Was reading on wikipedia about how lots of ancient cultures had beliefs and traditions where you had to offer prayers and/or sacrifices if you wanted to cut down a tree because you were basically killing the spirit that lived within the tree and if you did that without good reason bad stuff would happen to you

we should bring that back. if you want to clear cut a forest you have to pray and sacrifice on behalf of every single tree

The more I learn about ecosystems, the more I realize that characterizing "animistic" belief as superstitious and primitive is one of the dumbest lies ever told

I, as well, am an animist (knows what a soil microbiome is)

Now I don't know all the details about these religions all over the world with beliefs and practices like this.

But this way of believing says that a stream or a tree isn't just a Thing, you can't just use it however you want, it's a Life and you owe it respect. And if you want to cut down a tree, you have to think really hard about whether you really need to use that tree, because there's a Process, and you have to really think about and dwell on the fact that you're killing something that's alive and that gives life.

And the important thing is, if you see the trees and plants and rivers as sacred and living, dumping toxic radioactive waste in the water and clear cutting the forest is an unthinkable act of sacrilege. If you see that the mountains are sacred and have spirit, you can't rip them wide open to blast and dig out coal with dynamite and pickaxes.

You know that if you violate the water, or the forest, or the mountains, with such destructive greed, something terrible will happen.

Unrelatedly, the Appalachian Mountains are haunted by something unknowably ancient and eldritch.

Before the invention of breath or bone, there stood the mountains.

The more I learn about ecosystems, the more I realize that characterizing "animistic" belief as superstitious and primitive is one of the dumbest lies ever told  “

This.

There‘s a post going around that halfway makes this crossing by saying that ppl in tech and other such ‘contemporary’ sciences need to learn about past belief systems in order to understand their perspectives and why they were wrong (aka superstitions, misunderstood biological perceptions) as a window into realizing that current scientific perspectives and assumptions can also be wrong.

But it’s HIGH FUCKING TIME people also and primarily learn about why precolonial indigenous ~superstitions~ were fucking right and highly intelligent systems of social and environmental management.

Teaching us to disregard all that shit bc it’s spiritual has been one of the most damning and dangerous things colonization has accomplished second to the actual material -cides.

Double Entry Magic

This is a little joke about ‘double entry accounting’. In accounting, every transaction is recorded at least twice. I’m an accounting major, so sue me.

Just like double entry accounting, I believe every spell affects at least two things. Let me explain:

Every spell which is a conjuration also banishes something; every spell which is a banishment also conjures something. When you banish class, you conjure free time. When you conjure love, you banish loneliness. When you conjure wealth, you simultaneously banish poverty.

I think it is fitting that the proper part of the spell pays attention to that second effect, whether it be conjuration or banishing.

Suppose you have a candle that is meant to conjure money. Precede it with a candle that banishes poverty, leaving room for that wealth to grow. For a jar spell that conjures self-love, include a knot spell to bind self-loathing.

For every spell there is an equal and opposite reaction. As one thing grows, another shrinks. Anticipate what the opposite reaction will be, and include that in your workings.

The Altar of the Land

Altars and places of power play a large part in lots of witches’ craft. Such places include the caves of Cornwall, the seaside, ley lines, cemeteries, and many, many more. These allow access to higher powers, visionary experiences, hidden knowledge, healing, just to name a few.

Some create altars to honor spirits, ancestors, gods, angels, saints, any and all spirits. Some use them to create their own place of power, where they can focus their power and energy. I tend to fall into the second category.

When creating a focus for power in your own home, it is practically necessary to detach yourself from the ideal of the altar of worship. No important place setting, no specific order or required items. Instead, include things gifted to you by the spirits. Feathers, stones, worts, natural fetishes, bones, diverse barks and flowers, etc… The Altar of Land should reflect the land and its Genii.

To begin, walk through the land. Collect clay from a river bend. Shape it into a pot and a lid.Fire it in a pit. Once done, coat it with resins of the balsams. Pine, Fir, Locust, Yew, whatever is available. Peach trees, Sweet Gum, latex from Corn Poppies, Dandelion and Wild Lettuce. Add to it then the common flowers you can find. The root of those chtonic plants willing to share. Dirt from the land should then be added. This forms the basis of the Altar of Land.

Bring back your vessel now, and place it upon the space you dedicate. Connect to it, build a link to the Land. Wake its spirit and communicate to it through the vessel. Let it be known for what reason you are creating this space. Soothe it with offerings of Honey, Tobacco, Mead, Wine, Milk, Blood and Fat. Seal the deal with a drop of your own blood, before using yarn or cord to seal the vessel. Keep this upon the altar constantly. Any preparation of herbs, roots, barks, etc… coming from the Land should be prepared before this vessel, and a little added to it at the end of the preparation.

As time goes on, you will be given more and more curios, which should be kept on the altar. To this may be added any and all bones given to you, who once reddened may serve you for different tasks, and will protect the Altar of Land. Feathers of birds may also be made into fans or mobiles, such as witch ladders, hung above the Altar. A plant taken from the land itself may be watered using rain, storm, or any sort of water naturally found to connect to the aqueous aspect of the Land Genii.

Once the main Altar has been completed, the addition of the Sky by presence of the feathers and of Water by presence of the waters used to feed the plants and the vessel itself will triple its impact. Items may be brought to the Altar to be blessed, empowered and consecrated to the Land. 

Weird Al made a Christmas movie where he played a villain who was kidnapping Santa’s elves, but people thought it was real and he got taken to court over it. There were posts all over Tumblr and Twitter about how he was now problematic whether he did it or not because even if he didn’t he still ENDORSED elf-kidnapping by playing this character. 

seeing a lot of "almost christmas means it wasn't christmas" memes already and it's not even christmas eve, so remember:

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

WHAT THE FUCK IT’S CHRISTMAS EVE WHY DID SOMEONE REBLOG THIS

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN!!!

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

TOMORROW IS HALLOWEEN

so fucked up that walter white is out there right now stealing christmas. just hauling that shit away. and lying to jesse that he’s just taking his tree back to his workshop to fix it up because there’s a light on one side that won’t light quite right and getting him a glass of water and sending him back to bed?? that’s fucked.

can i get a hell yea if you’re still gonna be wasting your time on this website in 2014

can i get a hell yea if you’re still gonna be wasting your time on this website in 2024

why are spells stored in dusty old tomes why aren't they audiobooks

*puts headphones on* this is gonna be so fucking efficient… *400 million kilovolts of lightning eject from the speakers*

completely forgot how fucking massive horses are until I saw Chiron

Apparently a part of the reason why farmed bees stay in the beehives that humans build for them is because the farm hives are safer and sturdier. I don't know how a busy Discord server's worth of bugs that only have one brain cell each would logically conclude that the humans protect them from outside threats, illness and parasites, but if I understood right, the bees would be free to move away and build a new nest somewhere else any time they'd want, and they simply choose not to.

You know how in almost every culture, people have some concept of "if I sacrifice something that I made/grew/produced to the Gods, they will ward me and my harvest from evil"?

So, in a way, don't the bees willingly sacrifice a part of their harvest to an entity not only far greater than them, but nearly beyond their comprehension, in exchange for protection against natural forces wildly outside of their own control?

So tell me, beekeepers, what are you to your bees, if not a mildly eldritch God?

I don’t know about other cultures, but in English folklore, when a beekeeper dies someone has to go out and tell the bees.

Imagine you’re a neolithic hunter-gatherer, just hanging out, sacrificing stuff to your god, when a new god you’ve never met before shows up and tells you that your god is dead, it’s not your fault or anything, and maybe a new god will come along to take care of you, maybe not, it’s gonna be touch and go for a while

Apparently in medieval Europe they also whispered secrets to the bees.

So imagine the mildly eldritch God you worship talks to you and tells you secrets, but these secrets make no sense to you and are incomprehensible to understand or even know they are secrets. But your God does make vibrations at you, so thats probably a good thing right??

Also occasionally the Swarm decides there is not enough room in the Hive because the eldritch god didn't take the offering of Honey at their normal time. So enough of a Swarm builds up that the second queen is able to leave without decimating the first Swarm. They are all set to search out a new place that will likely not have your God anymore (but really that's not too much of a struggle, they have abandoned you, that's part of why you've left, even though the first Swarm still holds out hope for their return).

And then, the scouts find another Hive right next to the old Hive. Literally right next to it. So the Queen lands to inspect it and wow, it's a good deal. The area already has enough food to support 2 Hives, so it's a not problem to stay in the area now that they have the space, but...this wasn't here before.

And then you see God, they've come to help the Swarm move to the new Hive and take the offering from the old Hive. Truly this must have been their plan all along

In English folklore, you ALSO have to invite your bees to your wedding, and decorate their hive, and leave a slice of cake for them, and also bring your new spouse by to introduce them to the hive straightaway. Imagine your eldritch god doing THAT.

Say it with me, everyone: writing prompt!

last christmas man me a sand but the very next day man car door hook hand

me n u both buddy

Highlights from James Somerton’s apology Video:

By the way, an FX6 camera frame costs 6,000$, plus about 1000$ more for each lens.

["guy who's building a machine made out of people & noticed you don't fit into their machine" voice] something's wrong with you

The three genders.