the woods are lovely, dark, and deep

[taggsvansen]

🐐THE GOAT HAS FALLEN 🐐

[leatherandmossprints]

‘Study of Thistles’ by Sophia L. Crownfield, c. 1890.

[stoneandseed]

Gods how is it solstice already? I feel like it was just November. Tagged by @goadthings to post four not selfies. Let's see what I've got...

1) my dog giving me the most epic side eye she can muster

2) the largest carrot from our garden. Was 100% used to make a "so big she could barely wrap her hand around it" joke.

3) a pretty sunrise I thought my friend would want to see

4) an amazing photo of the northern lights my friend took from the top of horsetooth

Tagging the first three people that come up with no particular direction

@bibliophilicwitch @grayladyofthewell @fetchmethatpitcher

[stoneandseed]

Where I'm from December...

Looks like... twinkly lights and cold. Is it me, or are the lights brighter the colder it gets? A brief dusting of snow graces the ground, but the serious storms will wait until the new year.

Tastes like... cough drops and sweets. We sip hot toddies when we're sick and hot buttered rums when we're well.

Smells like... cookies fresh from the oven. Bread fresh from the oven. Cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven. The appliance rules the month.

Sounds like... starlings chattering to each other. Geese and ducks fly overhead and complain about the cold nearly as loudly as those of us on the ground. Christmas music becomes inescapable and it slowly drives me to insanity.

Feels like... dry skin and chapped lips. The wool yarn I knit with scratches against my rough skin as I rush to finish my homemade presents.

@dvoeverie-stitches

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Candle Holder Hack

Last weekend I just dropped wax into the bowl that held my advent candles and I thought it was going to work, but they kept falling down all week.

This morning I made little salt dough candle holders when I was freshening everything up: 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup salt, 1/2 cup water.

[stoneandseed]

Where I'm from November...

Looks like ... A monochrome. Color has been siphoned from the land. Browns and grays take the place of the reds and yellows of earlier autumn as we slip closer to winter.

Smells like... Gently stale clothing. The sweaters emerge from storage. A pot of soup simmers on the stove and there's a loaf of bread in the oven. A warm hug in the form of aroma.

Feels like... A sigh. There is a sigh of relief as the season of rest moves in and a sigh of exhaustion as the preparation for the holidays commence.

Tastes like... Snow on the air. The air adopts an almost metallic tinge in the morning when frost lays thick.

@dvoeverie-stitches

[oldblogarchived]

i forgot how fucking weird november is theres no afternoon its just night after 2pm

[dzamie]

when it rains you simply do not get a day

[halfbakedideas]

northern hemisphere people, are you okay??

[midnights-dragon]

northern hemisphere person here!! no

[sheydmade]

Autumn Allies: Charms, Spells, Divination, and Plant Magic; Part 1

by Keziah Zibelmann

Autumn evokes thoughts of fallen leaves, barren trees, foggy mornings, and rainy nights, of damp earth, of browns and oranges and reds, of gray skies and shortening days, and of the beginning of the dark half of the year. It's a season often associated with death and dormancy, and while this is a fair association, it is also true to say that autumn is a season just as abundant with plant allies as spring and summer. With vegetables, nuts, herbs, and trees aplenty, autumn is an oft overlooked season offering bounty for practitioners of witchcraft, magic, and herbalism.

In this piece, you’ll find a collection of some of the natural allies and tools autumn has to offer, as well as possible uses for these allies. May this article serve all those who make use of it, and stay tuned for part 2.

[NOTE: The majority of these practices and beliefs were taught to me by my maternal grandparents and extended family members I grew up around. I'm from a multi-cultural family in the Southern US, so these customs will likely be a hodgepodge of practices similar or identical those within Southern folk traditions and traditions from Europe, particularly Central European, some Eastern European, and Irish and British traditions. While my main source of this piece is lived experience and things picked up from family and friends growing up, I will include a further reading section at the end of this post including books and/or articles that touch on similar practices.]

ACORNS

Acorns, gifts from the oak tree, are nuts with many magical uses. From luck, abundance, and fertility work, to being used for protection or as offerings, one shouldn't overlook these nuts.

Luck & Abundance:

Acorns are associated with luck and bounty in many folk beliefs and can be used in various ways to attract good fortune and abundance, as well as to foretell about such matters.

Acorns can be carried on one's person as luck charms, or can be worn from necklaces to bring luck as well. You'll also find metal acorn charms for just that purpose, as even the symbol or likeness of an acorn is believed to bring luck.

Planting an acorn (from which oak trees grow) during a new moon is believed to be a blessing for one's wealth and money, and can ensure that more money will always come to you than will leave you.

My grandmother always told me that if you find an acorn on your property when you have no oak trees (likely brought by a squirrel, chipmunk, or the like, though she also told me that sometimes they were gifts from land spirits), this was a good omen and a sign that good fortune was on its way for the household.

If one is currently seeking a new job, a promotion, a pay raise, to start one's own business, or any other endeavor that involves money, they can use acorns to foretell if the outcome of such an endeavor or hope will be in their favor or not. This can be done when one comes across fallen acorns by counting the whole, healthy acorns and then counting the broken, eaten, rotten, or otherwise damaged acorns. -If there were several more healthy acorns than bad ones, what you seek will easily be yours. -If there were several more bad acorns, there is no hope at all of gaining what you seek. -If there are more healthy acorns by a small margin, it's likely you'll succeed, but you should put in extra work to ensure as much. -Likewise, if there are more bad acorns by a small margin, it's more likely you'll fail, but this isn't yet a sure thing and you can still try to turn it around in your favor.

Keeping an acorn as a charm to attract abundance comes from the acorn being a symbol of growth and fertility. Due to this, acorns can be potent allies to incorporate in your abundance work. They can be included in money bowls or bags, or in bag or sachet spells centered around financial matters or growing one's business.

Protection:

It's said keeping acorns in one's home can grant protection from many things, including malevolent forces and spirits, bad luck, and bad weather. This is said to be done by keeping acorns near the front door (some say to tie the acorn from a string and hang it from the doorframe or on the door itself, and others say to keep an acorn or acorns on any credenza or table one may have in their entryway.

Acorns can be included in bag or sachet spells for protection, especially if one is seeking protection from illness or misfortune.

Health & Fertility:

As acorns, like the oak trees they come from, have long been used as symbols of fertility, growth, and longevity, it's no surprise that they can be put to good use in any spells or magical workings centered around health and fertility.

An acorn kept beneath one's pillow or bed, particularly if one feels as if they may be coming down with something, is said to ward off illness from taking root.

For those seeking a boost of fertility, wearing an acorn charm or keeping an acorn under "the marital bed" (old language from old charms, but an acorn can be placed under any bed on which "the deed is to be done") is believed to help with fertility over all.

Some spells call for carrying an acorn in one's pocket to help boost fertility.

According to my grandfather, gifting a groom with an acorn on the day of his wedding or placing an acorn in the bridal bouquet can be a blessing for fertility or a blessing for a good sex life.

APPLES

These fall favorites are a wonderfully versatile and powerful ally to keep in one's magical arsenal. Apples can be used for divination and in spells and amulets for protection, luck, inspiration, love, and more! In fact, apples offer so many possibilities that I've written entire pieces exclusively about the use of apples in magic — Apple Magic: Using Apples in Spells & Divination and the Apple in Myth: Deities, Figures, & Lore — and they've made numerous appearances in some of my other articles. Apples really are that useful! Here are just a few examples of some of the ways in which you can utilize apples in your craft —

Love:

Apples have long been used in love spells and love divining. This can be done in a number of very simple ways.

To encourage someone to love you or to secure a long-lasting, harmonious relationship with someone, cut an apple in half and split the apple between the two of you, each of you eating one half.

There are many methods of divining about love that involve apples, particularly in folk traditions. -One of the best known involves peeling the apple and tossing the peel over one's shoulder (usually the left shoulder). One then goes to look at the peel on the floor. Whatever letter the peel most resembles is said to be the first initial of one's soulmate. -Another method of love divination used to foretell one's soulmate calls for standing in a dark room (usually at midnight) with a candle in front of the mirror. Eat an apple whilst standing in front of the mirror. As you eat the apple, a vision of one's soulmate is said to appear at one's shoulder in the reflection of the mirror. -Another simple and common way of divining the identity of one's soulmate with an apple is to twist the stem of the apple. With each twist, go through a letter of the alphabet (i.e. the first twist is 'A', the second twist is 'B,' and so on). When the stem breaks from the apple, whatever letter you were on is said to be the first letter of your soulmate's first name.

Apple seeds and apple trees can also be used as charms to preserve, encourage, and protect love. -My grandmother learned from her grandfather that a newlywed couple should plant an apple tree together in the yard of their first marital home (and, preferably, at every home to follow). As the trees grow and thrive, so shall the love, and the roots of the trees are, he claimed, able to trap any negativity that could come for the couple and prevent it from reaching the home, snaring the trouble in their roots beforehand. -Apple seeds can be included in sachet spells for attracting or preserving love. -Apple seeds can also be used in spells and charms for bringing harmony in a relationship.

Money & Luck:

Apple seeds can be potent little features in money spells, such as money bowls and money jars.

A dried apple seed can be carried in one's wallet or purse as a charm to attract money or luck with money.

Those seeking good news about a money matter (such as about a pay raise, promotion, inheritance, or settlement) can use apple seeds both as charms to bring the money in and to divine if they'll be successful in the matters. -To bring the money in, apple seeds can be place in one's sock or shoe whilst they're putting in work in regards to the matter (such as whilst one is interviewing or applying for a promotion, whilst one is filing paperwork or replying to messages, phone calls, or emails pertaining to the matter, or whilst one is speaking to their lawyer or accountant). -To divine if you'll be successful in attaining the money (or to tell if the money will be a large or measly sum), cut an apple down the middle and inspect the seeds. If there are 5 or more seeds, this is seen as a good and positive omen, but if the seeds are small or look unhealthy (i.e. feature mold or are ill formed somehow), this is a bad sign and can mean that the money incoming will be delayed, will not ever reach you, or will be an insignificant amount. If there are a lot of seeds, this is seen as a very good sign that the money will come in and will serve you even more than you anticipated it would.

To foretell if one will have good luck in a new endeavor, cut an apple down the middle and count the seeds within. An even number is a good sign, while an odd number is a bad sign.

To have an apple tree growing on one's property is said to be a sign that the household will know wealth and abundance.

Protection:

Apple seeds can be used to protect from unwanted spirits or ghosts. Keep apple seeds in a jar or bowl in your home and, when an unwelcome spirit makes an appearance, grab a handful of seeds and throw them in the direction of the spirit. This is believed to quickly banish them.

Apple seeds can be included in sachets and bag spells used to ward off nightmares.

Similarly, apple seeds are often used in spells (especially in container spells or to form rings around candles in candle spells) for protection.

Cutting Ties:

Apples are used in this very simple spell for cutting ties between two people (from Apple Magic: Using Apples in Spells & Divination).

What you’ll need:

an apple

a knife

(optional) a marker

So, you want to cut ties with someone in your life? This spell will aid in severing the bonds between you and that person, as well as cast distance between you.

What to do:

-Take your apple and either carve your name into one side of the apple or, if you’d prefer, write your name on one side of the apple using a marker. Then turn the apple to the other side and carve or write the name of the person you wish to separate from.

-With your name on one side and theirs on the opposite side, take a knife and cut the apple down the middle. This symbolically severs the bonds between you.

-To cast further distance and create space between you, bury the apple halves on opposite sides of a street or body of water.

CARROT

Carrots have long been associated with fertility and virility, most likely due to their rather phallic appearance.

["Garden carrot" from the Juliana Anicia Codex (6th century AD).]

Fertility:

Carrots should be grown on one's property to increase one's sexual virility.

One can roast whole carrots and serve them to their bedmate to encourage a "rise in passions."

Carrot seeds can be included in sachet or bag spells to promote fertility.

Place carrot seeds in a small bag or fold them up in a piece of cloth and keep them beneath your pillow to boost one's fertility and chances of becoming pregnant.

FEVERFEW

Protection & Health:

Dried or fresh feverfew can be used in spells for protection, particularly protection from illnesses, injuries, and accidents. They can be included in protection pouches or sachets, or can be carried as a charm in one's purse, wallet, or pocket.

Feverfew flowers can be cut and kept at the bedside of someone who wishes to ward off illness if they feel at risk of coming down with something.

My grandfather tells me that putting feverfew flowers in one's shirt pocket works as a charm to repel illness, especially if that illness is magic-sent (such as via baneful working).

LEMON BALM

Love:

Lemon balm can be carried on one's person or pinned to one's clothes to attract love.

If there is someone in the home wishing to attract a partner or marriage, planting lemon balm on the property can aid in doing so.

If one has a particular person in mind for themselves, one should write the name of their love on a lemon balm leaf. That leaf can be used in love workings (sachets or bag spells, especially) to encourage that person to notice the worker. -Alternatively, the leaf can be placed beneath the pillow and slept on to bring about a dream in which the person whose name you've written will appear. Should they appear facing you, they have interests in you as well; but if they appear with their back to you, your feelings are unrequited.

[by Otto Wilhelm Thomé, in Flora von Deutschland Österreich und der Schweiz (1885).]

Healing:

Dried lemon balm or lemon balm incense can be burned to promote healing and cleansing or to guard against illness entering a space.

Burning dried lemon balm in either herbal bundles or loose is recommended after one has been ill in the home to cleanse the home of any lingering negativity brought about by the sickness.

Protection:

Feverfew is also carried as a charm of protection while traveling. This can be done by wearing feverfew flowers or leaves on one's person (preferably pinned to the inside of one's clothes or kept in one's pocket, sock, or shoe).

ONION

Onions offer a variety of uses in witchcraft, with many folk magical uses in particular.

Protection:

Growing onion on one's property is believed to ward away negativity or ill intentions sent one's way by someone.

Growing onion on one's property is also said to provide protection from evil forces.

Placing an onion on one's windowsill (some call for piercing the onion with pins, needles, or tacks beforehand) is believed to ward away evil; the onion, my grandmother says, acts as a magnet for the evil and malevolence, soaking it up into the onion instead of letting it impact the household.

For protection against illness or evil eye you suspect may have been sent to your home, my grandmother's grandfather recommends cutting an onion into quarters and placing one quarter in each corner of the home. This is believed to draw the evil or illness into the onions, forming a protective barrier to the household. *CAUTION: Do not leave onions down where animals may ingest them.

My grandmother also recommends to protect from depression or to stop a depressive spell from worsening, to cut an onion in half and place the halves across the room from one another, facing each other, in whatever room the person suffering with depression is in. She says the onion draws out the worst of the negativity. The onion should then be discarded, as it has soaked the depressive energy into itself.

Onions, like garlic, can be strung at windows, doorframes, on doors, or on porches to serve as a protective charm, warding away evil, baneful workings, harmful spirits, and even disease and illness.

Onions can be used to cast out evil entities from an area. This can be done by either cutting an onion in quarters and, as in the above scenario, placing those quarters in the four corners of the area, or by hanging onions up either in a bag, from a string, or by their own stalks at the four corners of the area or at the main entrances to the area.

Onions still attached to their stalks can be used to cast out evil spirits or entities as well. This is done by walking, starting from a door or corner, the perimeter of the area, swinging the onion in front of your body in 'X' motions. My grandmother says some swing the onion by the stalk, while some swing the stalk through the air by the onion. Once you've made a complete circuit around the perimeter of the area (this can be done while chanting or reciting incantations or prayers of protection), the onion should be posted by its stalk from the doorframe or corner at which you started walking.

One can braid onion stalks together and keep the braid on their bedpost or under their bed to protect from evil and illness whilst they sleep.

[Woodcut print of a onion, from Hortus Sanitatis (1547).]

Money & Fortune:

My grandfather assures me that finding a sprouting onion in your stash is a favorable omen, a sign that money or a turn of good fortune is soon to find its way to you.

Dreams:

Onions are said to be able to bring about prophetic dreams. -One method calls for eating an onion-heavy meal before bed. -Another method calls for biting directly into a raw onion and eating that bite before bed. -And still another method recommends sleeping with an onion beneath one's pillow or bed.

Please see the soon upcoming Autumn Allies, Part 2 for more!

FURTHER READING:

Culpeper's Complete Herbal: Consisting of a Comprehensive Description of Nearly All Herbs (1880) - Culpeper, Nicholas

Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs (2008) - Cunningham, Scott

Doctoring the Devil: Notebooks of an Appalachian Conjure Man (2021) - Richards, Jake

The Fortune Telling Book: Reading Crystal Balls, Tea Leaves, and Everyday Omens of Love and Luck (2000) - Kemp, Gillian

The Good Spell Book: Love Charms, Magical Cures, and Other Practical Sorcery (1997-1999) - Kemp, Gillian

[cpahlow]

[space-queen]

days of the week [quick reference]

updated 11.9.25

[correspondences for the outer planets by yours truly]

sunday

sun ☉

colors - gold, white, yellow, ruby red

crystals/minerals - amber, ametrine, calcite, carnelian, chrysoprase, citrine, diamond, goldstone, heliotrope, peridot [chrysolite], ruby, sunstone, tangerine aura, tiger's eye, topaz, yellow (lemon) aura

metal - gold

plants - acacia, angelica, ash, balsam, bergamot, birch, buttercup, calamus, calendula, cedar, celandine, centaury, chamomile, cinnamon, citronella, eyebright, frankincense, galangal, gentian, ginger, heliotrope, hibiscus, hops, hyacinth, juniper, laurel, lovage, mandarin, marigold, mistletoe, oak, orange, orris root, palm, peony, pine, poinciana, poppy, rosemary, rue, saffron, st. john’s wort, sunflower, walnut

attributes - self-confidence, self-awareness, success, leadership, health, employment, pride, self-centeredness, ambition, money, optimism, potency, courage, generosity, nobility, expansion, creation 

monday 

moon ☽

colors - silver, white, blue 

crystals/minerals -  amethyst, angelite, aquamarine, celestite, clear quartz, labradorite, milky quartz, moonstone, pearl, morganite, opal, selenite

metal - silver

plants - acanthus, adder’s tongue, agave, alder, almond, aloe, banana, blue hibiscus, broccoli, cabbage, camphor, clary sage, coconut, cucumber, datura, evening primrose, grape, hazel, honeydew melon, honeysuckle, hydrangea, iris, jasmine, jojoba, juniper, kale, lavender, lemon, lotus, mangrove, mallow, moonwort, morning glory, mugwort, mushroom, myrtle, orris root, papaya, peace lily, peach, pear, potato, pumpkin, sandalwood, strawberry, sweet pea, thyme, tomato, turmeric, violet, water lily, watercress, watermelon, white rose, wild lettuce, wild pear, willow, witch hazel, ylang ylang

attributes - peace, dreams, emotions, illusions, glamours, psychic abilities, insight, wisdom, manifestation

tuesday 

mars ♂

colors - red, orange, rust

crystals/minerals - bloodstone, diamond, garnet, lavastone, lodestone, moldavite, red jasper, red agate, rhodochrosite, rubellite, ruby, sardonyx

metals - iron, steel

plants - acacia, allspice, basil, bay leaf, black pepper, calamus, cardamom, carrot, cassava, cayenne, chili pepper, chives, cinnamon, coriander, cranberry, cumin, dragonfruit, dragon’s blood, garlic, ginger, hawthorne, hellebore, hickory, horseradish, hyacinth, leek, laurel, mango, mustard, nettle, onion, patchouli, pennyroyal, pepper, radish, red pepper, rue, thistle, tobacco, tomatillo, turmeric, wolfsbane

attributes - power, lust, force, passion, will, courage, physical strength, war, energy, action, independence, practicality, protection

pluto ♇

colors - black, burgundy, magenta

crystals/minerals - garnet, hematite, herkimer diamond, kunzite, obsidian, onyx, schorl (black tourmaline), smoky quartz, snowflake obsidian, spinel

metals - plutonium, chromium, carbon steel

plants - acacia, anise, asparagus, barley, basil, belladonna, black walnut, blueberry, buckwheat, chives, chrysanthemum, columbine, corn, cypress, damiana, dogwood, dragon’s blood, eucalyptus, fern, fig, fly agaric, foxglove, galangal root, garlic, guarana, hops, kava kava, larkspur, leek, mandrake, mullein, mushroom, nettle, oats, onion, pansy, parsley, passion flower, patchouli, periwinkle, pomegranate, potato, psilocybin, redwood, rye, saw palmetto, silverweed, skullcap, spinach, strawberry, turnip, valerian, vinca, wheat, wormwood, yohimbe, yucca

attributes - power, destruction, death, the underworld, astral travel, realms, transformation, metamorphosis, regeneration, unveiling, mystery, change, crisis, manipulation, beginnings and endings, sexual energy, the occult

wednesday 

mercury ☿

colors - blue, yellow, purple, orange, grey, green

crystals/minerals - alexandrite, amazonite, aventurine, blue lace agate, citrine, emerald, fire agate, fluorite, malachite, mottled jasper, opal, porphyrite, topaz

metals - quicksilver, zinc, tin

plants - almond, beet, bladderwrack, blueberry, caraway, carrot, cassia, celery, cinquefoil, clover, dill, endive, eucalyptus, fennel, fenugreek, feverfew, fumitory, gotu kola, hazel, heather, jasmine, juniper berry, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, licorice, lily, lime, mace, mandrake, marjoram, mastic, narcissus, parsley, peppermint, pomegranate, rosemary, sandalwood, spearmint, sweet pea, valerian, wintergreen, wolfberry (goji berry), wormwood

attributes - communication, learning, memory, comprehension, intellect, agility, good fortune, gratitude, gain, exchanges, trade, reason, duality, education, travel 

uranus ♅

colors - blue, grey, green

crystals/minerals - amazonite, aquamarine, aventurine, blue topaz, diamond, labradorite, opalite, quartz, tanzanite

metals - radium, uranium

plants - banana, beet, blueberry, bryony, calamus, carrot, cedar, chamomile, cinnamon, clove, coffee, eucalyptus, fennel, ginger, gingko, guarana, hemp, kava kava, lavender, lime, mango, nutmeg, orange blossom, pansy, parsley, parsnip, pokeweed, sage, skullcap, solomon’s seal, spinach, true unicorn root, valerian, violet, wintergreen

attributes - changes, progression, revolution, independence, freedom, rebellion, radicalism, disruption, metaphysics, higher consciousness, technology, astrophysics, electricity

thursday 

jupiter ♃

colors - blue, purple, yellow, gold, dark green

crystals/minerals - amethyst, aventurine, azurite, beryl, canary diamond, green jasper, kyanite, lapis lazuli, lepidolite, yellow apatite, yellow jasper, yellow sapphire

metals - tin

plants - agrimony, alfalfa, alkanet, anise, asparagus, balsam, basil, bayberry, bell pepper, betony, bergamot, blessed thistle, borage, carnation, catnip, cedar, chamomile, cinquefoil, clove, clover, copal, corn, crampbark, endive, eyebright, fig, fir, fumitory, garlic, grapefruit, henbane, honeysuckle, hops, hyssop, lavender, lemon verbena, lily, jove's beard, juniper berry, mace, maple, mastic, mint, nutmeg, oak, poplar, raspberry, rhubarb, saffron, sage, sandalwood, shamrock, spikenard, st. john’s wort, stevia, tomato, tulip, turnip, violet

attributes - abundance, expansion, gain, riches, prosperity, wealth, success, luck, self-confidence, investment, gatherings, favors, ambition, mercy, humanity, publicity, legal matters

friday 

venus ♀

colors - pink, green, aqua, peach, gold

crystals/minerals - angelite, beryl, celestite, coral, emerald, jade, malachite, peridot [chrysolite], rhodonite, rose quartz, sodalite, turquoise

metal - copper, brass

plants - adam and eve root, amber, apple, apricot, avocado, banana, beans, bergamot, cashew, cherry, clover, coriander, corn, daffodil, daisy, damiana, elderberry, fig, geranium, goldenrod, hibiscus, lady’s mantle, larkspur, lavender, lemon verbena, lilac, musk, myrtle, passion flower, passionfruit, peach, pear, pennyroyal, peppermint, plantain, plum, pomegranate, primrose, raspberry, rose, sandalwood, spearmint, strawberry, sycamore, tansy, thyme, vanilla, venus fly trap, violet, yarrow, ylang ylang

attributes - cooperation, unity, agreements, originality, creativity, beauty, love, companionship, fertility, joy, romance, peace, sexuality

neptune ♆

colors - blue, grey, aqua, lavender

crystals/minerals - amethyst, angelite, aquamarine, blue topaz, calcite, celestite, coral, fluorite, green jasper, jade, labradorite, lapis lazuli, larimar, opal, sapphire, turquoise

metals - neptunium, platinum, silver

plants - ash, asparagus, cantaloupe, celery, cucumber, datura, endive, fern, hemp, honeydew melon, honeysuckle, jasmine, lemon balm, lavender, lettuce, lilac, lobelia, lotus, melon, morning glory, moss, mugwort, myrrh, nutmeg, orange blossom, passionflower, peach, pear, pine, poppy, psilocybin, rhubarb, seaweed, skullcap, strawberry, valerian, water lily, watercress, watermelon, wild lettuce, willow, wisteria, zucchini

attributes - mysticism, psychic abilities, imagination, illusion, distortion, chaos, divination, inner vision, perception, sacrifice, inspiration, emotions, dreams, transcendence, deception, confusion

saturday 

saturn ♄

colors - black, grey, dark blue, dark purple

crystals/minerals - black diamond, chalcedony, garnet, halite, hematite, lodestone, jet, onyx, obsidian, sapphire, schorl (black tourmaline)

metal - lead, pewter

plants - amaranth, apple, arnica, asafoetida, ash, asparagus, beet, black bean, black cherry, black poppy seed, blackgum, bluebell, comfrey, cypress, daffodil, datura, dogwood, elm, foxglove, garlic, grape, grapefruit, hellebore, hemlock, hemp, henbane, holly, horsetail, lettuce, mandrake, mullein, mushroom, myrrh, night-blooming jasmine, nightshade, oak, pansy, parsley, patchouli, petunia, poppy, pumpkin, rosemary, rue, skullcap, snowdrop, spinach, spruce, thyme, tobacco, tomato, valerian, vetiver, willow, winter rose, wintergreen, witch hazel, wolfsbane (aconite, monkshood), yew

attributes - safety, protection, intellect, life lessons, loss, past lives, law, justice, sincerity, restraint, discipline, responsibility, caution, time, order/chaos, manifestation

© 2025 space-queen

[unhelpfultarot]

Ace of Swords and Four of Swords

Every time you wake up, there are more swords. Someone must be bringing them while you're asleep.

[anxious-alto]

With the lack of SNAP benefits in the US hitting in a few days, welcome to No Snitch November. If you see somebody taking food? No you didn't. Taking formula? No you didn't. Taking diapers? No you didn't. When the government turns their back on our neighbors, it's our job to protect them.

[a-silly-poll-side-blog-yay]

You can only keep the last thing you ordered online if you can explain it to a medieval peasant. Keeping it?

yes

no

they call me a witch

results

Voting ended onNov 5, 2025

[pineplapple]

I remember october like it was yesterday

[demento-mori]

eating would be fine if it was only a recreational activity. instead, its a horrible sisiphean nightmare and you need to do it every day without fail on threat of pain and death

[hamletthedane]

I was meeting a client at a famous museum’s lounge for lunch (fancy, I know) and had an hour to kill afterwards so I joined the first random docent tour I could find. The woman who took us around was a great-grandmother from the Bronx “back when that was nothing to brag about” and she was doing a talk on alternative mediums within art.

What I thought that meant: telling us about unique sculpture materials and paint mixtures.

What that actually meant: an 84yo woman gingerly holding a beautifully beaded and embroidered dress (apparently from Ukraine and at least 200 years old) and, with tears in her eyes, showing how each individual thread was spun by hand and weaved into place on a cottage floor loom, with bright blue silk embroidery thread and hand-blown beads intricately piercing the work of other labor for days upon days, as the labor of a dozen talented people came together to make something so beautiful for a village girl’s wedding day.

What it also meant: in 1948, a young girl lived in a cramped tenement-like third floor apartment in Manhattan, with a father who had just joined them after not having been allowed to escape through Poland with his pregnant wife nine years earlier. She sits in her father’s lap and watches with wide, quiet eyes as her mother’s deft hands fly across fabric with bright blue silk thread (echoing hands from over a century years earlier). Thread that her mother had salvaged from white embroidery scraps at the tailor’s shop where she worked and spent the last few days carefully dying in the kitchen sink and drying on the roof.

The dress is in the traditional Hungarian fashion and is folded across her mother’s lap: her mother doesn’t had a pattern, but she doesn’t need one to make her daughter’s dress for the fifth grade dance. The dress would end up differing significantly from the pure white, petticoated first communion dresses worn by her daughter’s majority-Catholic classmates, but the young girl would love it all the more for its uniqueness and bright blue thread.

And now, that same young girl (and maybe also the villager from 19th century Ukraine) stands in front of us, trying not to clutch the old fabric too hard as her voice shakes with the emotion of all the love and humanity that is poured into the labor of art. The village girl and the girl in the Bronx were very different people: different centuries, different religions, different ages, and different continents. But the love in the stitches and beads on their dresses was the same. And she tells us that when we look at the labor of art, we don’t just see the work to create that piece - we see the labor of our own creations and the creations of others for us, and the value in something so seemingly frivolous.

But, maybe more importantly, she says that we only admire this piece in a museum because it happened to survive the love of the wearer and those who owned it afterwards, but there have been quite literally billions of small, quiet works of art in billions of small, quiet homes all over the world, for millennia. That your grandmother’s quilt is used as a picnic blanket just as Van Gogh’s works hung in his poor friends’ hallways. That your father’s hand-painted model plane sets are displayed in your parents’ livingroom as Grecian vases are displayed in museums. That your older sister’s engineering drawings in a steady, fine-lined hand are akin to Da Vinci’s scribbles of flying machines.

I don’t think there’s any dramatic conclusions to be drawn from these thoughts - they’ve been echoed by thousands of other people across the centuries. However, if you ever feel bad for spending all of your time sewing, knitting, drawing, building lego sets, or whatever else - especially if you feel like you have to somehow monetize or show off your work online to justify your labor - please know that there’s an 84yo museum docent in the Bronx who would cry simply at the thought of you spending so much effort to quietly create something that’s beautiful to you.

[stormwaterwitch]

Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits

Reblog this on the first of the month for good luck all month long!

[dumbbbunnnyy-deactivated2021021]