There's Always More Than One Way.

Brighidine Pagan and witch who sometimes hangs around with other deities and other pantheons. Pantheist in concept. Polytheist and animist in practice. She/her/hers. Antifa. TERFs and white supremacists fuck off and die. Avatar photo by Łukasz Rawa on Unsplash

[twunkish-cleric]

The fact that there are gods with disabilities make me so emotional. Hephaestus, Tyr, Hodr, Odin and other disabled deities just prove that being disabled is a vital part of the human experience, not a deviation from it, and that concept alone is so moving. Just like there are deities for specific human experiences like fertility or war, there are also deities with disabilities, which just proves that we have just as much of a place on this earth as mothers and warriors do. The idea of that has genuinely pulled me through some hard times.

[space-queen]

witches who support modern medicine 2026 🩺🧪

[hibiscus-sweetie]

"get home safe" is a spell and i am casting it on all of you ✨

[wyrd-wyrm]

I don’t know who needs to hear this,

There was no universal Scandinavian religion, or Slavic, or Celtic.

They were multiple mini cultures with changing and differing views.

That’s why we have different beliefs on who was the ‘High God’ in the Norse myths and physical evidence that we have left. Tyr, Freyr, Odin; have all been the High God in different cultures. Because people didn’t collect under orthodox and shared religion in a pre Christian world the way they do now.

You can now make a more collective religion, but saying there was always one, is a mistake at best and pseudo history at worst.

[soufre-de-paris]

Some fairy tales may be 6000 years old

Study traces history of some of our favorite folk stories

GUYS THIS IS AMAZING

SERIOUSLY

6000 YEARS

STORIES THAT ARE OLDER THAN CIVILIZATIONS

STORIES THAT WERE TOLD BY PEOPLE SPEAKING LANGUAGES WE NO LONGER KNOW

STORIES TOLD BY PEOPLE LOST TO THE VOID OF TIME

STORIES

[soufre-de-paris]

GUYS LOOK AT THIS

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS

GUYYYYYSSSS

[dwarven-beard-spores]

“Here’s how it worked: Fairy tales are transmitted through language, and the shoots and branches of the Indo-European language tree are well-defined, so the scientists could trace a tale’s history back up the tree—and thus back in time. If both Slavic languages and Celtic languages had a version of Jack and the Beanstalk (and the analysis revealed they might), for example, chances are the story can be traced back to the “last common ancestor.” That would be the Proto-Western-Indo-Europeans from whom both lineages split at least 6800 years ago. The approach mirrors how an evolutionary biologist might conclude that two species came from a common ancestor if their genes both contain the same mutation not found in other modern animals.” 

[polyteleology]

If you want to have a look at the ATU (Aarne Thompson Uther) Index of Folk Tales:

The Multilingual Folk Tales Database (which includes the ATU Index) is saved on the Internet Archive

The Kalevala Society Foundation has PDF copies of the 2nd printing in 2011: Part I, Part II, and Part III

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What to do if witchcraft suddenly gets way too intense

1. FINISH WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

► DO NOT walk away from an uncompleted ritual

► DO NOT walk away in the middle of a spell

Grab your notes and close everything down. Dismiss any spirits or entities you are working with. Close down the circle. End the ritual. Diffuse the energy of the spell and close it down. If you were enchanting an item, announce over it that it is closed and nothing more may come in or out.

Spells and rituals are little portals of power; if you leave one open without closing it, all sorts of things could get screwy and come through.

2. End any spooky/witchy atmosphere immediately.

Blow out all the candles.

Put out all the incense.

Turn on all the lights.

Turn off spooky chanting music. Turn on some happy music or better yet, a non-supernatural television show or movie you love.

If you were enchanting an item, immediately put it in salt.

3. Don’t destroy the items/notes you will need later.

Trust me, do not throw away the spell you wrote or the objects you were working on. If things go wrong in the future you will need these to fix the problem.

► Immediately write down exactly what happened. Write down every deviation from the spell that you did. Write down exactly what you said and saw during any visualizations. Write down exactly when things started to get freaky.

► If you were enchanting an item, keep it in a black bag filled with salt until you are ready to deal with it.

4. Cleanse.

Use an energy cannonball to purify the space you were working in. Burn rosemary and bay leaves to fumigate the area, or spritz a premade water solution if you can’t have smoke. Pay special attention to all ritual tools.

If you feel the need to, cleanse yourself by visualizing the power of the smoke enveloping you and driving away any bad vibes; or take a shower if you really feel something has gone wrong.

5. Get out of the area you were working in.

Go to another room. Leave the house if possible. Seek the company of others or turn on the television if you are alone.

6. Do mundane things for a while.

Eat a nice meal. Drink a big glass of water. Go for a jog. Do some chores. Put anything magical totally out of your head. Absolutely do not focus on how weird things just got.

7. When you are ready, return to the area you were working in.

Relax yourself and judge the energies within the room. Are things still ‘creepy’? A heavy-duty cleansing is in order. Do you feel as if someone else is there? Open a window and command it to leave - if it does not, more fumigation or a banishing is required.

Judge your ritual tools and determine if they will need additional cleansing. If you were working on an object, determine if it has been corrupted or if anything is wrong with it. If so, put it back in the salt and deal with it as soon as you can.

8. Take a break from witchcraft for a couple of days.

9. Figure out what went wrong.

Fear is never a good thing. There is a difference between embracing the darkness and being afraid.

► Fear can be caused if an entity showed up you were unprepared to deal with.

► Fear can be caused if your intuition (or perhaps a spirit ally) was warning you that what you were about to do was a really bad idea.

► Fear can be caused if you tap in to powers that overwhelm you.

You need to figure out what went wrong. It isn’t a situation where you can say “oh well” and try something else later - because you screwed up, and next time you may not get an adequate warning before things go to hell.

[ama-personal]

Very important stuff!!

[countrygirlil2015]

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE read this, save this, etc!! It’s VERY important!! Before coming across this post, I had this very thing happen….. I’m in the middle of casting, within my circle, & I got this OVERWHELMING feeling of fear, terror, MORE than just one feeling, & I didn’t know what to do. I froze & the only thing that I could think was….“What should I do? Do I break my circle, or cut it, or just flat out get the hell outta here?? It was VERY scary!! Then, just like the blog tells you, I wasn’t sure what to do with my spell & spell items.

I hope this doesn’t happen to a lot of Witches, but the risk is there if your casting and/or working with spirits. So plz, just be MINDFUL of WHAT you’re doing, & the ATMOSPHERE around you!! And ALWAYS HAVE A BACKUP PLAN OR A “BACKDOOR” OUT!! 😊👍🏻❤️🔮

[polyteleology]

This is all excellent advice, but I have one minor quibble: In some situations, the presence of fear can be a good thing. You should listen to fear the way you would listen to any other warning.

Like OP, I do NOT recommend allowing fear to control you, to guide your actions. But fear is your body’s way of telling you that you could be in danger. Its voice is to be heard and respected even if it should never be allowed to lead you. Its presence is a signal that there could be danger ahead.

[polyteleology]

[sonoflove222]

One thing that I think not enough polytheists hear or know: You can say no to having gods in your life that chose you. Whether they stumbled upon you or they have known you for multiple lifetimes you are not obligated to keep them. You can forge your own path and follow your own vision of your practice, faith, and/or who you want to be.

Also: you can have relationships with gods that you approached in this lifetime that are just as fulfilling as the ones with gods you’ve known for multiple lifetimes.

[wildbeewitch]

Maybe don’t totally divorce Irish folklore/paganism from the reality of Ireland and Irish history please thank you

seriously, you think we can’t tell when you are faking knowledge of Ireland, but YIKES we can.

[wildbeewitch]

For anyone thinking I’m just being petty or gatekeeping or punishing diaspora or any of the other stuff people throw out when Irish people try to correct, let’s be honest here mostly North Americans, on weird fake folklore.

Like taking Brigids Day, or Imbolc, and claiming that it’s a winter festival. Yes the first of February is still winter in North American, but it’s still the first day of spring in Ireland and it’s our festival.

Consider that not all agricultural calendar translate globally and adjust?

Or slurring things that are Irish into some Pan-Celtic nonsense, or things that are Gallic (France, some Spain and Germany, Cornwall sort of) with things that are Gaelic (Irish or Scottish). Like Google is free and ignorance is not mystical.

[wildbeewitch]

@discordantq​ Asked how to do this right, which is fair enough since I started the moan.

My main advice is that there isn’t a right, but there’s plenty of wrong ;)

University of Cork’s CELT database has great resources for Irish myths, though I like Michael Scott’s versions too if you want something more easy reading to start with.

Understand that there is NO, absolutely no, Pre-Christian sources for gods/goddesses/magic. There is no Pre-Christian writing in Ireland full stop. There are archaeological sites that appear to be of spiritual significance but anything of the folklore was recorded in the medieval period. So Christianity/Catholicism is not some simple enemy of Irish paganism because it’s inseparable from it. Acknowledging that doesn’t make you a bad pagan.

There’s very little evidence for the worship of deities in the Irish context, lots of stories about powerful and magical beings, some of which are referred to as goddesses or gods in text but not many and there isn’t a lot what people to would of today as religion in them.

I’m not saying any of this to stop someone believing that some of the Tuatha da Dannan are deities or to tell them how to worship or celebrate. Just don’t take your personal beliefs and call them “Ancient Irish Traditions”

It’s all just combining respect and common sense really.

[polyteleology]

Emma Christian: “Vreeshey, Vreeshey”

This song appears on her album Beneath the Twilight.

A translation of the lyrics can be found here:

Vreeshey, Vreeshey, tar gys my thie, Brighid, Brighid come to my house.

Tar gys y thie aym noght. Come to my house tonight.

Vreeshey, Vreeshey, tar, o tar, Brighid Brighid come o come

Gys y thie aym noght. To my house tonight.

O foshil jee y dorrys da Vreeshey, O open the door to Brighid

Lhig da Vreeshey çheet stiagh. And let Brighid come in

Vreeshey, Vreeshey, tar oo Brighid Brighid come o

Gys y thie aym noght To my house tonight.

[breelandwalker]

Agus Lugh caomh-gheal, cro-gheal, cra-gheal, Ga go dhiona, ga do chaomhna, ga do charamh Le treuin a laimhe, le nimh a ghaise, Fo sgaile drilleanach a sgeith.

“The Spear of Lugh,” from A Circle of Stones: Journeys & Meditations for Modern Celts (Erynn Rowan Laurie)

Translation:

And may Lugh kind-[bright], strong-[bright], red-[bright] Preserve thee, protect thee, provide for thee, With the might of his hand, with the point of his spear, Under the shade of his shimmering shield.

(The author translates “gheal” as “white,” but when I’ve seen this word in other contexts, it has meant “bright” or “brilliant,” and I find that more appropriate.)

[polyteleology]

Thereupon She Entered

Thereupon She entered And on the right hand: wonder And on the left hand: hope To the north of her red rock To the south of her climbing sandy hills To the east of her croft in ruins To the west of her crashing sea Thereupon She entered Singing that pierces time And Her long gown, wetted In the pink soaked sand Clung to my entrails And Her hands swept down Like a hawk upon the heart She the Lady of Hoy She the Lady of Callanish She the Lady of the Western Isles Lady Brede, Lady Wildness, Lady Mother of the Sea She the yearning that pierces the heart Always calling.

-Ani Greenwood, posted at Stone on the Belly, a blog for Brighidines in the Daughters of the Flame group.

[irisharchaeology]

From a 9th century Irish manuscript, the phrase ‘massive hangover’ (Latheirt) written in the ancient Irish text Ogham. The monk must have been having a very rough day…..

Source 

[myfavoritedemons]

Prayers to Venus:

I work at the Getty Villa, and as part of our summer Roman Holidays event, we have an altar to Venus set up, with blank tags so that people can leave prayers to her. I’m not sure if the museum expected the response we’ve gotten, but it’s been really lovely and touching to read all the prayers.

[over-sleep]

[starwarsgraphictee]

This fucked me up.

[polyteleology]

Brigid

Here I unpack (at length! You have been warned) the symbolism in my Brigid painting.

“It is flattering when people are drawn to one of my paintings without knowing the mythology that influences it. By far, this painting is the one I have been asked to talk about the most. ‘What is this about?’ Or often ‘What the hell is going on here?’

“The short answer: This painting is my veneration of art itself. I can not express in words the ways that artistic work gives my life meaning, and the act of creation and creative flow is the state of existence that I strive to be in daily. It is the closest I personally feel to sublimity.”

I love this painting and have it at my personal home shrine. Here’s the artist’s discussion of what it meant to her to create it.

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