Ryan

They/He/She l Genderfluid & Bi Poly AroAce l Chaos Witch

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

I don’t know why I’m writing this but I feel like I need to post here that I’m in the process of being diagnosed with schizophrenia. I still need to do some medical tests and scans that will take a while but unless a medical issue that could explain my symptoms is present, schizophrenia is pretty much the only other explanation. My witchcraft practice is pretty much non-existent and I’m seriously considering giving it up, perhaps to pick up in a few years. I don’t know the future of this blog, but things aren’t looking good. I’m very, very tempted to delete it and leave Tumblr altogether. I’m lost and if anyone has any advice or words of comfort, they’d be very appreciated.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Thank you everyone for all your words of encouragement and comfort! I’m not sure the future of my practice but I do know what I’m going to do with this blog. I am not going to delete it so everyone can still view it, but I am no longer going to be on Tumblr or posting anything. I am not going to check anything but I wanted to thank all of my followers for supporting me and being understanding. Perhaps I’ll be back in a couple years, but until then, goodbye.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

I don’t know why I’m writing this but I feel like I need to post here that I’m in the process of being diagnosed with schizophrenia. I still need to do some medical tests and scans that will take a while but unless a medical issue that could explain my symptoms is present, schizophrenia is pretty much the only other explanation. My witchcraft practice is pretty much non-existent and I’m seriously considering giving it up, perhaps to pick up in a few years. I don’t know the future of this blog, but things aren’t looking good. I’m very, very tempted to delete it and leave Tumblr altogether. I’m lost and if anyone has any advice or words of comfort, they’d be very appreciated.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Refreshing and Reevaluating your Witchcraft Practice

You’ve probably been in the same situation before: your witchcraft feels stagnant, uninspired, and overwhelming. Taking breaks is important but here are some other things you can do to reevaluate and refresh your practice.

- Declutter and evaluate your tools. Your witchcraft tools are often a reflection of your practice so if you have plenty of tools that you dislike or never use, that’s a pretty good sign that your practice isn’t working for you either. Try getting rid of something that is holding you back. For example, I have a book on Reiki that I never got into and every time I open the drawer where I keep my tools, I’m reminded of something that I’m no longer interested in. On the flip side, is there a tool that you’ve been wanting for a while? For me, I have plenty of oracle card decks but not a tarot deck which I’ve tried to get by without for a while but I’ve decided to finally cave and buy one.

- Simplify your labels. I’ll confess, I’m a big fan of labels in my practice but sometimes things get to complicated to still be useful. My “official label” for what type of witch I was, until recently, a chaos magician and urban, death witch, which I have now simplified to just chaos witch.

- Modify, modify, modify. I’m disabled and no matter how many times I’ve tried, traditional witchcraft practices just don’t work for me. My biggest tip is to modify your practice for your mental illness or disability. I’m not going to go into detail here on how to do that but if any one wants more tips, send me an ask!

- Go through the witches you follow on social media. Are they inspiring you and serving you in your practice? Or are they giving you an unrealistic image of witchcraft? This includes me too. If my blog is no longer inspiring you, I encourage you to unfollow me.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Does any witch out there have tips for practising witchcraft with psychosis? I’m really struggling with my practice because of my psychosis but all the advice I’m being given is to take a break which doesn’t really work because even though I’m on a break now, I’m likely going to have a psychotic disorder for the rest of my life.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

I just wanted to let everybody know that I’m taking a bit of a break from witchcraft and this blog. I need to reevaluate what is and isn’t working for me. I’ll probably still be posting some things on here, but not as much as normal. I’m not sure how long I’ll be on break, but my inbox is still open and I am still answering asks.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Adapting the Scientific Method for Magick

If you’ve ever been in a middle school science class, you probably know by now what the scientific method is. If not, a quick Google search can tell you everything you need to know. I was thinking, there must be a way to adapt this method for recording and preforming spells and magick. So, here’s what I came up with:

Observations and Questions: Every spell has to start with an idea, so the first step to coming up and testing a spell is take make some observations and brain storm what kind of spell you want to preform and how you want to go about doing it. You can also have a specific question in mind such “how effective are jar spells” or “will using this ingredient work with this particular type of spell.”

Research: Every witch knows that research is one of the most important parts of magick, so do some research before writing your spell. How have others done similar spells in the past? What kind of ingredients are typically used in this type of spell?

Hypothesis: What do you think will happen? Come up with some kind of prediction or idea for what will happen and record it.

Test with Experiments: Now is the time to actually preform your spell or magick. Everyone has different ways of doing things so I’m not going to go into detail here on how to cast spells.

Analyze Your Data: Depending on how quickly your spell works, there will probably be a gap between this step and the last. Once your spell has come to fruition, it’s time to start analyzing how and why it worked. Did a certain ingredient help boost it? Is there anything you did differently this time? Most importantly, was your hypothesis right?

Report Conclusions: Once your spell has been completed and your satisfied with your conclusions and experiments, it’s up to you for what you want to do with them. If you have a social media platform you could post your findings there or simply keep it in your personal grimoire. Also, think about how your findings could help you in future spells and magickal workings.

I hope everyone enjoyed this, and if you have anything to add to it, leave it in the replies!

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Does anyone have any tips for what to do when you’re feeling burnt out and uninterested in witchcraft? I’m almost considering giving it up all together but I can’t tell if my losing interest is my mental illness or if I’m actually not interested in witchcraft anymore.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

I’m sorry your mental illness has been ruining your spiritual practice ❤️ I thought of a question to distract you, please ignore if it triggers you or is too draining to answer. What do you think of the connection between a deity and the myths about them? Do you think of the myths as being accounts of things the deities actually did (on some spiritual plane or something), or more like stories made up by mortals for entertainment or as a way of understanding the entities they worship?

Thanks for your question! This is a topic that I could talk about for hours and I'm honestly open to any point of view. I've tried several times now to write down what my opinion on it is, but it's such a complex idea that I'm having trouble putting it in writing. Honestly, I’m just putting this post out there in case anyone wants to share their thoughts on it.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

hey, sorry to hear about your struggles, these things can hurt big time. as a distraction, want me to rant about warrior cats? i can do that for days. on. end

I would LOVE it if you could rant about Warrior Cats! I've never read the series though I feel like I should. Hearing about people's special interests always cheers me up!

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

My dash is kind of dead so interact with this post if you post content on:

- Death and Urban Witchcraft

- Chaos Magick

- Punk/Inclusive Academia

- Decaycore

- Mythology and Folklore

- Psychosis

- Vulture Culture

- Original Writing

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

ANNOUNCEMENT: I am no longer working with any deities. I’m getting worse and worse everyday and have been taking a break from deity work for a while now. Mental illness has been slowly taking away everything I care about and now it’s taken away my relationships with Medusa and Selene. It feels almost like I’ve lost a family member or a loved one. I will still answer any questions relating to paganism and deity work because it would be a shame to let all this knowledge and research go to waste, but please be respectful and considerate. I don’t know what my witchcraft practice will look like in the future but right now it’s not working for me. Honestly, I need a bit of cheering up so I’d appreciate it if anyone could send me asks to distract me.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Hey everyone! I love receiving asks and DMs but I sometimes have trouble discerning their meanings and tones as an autistic person, so I’d really appreciate it if anyone who reaches out to me to please use tone indicators. Here are some examples of tone indicators:

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Not so friendly reminder that anyone who the statements below applies to is not welcome on this blog.

- Uses the slogan “Blue Lives Matter”

- Believes that cops are completely impartial and unbiased

- Disagrees with disarming and defunding police

- Thinks police brutality is just a “few bad apples” or the person on the receiving end deserved it

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Extra Money Jar Spell

Although I don’t have to pay bills because I’m a minor living with my parents, it’s always nice to have a bit of extra money. It’s the full moon on Wednesday so I came up with this jar spell that I plan to preform then.

Ingredients

- Jar

- Dried Mint

- Dried Basil

- Coins

- Sigils w/ Intention

- Green Jasper

- Green Calcite

- Tiger’s Eye

- Orange Calcite

I’ll test this spell out and keep everyone updated on how it goes! If you want to try this spell out for yourself, feel free to substitute or leave out certain ingredients.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Just finished my spell jar! I’ll update everyone on how it works!

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

I’m planning to start working with Hades as soon as I get enough energy which I’m not sure when that will be, though hopefully soon. I want to create an altar for him but I don’t really want to buy anything new until we have a more established relationship. Does anyone who works with Hades have any items that most people would already own that you have on his altar? Thanks so much in advance!

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Thank you everyone for all your wonderful advice! I’m not really working with Hades yet but I set up a space fo him on my altar with some coins and mini black candles I got from the dollar store. I’ll keep everyone updated on my relationships with him and the rest of my deities! I’ve been incredibly depressed and psychotic lately so my deities have been taking a bit of a step back. I thought about not working with Hades because of that but I really feel like I need his energy in my life right now and I’m going to be mentally disabled for the rest of my life so I can’t put off all my witchcraft because of it.

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

I don’t have a regular altar for my witchy tools but I do have ones for my deities. My mom knows I’m a witch but I kind of keep that part of my life away from my family so I keep my deity altars in the bottom drawer of an IKEA dresser. Here are close-up pictures of Medusa’s (left) and Selene’s (right).

[ryanthegenderfluidwitch]

Extra Money Jar Spell

Although I don’t have to pay bills because I’m a minor living with my parents, it’s always nice to have a bit of extra money. It’s the full moon on Wednesday so I came up with this jar spell that I plan to preform then.

Ingredients

- Jar

- Dried Mint

- Dried Basil

- Coins

- Sigils w/ Intention

- Green Jasper

- Green Calcite

- Tiger’s Eye

- Orange Calcite

I’ll test this spell out and keep everyone updated on how it goes! If you want to try this spell out for yourself, feel free to substitute or leave out certain ingredients.