With practice, you can address and change negative thought patterns. By noticing the negative things you say to yourself, you can choose nicer thoughts to replace. Click here to download a worksheet to help manage thoughts.

As someone with OCD I honestly think OCD is up there with some of the most misunderstood mental illnesses by the general public because so many times I’ve seen that even when people get that it’s not just like “oh I organized all my Buffy DVDs today, I’m so OCD”, they honestly, well-meaningly, genuinely think that it’s just that kind of thing but taken to the level of a disorder? That it is just an obsession with making things tidy or free of germs to the point of it interfering with their everyday life.

But that’s simply not true; OCD is an extremely complex mental illness which manifests in myriads of different ways for different individuals, with primary symptoms being severe, repeated intrusive thoughts which are extremely emotionally distressing to the individual (called “obsessions”, although it’s not an on-purpose obsession— the individual doesn’t want to be having these thoughts, but they won’t leave) and a specific kind of impulse control disorder. 

People with OCD develop really specific “rituals”, often related to their intrusive thoughts (for example, Repeated mental image of loved ones dying → Feels compulsed to text their loved ones literally every five minutes and ask if they are okay, the whole day). Since these “rituals” are almost always self-destructive (for example, many people with OCD develop a ritual of self-injury) or destructive to relationships or jobs or hobbies or other aspects of a person’s life, these actually do nothing to quell the anxiety, and in fact make it worse, but the person with untreated OCD feels literally unable to stop. Additionally, almost all people with OCD experience some degree of magical thinking and for many people (including myself) OCD includes various degrees of psychotic symptoms. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; OCD can manifest in everything from motor control to executive functioning.

It’s a severely complex illness and it’s sad that it goes so often misunderstood and underdiagnosed. I think OCD awareness is really important!

let me explain something

even if this is brainwashing

even if this is just an act

even if this gets retconned

even if this is nothing more than a gross publicity stunt

it is part of an on-going trend at marvel that shows the appalling lack of respect they have for jewish characters and creators and the bizarre, sickening romanticizing of hydra, a nazi organization.

steve rogers is the creation of two jewish men who took a stand against nazism at a time when it was not popular to do so, and they received many threats for doing so. he was intended to be political; the first thing you see him do is punch hitler in the face. even if this new twist ends up being reversed or made into an elaborate ruse, we now know that marvel is willing to jeopardize this legacy for publicity. they don’t see it as disrespectful to toy around and twist the creation of two jewish men like this.

wanda maximoff and pietro maximoff, the jewish-romani children of holocaust survivors, are actively having their jewish heritage erased by marvel higher ups who say thing like “can you point me to a single story, just one, in which the ‘fact’ that wanda and pietro come from a jewish background is in any way relevant?”. not only this, but their jewish identities are being erased in the mcu and replaced with christian identities (wanda has a cross hanging in her room), while also re-imagining them as hydra nazi volunteers. this from the same mcu that routinely hires jewish actors and actresses and then erases their identities such as with natalie portman, kat dennings, rdj, gwyneth paltrow, and paul rudd; in the cases of some jewish actors like jon berthanal they actively replace his jewish identity with a christian one by making the punisher a (lapsed) catholic.

all the while they continue to glamorize the nazi organization hydra, playing up the meme status of “hail hydra”, having their employees wear hydra merch and describe themselves as hydra in their twitter bios. they even released a comic about an agent of hydra, intended to be a comedy, slice of life thing. you were intended to feel bad for hank, the protagonist, because he just saw it as a job and joined because of the tough economy, ignoring the fact that this was the case for many real world nazis as well. magneto, a jewish holocaust survivor, was villainized and basically held responsible for endangering the world because he attempted to kill the red skull, a nazi who was setting up new concentration camps. it was also the title in which his paternal relationship with wanda and pietro was erased. the series name was axis. 

this is not cute. this is not the type of stuff that can or should be ignored. this is just further proof of a seriously alarming trend going on at marvel, where they think flirting with nazi organizations is fun and ignoring and actively erasing the identities of jewish characters and the contributions of jewish creators is okay. do. not. ignore. this.

Magical Concepts to Research

Ideas for your Grimoire and Book of Shadows - PART 2

Make sure to choose oils that, even when diluted with water, will not stain the crown, and be sure to disperse the oil well, so that, while scented, it won’t be bad for your hair (or, again, the crown). One thing I’ve never really mentioned is that it can be difficult to evenly disperse essential oils in water, given that they are, of course, oils, but it’s not impossible, so give it a go, but do your research and keep dangers such as allergies in mind for safety’s sake.

Properties of Sands

By Rainy-Day-Witchcraft

⌲ Beach Sand: Use for calming or anxiety spells to gradually wash away and smooth out fear/negativity, for spells of change, or in magick for motivation or strength

⌲ Desert Sand: Use for cursing to “dry out” your target of wealth/luck/happiness/etc, or add to a resilience spell for the capability to grow through hard times or situations

⌲ River Sand: Use for spells that are focused on moving on physically or mentally, or for change and/or healing magick - Can also serve as an elemental water offering

⌲ Volcanic Sand: Use for destructive spells or curses, in magick to reveal deeper or hidden meanings/feelings, or for banishing magick - Can also serve as an elemental fire offering

⌲ Heavy Mineral/Crystal Sand: (Sands with significant presence of Quartz, Garnet, Olivine, Hematite, etc.) Use in magick for personal growth, focus, or motivation. If you have a sand heavily composed of a specific gemstone (quartz, for example) usable as a substitute for that gemstone in spellwork.

⌲ Black Sand: Use for protection, banishing, or negativity-based spells

⌲ Biogenic Sand: (Sand composed majorly of bioorganisms - shells, skeletons, bones, corals, etc.) Use in magick for healing or protection

Ideas for your Grimoire or               Book Of Shadows

What to use when in Witchcraft -

Ok so I am gonna say this is my personal reference, its mainly through associations. You might TOTALLY disagree and thats chill!

Its more something to think about and a guideline of what I use myself…

Candle Magic:

Carve a candle when…. the candle represents the target, in sympathetic magic. When, essentially, the candle is a poppet and lighting it is a symbol of destruction or empowerment to the target.

Place something under the candle or before it when… you are doing general candle magic, when the candle represents empowering a wish, idea or concept.

Anoint the candle when… doing work with spirits and gods, when you mark the candle for a special purpose, when doing high magic.

Herbs and plant work:

Use dry herbs when… it is convienent to do so, when the herbs are out of season or when you need to store them in a jar or bottle for a long time.

Use fresh herbs when… the spell is very earth orientated, when doing magic on behalf of another or when the magic is sympathetic so that the herbs represent the target, within kitchen witchery.

Use flowers when… when the spell concerns love and sex, or perhaps fertility and attraction, due to flowers being the reproductive parts of the plant.

Use fruit when when… working with children as a target, or with children practising. When you work with fertility and abundance spells.

Use wood and twigs when… when the spell is for protection or binding, for hardiness.

Burn herbs (recaning/incense) when… you wish to cleanse or banish, or invoke an atmosphere - that being, for divination using herbs that are said to open up your perceptions, when banishing, burning acrid or pungent herbs.

Use oil infusions when… you wish to anoint something, when you wish to mark something permanently.

Use floral waters (rose water etc) when… dealing with spirits and gods, for glamour as it has a long history of being used to beautify.

Crystals:

Use metals (haematite, copper, ores etc..) when… you work in protection, when you do energy work due to the conductive properties of metal.

Use shell, pearl, coral and such when… you work in sea magic, when you work within emotional magic due to the element of water.

Use points when… you wish to direct magic to a target.

Use tumble stones when… you wish the magic to be gentle or manifest at a certain place on the body on a target.

Use geodes when… you work in protection, when you work with glamour aimed to obscure and hide.

Knot magic:

Use cotton when… it is convenient.

Use silk when… doing spells that benefit the target.

Use ribbons when… love spells and wealth spells, as well as confidence and beauty spells. Spells to ensure victory.

Use rope when… doing spells that aim to hurt or weaken the target, binding especially.

Poppets:

Use cloth when… the spell aims to benefit who the poppet represents, use particular care when sewing or cutting, choose colours that are appropriate to them.

Use wax when… you wish to manipulate the target.

Use clay when… wish to create fetches or servitors, when you wish to create permanency.

Use twigs when… you wish to bury or throw the poppet out, when you want the poppet to be easily destroyed by breaking or setting on fire.

Sigils:

Use an alphabet grid or circle when… you wish the sigil to be more random and less attached to you.

Combine the shapes of letters from a sentence… when your sigil is very specific and a short term goal.

Use your own personal symbols when… you want the magic to be connected to you, when it is personal.

Edvard Munch  (via wnq-art)