Resilience is a word I could easily associate with the monsoon season. From October to early March of every year, the shifting wind brings the condensed, moist air into the land to fall. The rain often arrives abruptly and departs just as swiftly. I used to love it so much. There is no better feeling than dozing off to the sound of the rain hitting the roof and no better pairing than cold weather with warm food. This was before I had to brave the storm (quite literally) and get stuck in traffic, drenched, just to go to work. I learned the hard way that the rain does not stop your bills from coming or your landlord from asking for rent.
Despite all that, there is something about the monsoon rain that makes me feel alive. It is unpredictable, unstoppable, chaotic even, yes—but there’s something tender about the way it nurtures us. No life is possible to happen if there is no water. Sure, the same water that starts life can also end it. But this duality is probably the sum and substance of nature itself, a balance in a way. Maybe that’s why it always felt necessary. At the end of the day, you can’t grow rice without the rain.
The people of Gelaralam, one of the indigenous communities in West Java, have known this for generations. Nature has its own timing and purpose—a harmony they must respect and protect. This belief extends to the way they harvest rice: once a year, no more. Not because they can’t, but because they believe that this is the time Mother Earth has set aside for humans. The rest of the year belongs to the animals, the forests, and the rest of nature’s other children, including those invisible to the naked eye. To cross this boundary is to disrupt the balance, inviting crop failures, pest infestations, and a terror of chaos. They honor the balance, not as something aspirational, but as a truth of survival.
In nature, everything unfolds in its own rightful time. I believe the same applies to us. I often think about how the queer experience feels similar to the monsoon season. Embracing your queerness sometimes feels like you’re facing the heavy rainfall. It can be catastrophic. It surely demands a lot of courage. It is messy and yet…it is necessary.
We have been taught to see it as unnatural but we often forget that everything in nature exists with a purpose. We are the children of nature—we are natural. Monsoons never ask for permission or offer apologies. They just are. They simply just exist as they were always meant to. Remember that 60% of our body consists of water, the rest are made with exactly the same atoms that created everything in the universe. We are always meant to be here—an essential piece of the cosmic balance.
Just like the monsoon season, coming to terms with your queerness often challenges us to be resilient. It is a time to be drenched, caught in the whirlwind of the storm, uprooted from our foundations, and come out the other end, alive and transformed. It is hard—very hard even, for some of us. I often think about the people of Gelaralam and their deep understanding of nature's balance, its purpose and timing—knowing when to sow and when to let everything be. Its capacity to give and take reflects the many dualities of the queer experience: the joy and sorrow, the acceptance and rejection, the tenderness and the harshness. Oh, nothing else can show you so clearly that beauty and danger can coexist, intertwined.
So, whoever—wherever—you are, know this: let your queerness be your storm and sanctuary. Let it shake you off from the hard ground and land you somewhere soft. Let it take away what doesn’t serve you anymore and help you grow something more beautiful than ever before. Let it nourish you. Be loud, untamed, and alive. So, when the time comes for the sun to shine again, you know what a beautifully dangerous and sacred being you are.
made kimchi about a month ago? i kinda forgot, but my friend asked me to make it and turn out it's a little bit salty..... not one of my best batch. but other than that, it looks and taste pretty good!
“How many of us now realize that space is the same thing as mind, or consciousness? That when you look out into infinity you are looking at yourself? That your inside goes with your entire outside as your front with your back? That this galaxy, and all other galaxies, are just as much you as your heart or your brain? That your coming and going, your waking and sleeping, your birth and your death, are exactly the same kind of rhythmic phenomena as the stars and their surrounding darkness? To be afraid of life is to be afraid of yourself.”
Look, I'm disabled so I know how frustrating it can be when your body is just not up to the ritual you spent a lot of time planning and tweaking. Or perhaps you are simply a busy person who needs quick, easy workings you can fit into your day.
Here are some suggestions:
Color Magick (Color coordinating outfits is a fun way to do this)
Spell Bottles
Jewelry Enchantment/Charging
Breath Work
Candle Magick
Knot Magick (Try weaving a braided cord or bracelet to wear)
Sound Cleansing/healing
Sigils
Petitions
Manifestation Boxes
Verbal Incantations & Blessings
Affirmations
Anointing (Can be done with a perfume oil blessed by you)
10 minutes meditation
Simple Divination (Tarot/Oracle, Runes, Pendulum)
5 minutes of mindfulness (Take 5 minutes to breathe, think about where you are and appreciate any good happening)
Mending Magick (A little magick in each stitch)
Daily Glamour (To go along with any self-care or beauty ritual)
this is not the first time i help my mom with her catering order, also not the first time i sell my cook, but this time, my mom let me choose the menu, budgeting, and even how i present it (and the first time that all the money goes straight to my pocket👍). it's only for 15 packs and a simple menu for college students, but im so glad and content. to more orders under my name (and money) in the future!
Some days all you can do is make yourself some tea and add a little enchantment on it to help you get through the day.
And that's ok. That is enough! Witchcraft isn't always large, intricate spells, it can be small spells or tiny enchantments cast only to help you get through a difficult day.
Your craft is your own, don't let anyone try to tell you you're doing it wrong, because you're not.
Remember, even the smallest altar tucked in a corner hidden from view will still make the Gods happy and gives you a place to worship them.
And if you can't have a physical altar, one drawn in a journal or saved on a computer is just as good. Hell, an imaginary altar that you have in your head is good enough! They understand, and see you trying, and are happy with you.
