skytreaders-stormwitch

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

if you give “stupid” characters rural/southern accents i don’t like you and if you give “smart” characters rural/southern accents but it’s a punchline i don’t like you even more

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

I feel like Loki would be a great storyteller. He'd bounce around the fire being theatrical and shape shifting into the characters in the story to give it life. He's making everyone laugh and feel safe. 🥺💚🫶

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Hail Loki

Hail to the Smiler Hail to the Master of Japes and Mischief Hail to the Lord of Fuckery * Bless and walk with us ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ When I say fuckery, I mean all manner of stupid crap that could possibly happen that when you look back on it, you are both exasperated and entertained.

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Animals of the Apocalypse

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

This is kind of a weird linguistics/cultural question but is there a reason most sources on runes use the Proto-Germanic (reconstructed/extrapolated language with afaik no direct historical evidence supporting it) names for the runes as opposed to the Old Norse or Old English names?

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

On what I'm going to call "peer positioning" in witchcraft, and the scary empowerment it can bring you

I think a lot of people who get into witchcraft have a problem with being able to see themselves as peers & equals to the powers they cultivate around them.

I see this most often discussed when it comes to gods. "Just because your god asks you for something doesn't mean you need to do it!" Etc. I think we've all heard that.

But today my thoughts are on the tarot, and how some people seem to treat tarot readings as "the truth" or "the answer" that then must be followed, even if they (the living, breathing, human practitioner) don't really agree or don't really want to do that.

I'm really big on the analogy of a witch as a monarch, and the concept of various powers (like gods, spirits, tools, and spells) being counselors in the throne room.

In this context, it's easier to adopt the mindset that all of these powers have their own personalities, abilities, and goals - and that they can & will provide conflicting information when you ask for advice. (Especially ancestors - so opinionated!)

Imagine Captain Picard sitting in the meeting room with Geordi, Riker, and the rest of the space nerds.

Captain Picard is like, "the power core is failing and the away team is stranded on the planet. I think we should use the nebula to hide until the Gromflomites stop searching for us." And then Geordi is like, "but Captain, the engines would never make it! We have to go rescue the away team immediately!" And Captain Picard is like, "damn... Wow. I really wanted to go to the nebula, I thought it was the best choice :/ but if you're saying we literally don't have to worry about the Gromflomites..." Then Riker is like, "Captain, no. Geordi isn't saying the Gromflomites aren't a problem, he's just expressing his top concerns as Chief Engineer." And then Picard is all, "oh, so... this is conflicting information? Did that mean I did a bad reading on Geordi, or that negative spirits are stopping me from being able to communicate? Is Riker possibly a trickster?"

If you're captain of the ship, monarch of the kingdom, (etc.), then it might be important to ask yourself:

Am asking for input from my counsel of allied powers, and then making choices for myself?

Or, have I inadvertently signed over my decision-making process to these powers?

And I think it all kind of comes back to "peer positioning," or, witches being able to develop a spiritual framework within which they are equals to the powers around them.

Since beginning practicing witchcraft in earnest, I have often demanded a course of direction. Instead of asking, "how do I accomplish this?" I would ask, "what do I do?"

And the answer was the same every time, deeply infuriating, but also very scary: "Do whatever you think is best."

I think that's the problem of being the captain of the ship. Once your counselors are done giving their input, you are the one who has to make the final call.

Lately I've really been on a kick about witchcraft as a path of empowerment, and I think that viewing spiritual input as just that - input - is a vital part of the process.

Even if you are a true-blue believer in the magical power of tarot, tarot is still just one counselor sitting in your throne room.

Even if you have tutelary spirits, guardians and guides, gods and angels, providing blessings and support - they are not sitting at the head of the table.

You are.

I think that a framework of allied powers as peers and equals is relatively basic, and does have its flaws. But I also think it can be helpful in a variety of ways:

It can provide a system of understanding why allied powers can give conflicting advice, or even seemingly bad advice that doesn't align with our personal desires.

It can provide a tool for processing spiritual input.

It helps restore a sense of personal authority to a practitioner.

It can help a practitioner reclaim control of a path that's grown a mind of its own.

It aids in practicing that most oppressive of skills - liberated autonomy.

I just think it's something to consider. At the end of the day, most of us have probably got to make our own calls.

[I'm making this post because in the past few months I've been helping witches consult the tarot, and they've been giving feedback like, "so this is what I should do, right?" or, "what is it telling me to do?"

I can basically see the huge reblogs where people are explaining that a period of time where they signed complete personal autonomy over to their god was the most empowering and spiritually electric time in their lives,

and I want you to know, I'm not speaking about vows and oaths made to entities that gives them control over your life. I'm talking about situations where witches put down their autonomy so they can have both hands free to shuffle tarot.]

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

From autumn 🍂 to winter ❄️

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Sometimes, He is not pretty.

Disheveled, stinking of piss and filth.

A frightening homeless man

Shouting at me from the other side of the train station:

The face that you often see is nothing but a glamour crafted to be pleasing to you.

But, sometimes, I am tired of that

face, and you will see Me as I am

An ancient being, whose face bears the ravages of time, and what appalling marks

Grief, pain and madness have inevitably made upon Me.

While it may be easy to approach Me in a finer guise,

Silk cravats and topcoats, leather and flash, I am

Also this, at My core. This is also Me.

I am bloated with rage, and careless

grime settled in the creases, compulsively licking

The blood and the spittle that collects at the corners of My ragged lips.

My yellowed, broken teeth have gnawed and ground down upon the offal and

bones of My very long memory.

I call to you

but you must approach Me.

Would you kiss My mouth?

Source: https://nightcompanion.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/sometimes/

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

ffs odin will you shut up about the wolf

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Things NOBODY told me about being an adult that I wish they had:

When you get to the top of the river you're going to want to find a shallow stretch of riverbed with relatively calm water and sediment pieces that are gravel sized, not cobble, sand or mud. This is critical; test it with your nose if you're not sure! when you have this, you're going to want to flip on your side and slap the gravel as hard as you can with your tail to dislodge it; you're gonna want to alternate between digging the spot out and doing some more slapping until you've got a nice little cone shaped depression for the eggs.

grizzly bear

#it's that time of year again #salmon #loki

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Yes, absolutely. When I was in a different part of the state and the wildfires got so damn close and there had been no rain for almost 3 months, I was sick with fear for both the forest I was living near and for myself (too broke to even pay bus fare, there was no way I could evacuate without losing everything). I prayed to Thor and to Freyr, I prayed to the landvaettr, I waded out into the lake and prayed to the herons.

It rained the next day. It POURED. I heard it before I saw it because it came suddenly like a wall of water. I went out and danced in it and shouted "Thank you, thank you!" to the sky.

When things are out of your control and you need help, that is EXACTLY the time for prayer.

So who else is literally praying to Thor for rainstorms/people to not be stupid and set the fucking states in record heat waves even more on fire.

No I'm not joking

#I know this is probably derailing a bit and I apologize #but this was such a powerful experience that I can't help bringing it up #DO PRAY when you need to #you might actually get answered #and if not you'll be no worse off for having tried

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Resist, by Erica Williams.

#fenrir #the fenris wolf #gleipnir

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

I think Loki represents a really neat and cool principle about the lived experience: That being clever is fun.

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

My contribution to Fjord Zine, dedicated to Scandinavian mythology. A verse about the origins of Sif’s golden hair, Mjolnir, Gungnir, and other gods’ treasures.

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[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Next installment of my Handmaidens Project is up on my Wordpress! This time it is all about Lofen & Siofen, my Old English interpretations of Lofn & Sjöfn, Goddesses of love and especially forbidden love.

I go into Their attestations in the Eddas, some of my personal UPG & epithets for Them, and what They have to teach us this Pride month about altruism, compassion, and the sanctity of queer love.

Hail Lofen! Hail Siofen! And Hail the mighty Queer, Trans and Intersex Ancestors!

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Shaman by Lorandesore

[skytreaders-stormwitch]

Njord piece by IAM weirdzesty / preciousanih