#dabbler's week

[wittedknitch]

Realised as I was giving the hopefully-soon-mead its final stir for the day that I was holding the cheesecloth on with green ribbon! Which immediately meant I could do Tuesday's entry in @asksecularwitch's Dabbler's Week – knot magic.

According to the pendulum I made yesterday, the ribbon spell is activated but it is not spelling the mixture in the jar. Their relationship is purely physical. I shall have to think about how to get the spell from a ribbon to the contents of something it is tied around.

#Dabbler's week #Secular witchcraft #Witchblr #Knot magic

[friend-crow]

Now outlining my dabbler's week. Perhaps I'll be ready to post it in time for the 4 year anniversary.

#dabbler's week #gotta figure out day 7 still...

[spiralhouseshop]

It's the season of the witch and until the end of October I'm offering Brainscan issues 33 & 34 by Alex Wrekk at a price where it will be about $10 including postage anywhere in the US! In these two zines Alex explores over a decade of building a secular witchcraft practice.

Brainscan #33 - DIY Witchery invites you into a deeply personal journey through the world of witchcraft. Over the course of a decade, the author has explored and practiced witchcraft, and this zine shares their unique experiences. It's not a how-to guide, but rather an insightful personal narrative. The author delves into their journey into witchcraft, the development of their secular and non-pagan practice, and the distinctions between their approach and contemporary witchcraft. They also tackle critical issues within the modern pagan and witchcraft communities, including discussions on racism, cultural appropriation, colonialism, and capitalism, reflecting their intersectional politics. For those interested in venturing on their own path, the zine offers tips and resources.

"Brainscan #34 - A Dabbler's Week of DIY Witchery is a zine born out of a challenge sparked by a cntroversial witchcraft book review in January 2020. The review suggested that modern witches were anti-vaccine and climate change deniers, leading a witch to question what it really takes to explore witchcraft for a week. The author, an experienced witch, takes up the challenge and presents their response in this zine.

Within these pages, daily activities are proposed, designed to shift your perspective and introduce you to their personal world of witchcraft. Activities include space cleansing, simple energy exercises, correspondences, animism, and basic spells. All of this is presented in a friendly, non-authoritative tone, making it perfect for those curious about witchcraft.

https://portlandbuttonworks.com/secular-witchcraft-zine

#secular witchcraft #witchblr #witchcraft* #sass witch #skeptical witch #zines #dabbler's week of witchcraft #witchy zines #alex wrekk #brainscan zines #witch zine

[lazywitchling]

Dabbler's Week Round-Up

I was gonna spam-reblog these, but that takes up dashboard space, so here, have some links to what I pulled up.

The post about the original article that started the whole thing

The post where the brainstorming began

THE CHALLENGE IS ISSUED

AskSecularWitch's week

Traegorn's week

LazyWitchling's week

approximate-ritual's week

UptheWitchyPunx's week

@upthewitchypunx @asksecularwitch @friend-crow

There might have been some more weeks that I missed, but those were the round up of the ones that happened in the first few days of the challenge.

#dabbler's week redux

[crowehorte]

Dabbler's Week 1: @asksecularwitch

From her post here

Day 1: Pendulum Divination

Can I just say- holy shit?

Pendulum divination is something that I've been avoiding for YEARS under the assumption that my hands were not steady enough to really make it work. I bought a crystal pendulum with the intent of trying it out years ago, but ended up never actually doing anything with it.

I wish I had tried this sooner. My mind is fucking blown. Yes, No, Cannot Answer, and Refused Answer do all make specific patterns and my pendulum swaps between them on command. More than that, I asked if the pendulum wanted to be used.

Yes.

Was the pendulum upset with me for not using it sooner?

No.

Maybe just a little upset?

Refused to answer.

I'm so blown away. Legitimately, I asked if the pendulum could be used to speak to spirits, and got a yes. I'm using it to speak to a local nature spirit, and I asked it to stop the pendulum's motion and it did. This is fantastic. Thank you Sec so much for giving me a reason to try something new. I could cry over how happy I am from this one experiment. I really hadn't expected this to go so well.

#dabbler's week 1 #pendulum divination

[upthewitchypunx]

I used ChatGPT to rewrite descriptions of my zines on my experiences in secular witchcraft and I'm still trying to figure out now I feel about it:

Brainscan #33

In Brainscan #33 DIY Witchery, I share my personal journey with witchcraft. I have been studying and practicing for over a decade and it has played a significant role in my personal growth. This zine is not a how-to guide, but rather a personal narrative of my experiences with witchcraft. I discuss how I became interested in it, how I developed my own secular and non-pagan practice, and the differences between my approach and contemporary witchcraft. I also address issues within modern pagan and witchcraft communities, such as racism, cultural appropriation, colonialism, and capitalism. My politics are intersectional and so is my witchcraft. I also provide tips and resources for those interested in exploring this path for themselves.

Brainscan #34

In January 2020, an article was published reviewing a witchcraft book in which the author attempted to become a witch in just one week. The article caused controversy by suggesting that modern witches are anti-vaccine and deny climate change. In response, a witch posed the question of what someone should actually do to dabble in witchcraft for a week. Some tumblr witches took up the challenge and I am sharing my answer in a zine.

In my zine, I propose daily activities that focus on changing your perspective and seeing the world in a new way. These activities include cleaning your space, practicing simple energy exercises, learning about correspondences and how they work, understanding animism, and trying a few simple spells. All of this is presented in a conversational and non-authoritative tone.

Discover the power of shifting your perspective and exploring the world of witchcraft through this week-long journey of DIY witchery.

If these sound interesting to you and you don't already have a copy, you can get copies at the @spiralhouseshop or going here to the shop directly.

#secular witchcraft #diy witchery #zines #dabbler's week of witchery #brainscan zine

[dailyadventureprompts]

Planescape: The Inclementus Convolution

It is simple as hells go, there is the snow, the walls, and the shape of things that will haunt you for the rest of your days

It appears first as a troubling dream, endless anxious wanderings through a frigid and featureless maze. While most shrug off these visions others sink into a deep and restless malady, possessed by recurring feelings of being cold and lost. For some the dreams deepen, overtaking their waking life until they sink into an unwakung torpor, others are compelled to walk: seeking out winding alleys or wintry landscapes in the hope of finding a way OUT of the maze, only to find themselves transported to it bodily.

Occult scholars of dream and dimension have named this phenomenon the Inclementus Convolution, and conjectures on its purpose and original architects feature in many a forbidden tome. What these dabblers have failed to understand is that the convolution is not a thing of artifice but part of a great unknowable entity, which uses the maze to filter-feed from the multiverse the way a great whale uses baleen to trawl the sea. While the exact nature of this entity will be discussed below the cut, whats far more interesting is how the appearance of this dream labyrinth affects the lives of others.

A series of disappearances has the party tracing the city’s backstreets tracking rumours of a slaver gang or some kind of monstrous presence. Imagine their surprise when they not only find one of the lost individuals wandering in fevered confusion, standing before an alley from which unseasonable snow billows. 

Nearly swept up in the convolution as a child, a minor noble has bent the wealth of her station towards determining the meaning of that traumatic vision, becoming a notable patron for adventurers as she sends them off to explore various ruins or gather scraps of potentially relevant lore. The party are hired by her for a mission, but weeks later when they return from their delve they find that her estate has fallen prey to an otherworldly influence. They’ll need to brave the twisting halls of her manorhome and the hedgemazes that sprawl across the grounds if they want to get paid, and maybe rescue their hapless benefactor in the process. 

A fairly simple bounty mission to track down an occultist hiding in the mountains and bring him back alive quickly goes out of control after he opens a portal to the convolution inside his cell, transforming the surrounding guard barracks and its prisons into an eacheresque tangle backing onto an eldritch landscape. With other prisoners looking desperately to escape and panicking guards looking to arrest everyone they don’t recognize, will the party be able to escape before the whole structure is subsumed into nightmare?

The entity at the centre of the maze is seldom seen by those lost with the expanse as the upper reaches of the towering walls are obscured by an omnipresent cloud cover. As such no earthly name has been given to it, as the miles long tendrils it sends skulking through the corners are often confused for individual lifeforms which some call. It is not malicious, nor is it strictly sentient, it is simply a lifeform doing what it has always done to survive, nevermind that it involves pinching beings from across the cosmos. Creatures that die within the convolution desiccate, their bodies becoming dried out husks as the moisture within them is absorbed by the surrounding stone to feed the entity above and later join with the ever present snow, the built up condensation from innumerable victims across time.

Future Adventures:

Lost souls from many worlds have left marks on the walls of the convolution, pleas for help, attempts to map a way out, epitaphs and memorials from those that knew their end was near. One of these happened to be a sage with secret knowledge most relevant to the party's ongoing struggles, meaning if that they want to find it for themselves they're not only going to have to find their way into and through the labyrinth, but also Ariadne their way back out after finding and deciphering the message he left.

Though very little can survive long in the endless halls, there are some interdimensional oddities that have managed to persist around the fringes, carried from one world to the next as the Inclementus seeks out new victims.

The most fearful of these passengers are a remnants of an alien empire known as the Tssol who were led into the convolution when their god-prince decided to lead his people into the otherworld following a "holy vision" (and the encouragement by his less theisticly inclined siblings looking to clear a path to the throne). The survivors of this royal expedition have endured for centuries by by carving their city into the oldest walls of the labrynth, where the entity's fleshy stalks merge with the endless walls. They worship it, subsisting from the meat sloughed off as it grows and using the remains to feed fungal farms, counting themselves blessed for following the god-prince's vision. Those that stumble into the maze are of particular interest to them, as individuals affected by Inclementus influence are capable of wandering in and out of the aberrant realm allowing the Tssol warriors to ride out and launch raids on other worlds.

#dnd #d&d #mid level #low level #dungeon #lovecraftian #abberations #city #noble #planescape #hell #bounty #bounty hunting #occult #dungeons and dragons #ttprg #pathfinder #horror #spooky #eldritch

[nanowrimo]

How to Set Realistic NaNoWriMo Goals

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Dabble, a 2023 NaNoWriMo sponsor, is a tool specifically designed for fiction novelists. Today, Dabbler Robert Smith shares a few tips to help you set daily writing goals that will work for you:

November looms, and with it the thrilling, harrowing, and sometimes carb-loaded journey of National Novel Writing Month. As we tie our writer's capes and ready ourselves for a month of intense creation, there's a small matter we need to address: our writing goals.

The Weight of 50,000 Words

Setting goals for NaNoWriMo is like setting a pace for a marathon. You wouldn't expect to sprint a marathon. The same goes for writing. If you try to sprint through, chances are you'll burn out faster than a candle in a windstorm.

However, only doing the minimum can leave you in a precarious position. Because if something comes up—and something always comes up—you’re suddenly behind on your goal, and that can really hurt morale.

So here are some goal setting tips to crush NaNoWriMo this year:

1. Start off strong, so you can end strong.

There is a simple fact about motivation. It starts strong and wanes with time. 

Now to be honest, you won’t be able to write a book with motivation alone. It requires a lot of discipline, and you’ll have to write even when you don’t feel like it.

But a great way to get the most out of that early motivation is to channel it into higher early output.

We all know that 50,000 words split over 30 days is 1667 words a day. But authors who win NaNoWriMo often don’t start there. They shoot for 2,500-3,000 words a day in the first week. That way they build up a buffer for the later weeks where motivation isn’t as high.

Plus, it gives them great forward momentum on their project. So consider setting higher goals early and taking advantage of your early NaNo fervor.

2. Account for daily life.

Even if you've cleared your calendar for November, life has a knack for throwing curveballs. 

Kids get sick. Work projects pop up. You know what I mean. If your word count goal is teetering on the edge of feasibility, any small disturbance can throw it off. 

To combat this, make plans and backup plans. Schedule your writing time around family gatherings. Plan what happens if you miss a day. Set yourself up for success before those situations arise.

3. Use the buddy system.

Find a writing buddy to be accountable to. It could be a friend participating in NaNoWriMo, or even someone you connect with in the NaNo community. 

Check in with each other daily. Celebrate your wins, commiserate over the tricky bits, and hold each other accountable. 

Sometimes, knowing someone else is in the trenches with you can be incredibly motivating.

4. Have weekly check-ins.

Instead of focusing solely on daily targets, also have a weekly goal. This gives you a broader view and allows for some flexibility. If you have a slower day, you can make up for it later in the week without feeling like you've thrown the entire month off course.

5. Actually track your goals.

Obviously, you need to track your goals, but there are multiple ways to do it.

Dabble integrates with NaNoWriMo, so you don’t have to manually submit your word count. And if you fall behind a bit, Dabble will automatically adjust your daily goal accordingly to keep you on track.

But even if you’re just marking off your goals on a napkin at your desk, tracking your progress will help you stay the course to victory.

Now go forth, share your stories, and remember: it's not all about the word count; it's about the words that count.

All NaNoWriMo participants can use the discount code  NANOWRI2023 for 20% off 1 year of Dabble! Offer expires January 31, 2024.

Robert Smith is a Dabbling Writer, and a Writing Dabbler. He likes playing board games with his wife, and deconstructing plots from movies in his spare time.

Top Photo by Isaac Smith on Unsplash.

#nanowrimo #writing #writing goals #writing advice #by nano sponsor #dabble #robert smith

[traegorn]

hey im listening to ur podcast, which im really enjoying btw!, and im curious about fetch-deers which you mention in your dabblers week episode. whats their purpose? do you have any good links to somewhere that explains more about them?

I'm talking about Fylgja!

"Fetchdeer" is just easier to say :P

[egofan4evr]

OC APPRECIATION Late Week 4 Post @encanto-extended-edition

1. Maria @dororoxpenana

2. Elena R. @prophetic-hijinks

3. Angela @overly-dramatic-artist

4. Nuria @lord_madmyth on IG

5.Nina @emberkyrlee

6. Edith @unskilled-dabbler

7. Karina @artastickk

8. Noelle @noellemadrigal

9. Elena P. @thecrazyashley-blog

10. Conney (mine) @egofan4evr

11. Nayelli @sharknadoslutt

#encanto #encanto oc #encanto oc appreciation #encanto extended edition #Bruno’s babes #boho days #tick tick boom #summer nights #grease #draw the squad original #draw the squad #eleven

[wittedknitch]

Day three of @asksecularwitch's Dabbler's Week (https://www.tumblr.com/asksecularwitch/190317925794/a-dabblers-week) is Ritual Bathing. Finally, this January, after months of only baths, my partner and I had the money to replace our broken shower! This is good for this day of the week as, although i do love boiling myself like a lobster, a shower genuinely makes me feel cleaner. Plus, it felt more appropriate for drawing things out of me and leaving only silence.

I left my watch and phone out of the room – i normally listen to music while showering– and managed to get through the whole washing and getting out parts without speaking. I just used my normal washing gear, and had a very thorough wash, more thorough than usual. There was also some doing of things nine times, trying to suppress/ignore my brain's inbuilt radio, and imagining stirring up black gunk that represented all the energetic and psychological debris I'd picked that would also get washed down the drain. I then did a full body moisturise, while i normally only moisturise my face and hands. So, if nothing else, i am now very clean and soft.

I checked in with the pendulum afterwards about how effective it had been at the non-physical cleansing. Mid, apparently. I don't need to add or replace any soaps/shampoo, but apparently the body pouffe, while very suitable for physical cleaning, is worse than my hands for non-physical cleansing. I suspect i should try pouring water over myself or something, have more of some sort of ritualised aspects

#Witchblr #Dabbler's week #Ritual bathing

[sharknadoslutt]

✨️Art credit for the above collection goes to @unskilled-dabbler (top left), @egofan4evr (top middle), @prophetic-hijinks (top right as well as art at the end of this post), papayawhipped (bottom left), and @overly-dramatic-artist (bottom right)✨️

A big shoutout to @encanto-extended-edition and their awesome OC event for the Encanto fandom. It's week one which means I get to introduce my OC. I'm happy to info dump about my girl, Nayelli Ramos!

Nayelli started out as a self-insert for my Reader x Bruno fanficiton Antisocial but has since evolved into so much more 😍

Name/Nickname: Nayelli "Yelli" Milagros Ramos

Date of Birth: January 31st, 1919

Height: 5"2

Personality: Nayelli is very calm and quiet but not shy by any means; just prefers not to be the center of attention. She can be blunt but this comes from a place of wanting to be honest. She is very kind, and will usually root for the underdog. She will be quiet in a crowd but in her element or with small groups of people she is comfortable around, my girl can be quite goofy. This girl reads books as a means of self-care and loves storytelling. 

Here is my novel compiling her backstory.

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk 💚🥰

#happy OCtober yall #OCtober #encanto OC #encanto extended edition #nayelli ramos #hollyspeaks

[prophetic-hijinks]

One year ago today, I started Prophetic Hijinks.

Or more accurately, I drew a single comic of Bruno getting a sweet little wave from a kind soul who didn’t know his baggage, and it snowballed from there.

I never would have guessed such a small comic, would balloon into a long running linear story arc, and darn near 100 comics!

I am thankful that I kept going and was able to share the worlds, stories and scenarios that reside inside my head. I always wanted to work in animation, and this project gave me a little taste of storytelling. As well as gave me the motivation to draw every day, and see myself improve dramatically. But, I have hit a satisfying fruition point. Covering the major story beats I wanted to tackle with the completion of the wedding comic.

That’s not to say that there won’t be more comics in the future, but definitely not at the same goal at one or two a week.

I am still in love with Encanto and in particular the fandom so full of many wonderful, funny and creative people, and their marvelous OC’s. I am so grateful to fans who stuck with my comic, and who love Elena so much they celebrate her happiness (and retribution &@$& Carlos) right along with her.

So thank you all so much and shoutout to all those who keep the Encanto fandom so vibrant and strong.

Shoutout to @thebiggestnope @dancingmantis @rinnysega @bitsy83 @overly-dramatic-artist @unskilled-dabbler @encantoisawesome @cheetee @dororoxpenana @immabethehero @thecrazyashley-blog @lunathekahuna @glendybluebird @lunamadrigal @sketchnwhatevr @kinschi @emberkyrlee @missyalissy5 @inthishousewestanencanto @sassmasterintraining @ramblesanddragons

I will be adding more as I think of people!

#encanto #prophetic Hijinks #encanto oc #elena ruiz #bruno madrigal #encanto comic

[lazywitchling]

Jester you dumbass, where’d you put DIY Witchery…….

#I found Dabblers Week but not DIY Witchery #and I can’t for the life of me figure out why they weren’t together #maybe DIY ran off with the original Stolen Sharpie #lazy witchblogging

[crowehorte]

Dabbler's Week 1: @asksecularwitch

From her post here

Day 4: Written Spell Method

HELL DAY HELL DAY HELL DAY. I HATE WET. WEH ;_;

Now that I've got that out of my system, here is the glass of water I've chosen to use for this whole thing.

Is it smaller than intended? Probably, but again- I hate wet, and getting it empty is still probably going to take a while. It's also the cup that I use for offerings, so it's already imbued with magical properties.

It's very hard for me to simply let the water dry; I really want to wipe it off. So like on one hand, I am suffering, but on the other, hey! I am focusing on the words/feeling, which is probably important. I'm doing multiple words, each in their own specific place, rewriting them whenever I feel them start to dry.

There are a lot of interesting things that go into this process. Picking words. Picking locations. Unlike with the ritual bath where the lack of instructions tripped me up, here I feel that the openness of the prompt is a strength. Why are we writing these words? What does this act mean to us? When I began, I chose words that were traits I want to foster in myself, but as I go, I realize I could have chosen anything. I could be writing words like cat, puppies dog, sunshine, dandelions. There's no limit, and what you get out of it is subjective.

I went into this thinking "spell that infuses you with the things you write," but now I'm sitting here going "could this be used as a form of ritual bath?" If the point of a ritual bath is to purify and prepare yourself for casting, this is a very good way of focusing your intention and building energy. I definitely feel like energy has been built up by this process, and I find it intriguing even if it's sensory hell to me.

To that end, I'm not finishing the cup. I've been doing it for an hour, and I've reached the limits of my tolerance. The rest of the water is going onto my alter as an offering, and I'm gonna go back to working on the grimoire challenge.

#dabbler's week 1

[upthewitchypunx]

At one point i was going to collect all the submitted Dabbler's Weeks of Witchcraft and make a free zine, I should still do that, ya?