lexi's witch tips

moved to dork-with-an-arrow

[dirtshrines]

[kristo-flowers]

winter oforest details. Ile de la visitaiton, Quebec, Canada

[archae-heart-deactivated2021012]

solitary Montana skies

[thegreenathame]

Let’s make sigils

• Let’s talk basics , A sigil is an intention that is condensed into a single glyph. They are a useful magic form because they are coded with your unique purpose and can be deciphered only by you, allowing your intention to remain a secret as the universe works to align and deliver your desire.

Step 1. Write your intention , this is best done using present tense. As you’re writing your intention , it can greatly help to imagine your intention is already happening , feel all the emotions as if it is.

Step 2. Looking at the intention you have written down, erase or cross out all of the vowels and any letters that repeat, leaving only one of each consonant from the original sentence.

Step 3. Take the remaining letters, in order write them down as your new word.

Step 4. Write 1-9 in a circle at random, the more random this is , the better you mind can focus on the intent & not the shape.

Step 5. Find the number the correlates to the first letter , then the second & draw a line in your number circle to connect them. From there go to the next letter & so on.

Sigils can be as complex or as simple as you want , all that matters is you know the meaning . .

Feel free to use this sheet . . .

Now that you know how to create your own sigils , You can really let your imagination go wild with ways to use sigils , below I’ll list my most common uses.

• Spell additives / Seal

• Book of shadow / Gremiore seals

• Mirror / Window warding

• Handmade charms

• Kitchen magick ( add to bread , meats , vegetables )

• Candle magick ( most commonly wrote on the glass of 7 day candles )

[theladymorganlefay]

**Reminder that "smudging" is part of a closed practice. Please call it smoke cleansing.

[will-o-the-witch]

Localizing Your Practice

So much witchcraft emphasizes how important it is to honor and work with the Earth, but then teaches us spells with ingredients we basically have to import using locations we don’t have access to. It’s rare to find an existing grimoire or guide book that actually works with where we live. We can still use them, but it doesn’t enhance our connection to our local land, which to many can feel important. Here are some tips for localizing your practice and working with the land you actually live on.

See what nature exists around you. Explore your own backyard with a critical eye. What plants can you actually go and pick yourself? What are those plants associated with? Do you have access to a creek or river? What does your local land actually have on it? If magic correspondences for your local plants haven’t been written about, you may have to do your own research. Example: I grow several plants on my back porch which I can potentially use for magic.There are magnolia trees and rhodedendrons on the grounds of my apartment complex. My parent’s neighbors have chickens in the backyard, so I have access to some feathers when they shed. 

Check out local folklore, legends, etc. This is one of my favorite parts, but can also be the hardest. What are the stories of your area, both on a local and cultural scale. Example: A West Virginian may incorporate legends of the Mothman. Everyone says that one building on my old college campus is haunted (and they’re right.) People talk about that liminal-space feeling when you drive down that one road at night.

Find the magic spots. Sometimes the urban legends will tip you off to these (usually in a bad way) but other times you can find them on your own. A place where the energy is just right for some reason. A place you can go to be closer to nature, or a place you could host a ritual if needed. Sometimes it’s just a place where you can feel your mind open a little bit. Example: The shady corner of a public park. The tunnel downtown. That weirdly-perfect circle of trees in the woods behind Wal-Mart.

Meet your land wights. Spirits of the local land. This could be the fair folk, but also house spirits, the spirits of the trees near you, the nature spirits of wherever you are. They’re there. Be good to them and they’ll be good to you! Note: Some spirits and wights will not be interested in working with you, and that’s okay. I generally think it’s good to at least leave a polite offering to just be on general decent terms even if you never work with them more directly beyond that. 

Check in with your Seasons. Harvest holidays generally don’t have actual lifestyle importance to most people reading this. The seasonal shifts other people write about may be from a very different climate than yours! Figure out a calendar that works for you. It doesn’t have to be detailed, but something that ties you to the seasons as you actually experience them. I also love working in any fun annual festivals nearby, if any.

[queerkeitcoven]

so, I've been looking through your tags and I was wondering if you know anything about Baal Kadmon? He's an author who wrote a big ol book on solomon's seals and a ritual to go with each of them to cleanse/charge/use them. when I read the post your reblogged on the seals, I'm still left relatively uncertain as to whether or not I am allowed to use the seals/if they will work for me (i'm not jewish)/if they work at all.

looks like we need to make an FAQ, because this keeps getting asked & answered in many ways!

i can’t speak to whether or not “Baal Kadmon” is Jewish in addition to clearly being a western occultist. i would bet money that he’s not, and has - like some historical western occultists, adopted a fake Jewish-sounding name (Baal Kadmon is nobody’s birth name, anyway) - though i could be wrong! but literally every single thing to do with “Solomonic” magic/seals is not Jewish.

whether or not they will “work” for you is very subjective - from a historical perspective, they are entirely made up by Christian occultists based on antisemitic tropes mixed with some mangled appropriation of actual Jewish mysticism. so if you’re looking for some kind of authentic cultural tradition dating any earlier than the middle ages (a time absolutely rife with oppression & violence towards Jews), this ain’t it. 

some people don’t seem to care about that, and appear to treat the “demons” and rituals in those books as spiritually useful in some way regardless of their origins, but i can’t say i really understand that line of thought & i certainly don’t have much respect for it as a Jew. those same people often seem to think that because ceremonial magic is not authentically Jewish, that means it’s not really appropriation, which is also fairly confusing to me because it literally wouldn’t exist without antisemitism. 

but it’s obviously entirely up to you what you choose to do with this information now that you have it!

- Ezra

[mysticmachmir]

Also Baal Kadmon is the guy who created “tefillin magic” knowing it would “piss off Jews” (legit says it in the description), and from what research I’ve done he’s not Jewish. He’s just another goyische appropriating schmuck. So, don’t listen/use his shit if you care not to appropriate. Our sacred objects are not to be bought and used for non-Jewish practices, just like how I wouldn’t take someone else’s religious object and use it in a Jewish ritual. It’s inappropriate and often oppressive.

[6i]

it takes years to develop your craft. do not romanticize the idea of an ‘overnight success’. be a student. grow organically. get really good. hate your work. start over. find new ways to express the same ideas. the student becomes the master. your time will come.

[will-o-the-witch]

Antisemitism in Witchy Spaces

I decided to start writing down every time I saw/experienced something in hopes that it will help shed light on some specific stuff Jewitches go through. My hope is that people will see antisemitism as a community-wide issue and not the fault of just a few individuals. We all play a part in making it better.

Facebook Witch Group: post is made by a user with a profile picture of a clear nazi swastika. After being notified, admin declares the user is allowed to stay because the group is a “judgement free zone.”

Facebook Witch Group: Jewitch witches were assumed white by default and pitted against other groups, as if Jewish people are leveraging their identity to “play up” their own oppression and undermine others. Many openly Jewish witches are harassed out of the group.

A witchy discord group implements a rule that outlaws all mention of all closed practices (including Judaism) “to protect from appropriation,” even if the person has legitimate claim to the practice. When I pointed out this basically forced me into hiding, admin says, “you can be Jewish. Just not here.”

A user identified themselves as a Kabbalist. Later in the discussion, they were surprised to learn Kabbalah was Jewish in origin, admitted they didn’t know a single Jewish person in real life, and argued that Kabbalah couldn’t be that bad because Arianna Grande also used it. (”Are you saying she’s wrong too??”)

Another user is called out for appropriating Kabbalah and proceeds to sling antisemitic jokes until they are banned.

Just. So many more people appropriating Kabbalah and just becoming really nasty towards any Jewish person that expresses discomfort. (Including one person that even gave themselves a Hebrew username)

A group of users too big to argue with talking about how amaaaazing working with Lilith is. A few Jewish folks respectfully ask them to be mindful of her origins. They’re not given attention. (Or what attention they are given is only to debate her origin.)

Discord server has rooms for every major subcategory of Paganism and one room for “Abrahamic.” Christian witches completely dominate the conversation.

I mention on my blog that I am a proud Jewish person. One of the comments shortly after is “go be Jewish in Israel.”

A Nazi sympathizer joins a Discord group, reveals themselves, is banned, and proceeds to try and join again over and over again through different accounts.

I’m checking my blog activity and see a nazi witchy blog had gone through my blogged and liked a ton of stuff so I’d be sure to see their username (they did this to other notable tumblr blogs as well.) Looking at their bio revealed their agenda of proving Nazis “weren’t all bad,” and their dash included an open invite to a holocaust denial discord server.

A tumblr thread gets big of a bunch of witches arguing to cancel the word Sabbat because of supposed antisemitic origins. Jewish people chime in to insist that we really don’t give a shit about Wiccans using the word Sabbat, and not to speak over Jewish people and declare what we’re offended by. Tumblr arguments ensue.

I get “called out” for baking challah. That’s not antisemitism but it made me laugh really hard. (It’s okay for goyim to bake bread, obviously. Just don’t be weird about it.)

“High magic” and ceremonial practitioners ignoring or brushing off their tradition’s origin in blatant appropriation.

A user shares a magical chant to a group for everyone to use. The chant is in Hebrew. It includes a name of Gd. They didn’t realize that was a part of it.

Another discord group asserts in the rules that members of closed cultures may be openly themselves and discuss their craft, but not in an educational way. A mod practices exclusively Hermetic Kabbalah. I don’t have the strength to get into it. (Thankfully we had an actually decent discussion but it still made me feel kinda shitty.) 

Everyone is free to reblog. Jewish witches, please feel free to add your own experiences! 

[will-o-the-witch]

More happened, you say?

Discord server-wide prompt ping: Tell us about your Christian upbringing! (This isn’t “pure” antisemitism, but it sure does erase those of us who weren’t raised in Christian households)

The nazi witch blog starts making rounds again, dropping asks in multiple inboxes to the effect of: “Jews are anti-pagan and anti-gentile, so why can’t we be anti-Jewish?” (Hopefully I don’t have to explain why that’s a shit take

I suppose I’ll just update this every time I get a decent-sized batch going again?

[will-o-the-witch]

Update 2:

I joined a discord server and see people discussing different religions, at some point I point out Judaism doesn’t share every major Christian belief. People start challenging this, one person even saying (essentially) “Jewish people might not believe in Hell, but Judaism does because they believe in the same God as Christianity.” (????)

That same conversation, Modmins quickly shut down discussion and some members suggest we not speak about religion to avoid making lurkers uncomfrotable/ to avoid giving people a reason to hex us. Even though religious discussion had already been going on. (I left after that.)

Another Jewish tumblr brings up the history of violence against Jewish graves, and how taking graveyard dirt is considered an act of desecration by traditional Jewish law. Another user argues that because their practice considers it a rite of honor, taking graveyard dirt from a Jewish grave should be okay. They explicitly said they would take it from my grandparent’s graves. They said they would take it from my grave. Multiple people have to try and explain why you shouldn’t desacrate people’s graves.

This one happened a long time ago so I actually forgot about it! Another Jewitch once shared a story with us that a woman claimed she was able to contact (or had already been contacting and working with) that person’s ancestors who were killed in the Shoah. 

A person discusses why Kabbalah is appropriation. One person’s counterargument boils down to: “I was told I was Egyptian in a past life, therefore I may have been Jewish, therefore I have rightful access to Kabbalah now.” (Side note, pretty sure I’ve also seen people mention “past lives” where they were killed in the Shoah.)

[will-o-the-witch]

A discord server adds new roles, including Qlippoth and “Kabballah.” I inform them that 1) They didn’t spell it right and 2) I hoped that it would be respected as a closed practice. The mod response was essentially, “it’s not closed, are you a Rabbi?” When i asked “are you Jewish?” they would just continue to assert that my voice on the issue wasn’t valid unless I was a Rabbi. (Rabbis have no one unified belief on pretty much anything, btw.)

Another mod came in eventually to try and be more helpful, but still hesitated to make any changes. (The suggested changes were either taking off the Kabbalistic roles, or adding roles that were more inclusive to other types of Jewish magic. We’ve got more than just that.)

This could be more ignorance than “true” antisemitism, but I’d be amiss if I didn’t preserve this:

In a discussion about Lilith, one person asserts, directly to me, that Jewish people cannot be witches without forsaking and publicly denouncing their entire religion and culture. Therefore any Jewish anything was up for grabs for witchcraft purposes, and all Jewish witches present were mistaken in some way.

Another person in that same discussion describes an (incorrect) origin story for Lilith, which involved Judaism’s malicious plan to take local mythical figures and portray them as demons to oppress the other local religions and further their “rabid monotheism.”

Through the comments of this thread, I learned about Wiccans trying to make their own mezuzot which is hilariously off base

A semi-prominent witchblr user has an epiphany, and begins posting about it. They make a long post detailing that “most conspiracy theories hold a large amount of truth” and while they say they don’t want to delegitimize Jewish pain, also believe that Jewish people control all the banks, and the Holocaust was a “strategic move” to create a narrative of Jewish oppression (so that conspiracy theories about Jewish people would be seen as less legitimate.)

At least one other tumblr witch sees this blog and comments with enthusiastic support. (along the lines of “Yes, the truth is coming out! Preach!”) Their account looks really normal otherwise, so they were just quietly interacting with the community while harboring these beliefs.

Joy of Satan, a well-known neo nazi propaganda site disguised as a Satanism resource, comments on one of my posts with a link to their homepage.

Somebody in a Discord chat goes to the #closed-practices room and asks a genuine question about Lilith. Several goyim respond with incorrect information and challenge any Jewish voice trying to speak in dissent. One person even says they have spoken with Lilith directly in the past, and anybody who believes she is restricted just doesn’t understand Lilith/the Divine as well as they do.

[normal-horoscopes]

*READS TITLE* OH THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG POST

[thewatercouldcover]

are people online really promoting the idea that each crystal has a “lifespan” metaphysically and should be replaced after that time? that’s not sustainable and holy shit what kind of idiot really believes that a rock can sit nicely for 300 million years and still keep its ~ magic ~ but also believe that you have to replace your stone after 4-5 months because it’s “not magical anymore”

[useful-creature]

Holy fuckin nutballs is this really a thing that people believe? 

[spellbookbitch]

Anyway, another square for capitalism infesting spirituality bingo

[chiaroscurolife]

Catch me buying expired crystals half off

[thewatercouldcover]

you win this post, i can no longer go through my day without thinking about ‘buying expired crystals half off’

[f1rstperson]

Slap your crystal against a desk a few times to make the magic start back up

[normal-horoscopes]

GONNA START SELLING CRYSTAL RECHARGERS FOR A PREMIUM

[technicalzombie]

Like New Refurbished Crystals, 98% recharged.

[imovedimovedimovedimoved-deacti]

Do any of you know about that one painting with Aphrodite being born out of lava with a black swan by her side or did i completely hallucinate that? Been searching for a while but i can’t find it for shit.

[thecavenest]

I tried googling that description but no luck either, anyone might know what painting this might be (or if it does exist? cause it sounds sick lol)

[semicolonthefifth]

It took a bit of googling magic, but I think I’ve found it.

This is “Kindled” by Laura K. Cannon, which is part of her portfolio that can be found here: http://navate.com/2wk6im1sartc92iwza7il07bxq2mk5

Is this what you were looking for? @sakyubaso

[tiffanygladiator]

I’m in love.

[nothisacrayon]

Y'all I’m-

[tftftdrwggjhuftguugufuh-deactiv]

the original artist states:

“This went kinda viral on tumblr and people are arguing whether it’s a painting of Aphrodite. It’s not. If she must be a goddess, I think she’d be Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire.

But it doesn’t depict anyone specifically. After some soul-searching I realize that, while I wasn’t thinking about it at the time, it’s a painting about battling depression. I live with MDD so the idea of emerging from the depths is a powerful thing for me.

Is she being born from the lava, or is she climbing out of Hell? I think it’s both.”

so. not Aphrodite, but someone beautiful nonetheless

[fiberartandspells]

Not everyone believes in the threefold law...

For example I don’t. So, please, friends, buddies, amigos…

Stop. Sending. Me. Messages. About. It.

I went through a LOT of fucked up shit and let me tell you: my abusers never got punished. My father, a good man that also was abused as a child, got cancer and died a slow painful death. Funny how the threefold laws only seem to apply to witches that try to fight back, uh?

When I’m punched, I will punch back, and I will curse when I have to. Sometimes my magic is glitter and bay leaves, but sometimes it’s gutter water and nails. It’s still my magic. It’s the same thing.

I respect people who don’t curse. It’s your right and I will NEVER question it. We’re different and we all have rules we abide by. I trust your intellect and I trust you to make the choice that’s best for you. It might not be the one I would have made but I’m not in your shoes so I have no right to criticize you.

I just demand the same respect.

I’m a grown ass adult, not a child one must scold and school. So to those wiccans that are sending me PMs and/or commenting on my post about cursing:

You can stuff your morality lessons right where the sun doesn’t shine along with your condescending attitude.

[erisolympia]

Why don’t you dance barefoot under the full moon light and maybe you’ll calm down

[witchesversuspatriarchy]

Suddenly feline familiars make perfect sense

[octoberwitch]

[crystiannia]

Ran’s Runes (divination tool in honor of the sea goddess)

From a dream I had. A plain mason jar with sand, shells, rocks and sea glass from our local shores. Added in small blue garden stones with runes painted on them. Simply turn and watch the changing sandscape until a rune - or several - are clearly visible to guide you. :)

[an-earth-witch-deactivated20181]

That…that’s brilliant.

[fancysmudges]

Concept: A witch cat that’s too fat to fly