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probablygoodrpgideas · 3 years

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Now available again: The Everything Bundle

Get all of my for-pay homebrew content on DMs Guild for 10% off! Includes

Abyssal Tieflings: Not all Tieflings are of Infernal descent. Some are born of Bloodlines touched by some of the vilest Demon Princes of the multiverse. With these 8 new subraces for the Tiefling race, you can now play one of them! Charm your foes with the power of Graz'zt, control Orcus' power of undeath or gain the oozing abilities of Juiblex! All that and more!

Ancient Dragon Patron: Dragons are powerful and proud creatures of great magical power. Sometimes, they decide to share this power with mere mortals and become the patrons of Warlocks. If you want to play such a Warlock, this is for you! Fire elemental eldritch blasts, sprout draconic wings, or frighten your enemies with the power of the dragons! 10 expanded spell lists, for the 10 types of true dragons! In addition to the dragon patron subclass, this document includes the 5th-level evocation spells wall of acid and lightning shock, available for Druids, Sorcerers, Wizards and the Warlocks of some dragons.

Bonder: If you enjoyed the Ikoria set of MTG, or just think that bonding with a mutating monster sounds awesome, this Sorcerer subclass is just right for you! Thanks to mysterious magic deep within you, you were able to form a special bond with one of the many monsters that roam this world. Bond with a Cat, an Elemental-infused animal, a Nightmare, a Dinosaur, or a Beast and see it mutate and become stronger alongside you.

Calls to Adventure: Your character has a class and a background. Your background is what you did before you became an adventurer, and your class is what you are now. What happened to make you go from a simple farmer to a heroic fighter, from an ambitious student to a mighty warlock? This supplement seeks to fill that gap with a Call to Adventure, that grant you mechanical effects based on whatever caused you to take up the call to adventure. Did the Paladin learn something she shouldn’t have? Was the Wizard’s village attacked, forcing them to take up arms and defend their family? Is the Rogue a disgraced noble? These and many more can be found here

Circle of the Vampire: Use the powers of Unlife to defend nature! The Circle of the Vampire is a druid subclass for D&D 5e. Bite your enemies, take their life and use it to heal yourself or your allies! Be a creature of the night and summon dozens of rats, bats or wolves! Tired of being called a "Treehugger" for playing a druid? Let's see how they like it when you suck their life away.

Ma’va’le’s Spellbook: Do you ever look at a spell and think to yourself "This is a really cool spell, if only it was stronger, then I might actually use it"? Well, do I have good news for you! At least if the spell is one of the 18 spells that the young Wizard Ma'Va'Le developed a stronger version of, all collected in this PDF. These include Weird, True Strike, Jump, Vampiric, Touch, and many more!

Oath of Prudence: A paladin is defined by what they seek. Paladins of the Oath of Devotion seek justice. Those of the Oath of Conquest seek power. The Oath of Vengeance is obviously about seeking vengance. The Oath of Revolution calls to people seeking freedom. And if you seek knowledge, the Oath of Prudence is just right for you. The Oath of Prudence is a Paladin subclass that is perfect for characters trying to support the rest of the party as well as characters trying to deal as much damage as possible.

Ravnican Races: The Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica already presents a good number of playable races. But the city plane of Ravnica is far more diverse than just those eight. This features Angels, Merfolk, Homunculi, Vampires, Viashino, Dryads, Kraul, Erstwhile, Spirits, Giants, Faeries, Ogres,Trolls, Gorgons, and Shapeshifters.

School of Tarot: An offshoot of the school of divination, these wizards utilize the power of Tarot not only for divination. Let Fate modify your spells Whenever you cast a spell, you can draw a Tarot card, causing one of 78 effects to happen. The Fool might allow you to make an electric Fireball that requires a Charisma saving throw, while the III of Swords might cause you great pain. Embody one of the Major Arcana Choose one of the 22 Major Arcana that best fits your personality or current situation, and receive bonuses from it. The Magician strengthens your magical abilities, The Chariot makes it difficult to stop you from reaching your goals, and The Hanged Man allows you to sacrifice yourself for the greater good.

Szarla’s Spellbook: Szarla is a wizard turned vampire. Over the millennia of her eternal unlife, she developed many spells others describe as "needlessly cruel" or "ethically messed up" but she prefers to call them "funny". Among them are spells such as Shatter Flesh, Shape Bones, and Crush Heart. Includes 12 new 2nd to 9th level spells.

The Archives of Arastranu: Is there something you need to find out? Some ancient lore, or maybe a rare spell? Why not visit the Archives of Arastranu? The Archivists there are trying to collect all knowledge the multiverse has to offer and make it available to the public! The Archives are setting-agnostic, so you can use them in the Forgotten Realms, Ravnica, Eberron, or your own setting. This PDF contains everything you need to put the Archives into your D&D game: A summary of the history of the Archives, a short description of the Archive's surroundings, a description of the Archivists who run the place, a more in-depth description of High Archivist Al'A'Ark, the leader of the Archives, an explanation of how a visit to the Archives usually plays out, rules on how to find information in the Archives, and a new spell

The Archivist: Play a seeker and defender of knowledge with this new class! Use the power of psionics to summon a weapon and turn invisible! Or master the arcane arts as no one has ever done before you! Featuring 2 unique subclasses

The Way of the Ancient: A monk that follows the Way of the Ancient is one that, while meditating, discovered an ancient, eldritch presence, deep within themselves, and embraced it. They gain the ability to disrupt the mind of their foes and are feared by the few who know about their existence

Weapon Feats and Fighting Styles: Six new Feats and eight new Fighting Styles, all focused on improving the use you can get out of specific weapons, encouraging you to try out weapons you might otherwise not! Every weapon from the Player's Handbook is improved by at least one Feat or Fighting Style, and most weapons that are very similar (like the Longsword and the Flail) are improved by different Feats or Fighting Styles, to increase variety.

#not ideas #homebrew

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seattlesea · 3 years

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Percy Jackson Characters + Types of People

Percy: waves on a beach, black clothes, hella candy, knee and elbow scrapes, blasting music, 7-Elevens at 3AM, & skateboards

Annabeth: long runs, the scent of lemons, denim jackets, early mornings, bright suns, iced coffee, & reading until 4AM

Jason: fogged glasses, thunderstorms, marble columns, static shocks, cloudy skies, old museums, & ancient statues

Piper: hot sand, silk jackets, vanilla perfume, long hair, citrus drinks, hiking boots, & a horrible sense of style

Frank: long bear hugs, worn out t-shirts, basketballs, large open fields, sunflowers, animal rights, & mountain ranges

Hazel: gold jewelry, deep passions, honey, drawing late at night, hot tea, sweet but deadly, & pearls straight out the sea

Leo: loud laughs, giant grins, caffeine, spicy foods and chips, long car rides, playing with matches and lighters, & tools

Reyna: hot chocolate and caffeine, double braids, boxing gloves, nice mom hugs, feminism, a dog person, beautiful cities, & ancient architecture

Nico: tarot cards, combat boots, aviator jackets, skull-print clothes and jewelry, black cats and coffee, roses, & ordering fast food at 2AM

Thalia: leather jackets, pocket knives, studs and chains, energy drinks, jumping fences, running through the woods, & star-gazing at midnight

Rachel: paint splatters, the golden hour, overall shorts, light freckles, rainbows on a sunny day, bright-colored shoes, & palettes

Will: band-aids, sunny mornings, iced tea, mangoes and oranges, stethoscopes, yellow Converse, & acoustic guitars

Calypso: islands, flower crowns, travelling the world, seashells, tropical birds, canoeing, & drawing in the sand

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stygiantarot · 4 years

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Modern Divination Methods

(originally taught in The Alexandria Archives on 4/9/2020)

Divination is most certainly one of the oldest practices of witchcraft. Reading omens, trancing for prophecy/scrying, and using tools to read symbols or patterns have all been used in some form for practically as long as society has existed. Many people are familiar with the mainstream ones: Tarot, runes, tea leaves, scrying, etc. Last time I went over some more unusual methods. Today, in light of the current global situation having many person’s stuck in limited spaces with limited supplies, I thought we could touch on some modern methods. Most require nothing more than what you already have at your fingertips!

We will explore in some detail:

Shufflemancy: divination using randomized songs

Stichomancy: divination using passages in a volume of writing

Traffic omens: Modernizing weather style omen reading using things like cars, stoplights, types of buildings passed, etc.

We’ll also touch on a couple other ideas you might try expanding on:

Online Randomizer: Think like the old web extension Stumble upon or even those websites that give you random quotes, images, names, etc.

Social Media Image Scrying: using a collection of images online to select a particular one for interpretation.

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Shufflemancy

Many of you have probably heard of this method, likely even tried it! Shufflemancy is the method of divination that uses a platform or application to randomize a selection/playlist of songs for interpretation. You can either just hit the shuffle button once and go with that initial song or you can incorporate a more personalized experience by having the querent choose a number of skips to hit. It can also be tailored by using specific playlists you’ve compiled or certain genre options on applications like Spotify or Pandora.

You can expand on this with applications like Youtube to include videos. It’s my fantasy that platforms like Netflix or Hulu will come up with a “randomizer” or shuffle type option someday. It would be such a blast to play a random video and then use that for divination!

It’s important to take into account both the lyrics and the melody/mood of the music when your selection is being interpreted. If you aren’t sure if you’d be comfortable with that initially, I recommend building a “beginner’s” sort of playlist that is filled with songs you know very well and have personal feelings about. It makes the interpretation that much easier. Much like using a Tarot or Oracle deck that has art styles or characters you’re familiar with. You may also incorporate the visuals of a music video if there is one for the song. Shufflemancy usually works better for more expansive readings rather than just yes/no questions. Although you can sometimes get that sort of immediately “positive” or “negative” impression from many songs, assuming it doesn’t have both!  

This method is a therapeutic way to delve into some modern divination. The emotional and cathartic aspect can be soothing for both the reader and the querent. Not to mention the connection it builds as you share music between you. A feel good way to practice some divination with no physical tools beyond some technology access.

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Stichomancy

This method of divination, sometimes called bibliomancy, uses a book or similar volume of writing to select passages from to interpret. Most people use the page number as the way to select, telling the querent to select a number between the first and last page (and what the highest number possible is). But there are intuitive methods as well. Using the physical shuffling of pages until it feels right to stop rather than a selected number. I find the latter method more useful when reading for myself and the former method more cooperative when I’m reading for others.

Like with shufflemancy, stichomancy is much affected by your personalizing of the tool. Use books you love! Use books that have specific genres for specific queries (a romance book for a relationship reading?). Use anthologies (short story or poetry collections) to get a variety of styles and language to work with.    

You can also use books that are more visual, like my headstone symbolism book pictured above. It makes the reading more akin to Tarot, but you can use captions to help expand on the interpretation. Practice trial and error with multiple books until you feel comfortable and confident that the results are accurate enough. The books I have in the photo I shared are the five I’m comfortable using in regular readings. I play with others for myself or specific queries for friends or family but often I’m not comfortable adding them to my regular repertoire. I have a series of dimestore style paperback mysteries that love to give readings for a dear friend but are useless in accuracy for anyone else. Books have personalities- if you didn’t already know that this method will teach you that fact quickly. You can also create your own specific stichomancy book using a notebook with numbered short passages and poems of that have significance to you. It can be an enriching process to collect all the passages to add to your own book and you can give them more specific and more easily remembered associations when compiling them yourself. Do remember to give proper credit/sourcing to all your collected passages though! 

You don’t need the largest book possible to be effective with this method of divination. “Desperation” and “Chilling Ghost Short Stories” are my thickest books, but honestly I’ve gotten more insightful readings from my two slim fairy tale volumes. It’s truly a method you make your own. I have friends who prefer to exclusively use books of poetry rather than fictional prose. That is good too!

A note: don’t feel like you need to have a physical book- I’ve had some success with ebooks! It can be trickier to do the flip-through for sure, but not impossible. 

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Traffic Omens

I was probably about 8 years old when I first played the “If, Then” game. “If this next light turns green before we reach it, then I’ll get McDonalds for lunch.” A simple and almost childish game of course. But essentially, traffic omens. I expanded on it as I got older to include seeing certain makes and colors of cars during my commute. Or a certain number of common buildings like churches or banks. A type of architecture or statues featuring certain things. It can be as common or uncommon as your needs require.

This is a method that’s a little trickier to lay out for others in step-by-step ways because it is omen based and therefore requires you to select what works for your specific area/region, what type of commute based omens you feel comfortable noticing, what meanings they have for you, etc. And since this is omen-based, it isn’t exactly ideal for actively standard divination reading. It’s more ideal for a passive style, or personal predictions in your own life.

You can build a system that works for you and could predict luck in a career, prosperity in the home, or a new friend. I recommend starting a journal of the sort of “omens” you notice on your commute. Follow up with a short blurb about how your day went and how you felt. Then you can refer back to it and create the personal system from there. You can vary the more common with uncommon omens- just remember to ascribe the appropriate association. Seeing a certain number of bank buildings can be good for meaning an increase in general finances but you’d likely want something more uncommon like an usual make and model of a single car for snagging a dream job. You can also create variations for when you’re walking during your day instead of commuting! 

 A bit more involved but something interesting to experiment with in our modern society. And keep a bit of that childlike wonder!

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Online Randomizer

Did you ever play with the web extension “Stumble Upon” back when it existed? The idea was that you installed it in whatever web browser you happened to be using and then clicked it to get directed to an entirely random website. Though it’s intention was obviously to curb boredom, it is definitely something interesting to try as a divination tool. Stumble Upon no longer exists (as far as I know), however there are similar extensions or webpages that let you do the same thing (this one comes to mind: https://theuselessweb.com). There is also options like Wikipedia’s “random article” ability that works along the same lines. This method is similar to stichomancy in that you’ll likely be working with text a lot of the time. But be aware of the medium you’re working with- a webpage is more than just a page in a book. What is its purpose? How well is it designed? What sort of visuals does it use? What emotional impressions do you get from it? It can start simple, but you can see the options are there for expanding an interpretation pretty elaborately. And again, a number of clicks can be incorporated if you like.

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Multi-Image Scrying (Social Media Image Scrying)   

It’s hard for me to come up with a concise name for this. But it’s possible you’ve come across persons doing this on various platforms like Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, etc. There is a selection of images in a format similar to a moldboard to view. The reader has a querent select an image that stands out to them and builds a reading based on the selection. Similar to a random draw from a Tarot or Oracle card with symbolism and art imagery lending itself to the interpretation. This can be great to try if you are into color symbolism or can easily see how certain artwork evokes certain emotions. Similar to what websites like Buzzfeed or the astro.com color chart quiz is! Almost like an alternative horoscope based on visual selections you are drawn to.

Be sure to ethically collect images for something like this if you plan on offering it to others. There are many websites that have royalty free images you can use for projects like this. Or you can even use ones you have yourself! These don’t have to be high art photographs, simple ones on your phone can absolutely work. The biggest goal is to make sure they are varied so a large amount of interpretation is possible.

There is a version of this using face down Tarot (or oracle) cards as well. You take a photo (or have video) of them face down and then have your querent select one at random without either of you knowing what it is. Then once you flip it over you can giving a reading based on that. It’s not especially different from a standard long distance Tarot reading except it can be used on a mass scale. For example, I’ve done this for my business Facebook or Instagram where I have a grid of numbered face down cards. Then I put the meanings of each card in the comments so someone can select the card before reading the comments and get a low-tech daily reading without an app.

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Even though many of these methods evoke playful games of childhood, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have potential as a valid form of divination. Many forms of divination in the past started as games or ways to pass time before they were built into the forms of divination we know today. A modern technique may seem “sillier” to traditionalists but just like younger generations are proving the further reaching use of modern technology to previous generations; it is time to prove the modern forms of divination as valid to the traditionalists!

#divination #stichomancy #shufflemancy #types of divination #witchblr #TAA #fortune telling #witchcraft class #witchcraft 101 #modern divination #modern witchcraft #witchy #modern omens

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tyra-greydawn · 3 years

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fill this in with the best association you have for your muse in each category.

aroma: Motor oil and gasoline. natural disaster: Hurricane colour: Azure time: Night magical power: Shapeshifting bag: Tool roll art style: Technical drawings/drafting blade weapon: Glaive school subject: Shop good luck token: Armband unpleasant sound: "Oops" tarot card: Currently, the tower. Generally, the Sun tangible fear: Being alone unsolved mystery: Area 51. I'm certain Tyra would be that weirdo with the yarn board if it existed in wow. type of intelligence: Book smarts. body part: Eyes mythological creature: Garuda type of furniture: Workbench celestial body: Comet oddly specific movie genre: Showa era Godzilla movies

Tagged by @maxparkhurst ‘s shotgun blast.

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marchusburchens · 4 years

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projecting feelings onto each The Rise Undaunted M9 suite

Fjord - The Gift of the Sea

Montage style visuals: learning the ropes on the ship with Vandran, finding the falchion, learning to Blink/Misty Step/Thunder Step, pressing a red button and squaring up with a dragon alone, every Control Water, a whole sequence of Thunder-Stepping his friends out of danger, driving his sword into his innards, surrendering to a higher power and for a moment finding peace

Emotions: excitement, resolve, innovation; separating the real from the false, learning to recognise when you’re loved, learning how to be a leader only from your own mistakes; falling in order to get back up, turning the fragile core of insecurity into a force of nature

Caleb - Beyond Scorched Memories

Montage style visuals: cat stepping carefully through burned ruins; studying in darkened libraries, singlemindedly scrawling plans for new spells in disastrously-organized notebooks in disastrously messy spaces, looking over his shoulder; throwing his arms around and half-tackling Nott, a sequence of how he went from entering battles shaking with fear to entering with unparalleled and unemotional severity, a sequence of him facing off against Molly, Fjord, Beau, Astrid, Trent; sitting alone at night on the edge of the bubble seemingly uneventfully, even as we dip into the Ethereal Plane and see magic flurry around him

Emotions: all-consuming anxiety and brilliance, that then feed into unchecked intensity and focus when externalised; who are you if not your sins, except when that falls away in the rush of fighting for something good; magic

Yasha - Storm’s Boon

Montage style visuals: tracking a solitary figure over vast plains and wastes, rolling clouds pulsing with lightning, before striking a tree; sitting back while friends buzz around her, smiling but turning her head to watch the rain out the window; receiving the Magicians Judge and attuning to it, winning arm wrestling, wrecking the beasts in the Champion’s Pit; stumbling to kneel beside his grave, tears in her eyes while with Obann, pressing a flower into her book; bellowing in rage, wings crackling outwards, a sequence of her most bloody and violent kills, turning once more to face the Storm Lord, breaking her chains

Emotions: power, exhaustion, sorrow, perseverance; believing in the trust of higher powers, finding the energy to keep going, absolute dominance; you are more than what has happened to you

Mollymauk - Long May He Reign

Montage style visuals: tarot cards being laid out, silhouette at the entrance of a dark circus tent; bursting jangling into rooms, pointy-teeth predatory grins, leaping onto fence tops, throwing himself at Yasha, fleeting kisses; protectiveness, comforting when he can, taking a moment out of sight to take a deep breath before going back to displaying carefree impishness; barely getting his feet under him before jumping into a fray, swords simultaneously slicing his neck as he draws them; staring agape at drawing poison from a wound; sitting on the back of the cart, painting his cards

Emotions: naivety, invulnerability, delight, warmth; taking on trickery and capriciousness as your personality, but being grounded in your personal truth to a fault; realizing that it’s that easy to care so much for people you barely know and desperately wanting to keep that; willing people to love each other so much that you would die for it

Caduceus - Petrichor

Montage style visuals: days and nights passing at the Grove, as the sickness spreads; blossoming a mushroom from a rotten log, trickling beetles out of the staff into an iridescent cloud; observing those around him and sliding to where he can be most helpful, instantly reassuring others when he returns from death, disguising uncertainty with calmness when looking up at Kravaraad; communing, guiding Fjord, observing the purple seed in the Menagerie and giving it to his family, dreaming of walking through the Grove again; bursting into a shimmering Spirit Guardians, scrambling to Fjord and Revivifying, blasting the cannons in the Happy Fun Ball; watching out for all others in the heat of battle and when it dies down, immediately beginning to pray, leaning back into the body of the Mother as she appears behind him

Emotions: assuredness, youth, selflessness, beauty; god-like loftiness grounded in humanity; greatness from purely believing it will come; refusing to give in to or allow anything less than Pure Good

#critical role #theriseundaunted #god i love sea and storm motifs

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kuonabnaq · 4 years

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What is Wicca and how do you get started?

As Wicca stems from Paganism, it is closely linked to the belief that nature rules everything. However, the founder mixed in Eastern mysticism, Kabbalah and British legend as well as various esoteric traditions. The result is an intricate religion that is interpretation-based, you will often meet Wiccans who pick and choose what fits their needs and what they grew up with. For me personally, Wicca is a way to communicate my wishes and necessities to myself. The spells and prayers help to articulate what my body and mind are lacking in the moment. If you ask a Gardnerian Wiccan, that is probably different – Gardnerians are the most orthodox members of the community and follow the original traditions closely. The most basic principle is that everything exists in a duality – and all individuals do as well. Therefore, there's a dual deity manifesting in a male and a female avatar. Witches (a gender-neutral term) can choose to see them as not having a specific name or form, but there are those who honor Isis and Osiris, Hera and Zeus, or Apollo and Athena, to mention a few established pairings. Gardnerian witches receive the „true names“ of the God and Goddess after their initiation ceremony.

If you choose to practice the Wiccan religion in a community (sometimes called a coven), there is probably a High Priest or Priestess who will initiate you in a ceremony. After that, you will be at the lowest step of their degree system and with experience (studying the craft) and time gain ranks – that time is often referred to as the traditional „year and a day“ period. The initiation is seen as your rebirth to most covens, dedicating yourself to their deities is therefore something you will do for your whole life. Not being part of a coven is also accepted and common, and witches may choose to perform a ritual of self-dedication to pledge their loyalty to the path.

The word „witch“ already implies that magic is something very ingrained into Wiccan belief – and that's true. Magic is something that happens all the time, wherever we are. The difference is whether we add our intention or not. Magic isn't inherently supernatural, it's more about the natural energy. Looking at a candle or a bonfire is pretty soothing, because the controlled flames have calming energy. Watching a forest or a house burn down is upsetting, because that energy is out of control and often unleashed because someone had bad intentions or was neglectful of their environment. This is why rituals and spells are mostly performed inside a sacred circle: The circle is laid out intentionally, it harnesses any energy you may invoke and keeps outside energies at bay, allowing you to focus on what you want to work on. Anyone can work magic with a bit of practice, you don't need to belong to the priesthood for it.

Common tools to help you with focusing your intent are

the athame, a ritual dagger used to carve symbols into materials (also in the air, as it is seen as having energy as well)

a Book of Shadows

herbs (especially herbal wands that may be lit to create smoke)

crystals

Tarot cards

runes

coal

and candles.

Most Wiccans I know adhere to the Wiccan Rede, it's the closest thing the religion has to gospel – it's a set of rules that you choose to live by. Not everyone does, but especially the ones focusing on performing magic to change the world around them perform rituals according to the Law Of Threefold Return (also called the Rule Of Three): Whatever energy you put out into the world, whether positive or negative, will be returned to you three times as strongly. That's why people will often discourage using magic to harm others, it's going to bite you in the end.

If you choose to get started practicing this religion and find a coven, they will probably explain anything according to their rules, so it's best to follow their advice. If you want to be self-dedicated, though, I encourage you to start by looking up what a Book of Shadows is and what people have put in theirs. Books like these are used to document the witches' „year and a day“ journey. Anything related to the workings land there. It doesn't matter whether it's a cheap binder filled with print-outs and screenshots, or a giant tome handpainted and filled with your own secret language. What matters is that you document everything you've learned because all of our knowledge influences our behaviour and our opinions. Popular topics to put into your Book of Shadows include:

crystal types and their magical abilities

herbs and their use in medicine

the „wheel of the year“, a calendar for witches

moon phases

drawings of tools and tea leaf readings

sigil style studies

spell poems, chants and ritualistic words

aspects of the deities

the history of the religion/influencing religions

dream diaries or regular journals to keep track of their personal character development

ritual progress (especially important for charging rituals etc)

elemental correspondences

and many more, honestly.

Still interested in starting your journey of being a witch? Great, welcome to the wonderful world of weirdness! Your room is probably the place where you will spend a lot of time studying and also where you may keep your Book of Shadows, so it doesn't hurt to cleanse it. If you already know that you will perform all your magic in a different room, perform this ritual there.

To get you started, gather the following things:

a clear, round glass bowl (size doesn't matter)

white salt

a white candle and something to light it with

white paper

your favorite writing tool (ballpoint pen, pencil, marker, doesn't matter)

Fill the glass bowl with clean, cold water to about a third. Place it either in the middle of the room's floor or, if you want to contain your magic to a special table, in the middle of that. It should have as much clear space around it as possible, and if you cleanse a table, its surface should be empty.

Next, write out your intention on the paper: If you already know why you want to be a witch, you can write that down. If you feel excited, write that down. If you want to greet the deities, write that down as well. This is about cleansing your room of negative energy, so it's not the time to write down worries or doubts – those will have space in a later ritual, if you so wish.

Done writing? Great! Place your paper next to the bowl and get out the salt. In a clockwise movement and keeping the salt in your right hand, draw a circle around your bowl. It should be big enough to let you sit /stand in front of it, or if you cleanse a table, it should encompass the biggest possible area of the surface. Don't worry about special words right now, just focus your thoughts on keeping negative energy out of the circle and gathering positive energy inwards.

Now you're ready to light the candle. Once it's lit up, hold it over your water bowl and let it burn until the flame is completely still. Then, say this poem out loud, or in your mind: "Creature of wax - Creature of fire - Listen to me - Hear my desire - Cleanse this room - By the power of three - and blast away all negativity - With harm to none - So shall it be!"

Light the paper carefully, let it burn a little and then put it into the water bowl. Leave the candle to burn for at least an hour after that, to ensure that the light has cleansed every corner. If it's hard to hold it for that long, you can carefully place it next to the water bowl. Don't leave it burning alone, though, stay focused on the good energy that it emits.

After you're done, blow out the candle while thanking the fire's energy for cleansing the room. Next, remove the salt circle in counter-clockwise direction, if you can. The water should be thrown out either outside or down the drain, as it has absorbed negativity – you asked fire to bring positivity and the natural opposite, water, has taken on the opposite task. Take out the soggy paper before throwing the water out to protect the environment!

#wicca for beginners #wiccan #wicca spells #ritual #wiccan 101 #magic #how to be cool

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shitthehousessay · 6 years

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Alright, it took a day (albeit I haven't really had much of a chance to work on it), but it's finally done. Here's my responses to the 102 questions^^. I probably put too much personal info on this site lol.

I’m doing this on my laptop because of how long it is, but answers are under the cut. Hope you enjoy random tidbits about me!

--Zero (the [other] Ravenclaw)

1. What is their full name?

While I usually use and prefer Zero Ace as an online name, my irl name is Solomon.

2. Zodiac sign

Pisces

3. In detail describe how they look

I'm 5'10" with a build like Shaggy Rodgers. I'm about,,,, less than 120lbs (that's a guess really, it's probably way less or slightly more.). You ever see a cloud? Yeah, imagine one as black wavy/curly hair with red tips (natural, not dyed) that goes to about the bottom of my neck. Brown eyes, half philipino (no, I don't know any of the language), decent moustache, and I've been told by various people that they thought I was a stoner when they first met me.

4. How old are they?

I am 16

5. What clothes to they like to wear?

I don't really have any kind of set style either. I usually just go with whatever's comfy for me.

6. What’s their favorite piece of clothing?

I've got this really soft brown fake leather jacket that my dad got me about two or three years ago that I used to wear consistently, but I'm not sure if I have a 'favorite'.

7. Any piercings?

Nope

8. Do they have any other jewelry they wear?

I wear a Timex Ironman analogue watch that I got at Walmart a few years ago ('twas on sale) and a ring with a part that spins in the middle that I bought in like sixth grade at the Newseum in DC.

9. Any tattoos?

Nah

10. How old are they?

See above

11. What do they smell like?

Idk, disappointment probably

12. What are their four trinkets?

(I'm gonna do stuff on my school backpack for this one) -- I've got a Ministry of Magic keychain, a Pokeball keychain, a Spiderman keychain, and a Ravenclaw house emblem pin.

13. GOVERNMENT MANDATED FERSONA

Roomba with a knife taped to it

14. What kind of magic are they good at?

Accidental Procrastination, aka Time Travel

15. What kind of magic are they bad at?

Luck

16. Of the four, six or seven magical elements which are they most connected to? Four: fire,air water earth. six: fire,air,water, wood,earth, metal. Seven:fire, air, water, wood, earth, metal, aither.

Not sure if this is asking about choosing a single element or a group, so I'm gonna go with water.

17. What does their gateway look like prior to their memory loss? What does it look like afterwards?

(I'm not sure what this is asking)

18. Do they have a familiar? If they do. What type of animal is it? What is it’s name? Is it still around after they lost their memory?

I have an old yellow cat named Iris and he's pretty cool. We share birthdays and he's one year older than me.

19. Have they ever cursed someone?

I have tried and I will continue to try.

20. How do they handle those headaches/migraines?

I sometimes put headphones in and listen to ambience after taking some medicine, but on some of my bad days I just wait for them to pass, even when it takes a few hours.

21. What tarot card do they connect the most with?

I'm gonna be honest: I know next to nothing about tarot cards.

22. Where were they born?

Tennessee

23. What is their favorite color?

Like a light blue or teal. Specifically though? #41A9B8

24. What is their least favorite color?

This is a tough one. I'm gonna go with like a rusty brown

25. Are they right handed, left handed or ambidextrous?

Right handed

26. What were they like as a child?

This would take a while, but I was a little shit, imo. (Also, kinda hard for me to remember specifically rn)

27. What were their parents like?

My dad's okay, he's not the best but he's doing great. My mom? Well, let's just say my opinion of her has always been pretty decent of her up until around when 2018 started.

28. Do they have any siblings? If the answer is yes how many?

Yes, I have three half brothers, two on my mom's side (who I wish would die) and one on my dad's side.

29. Do they have any other relatives they are close with?

I've got a lot of aunts (dad's side) that I consider myself close with, along with a few cousins. There's also my Grandma and Grandpa (dad's side) that I love a lot. I also have a nephew who's about I wanna say 5 or 6 years old who's a blast to hang out with.

30. What are they afraid of?

Spiders kinda scare me. And a few things associated with low self-esteem that I don't want to mention here.

31. What do they identify as?

I am a Demi-Pansexual dude

32. Do they have any allergies?

None that I know of

33. Do they have any other medical problems?

I can't think of any specifics right now

34. What about mental health issues?

Depression and Anxiety both are self-diagnosed though. I'm waiting until after highschool, or until the age where I can legally keep things like those to myself without having to tell my parents, before I go to get them diagnosed

35. What’s that personal hygiene regimen like?

Showers at least once a day, twice if possible. Remember to try to brush your teeth, too.

36. Favorite rock or gemstone?

Amythest because it's my birthstone

37. Favorite tree?

Redwoods are pretty cool

38. Favorite type of weather?

Not too hot, not too cold and sunny and cloudless or overcast and rainy, depending on mood

39. Least favorite type of weather?

The type of cloudless hot day that just saps your energy away like nothing else

40. What is their favorite season? (remember winter is summer and spring is fall)

Winter

41. How many languages could they speak before the memory loss? How many do they currently speak?

English and very broken French

42. Do they sing or play any instruments?

I sing from time to time (albeit not very good) and I have an ocarina that I really want to take time and learn

43. What do they tend to joke about?

Self-deprecation is my go-to, then there's vine humor and some standup, then just nonsense humor (See: bORGER)

44. After a stressful day how do they relax?

Nap a bit, then some music and/or video games

45. Guilty pleasures?

Idk, I can't think of any. Sonic ‘06, maybe is the closest thing that I have to one.

46. idiosyncrasies?

I guess you could list a lot of the usual ADHD stimming methods. I also adjust my glasses from the side sometimes whenever I’m nervous/anxious or when I want to appear confident. Adjusting my watch on my wrist is also something that I do a lot. I know I have a lot more, but :/

47. How do they act when they first meet someone new? How quickly do they warm up to them?

I can be kinda timid and quiet. I usually try to listen in on conversations involving that person/people to try to find somethings that I can remember and use for initiating conversations, especially if it’s with stuff that I know a bit about. It usually takes two or three semi-long times amd well interactions spent with me for me to start being comfortable around other people. I don't warm up too quickly, unless if you can get through my barriers pretty well

48. In what order would they prioritize Love, fame, money, power, and knowledge?

Love, knowledge, money, power, fame

49. List four or more things they love to do

Draw, read, talk with internet friends, play video games, browse the internet

50. List four or more things they hate to do

doing boring and uninteresting school work, being an unnecessary nuisance, hearing about family drama, engaging in school drama

51. List five or more things they have said that sum up who they are

"I'm laughing my ass off rn because the program the state is using for EOC testing was apparently hacked so we aren't testing today, but when my class heard it almost everyone started looking at me and saying I did it." [...] "Meanwhile: I nearly tripped over my backpack"

"Oh good, we get to make memes of stuff in the Louvre for extra credit. Looks like my grade is about to rise drastically."

"I’m gonna go provoke this cult so I can get asks in my inbox"

“I stole this haircut from a lion”

"I have many problems"

52. How do they react to (both verbal and physical) conflict?

I'm a pacifist so I try to stay out of situations like that (They bring up too many negative memories and emotions for me)

53. What kind of bad habits to they have?

I have a lot of trouble with a perfectionist mentality. It gets me into a lot of sticky situations

54. What kind of character faults do they have?

What even is self-esteem/ self-worth/ self-love????? To me, my needs come last. Self-doubt out the wazoooooo. Tons of unresolved shit. That's barely even scratching the surface.

55. What’s their best trait in their opinion?

I try to have a lot of empathy for people and I want to make people happy, even if I’m not happy.

56. What do they think of their appearance?

I like mine, at least a bit.

57. How do they interact with people in a position of authority?

Honestly, it just depends on the person. If the person in question is a dick, you better believe I’m not going to react well to their face.

58. Who did they look upto as a kid?

Mostly like video game characters from games that I played.

59. How do they interact with kids?

I like kids pretty well.

60. Do they want kids of their own someday?

I don't know. I don't think I'm at a point in my life where I can answer that right now.

61. Are they religious? If so what god/goddess or gods/goddesses do they worship?

I'm agnostic

62. What do they think the meaning of life is?

Idk... Maybe... Self-discovery, in a way.

63. What would they want their last words to be?

There are three roads. Maybe omething meaningful, like "Thank you," maybe something vague and prophetic like, "You won't have to wait much longer," or maybe, just maybe, something like, "I'll be back bitches!!!"

64. What do they want to do before they die?

I want to make at least one game and book that people enjoy and that I will be satisfied with

65. What/how do they want to be remembered for after they die?

I would like to be remembered fondly by people who knew me.

66. How do they express affection?

I'm usually very asocial, so if I make an active effort to maintain communication with someone, then they usually mean something to me. I also send memes and stuff. Also, I try to open up a little more around people that I trust

67. What do they normally eat for breakfast?

It usually just depends on how much time I have in the morning. Can range from poptarts to a slice of toast between two pieces of bread to leftover pizza

68. Do they like spicy food?

Yeah

69. Favorite fruit and or vegetable?

Favorite fruit is probably mandarin oranges and my favorite vegetable is probably carrots

70. Do they like sweets?

On occasion

71. Do they drink alcohol? If they do, what do they act like when their drunk?

Nope, but probably like a damn fool

72. How do they take their tea/coffee?

I like sweet ice tea or maybe some herbal tea with a small bit of sugar or honey. As for coffee, I don't usually drink it, but I can drink it pure black or french vanilla

73. What food would they refuse to eat?

Most things that have a weird texture and/or smell

74. Is there anything they eat that most people would find unappealing?

You ever drink just straight sauces? Like A1 steak sauce or barbecue sauce? Yeah....

75. When going on the road what food could they not live without?

I need me some original ritz

76. What meal gives them a sense of nostalgia?

Not sure about nostalgia, but my school sells fresh-made chocolate chip cookies during lunch on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and I get them a lot when I'm having bad days

77. What do they do when no one’s around?

I sometimes sing and maybe hop around, but I usually just do stuff that I do when people are around (like browse tumblr)

78. How would they react if a prized possession got stolen?

Cry, feel numb, or go ballistic. There is no in-between.

79. What’s the first thing they would buy if they won the lottery?

A better computer, that's for sure

80. What would their favorite modern invention be?

The Nintendo Switch!!

81. In a new unfamiliar place what do they do?

Observe the surroundings from the sidelines before doing anything

82. Someone just threatened them what do they do?

It depends on the situation, but I either brush it off or I take precautionary measures (like a protective order if my life is being threatened)

83. A rather well rich looking woman just dropped her purse and didn’t notice. What do they do?

I might try to give it back.... after I check her wallet and get some cash as an award...

84. What’s the worst thing someone has said to them?

The one that sticks out the most is probably the time when one of my older half-brothers was yelling at me and said that if I ever wonder why people say that I act like a school shooter it's because I act like one most of the time (all this stemmed because I was frustrated over a book recommendation not posting and instead of letting me silently cool down, my mom and brother kept on talking crap about me and I decided to say "Just shut up for a few minutes").

Oh, but there’s also the time when I went with my dad to the divorce case’s hearing to testify against my mom and my brothers and the judge looked at me and said “You’re 16, right? In two years, you’ll be 18. When I was 18 I was heading to war. So, if you’re gonna cry, go do it somewhere else because I don’t want anyone coming up here and being a crybaby in my courtroom.” That fucking stunned me when he said it.

85. What is the strangest thing they’ve ever come across?

"can i hear your belly" has to be the weirdest and most unsettling direct message that I have ever gotten from someone who isn't a bot and it haunts me to this day

86. Someone just stole food from them what do they do?

I don't usually eat a lot, so if someone takes food from me I don't really care.

87. They meet a man at a crossroads. The man says they can have everything they’ve ever wanted. What happens next?

I would check to see if there was anything I want to make sure that my family and friends and people who are close to me that haven’t experienced mental illnesses like depression or anxiety to never develop any mental illnesses as long as they live, before anything.

88. As a child what would they say they wanted to be as an adult? ie. When I grow up I’m going to _______

My dream has always been and continues to be to become a successful video game developer and/or producer. I want to help create worlds to escape to when the real world becomes a bit too overbearing.

89. What’s their D&D alignment?

I consider myself a neutral good

90. What is the stupidest thing they’ve ever done?

Oof, that's a long list. Probably entering the crawlspace under my Grandma's house too fast and getting a part of my lower back pretty bad. Boy, did it leave a pretty big scar.

91. Have they ever got in trouble with the law or been arrested?

Nope

92. Do they know how to win a fight?

I like to think so. I'm not going to not play dirty if I feel like I'm in danger. Also try to use the environment to your advantage if possible.

93. Are they good at hand to hand combat?

I dunno. I doubt it, but I haven't really tried.

94. Have they ever stolen something?

I have, but really only minor things and only from people that I hate

95. Have they ever killed someone?

Not yet, :p

96. What/who do they find disgusting?

I can't look at stuff or pictures like decaying stuff (like dead stuff) without gagging

97. What upsets them the most?

Conflict mostly. The thought that I'm bothering people also does it. And I feel odd, to say the least about physical contact.

98. What anime character would they be?

I feel like maybe Fafnir (Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid) or either Shinra or Mikado (Durarara!) could fit me.

99. What disney character would they be?

I didn't really know about this one, so I asked a few of my friends and one of them [the one who actually answered my question with an actual Disney character] said that I remind them of Sora from Kingdom Hearts, on the grounds that I've "got a good heart" and I'm "always confused". It was the nicest thing I've heard all week^^

100. What monster would they be?

Knife-wielding tentacle

101. What mythological figure would they be?

Tbh, I don't know enough mythology off the top of my head to answer this question.

102. List three songs that you associate with them.

Hmm.... this one is very tough for me because there are different songs that define different points in my life... As for songs that kinda aren’t bound by specific points in my life, even if I haven’t known these songs all my life, I'm thinking that these could fit the best here:

ECHO (feat. GUMI) by Crusher-P

Simple Life by Fox Stevenson

Canonball (Mythos Remix) from Megaman Zero 3

Anyway, I hope you now know a little more about me now. Do what you will with the information, I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ . It’s really late for me and I’m really tired so I may go ahead and get some sleep for tonight. Have a good one everyone^^ !

#[[P.S. in the tags]]#zero #about zero #long post #not a quote #shitthehousessay #it would be great if you could like not use this info against me. I already have tons of trust issues so I'm #entrusting you Internet Stranger to please respect that. I mean I'm not too worried tbh. Mel and Miki built a pretty good #community on this blog filled with tons of wonderful and kind people. You all are great!!! <3 #that being said it's still cool if you want to like/reblog this post (dunno why you would want to rb this but #I mean I won't get mad if you do)

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progressiveparty · 5 years

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Bernie Sanders can beat Trump

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STUNNING Bernie Sanders can beat Trump

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Bernie Sanders can beat Trump

When trying to guess which candidate will be strongest against Donald Trump in 2020, you would be equally well-served by a dowsing rod, Ouija board, tea leaves, or deck of tarot cards as you would by the informed judgment of cable news pundits or political reporters. Yet polls show the Democratic primary electorate, apparently still scarred by Trump's surprise win in 2016, are attempting cast their own political yarrow stalks by lining up whoever has the best chance to win next year. Only God knows which Democratic candidate will be the strongest in 14 months' time. However, we can say one thing with as much confidence as can be mustered in this fallen world: Bernie Sanders could beat Donald Trump. Polls are obviously rather fluid at this early stage in the election cycle, but they're also the only data we have on how candidates would stack up against Trump in a head-to-head race. They have consistently shown Sanders ahead of Trump by about 5 points (while former vice president Joe Biden is ahead by about 8 points). Sanders' approval rating has also been consistently in the mid-50s, with disapproval in the high 30s. That is far, far better than either Trump's or Hillary Clinton's numbers in 2016. More importantly, given how he dominates media coverage, Donald Trump is quite unpopular. His disapproval rating is rock-solidly in the low 50s, and his approval rating hasn't exceeded the low 40s since the very first days of his term (only Charlottesville and the government shutdown briefly worsened his position). Given all the incredible chaos of his administration, it seems fair to conclude that attitudes are pretty well baked in — and broadly speaking, the American people are not fans of Trump. It's also important to remember that the eventual Democratic nominee does not need any Trump voters to win. Indeed, Trump got a smaller fraction of the vote than Mitt Romney did in 2012 — Hillary Clinton just lost a ton of support from Obama voters in critical regions who either voted for third-party candidates or didn't vote at all in 2016. Just repeating Obama's 2012 performance would surely do the trick — indeed, even performing just slightly better than Clinton in the three key swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania (in none of which did Trump get a majority) would do it. The point is that despite his shocking come-from-behind victory and awful carnage he has inflicted as president, Donald Trump is eminently beatable. Yet the Democratic base seems to be stuck in a terrified crouch, desperately playing amateur pundit to deny Trump a second term by any means necessary — as Biden supporters tell reporters. (Why anybody would trust pundit-style prognosticating, professional or otherwise, after that backfired disastrously in 2016 is beyond me, but that's a topic for another article.) Now on the other hand, Sanders is certainly not a shoe-in. Trump is an incumbent president, and winning reelection is generally much easier than taking office in the first place — plus the economy is doing generally well, at least for the moment. Moreover, you never know what could come up in the course of the campaign, whether it's opposition research, some international development, or what. But that is true of every candidate. The arrogant, fickle big-shot political press could decide that they will prove their even-handedness by blasting Elizabeth Warren's dumb DNA controversy every single day of the campaign, creating the impression she was somehow illegally cloned from the remains of Crazy Horse and driving down her popularity. FBI Director Christopher Wray could decide to abuse his position to help Trump defeat Biden for fear of criticism from the conservative rank-and-file at the agency. The risk of a third-party splitter candidate also goes both ways. Sanders might draw a billionaire challenger like Howard Schultz who cynically tries to help Trump win to protect his tax cuts. But a centrist nominee like Biden might draw a left-wing challenger from the Green Party. Either might draw some loopy crank from the Libertarians. Indeed, that's precisely what happened to Clinton, with Jill Stein and Gary Johnson respectively. In sum, there is no simple, guaranteed way for Democrats to win in 2020 — but it definitely could be done, by Sanders and by others. A recent poll found both Sanders and Biden equally ahead of Trump in Texas, for crying out loud. This Piece Originally Appeared in theweek.com Read the full article

#Bernie2020 #BernieSanders #BernieSandersvsDonaldTrump2020 #Donald #DonaldTrump #Trump

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lindyhunt · 6 years

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Why Are Women Turning to Witchcraft in 2018?

There was little place for the word “witch” in my Roman Catholic upbringing. Yet, despite nuns patrolling the school halls and weekly confession at church, I felt a magnetic pull toward all things witchy. I became obsessed with the film The Craft, begged my parents for a Ouija board and even held lunchtime “seances” with my schoolmates, one of which I’m still convinced created a towering swirl of dust that sent everyone running for the hills.

My flirtation with the occult lasted into middle school and was mostly a superficial study in teen angst. I frequented Hot Topic at the mall, experimented with gothic garb on the weekends, surreptitiously got a few untoward piercings and blasted Garbage, Veruca Salt and Hole from my bedroom. As I entered my senior year, my inner anarchist was tamed by my desire to succeed academically and socially. My alternative choices weren’t winning me any popularity contests, so I befriended our high school’s queen bee, started dating a football player and traded in my studded choker for pink lipgloss.

It’s not hard to see why I was so quick to abandon my witchy inclinations. Throughout history, the word “witch” has been demonized, used to describe ugly old hags lurking in the woods and plotting devilish schemes or conspiring to eat little children. In reality, witchcraft has less to do with the sordid rituals depicted in movies than it does a woman’s innate connection to nature, inner wisdom and intuition, explains writer Lisa Lister in her book Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic. “A witch is a woman in her power,” says Lister, whose book offers ways women can use magic to self-heal, manifest dreams and create change. This is a truth the pagan community has known since time immemorial, but today, elements of witchcraft, like tarot readings, smoke cleansing and healing crystals, have become part of our vernacular. Women today are feeling the same draw toward their own magic that I felt as a child. Yet “witch” has been used as a pejorative for centuries.

Today, elements of witchcraft, like tarot readings, smoke cleansing and healing crystals, have become part of our vernacular. Women today are feeling the same draw toward their own magic that I felt as a child.

Witchcraft, a term used to describe a wide range of practices and pagan belief systems, has its roots in the Goddess religions of ancient Europe and the Middle East. This ancient earth-based spirituality celebrates the divine feminine and holds a deep reverence for nature, the cycles of the seasons and female sexuality at its core. Slowly, Goddess religions were superseded by war-based, patriarchal belief systems, the most well-known example being Christianity. From the 15th to 17th centuries, the Church unleashed the force of the Inquisition to convert non-believers and suppress dissent, during which women were used as scapegoats for political and social unrest.

Under the guidance of the tome Malleus Maleficarum (“The Hammer of the Witches”), millions of women were declared heretics and tortured, hung or burned alive during the infamous witch hunts. This female genocide targeted any woman with property or power, women who practised herbal or natural forms of healing (midwives in particular) and women who displayed sexual independence.

“If you read the witch trial accounts, it’s all about sexuality being this horrible, dangerous force,” says Starhawk, a Witch, activist and one of the founding mothers of neo-Goddess religion. Starhawk says the legacy of this fear mongering is still evident today. “The persecutions have left us with fear around standing up, taking our power and speaking out,” she explains. “They have left us with a sense that power, especially spiritual power, that isn’t affected by or accepted by the authorities is somehow dangerous and suspect.”

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A post shared by The Hoodwitch® (@thehoodwitch) on Aug 21, 2018 at 9:21am PDT

In case you missed it, the witch—Wiccan and beyond—is having a moment in pop culture. Millennials are turning to traditional forms of divination like tarot, #witchfashion and #modernwitch yield thousands of results on Instagram and celebrities are publicly identifying as witches. Post-Trump election, Lana Del Rey admitted to casting a hex on the president as part of a worldwide movement to bind Trump through magic ritual led by Michael M. Hughes, author of the recently released Magic for the Resistance: Rituals and Spells for Change. Lorde is quoted as calling her group of friends her “coven” and has become an icon for gothic fashion. Vanity Fair dubbed her “The Queen of Darkness.” Influencers like Bri Luna of The Hoodwitch are part of the vanguard that is defining the modern witch, with an Instagram aesthetic that garners over 300,000 followers and touts “everyday magic for the modern mystic.”

The witch aesthetic is de rigueur. Fashion labels such as Comme des Garçons, Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen have all turned to the dark, subversive style of the witch in their designs. Experimental designers Edward Meadham and Clio Peppiatt looked to the witch for inspiration in their Spring 2018 collections. Peppiatt was inspired by the 2016 film The Love Witch, a lush technicolour dream that satirizes how female sexuality is portrayed in the horror genre. Tarot-card motifs, skeletons and cosmic references abound.

Clio Peppiatt Spring 2018 Collection. Photography by Asia Werbel.

In her book Witches, Sluts, Feminists, modern witch and writer Kristen J. Sollée notes that during the witch-hunting era, “glamour” meant a magic spell of illusion cast by a witch. “The traditional witch aesthetic is about dressing for yourself, not for the male gaze,” explains Sollée, who teaches a class on the legacy of the witch at New York’s New School. “Black is also stereotypically not considered a feminine colour, so, in a way, there’s a rejection of traditional femininity when you’re dressing like the witch,” she adds. The witch was the original Man Repeller. However, dressing in dark, gothic style is by no means a requirement to practise witchcraft. “You can totally be a pink, patent-leather, leopard-print witch,” notes Sollée.

Modern metaphysical shops and tarot boutiques are also a far cry from their dark, beaded-curtain, incense-shrouded predecessors. Passersby could easily mistake Vancouver’s The Good Spirit for a chic home-decor boutique torn from the pages of Dwell Magazine: White walls and sparse greenery are the backdrop for bowls of colourful crystals and artfully displayed bundles of sage and juniper; Scandinavian-style chairs and tables adorned with white hydrangeas and candles set the stage for tarot readings. “I didn’t feel like there was a place that spoke to a new generation of people tapping into their spirituality that would seem relatable,” says owner Savannah Olsen. “Our aesthetic means that we get a lot of first-time readings.”

Well spread ✨🔮✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photo c/o our friend @bexadel

A post shared by The Good Spirit (@thegoodspirit) on Jul 17, 2018 at 6:51pm PDT

For those for whom witchcraft has been a deep, lifelong spiritual practice, this shift of witchcraft and its accoutrements from the fringes to the mainstream is both galvanizing and problematic. As when any marginalized movement becomes popular, there is the fear that its mass consumption will cheapen or water down its ethos, or that its symbols will be appropriated by those who lack the esoteric knowledge that grants a deeper understanding. As Sollée outlines in the chapter “Hex Sells: Feminism, Capitalism, and the Witch,” the major issue with the commodification of witchcraft is that in some cases it feeds into a mindless consumer culture. When you pick up a smudging stick or tarot deck from a big chain like Urban Outfitters, you may be unknowingly supporting overseas sweatshops that pollute the environment or exploit women, explains Sollée. The upside is that the exploration of some of witchcraft’s more superficial aspects can act as a gateway to meaningful belief and practice. “I think it’s great,” says Starhawk. “Out of that initial interest people may say ‘I’m going to do more than just dress the part; I’m going to study, read and find some groups I can learn from.’”

In our Trump-era political landscape, when women’s sexual and reproductive rights are under siege, it seems appropriate that women are turning to the symbol of the witch for empowerment.

One arena in which the mainstream co-opting of witchcraft seems to have gone deeper than surface level is the political sphere. In our Trump-era political landscape, when women’s sexual and reproductive rights are under siege, it seems appropriate that women are turning to the symbol of the witch for empowerment. “Historically, the word ‘witch’ has been used to punish women and police female sexuality,” says Sollée. “The word ‘slut’ is the same in that both have been used to ostracize women and mark them as less than.” Although the feminist reclaiming of the word “witch” can be traced back to the suffragists, and later the W.I.T.C.H. movement of the ’60s, its recent thrust into the spotlight can be partly attributed to the 2016 election.

The word was weaponized against Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign. In addition to Trump’s infamous “nasty woman” remark, Hillary was called “the wicked witch of the left” and “the devil,” and radio host Rush Limbaugh declared her a “witch with a capital B.” In reaction, Hillary supporters subverted this rhetoric, declaring themselves “witches for Hillary.” “Women flipped the script and the narrative,” says Sollée. “If everyone’s going to call Hillary a witch, well, yeah, witches are fucking cool. Witches are empowered women.”

The widespread appeal of the witch circa 2018 goes beyond feminism. Witchcraft’s reverence for nature and its negation of so many cornerstones of capitalist culture strike at the core of some of the greatest issues of our time. With heartbreaking reminders of the planet’s decimation spreading like wildfire (quite literally), turning to ancient practices that exalt nature and, in many cases, work toward conservation resonates with people. Much of the ritual work Starhawk leads is focused on environmental restoration. “The core of Goddess religion is the work of regeneration, and to me that’s very sacred work,” she says. At a time in history when our lives are predominantly digital, voice-activated and automatic, the tactile, earthy qualities of witchcraft, such as smoke cleansing, tarot card readings and other ritual work, may also touch on a longing in all of us for something real that we can connect with.

While I can thank my childhood years in the confessional for jump-starting my career as a writer and storyteller, being in touch with my own power, intellect and sexuality is something I no longer feel the need to atone for. I may not join a coven, but if we’re speaking of empowered, creative, politically-conscious women, “witch” is a word I’m happy to define myself with. At a time when the rights of marginalized people are under fire and the planet is suffering, identifying with the witch, a symbol of solidarity and liberation, is a radical act of rebellion. It’s the witching hour.

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