ofcloudsandstars

[ofcloudsandstars]

There is a difference between rules and laws.

"Magic can be anything you want it to be" implies that there are no inherent rules.

It does not imply that anything you can imagine will work or be effective.

"The game can be anything you want it to be" means you can make up any set of rules for how to toss the ball around with friends. It does not mean gravity isn't real.

[ofcloudsandstars]

Captured a cute moment with everyone and the moon lol

#full moon #London witches #witches of tumblr #witchcraft

[ofcloudsandstars]

Sharing some scenes from a lovely full moon dinner ritual party I hosted this week. The Leo full moon had some beautiful clearing energy and brought a wicked storm to the UK. That day it was raining but by night the sky cleared to reveal the moon and brought with it devilish winds..

We did spells attracting love and stability with the Venus & Mars conjunction in Capricorn and did glamour magic by creating body oil potions with charged energy with what we want to embody.

We also had such a spread! I made love potion cocktails with raspberry pomegranate juice, cherry liqueur, rose water, pink Prosecco and raspberry cotton candy. I also made truffle pasta, Rosemary salmon with spiced shrimp and beetroot salad. Friends brought a whole cheeseboard/pate spread, rose Turkish delights, pear cake, spiced veggies, tons of red wine, it was incredible!!

We also had some of the most illuminating love tarot readings. I’m still sitting on my message. It was nice to gather friends and celebrate life with them. I’m feeling really loved and my friends said they felt a sense of community after.

If you want to see more posts I’m on Instagram @femmedrake but I’ll also put stuff here.

#full moon #Leo full moon #witchcraft #witches #witches of tumblr #dinner party #love magic #love witch

[ofcloudsandstars]

just wanna say that you have been a huge inspiration to my magical journey as another mixed black witch, and i just appreciate how you do you. wishing you healing, peace, and joy 🧡

Oh my god 😭😭😭😭💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

This message literally made me tear up 🥺

Thank you so much for these kind words. I think being mixed really adds an interesting experience to this practice cause you can’t take any path for granted and though in a way I feel unseen and it’s worse cause I’m a bit nomadic, there’s so much to magic and this path that is also unseen and in between. It’s kind of why the foundation of my path is so much about focusing on the source (nature) and finding divinity through there.

And there are many like us too. I think it’s important to be yourself and make space for yourself because in the end it can welcome others of likeness into your space. The Black diaspora is a collection of unique experiences and just by experiencing ourselves and allowing our full authenticity in these experiences we open up more spaces for everyone in our group.

[ofcloudsandstars]

Your blog is a joy in this world and so are you.

Wow this is soo sweet ✨🥺

Thank you so much this warmed me

I really want to be more active on here. Trying to figure out my life this year it’s just IRL has been insane. Also to add I got swallowed by the very underground niche queer witch of color community and it’s drama (most of them run the queer rave party scene it feels like euphoria mixed with The Craft over here) and wow I feel like I’ve gained a lot of interesting life experiences but also had little time to process it all and a new cycle is already here!!

Been really focusing on the foundations of my spiritual practice and maybe sharing some more intimate rituals here in the future

[ofcloudsandstars]

It’s been a year! I don’t think I’ll have the time again but this was a lot of fun to do with friends during a gathering

Imbolc Reveal Candles

I made a set of candles for a witch friend and I. You can either make a set for yourself or (the intention was for future gatherings) you can make one or more sets for a ritual gathering. You don’t have to make a set per person at all since it’s about who draws what. (I just had to make two sets since we’re isolating lol).

Anyway each tealight appears to be white. You pick one to set intentions for the cycle to come and it’s color reveal has a message for you.

Red - more courage and confidence. You need to go for it with all your power!! Building confidence will help.

Sunny yellow - optimism and luck are by your side. You just have to seize the opportunity. Abundance is a mindset

Green - caring for your needs is crucial. Set boundaries and focus on your well being. Doors will open for you then.

Blue - communication and art will help. Be in touch with your emotions. Express yourself more.

Purple - this is a time for you to deepen your spiritual awareness and work on your magic. It’s time to expand your perspective. This will help your progress

Black - diving deep within, therapy, doing shadow work and managing trauma will help

Pink - friends, community and love will help

Brown - grounding and building firm foundations will help

White - you’re in the right place. Now move forward

I just need to add one more layer of white to each candle so it can be indistinguishable. The full white candles have a sparkle to them so you can tell the difference. (Pink has heart glitter to help distinguish from red)

I’m very excited to try these out. The idea is you keep your set and next Imbolc just make only 1 new candle. Next Imbolc gathering I’ll make a lot more so that there’s a bigger lottery of options for everyone

#Imbolc #candle mass #witchcraft #magic

[ofcloudsandstars]

Just wanted to share this from my witchstagram! If you want to follow me there for astrology posts, witch memes and life updates/pics it’s femmedrake

This Aquarius lunar cycle is really looking for us to start anew and break free from old commitments and restrictions.

#aquarius #new moon #lunar cycle #moon phases #witchcraft #witchstagram

[ofcloudsandstars]

Happy full moon!!

It’s been intense so I haven’t really had much of a chance to return here. I’m on Instagram though you can find my witchstagram at femmedrake

[ofcloudsandstars]

This is Cultural Appropriation

The version of the wheel of the year we see today was popularised by Wicca which was founded by Gerald Gardener. Who was an English man. Ireland was very badly oppressed by English colonialism. The British slaughtered a lot of Irish people while they were being overtaken. And they are also the reason so many people starved in the famine. The British are also the reason Ireland converted to christianity instead of paganism.

This wheel is a jumbled up mess of a variety of European holidays all merged into one and labelled “Wicca”. This is appropriation as its unacknowledged where all these came from.

Not all European countries are the same and these colonial countries are not entitled to claiming the traditions they colonised.

In Ireland May Day/Bealtaine was still celebrated in certain counties until the last century. But people are still misusing it and mispronouncing it. Pronouncing Samhain “Sam hain” instead of “sow wen”, unaware that it is the Irish word for November. And that Bealtaine is the word for May. In a language still used.

English colonialism is the reason we starved The reason we stopped speaking our language as widely. And a religion popularised by an English man is now using our words without directly crediting the cultures.

And now its further reinforced by the way that people are taking these words out of context. Mixing them up with other European words. Without giving credit to any of the countries they came from.

Its like how people will take chakras from hinduism and sage from native americans and throw some jesus in and just call it “new age spirituality”

(Native people have it even worse than the situation with Irish culture. Native Americans are going through so much shit. Cause people use spirituality as an excuse to just take shit)

You can’t use things without acknowledging the fact that they are from specific cultures.

This is a more Irish accurate wheel of the years. Please acknowledge the cultures you got these words from.

I have more info on the holidays on my page. Lora o brien is another good native resource. Please share this with anyone who uses the wheel of the year.

Other European countries feel free to share a your countries more culturally accurate wheel of the year.

#yeah this is why I just call it by their solstice/equinox/mid season names #just really do my own seasonal celebrations now on the astrological points

[ofcloudsandstars]

next time you start creating a negative story in your head, consider switching it to a positive scenario instead.. neither one is more likely to happen so we may as well play out everything going right instead of everything going wrong.

[ofcloudsandstars]

“Entering an altered state of mind, taking action in that state, and returning are the basic components of ritual. Ritual practice gets you out of your head, out of the mundane world, and into the mystical where magic can happen. It can help you transcend reality.”

From Mythology for a Magical Life, by Ember Grant. Loving this book so far!

[ofcloudsandstars]

Celebrating Mabon vs Samhain

There’s two types of Autumn:

the bright, colorful, happy autumn with pumpkins, apples, candles, and great food

the dreary, dark, creepy autumn with overcast and rainy skies, scary forests, cool temperatures, and halloween

And I love them both!

[ofcloudsandstars]

fresh harvest 🌾happy 1st day of 🍁 Fall

http://instagram.com/freshharvest

[ofcloudsandstars]

It’s that time of year again!!

Prints and stuff // My Instagram

[ofcloudsandstars]

Some pictures from the lavender harvest

I volunteer at this permaculture garden which we had to harvest the weeds and flowers (like mugwort, poppies, red clover, sage etc) but the focus was lavender as it was out of control.

I have so much lavender I don’t know what to do with it. I’ve been adding it to spell candles, tea, crepes, honey, body oils, smoke bundles, I’ve even been. smoking weed blends with a little bit of lavender and harvested mugwort and wow that has been dreamy.

This half of the summer has been so herbal and there’s drying herbs hanging everywhere in my room it’s like I’m living in an apothecary. My food has been very fragrant though haha.

Also discovered what rosemary beetles were that day and they’re very pretty

#witches of color #lavender harvest

[ofcloudsandstars]

Slowly Returning.. but not quite yet

Hey everyone!!

I said I may come back by September/Virgo season but I still feel like this summer hiatus may stretch on a little longer.. However I am slowly going to make my return!!

I feel like saying that I have grown in this time period is an understatement haha. I am not the same person from since I left. I felt since Spring Equinox I was transformed in some fire of the light part of the year, discovering new dimensions of myself in new scenarios, chaos, adventures, disasters and now as the summer is waning I am retreating into myself to reflect but as I am at a new understanding of myself I am not sure what I want anymore, in terms of habits I used to entertain when I was more isolated and not doing much with myself on a tangible plane.

I am someone who thinks way too much. Like I can spend a whole day inside daydreaming sort of 'too much'. And I really enjoy having a platform to share ideas and think more and speculate but I just wanted to experiment with life in a different way and see what its like to start doing shit without thinking and let a bitch (me) 'find out' (there was a lot of chaos in this process) and life granted me a crew of bad ass fiery afro queer witches that made this the most insane summer of my life to date. Anyway as I really miss having a space to share ideas I do want to come back but I also spent wayy too much time giving to the online void as it felt like a place of anonymous safety instead of cultivating the things I liked on a tangible plane with people that appreciate doing the same things. So I am kind of in a crossroads of figuring out how I can take everything I've practiced, created, shared and start weaving it in a new level of my life where it can become something further integrated within my community both online and offline.

My craft has grown tremendously in this time. My understanding of myself has evolved. There were a lot of forces astrologically encouraging us to evolve and change and it definitely was the themes of this summer. I have also been following the lunar cycles more and that's helped me on a personal level. I've also been so involved with various witches of color, queer witches all similar ages that share the same animistic energetic-based understanding of witchcraft and magic that I feel like I should put even more effort into making a community that does shit together. I also notice I have a bit of a giver personality so without thinking I can easily give too much to spaces and prioritize them instead of doing stuff for myself which gets my limited free time with full time work wrapped up in stuff that doesn't help me move forward. (An example of this is my alchemist friend has returned from Greece and is hosting a foraging picnic this Friday and though its going to be beautiful and I will be surrounded by knowledge of native plants and making it into food, it's going to be a full day of servitude on one of my limited days off on a full week of work so I hardly get time to work on personal stuff..)

I will definitely be posting stories of my hot witch summer on here but probably sporadically. They are all pretty long. Like the time we hosted a Solstice forest rave. The time we tried to have a full moon forest rave but the fucking police busted us lol. The time I did a love/hookup attraction spell on a new moon and the fucking lost boys sound track came on accidentally on the shuffle, but then the next day I saw a guy on the street while the same song was playing on my ipod and he has the moody alt aesthetic with long hair, tattooed sleeves and piercings and we hooked up twice and he lives 15 min walking distance from me. The lavender harvest!! Just the summer herbal walks/harvests in general and the witch picnics with the smoking blends. Lions gate at the most chaotic, evil fucked up music festival I have ever been to ft. seeing the abyss while being too high on a pill. All the times my witch friends have DJed at parties and their sets are so good I have danced into trances. Summer Solstice feast! Lughnasadh picnic in Kenwood Gardens. Co-hosting soundbaths at the chapel (and the rich london Goop type bitches that attend omg), I feel like I am missing things but yeah it's been eventful!!

#also I dunno there's a part of me that really wants to share all of the spells I've done and how my craft has grown but its really personal #I do want to share stuff about my craft in art magic though but its also the labor of putting together all the info #and then it's a punch to the gut when you see someone repost your work like they came up with it lol #I dunno I think I am reaching the boring age of wanting to be paid for my time #but thats cause at a certain point everything depressingly becomes about money #like when I was a teen/young adult I spent so much endless time online just... creating.. cause I had no worries #now my free time is so fucking limited it's like.. #I could spend the hours after work doing something magical or relaxing or.. spending 3 hours writing the astro forecast #its really this lifestyle which can make you more selfish but I do want to still have an online platform to connect with people #but you do have to admit that tumblr is very isolating.. it feels like a coocoon in a way #like a safe space where people can anonymously shout ideas and test them out like some nuclear destitute site #but you can't connect on a more personal way sometimes.. at least I don't feel like it #I think I just want something more tangible for the time I put in and I guess that is the real crossroads here #personal #long post

[ofcloudsandstars]

Witchcraft Things I Give You Permission To Do

Lay down while meditating. Seriously, if you have back pain like I do, try it. The experience is so much better.

Sit in a chair while working at an altar instead of on the ground. Again, pain. You’re allowed.

Enjoy something aesthetically without wanting to pursue it spiritually (be mindful of cultural appropriation obviously).

Enjoy something spiritually without pursuing it aesthetically. Your craft is your own.

Work hard to make your witchcraft look aesthetically appealing/post a lot about your journey.

Call yourself a witch instead of a baby witch.

Move at your own pace, whether it feel turtle-in-winter-slow or careening-off-the-freeway-fast.

Most importantly: Trust your own experiences. Even I struggle with this, but learning to acknowledge the breadth of your own power is terrifying and liberating. You have the power to affect change both physical and magical.