Warlock of the Craft

I am a 26 year old Transman warlock who goes by Stark. I've been In the pagan and witchcraft community for quite some time but have just gotten back into it after several years of off and on practice. Always feel free to message me about anything, I'm not the best for giving out advice but I'm always open to a chat.

[learndirt]

The garden is the place to lose yourself and gain everything else

[unidentifiablelifeform]

Why a decades-old forest planting practice from Japan is gaining traction in the U.S.

Communities across the U.S. are turning small plots of land into highly dense forests that grow quickly. Turns out these forests have roots

[teaboot]

genuine question why you making that "humans are adorable" post even though humanity do horrible things such as genocide, racism, discrimination, ableism, sexism, rape, sexual abuse, and more?

i thought you aware on how awful people can be since judging from things you reblog you are aware of ongoing genocide and witnessing autistic children abused for their condition

Every day I choose to believe that every human being is fundamentally the same. That every adult was once a child, that every child had fears and hopes and joys, and every person desires to live happily and free of pain.

This does not absolve them of their cruelties. This does not condone or minimize their transgressions. This simply is to say, "I too could become monstrous: what would it take to push me there, and how could I prevent it, and if I could not prevent it, how could I stop?"

I believe that to be human is to be an animal like any other. I believe that we are not evil. Because if I believed that humanity was evil, fundamentally cruel, and incapable of better, what hope would I have? What purpose? What life could I live, as a plague surrounded by plagues?

I don't believe that people are good because I have not seen evil actions. I believe that people are good because I have to.

Do you understand?

I must believe in humanity. I must believe in kindness. I must believe in good, and change, and positive intent.

Because otherwise, I'd have nothing to live for.

Because otherwise, all I would have is myself, and self-loathing, and decades of existence in all directions, and a hopeless wasteland to spend it in.

I am not an individual naturally inclined towards trust. This takes effort. This is a survival strategy

[learndirt]

Plant windbreaks and shelterbelts to protect crops from harsh weather.

[anarchistmemedistro]

The works of the roots of the vines, of the trees, must be destroyed to keep up the price, and this is the saddest, bitterest thing of all. Carloads of oranges dumped on the ground. The people came for miles to take the fruit, but this could not be. How would they buy oranges at twenty cents a dozen if they could drive out and pick them up? And men with hoses squirt kerosene on the oranges, and they are angry at the crime, angry at the people who have come to take the fruit. A million people hungry, needing the fruit- and kerosene sprayed over the golden mountains. And the smell of rot fills the country.

Burn coffee for fuel in the ships. Burn corn to keep warm, it makes a hot fire. Dump potatoes in the rivers and place guards along the banks to keep the hungry people from fishing them out. Slaughter the pigs and bury them, and let the putrescence drip down into the earth.

There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificate- died of malnutrition- because the food must rot, must be forced to rot. The people come with nets to fish for potatoes in the river, and the guards hold them back; they come in rattling cars to get the dumped oranges, but the kerosene is sprayed. And they stand still and watch the potatoes float by, listen to the screaming pigs being killed in a ditch and covered with quick-lime, watch the mountains of oranges slop down to a putrefying ooze; and in the eyes of the people there is the failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.

- John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath

link to story

[littlewildmother]

Studies show that engaging in ritualized behavior significantly improves outcomes on measures of grief and feelings of control, even when the person participating in the ritual has little or no belief in the ritual’s power. Just a reminder for no one in particular.

[littlewildmother]

Research has revealed that, while rituals are universal across human cultures, the content and actions of those rituals vary widely even when they have the same intended purpose. This suggests that it is not the actions that matter, but that you are taking any action at all and naming it ritual. It can be an elaborate ritual with dozens of moving parts and participants, or it can be as simple as lighting a candle alone with the intent to remember someone.

The healing is in the doing.

[json-derulo]

OP did not link to a source, but the studies I have been able to find on this subject are consistent with the claims in the post:

Mourning rituals impact grief outcomes in East and Southeast Asia: A mixed-methods review - Le et al, 2025

Rituals Alleviate Grieving for Loved Ones, Lovers, And Lotteries - Norton and Gino, 2013

How funerals mediate the psycho-social impact of grief: Qualitative analysis of open-ended responses to a national survey in Japan - Becker et. al, 2022

[learndirt]

We are not above nature. We are a part of it.

[learndirt]

🌱 “The greatest form of activism is to be a living example of the type of people you’d like to see walking this earth.” —Ebonee Davis

[learndirt]

🌱 “We may think we are nurturing our garden, but of course, it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.” —Jenny Uglow

[learndirt]

You are the gardener of your own life. Be mindful of what you water.

[lucisdove]

Fuck spiritual/pagan shame.

Go hug that tree and tell it about your problems.

Wear that devotional jewellery and yap about how much you love your gods.

Make your pretty altar and hang up those figures and paintings.

Cast that spell and manifest your goals.

Hex a bitch.

Paganism/pagan religions are literally the OG and yet somehow we have been made to feel like we are the crazy ones.

You aren’t crazy.

You are the blueprint and your beliefs matter as much as anyone else’s and are valid.

[learndirt]

🌱 “There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.” —Rachel Carson

[canis-witchery]

does anyone else have the opinion that ALL the gods that are worshipped exist, but they might only help those who believe in them?

for example, God might only answer Christians, Allah might only answer Muslims, Zeus might only answer Helpols, Odin might only answer Norse pagans, etc etc

because i do fully believe people when they say “God helped me with XYZ”. but i do not believe people when they say “God helped you with XYZ”, because i simply don’t believe in the Christian God and i haven’t given him any reason to interact with me (i.e. i don’t pray to God, i pray to many other gods but not that one)

obviously its a lot more nuanced than this (like with folks who change religions because of a lack of interaction from their previous god(s)) but this is just, like, the most basic way i can explain it right now

sooo does anyone else feel similar? like every god that’s worshipped exists to help their worshippers?

this also ties into why i believe in pop culture paganism. i suppose it relates to the idea that humans created higher beings through worship, and anything can be made into a deity. similarly, gods that receive no worship may go dormant or die

[eldritchbauble]

You're just a mammal. Let yourself act like it. Your brain needs enrichment. Your body needs rest. You feel hunger and grow hair. You need to pack bond with other sentient things so you don't become unsocialized and neurotic. You are biologically inclined to seek dopamine and become sick when chronically stressed. "Hedonism" is made up to place moral value on taking pleasure in sensory experiences. I am telling you that if you don't let yourself be a fucking mammal, as you were made, you will suffer and go insane. No grindset no diets no trying to be above your drive for connection. Pursue what makes you feel good and practice radial rejection of the constructs meant to turn you into a machine. You're a mammal.

[eldritchbauble]

I am so serious about the way people are taught to view themselves as separate from and above any other animal being the root cause of a lot of problems. You're not better than a beast.

[eldritchbauble]

This post has really made the rounds so I have to say - this mentality changed me overnight. I had this realization that all of the fumbling over self love I did for years just needed... this. Once I internalized that I'm just a creature, it got so much easier to take care of myself.

I've started treating myself like I would a dog that's going to chew through the house when it's bored. I walk myself. I seek activities that make my brain feel less like depressed sludge. I ask my body what it needs; I rest, I enjoy rest. I don't see it as a waste or unproductive. I see it as allowing my body to do its job of working better. I lean into appreciating my natural features. I'm a hunk of flesh. I can be ugly. I can decide that ugly is appealing. I can not care. Whatever. I started emphasizing little things that nourish my relationship(s), shelving distractions more, so I can relish the time I have with loved ones. I specifically pursue pleasure--dopamine--not just quick hits from scrolling social media but getting off my ass. Engaging. Cooking myself nice meals and making fucking art, man. Things that make my spirit feel more alive than I have for years. I ask myself what it is I want rather than only doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And it doesn't mean shirk every responsibility, it means recognizing you're one of your fucking responsibilities. It's reordering. I realized I'm going to die happy or unhappy and either way I'm just as dead in a given amount of years, and I choose to die happy and fulfilled.

Everything else can get fucked ad infinitum.

Call me a hedonist, I'm saving my own life.

[witchofthewhisperingmist]

Foraging Safety — The Etiquette of Wild Places

Foraging is a conversation with the land. Entering that conversation unprepared can damage ecosystems — or harm you.

Rules of safe foraging: • Identify with certainty — many poisonous plants mimic edible ones • Pick only where plants thrive abundantly • Avoid roadside plants (heavy metals, exhaust, runoff) • Harvest no more than 10–20% of a patch • Leave roots unless absolutely necessary • Ask permission — spiritually and ecologically • Respect protected species and private land

Foraging is not taking — it is trading breath for breath with the living world.

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[inkpressedpetals]

[seth-whumps]

characters raised to be tools

Weapons. Trained, tested, forged in steel and fire. Failure is an inevitability that ends in death. Pain should not be felt--it should be recognized, familiar, and inconsequential

Martyrs. In the form of servants and princes, of leaders and underdogs. If blood is necessary, the martyr will lift their hands and offer it all

Shields. Like tempering a sword, but only to bear and not to lash out. Wounds are medals--not symbols of pride, but symbols of worth. A pretty shield is useless; scars mean a job well done

Experiments. Raised on the cold comfort of a lab table. Restraints are only necessary when they're not in their right mind. Is it honorable, to be twisted beyond recognition? Or is it just a necessary evil?

Monsters. Cruelty, caution, and regarding one as a creature beyond reasonable thought is tempering in its own right. But if you keep a leash at the right length, perhaps the massecre won't reach you. One can hope.

Idols. Pretty face, pretty name, pretty hands around their shoulders and throat. There to seduce, manipulate, force any feeling to come to the surface and twist it to their favor. Any genuinity stays locked behind the guilded cage that surrounds their pretty little heart

Trophies. Status and wealth and the traditions that keep someone at their heels, on their knees, to display and serve and decorate one's ballroom.

Sacrifices. Drenched in honorable clothes, prepared and adored and cleansed. The gift of hope at the cost of one's life. Is it taken with no fight? How can you escape the ropes you were born in?