"Actually, your UPG is wrong. Source: my own UPG," is not the mic drop that you might think it is...

Tips for when you’re considering Paganism

For my lovely friend @whoooooisthis!! I hope this helps love!

First things first, learn the basics. Cleansing, Warding, Banishing and Protection. 

Cleansing: You should cleanse when you’re having a bad day, are/were sick, after a breakup or loss, after arguments, during a major transition in life (graduation, birth, etc) and when you feel you need to. Cleansing cleans up the energy around you and keeps you safe. You can cleanse by lighting incense and passing the smoke around an object or room, bathing yourself or an object, burying an object, with salt (just don’t put it near dirt and plants!!), setting something in moonlight or sunlight (Make sure you keep track of which moon phase to cleanse on), with sound like bells or singing bowls, clapping, cleaning, burning sage or candles, using holy water or a protection spray, and touching each corner of a room and saying a prayer for each one. 

Warding: Wards are spiritual shields that keep you safe. There’s two types of wards - spacial (for spaces and rooms) and personal (for objects and the self). You will need to maintain wards by charging and clearing them. You can ward by using enchanted jewelry or objects, sigils (magical symbols with purposeful energy), energy shields, magic circles, spells, protective crystals, protection spell bottles, anointing the corners of a room and window and door sills with holy water or another warding substance. I personally like to drill holes in peach pits to wear as necklaces, they work quite well for warding. 

Banishing. There are tons of spells online that will teach you how to banish negative entities. If an entity is fucking with you, bad things keep happening or things just feel off, don’t be afraid to banish. Letting spirits know you’re not to be fucked with is incredibly important.

Protection. Light a black candle. Use salt and pepper for warding. Learn banishing and warding spells. Use protective sigils. Protection is incredibly important when concerning spirits, so educate yourself on this thoroughly. 

Now onto the fun stuff…

- Talk to things! Your house, your trees and plants, your spirit guides. You can do this out loud or in your head. And remember, even if they don’t respond, they’re probably still there. Just trust me on that

- It’s alright to forge your own unique path. I personally am Autistic and have terrible memory, so it’s important for me to forge my own craft. If something doesn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to change it. Substitutions can always be made.

- Meditate. Everyone says this, but it’s very true. Meditation not only calms the mind and body, but it opens you and your intuition/senses up to new forces

- Don’t ask for things without giving something in return. I lost my pillbox once and couldn’t find it anywhere. I walked out of my room, politely asked for it to be returned, and a few minutes later it was right there on my desk in plain sight. I left a little dish of honey out for whoever (or whatever) returned it. It’s always polite to approach with an offering and give one either before or after asking for something. You can do this with something as simple as picking a flower, always ask permission.

-  Make it an everyday thing. That doesn’t mean you have to do daily rituals or meditation sessions. Simply talking (again, in your head or out loud) to your spirit guides, practicing mindfulness and doing little spiritual things here and there are enough. This could be meditation, interpreting a potential sign you got today, saying good morning to the spirits you work with, leaving an offering (especially if you’re asking for something or something has already been done for you) and plain researching to expand your craft and knowledge. 

- Write it down. In witchcraft/paganism, almost everybody is journaling. It’s the best way to keep track of signs, experiences, feelings, omens, knowledge that may pertain to your craft, dreams, anything that might seem important. Many witches have a grimoire or book of shadows where they keep their witchy knowledge stored. These are often very personal, can be online or written by hand, and are entirely unique to you. You don’t need a 50 dollar designer spellbook. My grimoire is almost entirely online and printed out into a binder. You don’t have to be fancy. - Research!! Keep finding white feathers? Look up what that means! You want to give an offering? Look up what nature spirits and specific deities prefer! Make sure you’re knowledgeable about what you do.

- Incorporate what you know and what you’re used to. I grew up in a Polish family in an Eastern Orthodox church. Many of the practices I learned from my family and culture have carried on into my craft. Such as knocking on wood to prevent jinxes, wearing clothes backwards to see spirits and keep them from messing with you, and little cultural tricks like stepping out of a room and asking for lost items to be returned when you can’t find something. Keep it familiar.

That's really all I can think of for now, love. If you have any more questions, just let me know in a relog!!

Wall Decoration Kitchen Witchery

April 2022

Instagram

🌞Working With The Sun Source | https://www.instagram.com/mariathearcane/  🌞I am a big fan of working with the sun’s daily energy, unlike the moon, it repeats a constant cycle daily. It rises, finds its way to the top of our skies, and then makes its descent to welcome the moon.   🌞When it comes to spellwork, in my personal practice, I like to concentrate on manifesting quick and fiery energy. Spellwork I need to be done now, with quick results. If I need bigger results or ones that are longer-lasting I may work with the days of the week’s correspondences in conjunction with working with the sun.  🌞Sunrise | Intention setting 🌞Sun’s ascent into the sky | Growing and cultivating energy 🌞High Noon or when the sun is the highest in the sky | Larger spellwork and protection spells 🌞Sun’s descent | Slowing and releasing energy 🌞Sunset | Cleansing and throwing things into the void for renewal/fresh start

The neonazi website asks are coming out again.

Don't post the asks, no amount of "gotcha" is worth exposing their URL for people to find.

No amount of "gotcha" has ever been worth reminding minorities that they're not safe, that there are entire websites as fronts for cult hate groups against them.

Don't answer those asks.

Another reminder!

In case anyone is curious as to why the URL exposure is important: since it exposes their URL, it brings more attention (whether good or bad, it doesn't matter) to the site and it makes their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) sky rocket which then causes their website to be more likely to pop up as a top search result when innocent folks look for things that are even similar to what they claim to be!

This is obviously a problem, not only because its literally a group of NAZIS, but also because there are people out their who are actually a part of real deal (not nazi-run) practices and religions that get drowned out; so the information that is being given to new people who are innocently just trying to research is all wrong!

I've seen several well intentioned posts saying not to answer these, but still including the entire URL. Unfortunately, that's not much better than publishing the asks (and is no different in terms of SEO).

yellow appreciation

New tarot spread! The weekly check-in is for those of you who want to have steady communication with your guides or Deities but have no ideas on what to ask, or where to go.  1 - How is my progress on my spiritual path going? 2 - What were the lessons I was supposed to learn last week? 3 - How did I do on those? 4 - What should my focus/lessons for next week be? 5 - Tips to achieve those goals?  6 - Any other messages?  Feel free to add more clarifiers as needed! 

Boundaries are not options when it comes to deity work and spirit work. They are requirements.

You must have boundaries when it comes to deities and spirits.

Wards

What is Warding?

Warding is a method of protection used to create an energetic safe space around you, your space or an object, it prevents unwanted energies from entering and minimizes the amount of offensive magic you need to perform. Casting a circle is a common temporary form of warding that witches often use, a protection circle is a ward the can be used during any spell work but is only meant to be used at that time. I have another lesson posted on my blog all about protection circles and different types of circles. Besides protection circles there are many other forms of warding that can work better depending on any given situation.

Wards are a very versatile form of magic that can protect a single entity or a space when given enough power. They can be programmed to let certain energies in or none at all making them very useful for many purposes. A ward can even be used to keep an entity out or in. As with anything else it is important to maintain and refresh your wards to protect you.

I'm having a hard time expressing how the "come on you can do 15 minutes every day of your life to reconnect with your practice, stirring widdershins into your morning coffee, doing a (grounding) meditation, or energy work" posts and guides I see - contributes to the "you must be doing witchcraft / spell casting every single day" pressure that creates a community shame and guilt for people who literally cannot or do not want every single day.

Also how there's a slight textural feel to that which is "I made it so easy for you, the bar is SO Low for you, these are LOW effort to be a /real/ witch. So how dare you not have the 15 minutes in your day to do these things."

While also not dismissing how important low effort magic is for many people who wouldn't otherwise have access to witchcraft or spell casting. Because sometimes it's very important as a personal reconnection for someone to stir into their coffee some witchcraft, some spell casting.

I think it's the /every single day/ and while simultaneously not offering an optional status. But I can't quite get at it, in terms of a mindful discussion. But I'm posting my thoughts here to see if someone else can help me with the phrasing in their rebagels.

I think this is a really interesting discussion, and I am currently having a breakfast bagel, so I feel called to speak on it.

Once I saw this witchcraft book, IIRC a popular author, who was like, "meditation is vital." (sure, maybe, go on) "Start with 15 minutes a day of meditation." (perhaps) "Soon this needs to be expanded to 45 minutes of meditation per day." (no) "Ideally you want to meditate at least 30 minutes in the morning" (no) "and 30 more minutes at night." (no) "I have a full time job" (good for you) "and three kids taken care of by my stay-at-home wife" (the picture becomes clearer) "and this much meditation has allowed me to be extremely financially successful and allows me to take vacations when I need to" (ah, the other shoe drops).

1. I think the kinds of "do X magic/exercise every day" posts feed into another problematic assumption, which is that every single person who wants to practice magic wants to be on the professional/olympic level track.

2. I think that kind of rhetoric also spectacularly fails to describe or define what a "real" or "good" witch is, leading to a circular argument: a good witch practices magic, if you practice magic you are a good witch. Literally, the daily performance of magic becomes the only goalpost.

3. I think a good way to approach the discussion of how to be a "good witch" is starting with the individual practitioner and discussing their wants and needs. I.e., perhaps witchcraft is only ever "good" if it is good for the practitioner. Perhaps, very literally, daily exercises presented for no other real purpose than you're supposed to practice daily is a form of bad witchcraft because for many people it is witchcraft which is bad for them. Performance anxiety, stress and pressure to perform a relatively arbitrary list of activities, and shame/over-exertion isn't good for people.

4. I think that "regular practice" may become a more helpful discussion if it starts with what an individual wants and needs, and provides a clear pathway to help them achieve their goals. E.g. someone who wants to be good at divination may benefit from regular (perhaps not daily, but regular) card draws. Someone who wants to be an energy worker may benefit from grounding/centering exercises much more than someone who wants to cast candle spells. Someone who wants to explore their mind may indeed benefit from regular meditation but not really want or need "imagine you're a tree" grounding.

My dashboard is very slow so I'm gonna make another one of these.

Reblog or Like if:

- you post witchcraft related content (personal stuff is a bonus)

- you're pagan or polytheistic

- memes are appreciated too lol

- support lgbtqia+ (idc if youre part of the community if u dont support trans women and poc dni)

- if u post ur UPGs that's a hella bonus too

just getting back into witchblr after a long hiatus on this blog, but im a queer hellenic polytheist that posts about my personal practice often :)

Me: wishes to be the friendly local folk practitioner people go to for readings, remedies and advice

Also Me: wishes to be the feral local forest hag that the townspeople tell myths and legends about for generations

Witches, remember, it is your craft.

You get to decide what you include and exclude in your craft.

If something interests you, then go for it. If something doesn't, then leave it out.

Someone who loves playing the trombone doesn't have to learn how to play the violin if they don't want to.

A short list of ways to add some magic to your every day life (for disabled folks):

-say a blessing over your pills

-draw a sigil on the bottom of your cane; every time your cane strikes the ground your sigil is strengthened

-charge your electrolyte drink in the moon

-embroider sigils on your wheelchair cover

-let your energy/pain levels guide you in your day; listening to your body is indeed a form of magic

-bless your medical cannabis or other medicinal herbs

-draw sigils on yourself using pain cream or other topical medication

-charge your bottle of distilled water in the moon/sun before using it in your CPAP

-set intentions into braces (strength & support are some of my favorites)

-bless any & all mobility aids to help you

-use your pain when hexing or cursing

-ward your insulin pump against occlusions or failure

-set the intention of dumping the shit in your life when you empty your ostomy

-when using counter maneuvers for POTS, visualize yourself being grounded & connected to the earth

-use the extended digestion time with gastroperesis as a multiplier for kitchen magic

Spoonie Witch Tips!

I have fibromyalgia and it results in extreme bone pain, which sometimes makes it very very hard to just live life, let alone develop my craft. As a result, here’s my list of the easiest witchy practices for spoonie witches to deal with chronic pain or just to develop their craft.

🦋 first of all, BATH SPELLS. nothing has worked better for relieving my pain than a nice hot bath soak. i use bath bombs, herbs, flowers, and sometimes color magic in my baths so i can practice my craft while relieving my pain.

🦋sigils!! this one is huge. sigils are so simple and easy to do, if you use a heating pad for pain at all, draw a pain relief sigil on it! draw sigils anywhere you can, on yourself, school supplies, makeup, etc. this always makes me feel more connected to my practice.

🦋do wards before bed and not during the day. doing wards can drain your energy so much, and coupled with chronic pain this makes it so hard to get through the day. therefore, i always do wards right before i go to bed so i can immediately sleep and replenish my energy.

🦋sun and moon water!! all you have to do is leave some water on a windowsill and you’re good to go. you can use it for all sorts of spell work or even pour a little bit into a hot bath i mentioned earlier.

🦋spend time with your crystals! you can even do this in bed or just carry them with you.

🦋meditate if you can, this can be so relaxing if you’re stuck in bed because of pain.

🦋light some incense to easily help cleanse your space

🦋dream magick!! dream magick is one of my favorite kinds of magic because it is so simple and even on my bad days i can still do a little dream magick if i feel up to it.

🦋divination in bed!! i do this allll the time.

🦋listen to the birds outside if you’re stuck in bed, this one always makes me feel better and more connected to nature.

🦋astral travel!

🦋don’t feel bad if you just don’t have the energy to take care of a plant or can’t because you’re in too much pain. Go for very low maintenance plants or even digital.

🦋create a witchy playlist or listen to music as part of your craft. even sing if you can! music is so powerful, it can have many magical applications. singing always makes me feel so much better.

🦋emoji spells!! you can easily like and reblog to charge and cast an emoji spell, i have a ton on my blog. a lot of people are critical of emoji spells, but magic is intent. the reason why i love emoji spells so much is their simplicity, wide applications, and i can create one for others to use even if i’m bedridden.

🦋DON’T FEEL LIKE YOU *NEED* TO PRACTICE IF YOU ARE IN PAIN. witchcraft will always be there on a day where you feel better, don’t push yourself and risk your health.