Monterey Bay Aquarium
Keni

if i look back, i am lost

JVL
hello vonnie
Peter Solarz
🩵 avery cochrane 🩵

Andulka
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ
NASA

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KIROKAZE
DEAR READER
untitled

blake kathryn
art blog(derogatory)
sheepfilms

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Stranger Things
Cosmic Funnies
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@sweet-selenite
Hekate's Deipnon is coming up (for me at least) so here are some ways to celebrate:
1) Cleansing
This doesn't just have to be spiritual. It's a great time to clean your alter and home. Save the sweepings and make a point of throwing them out to symbolise getting rid of the old month in transition to the new.
2) Offerings
Traditional Offerings include raw eggs (+shell), leeks, onions, garlic, bread, and cakes as well as libations and honey. You can leave these offerings on your personal alter or at a 3 way crossroads for Hekate and the restless dead (make sure these offerings are animal safe if you leave them outside as garlic and onions can be poisonous to some animals). When you leave the offerings, say nothing, turn, and don't look back as you return home. The dead don't like to be seen.
3) Charity
Often left our offerings would be eaten by the poor/ less fortunate so now is a good time to give back. Donate to charity, or a food bank. Sponsor a person in need or make a 1 time donation. It's a time for humility and giving.
4) Reflection and shadow work
The dark moon is the space between the old and new month so a perfect time to reflect on past actions, thoughts, and patterns that don't serve you anymore. Meditate, journal, write a letter to your past self, ect. Now is the time of out with the old to make way for the new.
the trees you grew up with have not forgotten you. their branches still whisper your name in the breeze and their roots remember the paths your feet once traced through their shade.
Scrying is moving through these tags again this week, a few people posting their first mirror and water readings. And the most common how-to you find stops at gaze into the surface and wait, which is exactly why people sit for twenty minutes, see nothing, and decide they cannot do it. The technique that matters is in the parts nobody mentions.
Start with the gaze, because this is where most of it goes wrong. You are not staring. A hard stare fights you, your eyes water, you blink, you reset, and you never settle. What you want is a soft, slightly unfocused gaze that looks through the surface rather than at it, the way your eyes drift past a window to the street beyond the glass. The surface should lose its hard edge and go a little vague.
Then the surface starts to change, and beginners almost always misread what happens next. Within a few minutes it tends to cloud, go smoky, darken, or seem to breathe. People take that as their eyes playing tricks, snap back to a sharp focus to check, and that ends it. The clouding is the doorway, not a glitch. Part of it is simply your vision softening on a featureless field, and that softening is the exact state you are trying to reach. Let it fog over and keep your attention loose inside the fog.
It also helps to know what a vision is actually like, because the expectation is the thing that blinds you. It is almost never a clear picture floating in the glass. It is shifting shapes, a color that was not there a second ago, a shadow moving against the grain, a face that assembles for a moment and dissolves. Sometimes it is not visual at all, just a feeling, a word in the mind, or a flat knowing. If you are holding out for a sharp image, you will look straight past the real signal, which tends to be quiet and partial.
A lot of what people call a block is really the setup. Work in low light with a single candle placed behind you or off to the side, never throwing a bright reflection straight into the surface. Use a black mirror or a dark bowl of water set on a dark cloth. Sit so you cannot see your own face clearly in the surface, because a sharp reflection of yourself locks your eyes at the glass instead of through it. Fix the light and the angle and half the I cannot scry problem tends to disappear.
On patience, the honest number is that most people need somewhere between five and twenty sessions before a first real impression. The early sittings where nothing happened are not failures. They are you teaching your eyes and your attention to hold the soft state without bailing out the moment it gets strange. Ten quiet minutes a few times a week will take you further than one heroic hour.
There is a discernment line worth holding too. Not everything you see is a message. Floaters, the afterimage of the candle, the surface graying out, that is ordinary eye behavior and it is the doorway, not the content. The scried material is what comes through that state, the shape that carries meaning, the word, the pull toward something. You learn the difference by keeping a log and only trusting what recurs or genuinely lands.
When you break the gaze, write it down immediately, before your mind tidies it into a tidy story. Do not interpret in the chair. Scrying hands you raw, half-formed material, and the meaning comes later, on the page, with a little distance. The skill was never seeing harder. It is letting the surface go soft and staying in the room while it does.
Graveyard etiquette for witches
Be respectful. This is the primary rule you should be following when entering a graveyard. People have put their loved ones to rest there, your practice is not more important than the history, past lives, and comfort of the dead and their families.
Protection. Wear a head covering if you can. This could be veiling, a bandana, a hat, or even putting your hood up.
Offerings. There are spirits whose job it is to protect the dead there. Leave something safe and, preferably, biodegradable behind to show your good intention. This could be a flowers, animal safe food offerings, a feather, ect.
Do. Not. Disturb. The. Graves. Do not desecrate the graves. Do not walk on people's graves. Do not lean against headstones. Do not take flowers/things left at graves. This comes under respect, but bears saying explicitly.
If you have gone there for graveyard dirt, stop and really feel whether or not the spirits are OK with this. If you get a sense of "no", do not collect any dirt. If you feel they are OK with it, do not take dirt from graves. Take some from a flowerbed that are often in graveyards, or at the entrance gate, or literally anywhere else.
Allow privacy for mourners. They are not always there, but if they are- the last thing they wanna see is some witch galavanting around collecting dirt and having the time of their life. Be respectful of their grief and time spent with their passed loved one.
Watch your words. The spirits are listening so how you speak is as important as how you act. Refrain from swearing especially.
Say thank you. This could be in your head and you offer a small not to the graveyard upon leaving, or it could be spoken out loud. Either way, thank the spirits for having you.
A few terms I think more Hellenic Polytheists should know 💕
Arete- the concept of excellence, virtue, and living to your fullest potential. It pleases the Gods as you being the best version of yourself makes a positive difference in the world.
Sophrosyne- moderation and self control. This goes against Hubris, so it's essential for a good relationship with the Gods
Hubris- arrogance, specifically towards the Gods.
Eusebia- piety. Propperly honoring the Gods, your ancestors, your family, and even yourself.
Kharis- the reciprocal relationship of grace and understanding between the Gods and mortals.
Xenia- the value that you should be a good host to guests in your home. Any traveller could be a God in disguise. This extends to you being a a good guest in other's homes, too. Abusing xenia is an offence against the Gods.
Hagneia- ritual and spiritual purity. It involves cleaning yourself physically as well as spiritually of miasma, especially before worship.
Miasma- the idea of spiritual pollution or contamination. It's what separates us from the divine. It can be collected from being around death, blood, childbirth, ect and is not a "sin" or anything so to speak, but rather a byproduct of living.
Khernips- traditional water used to wash the hands (and face) before worship to clean yourself of miasma.
Sophia and Philosophia- wisdom and the love of wisdom. The pursuit of knowledge and intellect are spiritual virtues.
pick your poison LMAOOO
I'm a Selene devotee, of course I have a moon calender app
I'm a Selene devotee, of course I stay up late talking to the moon
I'm a Selene devotee, of course I'm a hopeless romantic
I'm a Selene devotee, of course I have cresent moon shaped everything on my alter
me: sorry i’ve been busy
me for the last hours:
Hail to the animal dead!
Hail to the creatures with which we share this Earth
large and small, domesticated and wild,
livestock and house pet and feral.
You who suffered in cages and feedlots
who struggled to survive in a vanishing wilderness
may death bring merciful freedom
and may your agony be a yoke around our necks
so we might do better by your children.
Hail to the animal dead!
photography by natalia drepina
@drum-cu-naluci
Witchy Self-Care
*pulls out draft from over a year ago* ENJOY
Hi! this is a list of witchy self-care things you can do. Most of these are pretty basic on account that i wrote this ages ago but they definitely still work. Anyways, I hope these help :)
Do the dishes and dedicate it to your house spirit (if you have one) or a deity (if you're religious)
sweep/mop your floor in the shape of sigils
add rosemary (or rosemary water/essential oils) to the water you mop with to set an intention of cleansing
taking ritual a bath/shower
cleansing your energy. it's so basic but I forget more than i'd like to admit
dedicating time to yourself. it's just as important as dedicating time to your deities/other spirits
light shadow work or going to therapy. bettering your mental health also betters your spiritual.
go outside and ground yourself
take a nap (less witchy, more, I love naps. rest is important)
work out/stretch and dedicate it to an entity
do some gratitude
take 5 minutes to just sit and turn off your devices. you can use this time for anything, just take a second to get off screens and connect with the world around you
meditate. if you can't sit still long enough to meditate, just focus on taking 3 deep breathes
when you wash your face, draw sigils on your face with the cleanser and moisturiser
^do the same as above but with your body wash and when you wash your hair
say some affirmations/manifestations while brushing your teeth
just check in with yourself and see how you're feeling spiritually, psychically and emotionally. sometimes we don't actually know how we're feeling until we sit down and actually ask ourselves.
If anyone has any more to add please comment. I'll add them to the list (with credit of course)
Graveyard Etiquette
for witches, wanderers, and the quietly curious
Speak softly. The dead do not sleep, but they listen.
Never walk directly over a grave. Circle around with respect.
Leave offerings only if they are natural: flowers, stones, a whispered prayer.
Ask for permission before taking anything — even a leaf, even a photograph.
Do not bring loud music, disrespect, or ego. You are a guest.
Coins on tombstones are for the dead, not souvenirs.
If you cry, do it freely. Spirits understand grief.
Do not perform magic on a grave unless explicitly invited — by the spirit or by blood.
Never disturb animal life. Cats and crows are guardians here.
When you leave, turn back once and thank the cemetery for having you.
Some places remember. Some places respond. Walk gently.
may the forgotten ones watch over you
may you feel them as the wind rustles the leaves
may they be heard in the trickle of water from the roof after the rain
may you find them in the dirt as you plant your garden
may they comfort you with the warmth from your camp fire
My gorgeous partner is getting into witchcraft. Because I talk about it so much, they wanna partake and asked for tips ect on how to start!
The commodity of witchcraft will convince you you need fancy expensive tools in order to do magic, but it’s not true! especially if you’re a folk witch!!
capitalism is the enemy of witchcraft. you do not need to practice overconsumerism to to well in your practice. defeat the capitalist thinking in your brain.