Intermediately Witchy

she/her yarrow-the-witch is me! I'm a witch with a biology degree so shit gets confusing. I'm kinda vibing rn with Athena, Apollo, Hermes, and maybe Brigid but I'm still pokin around

[yarrowthewitch]

yes hællo velkum to my cäv

[witchescollection]

coming back from my retirement to just pipe on here and remind y'all that a lot of witchblr is generic and rooted in consumerist culture.

example: you do not need mass-produced correspondences tables that some other witch (no matter how reputable) put together. look at the damn thing. you already have your own associations with colours, shapes, etc. just write down you think the rock is pretty and it's for when you need an outside look bc it's sky blue (which reminds you of when you look up at the sky and feel like an ant).

another example: no one can tell you how to work with your deities. look up some academic sources, read some ancient literature, sure. but also just do it. stop sitting around waiting for someone tell you it's okay to give this deity chocolate - it's your craft for fuck's sake.

i'm not saying everything on tumblr is bullshit, but most of it is people taking what works for them and then using that to write a guidebook. you are the witch. you are at the centre of your craft. it's your ancestors, your gods, your tools, and your life.

decide what you want for yourself.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Hello internet user whose entire concept of feminism comes from tiktok. In front of you are three ancient myths about women. You have five minutes to figure out which one of them was made up in the 1970s. If you choose wrong, you will be ripped to pieces by Maenads.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Okay since everyone wants the test, instead of giving you three myths here’s several myths. One of them is a real Greek myth with sources of it from ancient times and the rest of them are fake. One of the misconceptions was specifically invented in the 70s.

1. In every version of the myth, Medusa is born a human and Athena turns her into a monster

2. Hestia, goddess of the hearth and family, willingly gave up her place as the 12th Olympian to make room for Dionysus

3. Persephone chose Hades and wandered into the underworld of her own free will

4. Pandora didn’t know what was in her jar and unleashed evils on humanity by accident

5. During the voyage of the Argonauts the huntress Atalanta beat the hero Peleus the father of Achilles in a wrestling match

6. King Midas of Phrygia decided to give up his golden touch after turning his daughter to gold

7. Aphrodite was widely worshipped as a war goddess in Greece

[what-even-is-thiss]

lmao I promise you that only one of these is real.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Hiding the answers under a cut in case you wanna guess on your own.

#5 is the real one. You can find a reference to Atalanta wrestling Peleus at funeral games while on the journey of the Argo in The Library by Pseudo-Apollodorus.

This is an artistic depiction of the event from a piece of pottery currently being held in Staatlishe Museum Berlin.

The one invented in the 1970s was the one about Persephone going down to the underworld herself. This was invented by Charlene Spretnak in her book Lost Goddesses of Early Greece and is often spread falsely as a real myth without crediting her.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Explanations for all of them, again under a cut.

Ovid invented the version where Medusa was originally a woman and Ovid hated most of the gods on principle. Also, he was Roman. The earliest versions of gorgon myths depict her and her sisters as being born as monsters.

There's no reference in ancient mythology to Hestia giving up her spot. In some regions she was one of the 12 Olympians, and in others Dionysus was on the list instead. The idea that she stepped down was invented by modern writers who like to have coherent logic in their stories.

Explained above. A bit of creative writing.

Pandora according to Hesiod was the first woman and perfectly aware of what was in her jar. She was created as part of the punishment for mankind. Human women didn't exist before Pandora according to Hesiod. But because Hesiod was misogynistic even by ancient Greek standards, writers and artists after the ancient Greek religion died out re-characterized her as stupid and curious rather than evil.

5. As explained above, real.

6. This version was invented by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the original myth, Midas just got hungry. No Daughter involved.

7. Aphrodite was worshiped as a war goddess mostly in Sparta and sort of Rome as Venus. Most Greeks weren't comfortable culturally with the idea of a goddess of love also being a goddess of war so in most of Greece she was just a goddess of love.

[creature-wizard]

Tales of Times Forgotten articles on ancient polytheism, atheism, witchcraft, Christianity, & other historical topics everyone should read

Misconceptions about the Witch-Trials

Debunking the So-Called “Dark Ages”

Was Giordano Bruno Really a “Martyr for Science”?

Who Was The First God?

Did Ancient “Pagans” Really Worship Nature?

Was the “Green Man” Really an Ancient Pagan Deity?

Misconceptions about the Library of Alexandria

Modern Stereotypes About Ancient Civilizations

Ancient Greek Misogyny

Why Did The Patriarchal Greeks And Romans Worship Such Powerful Goddesses?

Did the Ancient Greeks Really Believe in Their Myths?

Did the Ancient Greeks Ever Climb Mount Olympos?

What Evidence Is There for Atheism in Ancient Greece?

No, the Romans Did Not Just “Steal” All the Greek Deities

What Was the Conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity Really Like?

Things That Did Not Cause the Fall of the Roman Empire

No, Transgender People Are Not a Sign of Cultural Collapse

Christian Adaptation of Pagan Iconography

Greek Writers Quoted in the New Testament

No, the Christian Cross Is Not Based on the Egyptian Ankh

Just How Pagan Is Christmas Really?

No, Santa Claus Is Not Inspired by Odin

The Long, Strange, Fascinating History of Santa Claus

The Origins of the Christmas Tree

The Not-So-Pagan Origins of Easter

No, Easter Is Not Named After Ishtar

No, Groundhog Day Is Not of Ancient Pagan Origin

Here’s How We Know the Canonical Gospels Were Originally Anonymous

Lucifer Is Not a Name for Satan!

Was Jesus Copied Off the Egyptian God Horus?

Was Jesus a Communist?

What Does the Genesis Creation Story Mean?

Is Everyone Really Born an Atheist?

No, There Isn’t a Conspiracy to “Hide the Truth” about Ancient History

Who Are The Illuminati Really?

The Ancient Astronaut Hypothesis Is Racist and Harmful

The Truth about Atlantis

What Do Conservatives Really Mean When They Talk about “Western Civilization”?

The "Hero's Journey" is Nonsense

Jordan Peterson Does Not Understand Mythology

Jordan Peterson Does Not Understand Ancient Languages

No, Public Universities Aren’t Dominated by Evil Atheist Professors Seeking to Destroy Students’ Faith

[comparativetarot]

The Magician. Art by Thiago Corrêa.

[en-theos]

thinking about the discrepancy between aphrodite and dionysus as deities from the east(TM) and how well it illustrates that myths =/= nuggets of prehistoric knowledge that can be deciphered into a reconstruction of pre-literary history.

the myth about dionysus' origin is that, while a son of Zeus and perhaps the Theban princess Semele, he was born in the far east (or south, which were often conflated in Greek geography) on the fairytale like mount Nysa and then (slowly) made his way back to Greece. perhaps conquering the Indians along the way. This led scholars to believe up until the 60's that he was a middle-eastern god imported into the Greek pantheon aroudn the 7th century, since he does not really feature in Homer's epics.

and then post WWII war classicists deciphered the Mycenaean script linear B and discovered a god among the sacrifice tallies called di-wo-nu-so. HUH! moral of the story being that Greek myth projects as much as it preserves, and Dionysus' subversive character and eastern characteristics are a Greek projection, an emic (internal) view of that external to Greekness for that exact function: providing a countermodel that is neatly incorporated into the Greek cultural (religious) system. go figure.

Meanwhile Aphrodite features HEAVILY in Homer's epics, is given a primordial origin (born of Ouranos' ball foam landing in the Aegean), arriving on Cyprus or Cythera, still (arguably) within the sphere of influence of the Mycenean Aegean. her origin is solidly presenting her as Greek or at least Close.

but then you look at how she defends Troy in the Trojan war and how Zeus makes a point of saying she should not have any pretensions of belonging on the battlefield and how he makes a point in the Homeric hymn to Aphrodite of "subduing" her, since her matchups of gods and mortals tend to disrupt the proper balance of things and embarrass the other gods. this upstart goddess (a direct descendant of Sky) needs to know her place within the pantheon.

and then the archaeological record shows us Cyprus' key role as a trading stop between the Levant and Greece, shows Phoenician trading routes from Cyprus to the southern Peloponnese (you know near Cythera) and shows statuettes of Astarte and Anat, goddesses of both warfare and sexuality. HUH. and then the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis comes in with its uncanny similarities to myths of Levantine goddesses and their mortal lover that they recover from the Underworld. but, presented as quite solidly Greek, involved with Greek festivals (the Adonia) etc. etc. (and actually the Greeks themselves knew of this origin of the myth/cult. I'm generalizing things and pointing out the discrepancy between myth and history, even the historical commentary of the Greeks themselves).

tl;dr myth preserves, historicizes, and explains, but also projects, invents, and fantacizes. While Dionysus' myths carry clear geographical configurations, to do with 'culture' and 'foreignness', Aphrodite's don't, and yet a closer look reveals that the characterisation of Aphrodite reveals more actual historical truth about Greek interaction with the outside world in the so-called Greek Dark Ages than Dionysus' does.

[hemlock-druid]

Searching Etsy for "Nature Witch" and 99% of the thumbnails being AI generated is so frustrating.

[corvidae-witch]

unfortunately, Etsy is an AI minefield nowadays

i've stopped using it because it's so hard to find handmade products amongst all the dropshipped crap :/

[heatherwitch]

I have a few witchy Etsy shops I can recommend!

DeathsHeadDivination by @torque-witch

TheDruidsForest by @thedruidsforest

TheRestlessWitch by @therestlesswitch

PortlandButtonWorks by @portlandbuttonworks

MossoftheWoods by @mossofthewoodsjewelry (makes quality botanical resin jewelery, I got a necklace 8 years ago and it’s still in great condition)

And a few non-Etsy shops:

Willow Wings Witch Shop by @breelandwalker

The Spiral House Shop (and Portland Button Works) by @spiralhouseshop

MossoftheWoods by @mossofthewoodsjewelry

[cultusquercus]

They're not on tumblr to my knowledge, but I know the folks at Leodrune Press, and IMO their books are more interesting than a lot of the stuff I regularly see recommended.

[thegodwhocums]

@candlesandcantrips [shop link] has nice quality handmade beeswax candles as well

[candlesandcantrips]

Thanks so much for the mention! 🥰

[lurelurk]

Dirt is sacred.

There is nothing wrong with leaving offerings on the naked earth.

When we die we are returned to the ground be it whole or as ash.

From the ground comes all our food, be it directly grown or eaten from to what else we eat.

There is nothing wrong with leaving offerings on leaves or stone, plates or trays but...

There is nothing wrong with laying them to the soil either.

The compost pile is as hallowed a hill as any shrine or shelf.

[hiiighpriestess913]

Y’all I’m being so serious when I say this: go to the library for witchcraft reasons.

You can usually find books on witchcraft, yes, but there’s also field guides on local foraging and wildlife, cookbooks, books that teach you how to craft and DIY, books about environmental protection and stewardship, books on how to use herbs medicinally, books about other religions, cultures, and spiritual practices. My favorite local library even has a seed swapping program and fantastic resources to research your own family history!

Go to the library for witchcraft. Please. :) <3

[tlirsgender]

Imagining a beautiful world where white people understood the concept of cultural appropriation as in misappropriation, misuse of cultural practices, doing things Wrong out of their original context simply for your own gain whether it's financial/spiritual/aesthetic whatever. Rather than thinking it's about, like. Copyright infringement

[tlirsgender]

Like the majority of poc will have no issue with actually respectfully engaging with their Things, a lot of the time you'll literally be invited if you're chill! People like sharing! But white people only know stealing, anti miscegenation, and lying

[will-o-the-witch]

Grimoire users/makers, what less-conventional things have you included that turned out to be very useful or helpful?

[jasper-pagan-witch]

ENVELOPES! I started gluing envelopes into pages for little dipshit notes that I didn't feel like transcribing and it's so good.

[will-o-the-witch]

I actually really love that. It also sounds helpful for just keeping the associations for various materials in one place while still moving forward with other categories. Like just add the new herb into the herb file instead of adding a whole new page apart from the herb section in between the crystals and planets or whatever

[victusinveritas]

[sufficientlylargen]

The second of May, known as Temestane, is a day dedicated to soreness and exhaustion, wherein one contemplates and regrets the decisions made on Beltane.

[ohmymoxie]

hey babes, i promise you’re not a bad witch if you don’t celebrate the wheel of the year

[sophia-the-hearth-witch]

I've been practicing for 7+ years and I've never managed to celebrate ever sabbat lol There are ones that I'm more constant with because I relate them closely with the gods I work with (mostly Imbolc, Midsummer, Samhain, and Yule)

But the idea of celebrating the wheel of the year is a very neo-pagan one we have some evidence that the equinoxes were celebrated by some pagans in history, but having an organized set wheel with multiple sabbats is a modern invention and doesn't work for every hemisphere

imo It's more important to follow what feels right for you and your practice and helps you feel in tune with the seasons and natural world around you and if you miss a "celebration" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ oh well there are no set rules to witchcraft or paganism so you're not a bad witch or bad pagan if miss a sabbat or don't celebrate them~

[witchynyx]

Yes!

The neopagan Wheel of the Year™ was literally invented in the 1950s by two guys: Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols.

At the time, revival druidry (of which they were both part) was celebrating 4 annual festival, at the solstices and equinoxes.

Also, there was a popular (if incorrect) notion that much British and European folklore represented continuous pre-Christian traditions, including the 4 Irish festivals (incorrectly categorised as pan-Celtic 'fire' festivals*) of Beltane, Lammas, Samhain, and Imbolc.

* Check out Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun (1996) for an in-depth history of the British ritual year, including all 4 of these festivals, and popular perceptions of them.

They decided to combine the two to create the 8-spoked 'wheel of the year'. (And Aidan Kelly came along in the 1970s and added the more romantic Wiccan names to the solstices and equinoxes)

The 8-spoked 'Wheel of the Year' festival structure is part of Wicca (founded by Gerald Gardner) and OBOD (the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids, a revival druid order founded by Ross Nichols).

If you're not a member of OBOD or any formal Wiccan tradition? You have absolutely zero requirement or obligation to follow/observe/celebrate the Wheel of the Year™.

You obviously can!

You can observe all of them. Observe some but not others. Rename them. Adapt them. Cannibalise it and turn it into something new.

(Personally, I like the structure, so I kept that and built my own whole thing on top of it.)

You also don't need to as much as acknowledge it in your practice if you don't want to.

It's not some Ancient, Universal, Correct thing. It was literally just made up by two guys.

You can follow seasonal events based on your location, your culture, your folklore, your history. You can make things up just because you want to. Or you can not observe any seasonal festivals.

What you do in your practice is 100% up to you 💜

[khaire-traveler]

🧭 "Lead Me Where I Belong" Prayer 🚪

Glad-hearted Hermes,

Immortal Guide to mortals in both life and death,

Friend to humanity,

Mark the map of my soul with the location of my true Home. Lead my uncertain steps in the direction that I'm meant to be, and allow me to rest my weary feet on a bed that I call my own. Grant me the wonder of freedom from the chains that hold me back in my current prison. Give me the key to my cell so that I may free myself.

I seek a refuge - a place that I am meant to happily reside. I seek a house that I can confidently call Home - a place where I feel a sense of belonging. I seek a sanctuary - a place that grants me reprieve from the madness of the world. Take my hand, Kind-hearted Hermes, and lead me to the place that I most belong. Fill my cup when I feel discouraged on my journey; remind me of the worthwhile destination at the end of my road. Imbue this fellow traveler with hope for the brighter future that will soon be revealed.

Take me Home.

Thank you, Great Hermes, and may your name be forever praised. I love you and am grateful for your time.

Praised be Hermes! 🧡

-

|| A prayer about finding your "true home"/the place that you belong; written when deciding where to move for the next phase of my life ||

[stormwaterwitch]

Rabbits Rabbits Rabbits

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

[dumbbbunnnyy-deactivated2021021]

[deltagalacticdaydreamer]

Sometimes I wonder how much greek mythology discourse or even general mythology discourse could've been avoided if people just made it clearer that mythology isn't just a big monolith and instead a lot of different interpretations and sources

[comparativetarot]

The Chariot. Art by An-Nhien Nguyen, from the Spellbound Tarot Deck.