“Paganism is dead”

No man it’s just not organized and that’s the way it should be, creating a monoculture for paganism is potentially extremely dangerous to its themes of individualism and personal practices . Yeah we don’t have temples or pilgrimages but that’s because the grace of the natural world/ our deities can be found anywhere and everywhere we don’t need temples our own bodies are pagan temples. Our own flesh and bones are structures of divinity to us, we make altars in our houses and make those our blessed places. Most of paganism is heavily private of course you think it’s dead that and anytime western culture is faced with a polytheistic system it has an absolute hissy fit.

sometimes mundane witchcraft is putting a glamour spell on your makeup or stirring a sigil into your coffee, and sometimes it's sending baneful energy by flipping off every cop car you see, and I think that's beautiful

thrift stores have probably been more beneficial for finding items for my practice then any metaphysical shop and with a lot less cultural appropriation

the houseware section at my favorite thrift store had basically a whole altar that you could have bought for less than 15 dollars. I could see thrift stores working especially well for you if you practice Christian witchcraft or folk Catholicism, because there's no shortage of Christian imagery in small statues and wall art. I've bought literal bags of candles at thrift stores for just a few bucks, and the selection of items like beads, candle holders, jars and trays is something you're never going to find that reasonably priced anywhere else. not to mention the scarves! nearly my entire collection of veils (about a dozen scarves and a dozen bandanas) was thrifted. my advice to anyone starting off in their craft who wants to use common items like spoons and jars in their practice is to find them at thrift stores. obviously, always cleanse the hell out of them. there's gonna be all sorts of unwanted energy in and around them that you're not gonna wanna fuck with, but personally I also love the strong energy coming off a once loved, no longer needed item. thrift stores and charity shops are amazing ways to find new and interesting items to involve in your craft.

(belated) blessed Imbolc! I had an amazing time this sabbat. continuing in the tradition I set last yule, I went over to a friend's house. we burned an incense I've been wanting to burn and haven't had a chance because my parents are sensitive to strong scents. it smelled really good and we got a very nice cleanse out of it. our main activity for the day was making rosemary oatcakes that I had saved on my Imbolc Pinterest board. they turned out really good and I would highly recommend trying them, either for Imbolc or just to try an interesting new recipe. we made 2 oatcakes, which were both divided in 4, and we left out a piece as an offering and ate the rest.

the oatcakes were very pretty and quite easy to make. we used fresh rosemary because I grow it in my garden, and I think that was a big part of the reason it tasted so good, so I would recommend using fresh rosemary as opposed to dried if you can. We also burned a candle, made a sigil, and made some black salt which my friend let later put into a spell jar to gift to our mutual friend.

what did all of you do for Imbolc?

I love seeing prayers and stories of devotees who worship Gods that I don’t worship.

Actually, I’ve always been like this.

I love hearing the tales of religions that I don’t subscribe to. Even if I don’t agree with every Christian, I do enjoy hearing Christians talk about how wonderful Jesus is and what he means to them personally.

I enjoy hearing Muslims talk about their prayers, how they reserve time out of their day for their God.

I enjoy hearing Jews sing their psalms, I love hearing about how they prepare their food, how they consider God’s hands in their meals.

I love hearing about Hellenic rituals and Semetic celebrations. I love learning about the different holy days among different groups of pagans.

I love learning how different people have incorporated different Gods, acts, and customs into their faith. I love hearing about their myths and legends, the stories they tell their children before bed.

I love hearing about the different ways that humanity has connected to their personal idea of God.

I don’t worship Apollon or Shiva today, but I am so delighted to hear the prayers of those that do. It’s like I’m getting to feel the mist erupting off of a waterfall. Or hearing the echo of a song that I do not know the lyrics to, but I can still hum the melody. I can feel the notes permeate my mind, even if I don’t know what they mean.

I love that there are people who worship these Gods that I do not worship. I’m happy that there is so much diversity among humanity that we have enough love in us for all of them.

For the ones that even I don’t know the names of, or felt the warmth of. Someone has.

That’s a very very good thing.

I'm planning on going over to a friend's house for Imbolc (we're starting a traditional of visiting his house for each sabbat since I can't smoke cleanse in my house.) no specific plans yet but I'm probably gonna bring some of my veils to cleanse since I don't do it as often as I should. I'd also like to bake or prepare and bless some food. I'll update with what we did after Imbolc is over!

Happy Imbolc!

It's almost time for Imbolc, the celebration of Nature's renewal, and of Brigid, for those who work with deities.

As a newbie witch, that's my first Imbolc. I red stuff about the gaelic celebration called Imbolc or Imbolg also known as Saint Brigid's Day. It was probably used for christianization to celebrate what we call in France "la chandeleur", the candlemas, 40 days after Christmas. We do like to eat crêpes in France for this celebration. I still don't know how I'm gonna celebrate Imbolc, but I'm sure I will find a nice way to celebrate life and Mother Nature waking up from those cold times. As a kitchen Witch, I'm guessing it's gonna manifest throughout my recipes ^^ And you, how are you gonna celebrate Imbolc?

good point! having a community of witches around you gives you a chance to explore different aspects of the craft you might not have considered otherwise.

I think for a lot of witches who aren't in covens, the desire to be in a coven is really just the desire to have real-life friends who practice.

(I'm speaking as a witch who is not and has never been in a coven, and currently has no desire to be.)

I absolutely see the value of covens, and I have some thoughts about the use of covens in community building, social justice witchcraft and mutual aid brewing (no pun intended), but I think a lot of people seek out a coven when what they really want are people to share their practice with who can give knowledge and resources in return.

I'm lucky to have half-a-dozen friends interested in witchcraft in my local community, and having them around gives me so much motivation to practice more and more often. even when I've actually practiced with only one or two of them, we're constantly giving each other resources that helped us and extra materials we no longer need. the impulse from beginner witches especially, I've found, comes from wanting specific personal guidance from a witch they perceive as more experienced. The best way to form these personal connections, in my experience, is to have friends who are friends first, fellow witches second.

in all honesty I don't know what I'm trying to say with this other than:

go seek out people with similar interests as you in witchy spaces, go seek out witchy people in spaces related to your other interests, and be there to help your friends who are interested in practicing. it can be unbelievably valuable to your practice and your interpersonal life.

reblogging bc I did it again and I still have no idea what to do

I've been using "crossing" myself with a pentagram shape as an alternative but it still feels weird because of the visual similarity

hey everyone! I've got some updates and a small witchy haul coming soon but I've honestly been too tired to finish coherent post.

however, I want to see if anyone has ever dealt with the same thing I've been noticing recently, and if anyone knows how to deal with it.

I notice a lot of the time, especially when I want to send blessings to something or to embody positive energy, I feel like I should cross myself or do something similar. I should note I'm not and have never been remotely Christian or Catholic, I wasn't raised in the church and Christian/Catholic traditions are not a part of anything I practice. I think a lot of it is just that I want a simple action to use for a quick prayer or blessing when I need.

does anyone have, or have ideas for, a movement I could use? ideally something somewhat visually distinct from crossing oneself (e.g. not drawing a pentagram/sigil in the same way you'd cross yourself)

recently was my first time wearing a full coverage veil (example photos under the cut,) and I'd like to share my experiences!

first of all, in my personal experience, I felt very safe and respected, and don't feel like I experienced any Islamophobia. your experiences are going to depend on where you are, what you look like, and who you're with. I'm white passing, I spent the day with a white masculine perceived person, and my veil did not entirely resemble a hijab, and this is just my experience from one day.

for me the protection from the veil didn't feel any different. we did run into some issues with transit and I felt I was able to keep myself from getting overly frustrated. not letting my emotions control my actions is one of the intentions I set for my veil, so I like to think it worked.

appearance wise, I was very happy with it! I loved the look of my veil and admired it whenever I got the chance. I would recommend bringing bobby pins because I don't think my veil would have stayed on my head without them.

all around, I had a really good experience, and I plan to wear my veil like this whenever I feel safe to do so.

my everyday veil on the left, my full coverage on the right

hey everyone! I've got some updates and a small witchy haul coming soon but I've honestly been too tired to finish coherent post.

however, I want to see if anyone has ever dealt with the same thing I've been noticing recently, and if anyone knows how to deal with it.

I notice a lot of the time, especially when I want to send blessings to something or to embody positive energy, I feel like I should cross myself or do something similar. I should note I'm not and have never been remotely Christian or Catholic, I wasn't raised in the church and Christian/Catholic traditions are not a part of anything I practice. I think a lot of it is just that I want a simple action to use for a quick prayer or blessing when I need.

does anyone have, or have ideas for, a movement I could use? ideally something somewhat visually distinct from crossing oneself (e.g. not drawing a pentagram/sigil in the same way you'd cross yourself)

I've been busy with various holiday festivities for the past couple days, but now that I've got some time to myself, I wanna ask, how was everyone's Yule?

I had a really nice time! I went over to a friend's house to exchange gifts, we cleansed, I taught xem my veiling ritual, we burned a candle and set intentions for the coming season

apologies for the bad quality photos, but this was the sigil we carved on the candle, and the candle itself. the sigil was created with the phrase "blessed yule."

I think for a lot of witches who aren't in covens, the desire to be in a coven is really just the desire to have real-life friends who practice.

(I'm speaking as a witch who is not and has never been in a coven, and currently has no desire to be.)

I absolutely see the value of covens, and I have some thoughts about the use of covens in community building, social justice witchcraft and mutual aid brewing (no pun intended), but I think a lot of people seek out a coven when what they really want are people to share their practice with who can give knowledge and resources in return.

I'm lucky to have half-a-dozen friends interested in witchcraft in my local community, and having them around gives me so much motivation to practice more and more often. even when I've actually practiced with only one or two of them, we're constantly giving each other resources that helped us and extra materials we no longer need. the impulse from beginner witches especially, I've found, comes from wanting specific personal guidance from a witch they perceive as more experienced. The best way to form these personal connections, in my experience, is to have friends who are friends first, fellow witches second.

in all honesty I don't know what I'm trying to say with this other than:

go seek out people with similar interests as you in witchy spaces, go seek out witchy people in spaces related to your other interests, and be there to help your friends who are interested in practicing. it can be unbelievably valuable to your practice and your interpersonal life.

hello all!

I know I've been inactive, busy from school and other commitments, but I thought that would make for a great opportunity to share my recent witchcraft experience.

if you're someone who goes through cycles of practicing and not practicing, especially if you feel guilty when you don't, I found having a small daily ritual has helped me a lot. I haven't been doing any spellwork or working on my grimoire, but blessing and wearing my veil every day for me has meant that I have a small amount of time each day to dedicate to my practice, even if it's just thirty seconds. additionally, with all my commitments, veiling gives me a sense of control and power within them, even when my life feels messy. particularly, I've felt a lot more balanced since I started asking for mental and emotional protection, and I think I've been able to handle my relationships and activities a lot better.

it doesn't have to be veiling, it can be praying or blessing your water bottle or adding to a money bowl or wearing something enchanted or any number of things that work for you and your practice, but I encourage everyone to do one small thing each day to keep yourself committed.

do y'all think it means anything if we've been finding marbles in the backyard of my family home about a half-dozen times in the past 2-3 years? I've never played with marbles in that yard nor have any of my neighbors or past residents to my knowledge. could this be a sign of a spirit/deity, has anything like this ever happened to you?

Reading about Chaos Magick and one of the things someone said was that Fire was the most chaotic element...and I disagree. They're ALL chaotic.

Fire:

Flames that dance in any direction and consume any article or item infront of it. It eats, it breeds, it's argued on whether or not it's alive. There is seldom a calm state.

Water:

Rapids, rushing water that can destroy whole 50 year old tree trunks in minutes. Tsunami waves that take out cities. WHIRL POOLS may be it's most chaotic form depending on how big it is.

Air:

Tornadoes, Hurricanes that whip trees about, dust devils in its more calmer state. Even when the wind picks up and WE find it calming it may be a disaster to an insect. Hurricanes may be calming to giants if they were still around.

Earth:

Rapid growth of mushrooms, "weeds" and forests. We adore the quiet nature of trees and forests but there is a reason for grouping of 50 to 150 of trees to make up a wee bit of woods. Especially if it was rapid growth.

My point being - All the elements are Chaos magick. Chaos in small observable doses can be exciting and beautiful.

blessed samhain!!

I feel like for all the sabbats, samhain especially, I see a ton of big fancy rituals and inspiration, and while all that looks fun, I do not have the time or materials for that.

let me know, what are all you actually doing for samhain?

I'll be hanging out at a friend's house, we don't have any big plans besides eating candy and maybe burning a candle or two. you don't need big plans to have a great samhain night!

hello! how are you? I hope you're well

I would like to know where I could start reading about folk magic, maybe you can give me some advice, thanks!

hello!

truth be told, as a mostly closeted witch, I don't have access to a ton of books about witchcraft. to get started in learning about folk witchcraft, I would definitely recommend chaotic witch aunt on youtube. Frankie is an Italian-American folk practitioner with some incredible insights into folk magic. this video that they made with Olivia from the witch of wonderlust is a great one to start off with, as they both talk about their individual experiences with folk magic. they also have plenty of videos recommending books, which I'd encourage you to check out.

there's no specific resource for this, but I'd also recommend researching the folk magic of your specific heritage and consider if that's something you'd like to incorporate into your practice!