#elminx rants

[elminx]

A few words about the Sagittarius new moon

I just saw a post on FB about how tomorrow's Sagittarius new moon is aligned with the "galactic center"....

And I'm sick of seeing this woo bullshit. This has nothing to do with astrology. No part of modern Western (Tropical) astrology has anything to do with the "galactic center". (I can't speak to whether Sidereal astrology acknowledges a galactic center but if you practice Western magic, you should be using the Tropical astrological system, not Sidereal)

In fact, Tropical astrology does not align to the constellations at all - that is the biggest "gotcha" that non-astrologers like to scream about until the cows come home.

Tropical astrology aligns the signs to the seasons - specifically to the point of Summer and Winter when the Sun touches the Tropic of Capricorn (Winter) and the Tropic of Cancer (Summer) - hence, the name "Tropical astrology".

Because of this, the Sagittarius new moon is not aligned with the constellation of Sagittarius, not exactly anyway.

For this reason, there is no collective unfolding, or realignment, or whatever else these New Agers are claiming that the "galactic center" does for us.

On the other hand, its the last new moon in the year, which IS significant in its own way.

Use that, and ignore the rest.

Signed, your neighborhood (Tropical) astrologer

[elminx]

The weirdest thing to me about the greater witchcraft community is that (most people, but not everyone) seem to just believe that the older a source is, the more credible it is.

Why?

Someone wrote something 2,000 years ago - in a religious society with which you don't align when everyone kept slaves and women weren't allowed to own property - but it's like totally the only true source of this type of magic that people still practice today?

Why?

I will never get it.

Books are not infallible. People are not infallible. The past is not infallible.

"2,000 years ago, people believed xxxx"

There, I fixed it for you.

That writer didn't have the internet, or antibiotics, or modern medicine, or the scientific knowledge we have today.

Of COURSE their belief systems would be different. That doesn't make theirs wrong or bad, but I question its relevance to our lives.

Like, at all - as anything other than a reference.

[elminx]

For the love of the gods, spend some money on a small business this Friday. Corporations have failsafes in place and can withstand an economic blackout (I'm not saying don't do it, just stating the obvious) - a small business DOES NOT. It does more to put money into the hands of your community. Always. But right now, more than ever.

[elminx]

People's misuse of something does not invalidate it.

Let me repeat that for the people in the back.

PEOPLE'S MISUSE OF SOMETHING DOES NOT INVALIDATE IT.

That includes concepts you don't like or that make you uncomfortable.

[elminx]

This is your friendly reminder that no analogy is perfect.

What helps one person to understand and feel connected may not make any sense to you. That is completely okay.

What is not okay is going to them and tearing their analogy apart because it's not For You(TM). Then you are just ruining something important to them, when in truth you are trying to center yourself in their story.

Read that again and then think about how many problems would be solved by just staying in your own lane.

[elminx]

Since I'm ranting about things and its fucking FAT TUESDAY:

I was just looking at a recipe that said to mix flour and milk in a bowl to "create a roux".

What in the fuck of all of the universes?!?

A roux is made with flour and fat and it needs to be cooked until it is AT LEAST golden brown...

Fuck.

Flour and milk? That makes glue, yo.

Rhymes with roux. But definitely not the same thing.

[elminx]

I'm seeing it again: all sorts of pseudo-astrologers talking about how October is gonna be this amazing month of light, love, and positivity!

I'm not gonna lie to you or spice up the truth to make y'all feel better: October is gonna be rough. The transits are rough. Eclipse season is rough. We're still in a global pandemic, the earth is on fire, and hate is on the rise.

Astrologically, we're in a Winter season. What I mean by that is that our slower-moving planets are in rough positions which makes life harder. This happens periodically. But there is no part of it that is magically going to be all love and light - suddenly. Despite everything that's been happening in the world?

If you haven't noticed, humanity is at a turning point. This is reflected in the transits we are experiencing over the course of a number of YEARS! Quite frankly, we are still in the middle of it. All of us, individually and collectively, need to make some serious decisions about our personal futures and the futures of life as we know it.

I'm just being realistic when I say this. The writing is on the wall: it's about extremism, it's about hate, it's about rampant climate change and rising seas.

It's not about doomsday or some crazy "evolution" though either.

It's just life. Some times are hard. You know that times are hard. Unless you've somehow managed to put your head so far up your own ass that all you can smell is your own shit?

I'm tired of the bad predictions. October is not going to just be hugs and puppies. It will be easier for some than others, sure. Sometimes for systemic reasons - aka if you have lots of money or don't have trauma, your life is ALWAYS easier. But it'll also be easier if you've been working on yourself and dealing with your own shit. Because cycles like this put stress on everybody's lives. The more you can shore up your own stuff, the better you can withstand the inundation.

That's just life. And I'll be over here telling you like it is, not just pretending that this shit will go away just because I said October's gonna be some special fucking sunshine month in a sea of darkness.

[elminx]

Instead of saying that all witchcraft (quantify THAT lol) is or is not dangerous.

Maybe we need to qualify it as: the type of witchcraft that I know...

or...

The type of witchcraft that I do...

is or is not dangerous.

There. That way everybody can be right. (I'm...sort of sick of this argument. both side doesn't even seem to hear the other)

(but the types of witchcraft that I have encountered definitely CAN BE dangerous, so you know what side of the road I fall on that one)