic-sounding name, and that’s why we can’t even be sure if Yara was her name or not: The Conquistadors couldn’t steal our goddess from us, so they stole her name instead. Catholics really have a thing with trying to assimilate indigenous goddesses with the Virgin Mary, as they tried to do the same with the Pachamama.
On witchy terms, I’d define Maria Lionza as both a deity and a land spirit: Most internet pages explaining her mention the Sorte mountain as her holy place, but it is more along the lines that she is the mountain.
You’d think that, with Venezuela and other Latinoamerican countries no longer being colonies, we’d be able to worship our own deities including her, right?
As far as a lot of Catholics seem to think and act, apparently we are not.
The Catholics here like to go out of their way to shame us, to call us “cultists”, to ostracize us, with a general call to “refrain from those pagan beliefs” because they go against the Catholic principles. Yes, the goddess with the Catholic-sounding name, a name she happens to share with a Catholic deity, apparently goes “against Catholic principles”. You really can’t make this shit up. (Linked article is in Spanish)
This is just an act of colonization out of many, of not wanting to stop until the culture they want to destroy is gone. Don’t believe for a second that this is really their God’s will or anything like that, they are just trying to finish what years of enslavement and murder couldn’t. They might not be actively killing us anymore, but they still want us dead.
So no, colonization is not some thing that has long passed and now only exist on history textbooks: It is still happening to this day. It is by treating it as old history that they can keep doing it, and it is by pushing the narrative that our indigenous cultures are “dead cultures” that they try to erase our heritage.
Because we are not dead. We are still here, we are alive, we have survived and we’ll keep on surviving, and our gods and goddesses are not yours to take.
¡Chao! 🐈
I’m saying this seriously. I think we’re gonna need to start treating air conditioning as a human right. Prisoners, the homeless, and generally the poor will suffer the most as our planet starts heating up
Please reblog if you think that “they/them/theirs” is a valid set of pronouns.
Trying to make a point to my father.
Because there’s been a /lot/ of drama in online Native spaces lately:
> we love and accept reconnecting Natives on this account
> we do not shame ANYONE’s regalia for anything here
> whether you’re white and Indigenous or Black and Indigenous, you’re still Indigenous and we do not discriminate against our cousins here
Hopefully I made all that clear and we can have a good time.
Also this should go without saying; but if you’re not Indigenous, don’t bother arguing with me about this because this absolutely isn’t your place. ✌🏽✌🏽
I’ve got to say, I do like how easy it is to check whether an account on here is worth following or not tho.
my erectile dysfunction is so bad today dude i hate having adhd
EXECUTIVE DYSFUNCTION
So I figured I’d try out Tumblr again. Imma definitely be needing some people to follow.
So if y’all could interact with this somehow if you’re
> a bruja / post spiritual stuff (idfw wiccans, so y’all need not interact. However, if you’re open to learning about why I feel the way that I do, I’m more than happy to have that conversation)
> Indigenous and post about Indigenous issues (like MMIW, the Residential schools, etc) and/or you post about Indigenous Success or really anything cultural (and it doesn’t matter what side of the border you’re from. Our ancestors didn’t put those there). I’m a beadworker so I would absolutely love to follow other beaders on here.
> account is about dealing with mental health issues, specifically BPD, ADHD, and PTSD. Anything from memes to advice is cool.
That’s all I can think of for now. Anyways, if y’all interact with this: I’ll follow y’all fr. So please ? 🤞🏽 🥺
Or if any of y’all have anyone y’all recommend, lemme know.
Reclaim The Day #2
What is it: A day for witches of color to post selfies, scenery (include the city, not all witchcraft takes place in the woods), rituals, pages from your grimoire, altars and other aspects of your witchcraft on tumblr. Anything witchy you do, post it on tumblr on this day! It’s a day for representation in the witch community, solely reserved for witches of color!
This is the second Reclaim the Day we’ll be having so I’m excited to see what you all have in store!
When is it: July 13th, 2017 (about a month away)
What tag should we use: use #pocrtd
Why is this is a day: There’s no denying that the tumblr witch community is white washed.
Because of this, we suddenly have a standard idea of what a witch a must be, and it pushes out room for witches of color.
This makes it very hard and discouraging to be a witch of color on tumblr. It’s isolating when the entire community is full of witches who are white. It’s disheartening when you can’t find your own.
That’s why I created Reclaim the Day, in order to bring representation to the POC witch community! To give us the exposure and attention we need, and to help us find!
Please do me a favor and reblog this, tell others about it! let’s let this one get bigger than the first one!
This is such a great Idea but I’m so dissappointed that I’m apparently not allowed to participate Just because I’m white… I didn’t choose my skin colour either
@stillababywitch wow. Imagine being so sensitive that you really gotta get disappointed from POC asking for ONE day. Grow tf up and stop being such a little b*tch about shit.
Spirit Work 101:
I wanted to do a quick safety guide to spirit work (been wanting to do this for a long time, tb).
Around Halloween, it becomes a favorite hobby of everyone, and while I think spirit work is an awesome way to enhance your craft, I also think you need to take it incredibly slow. Here’s some tips that I use, and I would advise for those of you who’re delving into spirit work to use as well:
-Protection: This applies to yourself and your space. Often I wear protective jewelry and meditate before I begin spirit work. I put myself in a mindset where I’m in control of what’s going on, so that I know who I’m talking to or who I want to talk to.
-Be specific: Don’t just call out to random spirits. If you don’t have a name in mind—that’s find. But specify that you want good spirits entering your space—and only good spirits. If you’re not used to spirit work, asking for any spirit to come through the veil can attract negative spirits.
-Say goodbye: You must say goodbye to the spirits. This is something I practice daily, because they do and will linger around if you don’t! even if they are good, maybe it’s not something you want. Good can also be scary. And thank them for their time as well.
-Banishment: This is essentially telling a clingy spirit to leave if they haven’t already. There is a variety of different ways to tell a spirit
-Cleanse: Cleanse your space afterwards just to ward off any remaining energy. This isn’t quite the same concept as banishment, as with banishment you’re dealing with an entire entity. But, with every ritual you do and every entity you invite into your space, left over energy can stay and build up. So, you’ll want to cleanse it. this too can be done a variety of ways (I have cleansing crystals with me, so I usually skip this step).
-Choose a safe means of communication: Basically, if you are a beginner DO NOT use the Ouija board. I might be biased against it, but I also know that the tool can be used correctly and yield amazing results. However, because many beginners using it don’t do so correctly (and there’s a terrible culture attached to it), I advise you to try safer methods. Consider a pendulum, dice, and automatic writing. Or even the safest form (imo), mediation.
any means of communication can turn out badly if you don’t know what you’re doing though.
-Ask for the intercession of other spirits: In general, before you begin spirit work, look for a spirit that might help you. this can be your guide, your ancestors, or a religious deity. Now if you’re all trying to do spirit work on Halloween, you probably going to skip this part because it can take a very long time. but perhaps instead of reaching out to random spirits on Halloween, use it as a time to find a spirit companion.
-Use things to safely enhance your experience: My go to is selenite! Others have different things, just stay safe and healthy!
Also just do your research! Feel free to ask around. Tumblr is one of the largest collections of witches I’ve ever seen on the internet so please, please take advantage of that!
If I have anything else to add, I’ll do so later on! These—again—are all based on personal experience, but if you have any questions about anything ask me. I also invite others to add their own opinions and suggestions! Being rude won’t be tolerated!
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