Liminal Spaces

A side blog dedicated to witchcraft.

[morellish]

mourning dove perching on the remains of last years sunflower

[spiderziege]

no art atm because half my day is spend on uni work and the other half on my new obsession that is mosaic crochet

[spiderziege]

in one million years ill be done

[spiderziege]

she's taking shape

[skaldish]

There's no concept of sin in Heathenry. It's not a situation where "Oh, it's just called by a different name / has different properties," it simply doesn't exist.

[snigepippi]

Indeed

Also there are no special virtues

[skaldish]

You're right, there aren't. The Nine Noble Virtues were actually created by fascists.

[enormous-moose]

I HAVE A MIGHTY NEED FOR THIS TO BE EXPANDED ON FURTHER PLEASE!!!!!!

Isn't there a concept of right and wrong? Wouldn't that be considered technically sin?

Seriously need more info here.

[skaldish]

Sin actually isn't the same as right and wrong. I didn't grow up in the religion myself, but I was told sin is "any action which brings you further from God." The nature of those actions are outlined in Christian doctrine and scripture, and further expanded upon by authorities within Christianity.

But Heathenry is animistic; our actions can't actually separate us from divinity since it's a property of all things, which makes sinning impossible. Heathenry also lacks doctrines and scripture, so we have no divine guidebook telling us right from wrong (though plenty of ex-Christian heathens mistakenly think the Eddas ought to serve this purpose).

So what guides our sense of "right" or "wrong"? Our sensibilities as people. Human beings are social creatures, and we naturally strive for cooperation because that's how we satisfy one of our most basic needs—belonging.

The Norse gods themselves all have different values, and they need to delegate with each other to reach an agreement about something. It makes sense that humans would need to do the same.

[odinsblog]

Finally, some good news.

👉🏿 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/16/health/abortion-pills-fda.html

[teacupsandtimelords]

This is so great because if anyone is caught impeding or messing with these deliveries, it’s MAIL, that makes it a FEDERAL crime, whoever fucks with these packages gets charged FEDERALLY, they face up to five years in prison.

[weirdlylyricalnotes]

[ID: A tweet by @ nytimes that reads, "Breaking News: Women can get abortion pills by mail for pregnancies up to 10 weeks without seeing a doctor in person, the FDA ruled. The decision comes as the Supreme Court considers whether to roll back abortion rights or even overturn Roe v. Wade." Attached is a link to the article and a screenshot of the title and subtitle of the article. The article was published Dec 16, 2021. The title reads, "F.D.A. Will Permanently Allow Abortion Pills by Mail" and the subtitle reads, "The decision will broaden access to medication abortion, an increasingly common method, but many conservative states are already mobilizing against it." /end ID]

[to-worlds-more-beautiful]

https://www.npr.org/2021/12/15/1064598531/the-fda-could-permanently-lift-some-restrictions-on-abortion-pills

Adding a link that isn’t blocked by a paywall

FDA relaxes controversial restrictions on access to abortion pill by mail

The agency's decision to ease access to the drug mifepristone comes at a time when abortion rights are being increasingly restricted nationw

[littlecaffeinatedowl]

Resources for anyone that ends up in a restricted state:

Aid Access - they can send you the abortion pill even if you live in a restricted state.

PLUS, you do not have to be pregnant to order them. You can order to have on hand, in case of an emergency.

Aid Access supports women who cannot otherwise access an abortion or miscarriage treatment and protects their human rights.

Repro Legal Helpline (reprolegalhelpline.org) -

Some of the things they can help with above.

Miscarriage + Abortion Hotline (mahotline.org) -

They have a ton of information, and resources in one place.

Also, if you find yourself in a restricted state, you need to be careful of how and with whom you are talking about it. You need to use safe, encrypted messaging and calling.

I also recommend removing any biometric information for unlocking your phone. Use a PIN or password instead of a fingerprint or facial recognition.

[normal-horoscopes]

Efficacy of going to an herbalist witch for an abortion, in your opinion

Do not do that.

[llbwwb]

Polar Bear Cubs, photo by Howard Ruby. Todays Cuteness:)

[bearotonin-international]

[guerrillatech]

[penningtentiary]

So idk if this is like a common thing or not but ever since I was little theres been these shadow children that tend to come out at night in my house. If it's dark enpugh they will follow me around, hiding at the edges of doorways and walls, get as close as the possibly can, pawing at the doorway and just barely umable to reach me.

I saw them again tonight but in larger numbers than I've noticed in many years. I tried using some basic magic on them to get them to back off, but it didn't work. However the didn't dare step in my room where my main wards are set up! In my youth they'd claw at the edge of the bed.

Any ideas as to what this is/could be??

[earlgraytay]

Shadow people are a common form of hallucination. Common enough they've got their own wikipedia page. Bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, methamphetamine usage, CO2 leaks, and sleep paralysis can all make you see shadow people, and I'm sure there are other mundane things that can do that too.

Before you assume something is a supernatural phenomenon, you've gotta rule out any mundane causes. In the case of creepy shadow children, that means checking your CO2 detector and making sure nothing physical is messing with your head. If you're taking psych meds and you've changed them recently, maybe go back to the old dosage/med. Stuff like that.

Like, I am not an expert on the occult- this could be something supernatural, idk- but I know enough about psychology to say "this might be the sign of a bigger problem, talk to your doctor".

[thebibliosphere]

Black mold in the walls can also cause hallucinations similar to this and would also account for long-term exposure that fluctuates depending on season.

But yeah, never assume magic first. Assume the mundane and act accordingly. Signed, - the witch with over 20 years of experience who always brings CO alarms to supposed hauntings.

[subliminalwitchery]

In addition to the great advice above, I’d do a cleansing on your space. Clean your house/apartment/room, like actually deep clean it. Open the windows and air out the space. Once that’s done I’d do a smoke cleansing with some incense that I like (while sage is popular, it is endangered and smudging is a closed practice), going to each corner of the area. Also a good way time to reset up your wards too. Thinking/speaking the following may help too “I cleanse this space so that none may enter unless I will it. All others are to leave, I cleanse this space” or any other cleansing spell you want

The actual cleaning part is important, as it will make the space nicer, and I’ve always found that my spiritual cleansing s are way more effective when combined with good old fashioned cleaning. Not too mention, keeping the windows open could help alleviate any issue with CO, and tackling moldy areas with bleach could help with mold.

Though if you do have a black mold problem, you’re gonna want a pro as that shit is a bitch to get out—and you can’t always remove it completely.

[chickensnack]

TUESDAY AGAIN NO PROBLEM

[world-heritage-posts]

world heritage post

[systlin]

I’ve got…like…four or five people in my inbox going “I want to curse someone but don’t know how”

Ok children, Auntie Witch is in, pull up a chair and get out a pen. This is how Auntie Systlin curses a bitch who needs cursing. 

TOOLS NEEDED; A stick, some red makeup, a knife

(For the red paint, I use red ochre and my own spit, but anything will work. Red invokes the color of blood.)

STEP 1

Protect yourself. I paint the rune Algiz on myself; on my forehead and on the back of each hand, and invoke its aspects of protection, to protect me from any kickback. 

(that’s this rune right here. Algiz, the elk, the rune of protection and defense)

STEP 2; cast a circle or prepare a ritual space however you prefer. 

STEP 3; Carve the curse on the stick, while invoking the name of the person you wish to curse, the runes you are carving and what you wish to invoke from them, and the effect you wish to have. Hold your target’s face in your mind as you do this, and pour all your intent and will into it. 

RUNES I USE;

Isa, the rune of ice, to freeze whatever fuckshit actions are warranting the curse in place, and to cause the target nothing but delay and frustration. 

Thurisaz, the rune of Thor’s Hammer, reversed. To bring down destruction and ruin on your target, and to harness the sheer (and serious) elemental power this rune can bring to the party. 

Haigall, the rune of hail, to bring chaos, radical change, and catastrophe to your target. 

And finally Nied, the need-fire, to teach them a bitter and painful lesson drawn from their own deepest folly. 

Carve these, speak their names, invoke the aspects you want. Speak the name of your target, speak why you cast this curse and what you wish the curse to do. MEAN IT, EVERY WORD, and drive all of your emotion and intent into those runes. 

You can carve them separately or make them a bindrune. Caster’s choice. 

Ask for the aid of any gods you wish to involve (optional)

Step 4; Say, “By my will, so let it be” and break the stave to send the power. 

[vinceaddams]

The Welsh Viking is pretty cool! 

[vinceaddams]

He’s going to run 5 kilometres in his viking armour on May 9th to raise money for Stonewall!

[vinceaddams]

Oh my goodness this is getting a lot of notes! Since I see posts on tumblr about how a lot of people seem to think all historians and archaeologists are crusty old bigots I’d just like to add that this guy is an archaeologist. A very vocally anti-racist archaeologist who goes out of his way to be as inclusive as possible to queer people.

[teratomarty]

Reblogging to watch later!

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Always get your historical facts from anti-racist archeologists.

[educatedsavage]

Wait, how’d the run go!?

[vinceaddams]

Oh gosh I forgot to update on that! It went well, he was sore and tired but no injuries, and he raised over 1700 pounds! 

[vinceaddams]

[will-o-the-witch]

The shifting thing really worries me, ngl. These kinds of communities can be legitimately dangerous for individuals with psychosis or any other personality disorder or mental illness that leaves someone with a somewhat shaky grasp of reality at times (speaking as someone who has one of said disorders). Hallucinations and/or delusions can feel so, so convincing, so it can already be very difficult to tell if what you're thinking/experiencing is actually real or just your brain acting up- and it's very detrimental to someone who's already in that situation to be surrounded by a community that feeds into it and encourages them to believe the hallucinations/delusions are what's real, and the concerned people in their lives (such as family, friends, or medical professionals like therapists) are the ones who are wrong. It genuinely concerns me :c I do believe in alternate realities, however I find myself pretty bloody sceptical that any of them are scene-for-scene identical to a fictional plot you can find in a book in this reality, or that there even IS such a thing as a "perfect" version of yourself.

Well said, it's really just a dangerous community and I'm happy to hear more people speaking up about it, not just making memes about it.

Shifters like to cite quantum physics when justifying their stuff because there is some real research to suggest there may be parallel universes, but we're still talking about subatomic particles, not an entire world where everything is the same except The Last Airbender was good and your parents never got divorced. These other universes would also still have to obey the laws of physics, which wouldn't accomodate Hogwarts being real. (Side note, for all the recent total rejection of Rowling on the left, Hogwarts still seems to be a really popular destination for shifters. Strikes me as odd.)

[will-o-the-witch]

I was wondering why its a bad thing / so frowned upon to be Wicca or read Scott Cunningham? A lot of blogs I read, especially big names, seem to hate Scott Cunningham and Wicca, but its what i've always been drawn to. I'm trying to branch out and re-commit (since I'm an adult now, and not forced to abide by my parents' rules) but everywhere I turn it seems to be a negative?

So: there’s nothing inherently “bad” about being Wiccan, but certain elements of Wiccan culture/groups of Wiccans leave a bad taste in other people’s mouths. I know plenty of Wiccans who are wonderful people and don’t resemble what I’m about to describe, so this is NOT a case of all Wiccans. Just enough Wiccans that we have to talk about it.

I’m also not trying to attack anybody specific or shame people for being Wiccan, just highlighting concerns that non-Wiccans have so that people can understand it and be more aware of their own actions.

1. A lot of Wiccan belief is based in gender essentialism and hard, stereotyped binaries. There’s a lot of emphasis on the strong, agential Father and the nurturing, abundant Mother as well as their union. Especially with the Goddess, there’s a lot of emphasis on her role defined as “maiden, mother, crone,” which a lot of people feel defines women only as fertility vessels or their relationship to men. (There's also the idea of benevolent sexism at play, which romanticizes traditional subjugating roles for women in order to make them more complacent/rebel less.) This makes it very difficult for many women, LGBT people, and especially nonbinary people to practice or even feel welcome within the context of Wicca. Dianic Wicca is notoriously transphobic, and Gardner was a pretty avid homophobe as well.

2. Wiccans tend to dominate pagan and witch circles, and that doesn’t leave room for much else. It is HARD HARD HARD to find books on modern witchcraft that aren’t actually just books on Wicca in disguise, and Wiccan beliefs such as the threefold law are often raised against practitioners even if they aren’t Wiccan. Also, people tend to conflate Wiccan ideologies with all of Paganism and witchcraft so non-Wiccans have to constantly correct people. 

3. Eclectic Wicca (which I would argue most modern solitary practitioners tend to be in some capacity) has a big problem with respecting other groups. A lot of polytheists don’t love the way Wicca takes their gods, lays them out like a salad bar, and invites practitioners to take them out of their cultural context and treat them like tools. More concerning is when this same “everything is part of the same All, therefore I can touch it” attitude reaches into closed living cultures such as Native American religions, which gets very racist very quick. Gardnerian Wicca isn't stain-free either; Gardner took a lot from existing traditions and Golden Dawn, a parent of Wicca, heavily appropriates Kabbalah.

4. Wiccans are probably the biggest perpetrators of gatekeeping who "can" be a witch, particularly targeting cis men, masculine-aligned folks and trans women. They also tend to bash non-pagan religions and say they can't be witches and/or their magic is fake and doesn't work.

5. General spread of misinformation about Wicca being “an ancient religion,” “the burning times,” and other things to make Wicca seem like it’s been around for longer than it has, or that straight wealthy white practitioners are more oppressed than they are. Considering these actual executions were largely directed at Jews and people of color, it's insidious to capitalize on that and turn it back onto privileged modern white women.

Are these problems exclusive to only Wiccans? Of course not. Is this all Wiccans doing it? No. But it's enough that other Pagans tend to feel a bit drained and tread carefully around Wiccans they meet until we figure out if they’re that kind or not. 

As for Scott Cunningham, shrug. I’ve seen some critique that his stuff is a little dated and that he “Disneyfied” Wicca by making it seem all good all the time, but I’m not Wiccan so I can’t answer in detail. 

[whispering-mulga]

What I've hears is that Scott Cunningham has apparently had considerable issues with appropriation, gender essentialism, poor research/misinformation, and some more unpleasant, questionable stuff in his ideas of practice.

I haven't personally got ahold of his work yet, but would like to see if those claims are true.

[will-o-the-witch]

No you're right lol, there definitely some things that make you go HMMM in his works. I'm just not sure it's necessarily more than any other Wiccan works especially at the time? Like I've definitely seen him noted as outdated but I've never seen him put in the same league as say, Silver Ravenwolf

[gefdreamsofthesea]

Cunningham tends to be the first author a lot of seekers encounter first so part of the reason that you'll see so much criticism focused on his work is because he's popular.

It's important to note that he died in 1999 and so hasn't had the opportunity to update his writings.

I've read his encyclopedia of herbs and his Wicca in the kitchen book. I'm not an expert on herbs but my impression is that the herb book has some outdated info but I think my biggest issue with his books are his lack of citations. His books have bibliographies but I have no idea where he's getting all the folklore from. I did also find him to be a bit dogmatic in places "remember to visualize or your magic won't work!" He says "remember to visualize" so often it should be a meme tbh.

[underworld-vibes]

Those Joy of Satan assholes are creeping back into Tumblr again.

Joy of Satan is a Nazi organization which spreads antisemitism under the guise of occultism.

@staff

@valkyriesquad

[valkyriesquad]

Ah... Evidently not being notified when tagged. Again. So I just went to the blog of 887266161 and... uh... While there's nothing overt, this person seems to be trolling the heathen posts in particular, reblogging them, and adding those three websites. It's not a good look. --mod gwwh

[lokis-bookish-boy-deactivated20]

@valkyriesquad

Me and at least two other Heathen blogs had asks probably from this person, asking about our opinion of Joy Of Satan. They even decided ask me why the Satanists couldn't be Nazis since Abrahamic religions are pure evil😤

[valkyriesquad]

There are a few blogs trying to push forward this white supremacist crap again. There has been a rash recenty.

[terezis]

tik tok is having a bone stealing witch scandal. i repeat. tik tok is having a bone stealing witch scandal. but this time a man is collecting human spines

[terezis]

the nature of humanity is that every so often someone tries to brag about “””acquiring””” human remains on the internet again

[kyidyl]

Ok so that kid isn’t a witch. He’s a guy who owns a company that SELLS human remains. I hate him and I hope his business goes under because he’s always all “my remains are ethically sourced”. No they aren’t, dipshit. There is no way to ethically source human remains unless it’s through direct donation. Even the Smithsonian has a whole bunch of unethically sourced remains, and they’re very aware of it. One of the first goddamned things I had to learn while getting a bioarchaeology masters - which this kid does NOT have - was how bone collections are built and the ethics of having them even for education. Its a huge part of working with human remains. You, random dude on the internet, have not found some magical ethical bone source that allows you to sell them large scale. Also tagging @kaijutegu bc she knows way more than I do.

Oh, and don’t @ me about medical bone collections making it ethical. Bone collections older than, like…50 years if I’m being generous and 30 if I’m not…were unethically acquired almost all of the time. Something he’d know if he wasn’t, yknow, an art student and completely uneducated beyond “wow bones are cool”.

[systlin]

I went to his website because I like being mad apparently, saw that he’s selling ribs from real human people to any shmuck with $18 so they can throw it in a drawer and pull it out to impress their shitty friends or whatever, and got so mad that I had to go take a walk around the parking lot.

He claims all his bones are from old medical skeletons that families who inherited from old time doctors or whatever sell him, but guess what.

Most if not all of those skeletons came from India, where people got them by stealing corpses from poor people’s graves.

Excepting of course his remains from other indigenous groups like the Sami, who had their remains stolen to try and prove that they were inferior to other ethnic groups! Because he totally had those for sale too, until he got called out and that listing mysteriously vanished from his shop.

Anyway I hope this guy gets hit by a bus.

[horizonproblems]

Here’s an excellent video from an actual British/Indian doctor talking about the history and the legality of human skeleton trade

[gefdreamsofthesea]

"At first I did not question anything Gerald [Gardner] told me about what he claimed to be the traditional teachings of the Old Religion. Eventually however, I did begin to question, and began to ask how much was traditional and how much was simply Gerald's prejudices. For instance, he was very much against people of the same sex working together, especially if they were gay. In fact he went so far as to describe gay people as being "cursed by the Goddess." Well I see no good reason to believe this. In every period of history, in every country in the world there have been gay people, both men and women. So why shouldn't Mother Nature have known what she was doing when she made people this way? I don't agree with this prejudice against gay people, either inside the craft of the wise or outside it....

Another teaching of Gerald's which I have come to question is the belief known popularly as 'the Law of Three'. This tells us that whatever you send out in Witchcraft you get back threefold, for good or ill. Well, I don't believe it! Why should we believe that there is a special Law of Karma that applies only to witches? For Goddess' sake do we really kid ourselves that we are that important?

Yet I am told many people, especially in the USA, take this as an article of faith. I have never seen it in any of the old books of magic, and I think Gerald invented it."

-Doreen Valiente, in her last address to the National Conference of the Pagan Federation, 1997, quoted in Missing Witches: Recovering True Histories of Feminist Magic by Risa Dickens and Amy Torok (p.24-5)

I respect one (1) Wiccan.

[funnytwittertweets]

[spectrestephrogers]

Here is my opinion as a recruiter (of course recruiting is highly subjective and everyone has their own biases in hiring)

1. If its your first job after a gap, don't say its a health reason. They will probably not ask more but they'll probably mentally downgrade you because 'Are they really okay to come back to work?' If it's further back, it'll be less of an issue. This goes triple for any job that is physical.

2. Depending on hiring person, I find 'I was caring for a family member full time' to be a good reason for a gap that I won't question.

3. If you have the opportunity while in a gap, get a certification or degree. Then you can use that as a reason for your gap and it could potentially turn the view of that gap from negative to positive.

4. If you have a "good" reason, most people understand. I speak to people daily who were a Covid layoff and we don't count this gap against them. I also sometimes talk to people who have to explain gaps around 2008 with "Well that was during the financial crisis" and I go say no more I understand.

4. If you don't have a "good" reason, pretend you do. Don't lie but make it sound like the gap was a thing you chose. "I had the opportunity after leaving my last job to take a few months before looking for work again." "I was able to work on building my home business (Ebay, etsy, etc), but now I'm looking for something more stable."

[toebeens]

These are all really great and very helpful, thanks for sharing!!!