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pigeonflavouredcake · 1 year

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How to organise a grimoire

This is how I've decided to organise my grimoire now that I'm digitising it. I thought this may be of some benefit to other autistic/dyslexic practioners by sharing how my brain likes to formulate things. The trick is to categorise.

I have one large category I'm calling the chapter and every chapter has a number of categories within it and smaller sub categories underneath each one.

So my brain basically works like a russian nesting doll or like a very messy spider diagram. Organising it this way helps me to stay on track and stops me from getting overwhelmed. (I used this method in all my university essays and it helped push my grade up a lot).

I'm not writing it in any specific order but here's a list of what I've completed so far. Please feel free to take any of these. I hope this helps you with your own grimoire writing.

Theory 📚

Terminology

Paganism: historical context. Modern context. Core values.

New Age Spirituality: Development. Capitalism. Modern Example.

Cultural Appropriation: What it is. How it happens. How to avoid it. List of closed practices and red flags.

Wicca: What it is. How it's practiced. Gerald Gardner. Criticisms.

Thelema: Aleister Crowley. Development (egyptomania). Criticisms.

Conspiracy Theories: Development (root cause). Dangers. Examples. List of spiritual conspiracies. List of antisemitic stereotypes and propaganda.

Cults: What are they. How are they dangerous. How to recognise one (B.I.T.E model). List of religious/spiritual cults.

Satanic Panic: Historical development to our current satanic panic. The 1980's moral panic. Christian persecution complex.

KJV: Who was King James. The creation of the KJV. The KJO movement (evangelical and Christian fundamentalism. American Folk magic)

Witches in context: The modern witch. The post-modern witch. Historical context (England. Ancient Greece. Ireland).

Cats in context: Modern context. Familiars. Historical context (Egypt. Greece. China. England).

Transphobia: the idea behind terfism. How to recognise a terf. Examples of Terfism in spirituality (Lister). Dispelling myths and Misinformation.

Queerness: Erasure and queerphobia. Why queer people gravitate to witchcraft/paganism/Wicca. Examples (intersex. Gay relationships. Lesbian relationships. Asexuality).

Practical Basics 🔮

Terminology

Health and Safety: Fire. Smoke. Essential Oils. Toxicity. Wound Care. Biohazards.

How to make a magical space: What they are. Different types. Tools and their uses.

Grimoire/Book of Shadows: What they are. The differences. Different Formats. The Front cover.

Cleansing: What it is. What its used for. Examples.

Grounding: What it is. What its used for. Examples.

Protection: What it is. What its used for. Examples.

Intuition: What it is. What its used for. Developing it. Examples.

Discernment: What it is. What its used for. Steps of discernment (from a Christian perspective. From a secular perspective). Psychosis.

The Year and the holidays: Samhain. Yule. Wassailing. Imbolc. Spring Equinox. Beltaine. Summer Solstice. Lughnasadh. Autumn Equinox. (Historical development. How they're celebrated).

Deity Worship: Scientific Context (Neuroscience of Religiosity). Spiritual Context. Worship Vs working with. Finding a deity. Your religious rights. Critiquing your religious path. For example ↓

Hellenism: Historical context (Wars. Colonisation. Slavery. Citizenship. Pederasty). Modern Context (White washing. Transphobia).

Your Deities (if you choose to have any): Iconography. Mythology. Associations. Offerings.

Spirits: Ghosts. Shadow people. Demons (what they are. fear and labelling. History Vs pop culture). The Warrens (history. Criticisms). Other folklore.

Practical Magic ✨

I have a lot more planned for this section.

Terminology

Divination: What it is. What its used for. List of types and tools. For example ↓

Tarot: Structure of the tarot deck. Historical context. Modern Context. The fool and you.

Basic Astrology: What it is. Historical Context. Signs. Planets. Houses. Reading a natal chart.

Colour Magic: Basic colour theory. Symbolism. Practical application.

Correspondence 🌿

When there's a long list of items and spiritual meanings/applications I keep it in this section at the back of my grimoire.

Colours

Symbols

The Classic Elements

Astrology

Stones

Herbs and Spices (kitchen cupboard specific)

Common plants in your area (invasive and non invasive)

Seasonal fruit and vegetables

Miscellaneous laws and philosophies

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wolverinesorcery · 1 year

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UNBLENDING CELTIC POLYTHEISTIC PRACTICES

Celtic Umbrella

This lesson is largely focusing on the insular Celtic nations & Brittany (Ireland/Eire, Scotland/Alba, Wales/Cymru, Cornwall/Kernow, Isle of Man/Mannin, & Brittany/Breizh) - traditionally regarded as 6 out of the 7 Celtic nations. Galicia/Galizia is the 7th, but because of a mix of the below + my own lack of knowledge, I won't be covering them.

The vast swath of Continental Celtic cultures are a different but equally complex topic thanks to extinction, revival, varying archaeological artefacts and the work of modern practioners to piece unknown parts back together.

This will serve as a quick 'n' dirty guide to the insular Celtic nations, Celtic as a label, blood percentages and ancestry, the whats and whys of "Celtic soup", and how to unblend practice.

The insular Celtic groups are split into two language groups: Brythonic languages and Gaelic languages.

Brythonic languages are Cymraeg/Welsh, Kernewek/Cornish, & Breton

Gaelic languages are Gàidhlig/Scottish, Gaeilge/Irish, & Gaelg/Manx.

The language split leads to certain folkloric and religious figures & elements being more common within the language group than without. All of these nations had historic cultural exchange and trade routes via the Celtic sea (and beyond). Despite this, it is still important to respect each as a home to distinct mythologies.

Pros/Cons of a broad Celtic umbrella

Pros

- Used within celtic nations to build solidarity - Relates to a set of cultures that have historic cultural exchange & broad shared experiences - A historic group category - Celtic nations’ culture is often protected under broad legislation that explicitly highlights its ‘Celtic-ness’.

Cons

- Can be used reductively (in academia & layman uses) - Often gives in to the dual threat of romanticisation/fetishisation & erasure - Conflates a lot of disparate practices under one banner - Can lead to centring ‘celtic american’ experiences. - Celtic as a broad ancestral category (along with associated symbols) has also been co-opted by white supremacist organisations.

In this I’m using ‘Celtic’ as a broad umbrella for the multiple pantheons! This isn’t ideal for specifics, but it is the fastest way to refer to the various pantheons of deities that’ll be referenced within this Q&A (& something that I use as a self identifier alongside Cornish).

What about blood % or ancestry?

A blood percentage or claimed Celtic ancestry is NOT a requirement to be a follower of any of the Celtic pantheons. The assumption that it does or is needed to disclose can feed easily into white supremacist narratives and rhetoric, along side the insidious implications that a white person in the USA with (perceived or real) Celtic ancestry is 'more celtic' than a person of colour living in a Celtic region (along with other romanticised notions of homogenously white cultures).

Along side this, a blood percentage or distant ancestry does not impart the culture and values of the Celtic region or it's recorded pagan practices by itself. Folk traditions are often passed down within families, but blood percentage is not a primary factor within this.

Connecting with ancestry is fine, good, and can be a fulfilling experience. It stops being beneficial when it leads to speaking over people with lived experiences & centres the USA-based published and authors - which can lead to blending/souping for reasons further on.

What is 'soup'?

Celtic soup is a semi-playful term coined by several polytheists (primarily aigeannagusacair on wordpress) to describe the phenomenon of conflating & combining all the separate pantheons and practices from the (mainly) insular Celtic nations into one singular practice - removing a lot of the regionalised folklore, associated mythos, & varying nuances of the nations that make up the soup.

Why does it happen?

The quick version of this is book trends and publishing meeting romanticisation and exotification of Celtic cultures (especially when mixed with pre-lapsarian views of the Nations). It's miles easier to sell a very generally titled book with a lot of Ireland and a little of everywhere else than it is to write, source and publish a separate book on each.

This is where centering American publishers and authors becomes an issue - the popular trend of USA-based pagan publications to conflate all celtic nations makes it hard to find information on, for example, Mannin practices because of the USA’s tendency to dominate media. Think of Llewellyn’s “Celtic Wisdom” series of books.

It has also been furthered by 'quick research guides'/TL;DR style posts based on the above (which have gained particular momentum on tumblr).

The things that have hindered the process in unblending/"de souping" is the difficulty in preserving independently published pamphlets/books from various nations (often more regionalised and immediately local than large, sweeping books generalising multiple practices) along with the difficulty of accessing historic resources via academic gatekeeping.

All of this has lead to a lack of awareness of the fact there is no, one, singular Celtic religion, practice or pantheon.

Why should I de-soup or unblend my practice?

Respecting the deities

It is, by and large, considered the bare minimum to understand and research a deity's origin and roots. The conflation of all insular Celtic deities under one singular unified pantheon can divorce them from their original cultures and contexts - the direct opposite to understanding and researching.

Folklore and myth surrounding various Celtic deities can be highly regionalised both in grounded reality and geomythically - these aren't interchangeable locations and are often highly symbolic within each nation.

Brú na Bóinne, an ancient burial mound in Ireland, as an entrance to the otherworld of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Carn Kenidjack & the Gump as a central site of Cornish folk entities feasts and parties, including Christianised elements of Bucca’s mythology.

The Mabinogion includes specific locations in Wales as well as broad Kingdoms - it’s implied that Annwn is somewhere within the historic kingdom of Dyfed, & two otherworldly feasts take place in Harlech & Ynys Gwales.

Conflating all celtic pantheons under one banner often leads to the prioritisation of the Irish pantheon, meaning all of the less ‘popular’ or recorded deities are sidelined and often left unresearched (which can lead to sources & resources falling into obscurity and becoming difficult to access).

Respecting the deities

Deities, spirits, entities, myth & folklore are often culturally significant both historically and to modern day people (just average folks along with practitoners/pagans/polytheists and organisations) located in the various Nations

A primary example is the initiatory Bardic orders of Wales and Cornwall.

Desouping/Unblending makes folklorist's lives easier as well as casual research less difficult to parse. The general books are a helpful jumping off point but when they constitute the bulk of writing on various Celtic polytheisms, they become a hinderance and a harm in the research process.

A lot of mythology outside of deities & polytheisms is also a victim of ‘souping' and is equally as culturally significant - Arthurian mythology is a feature of both Welsh and Cornish culture but is often applied liberally as an English mythology & and English figure.

Celtic nations being blended into one homogenous group is an easy way to erase cultural differences and remove agency from the people living in celtic nations. Cornwall is already considered by a large majority of people to be just an English county, and many areas of Wales are being renamed in English for the ease of English tourists.

How can I de-soup?

Chase down your sources' sources, and look for even more sources

Check your sources critically. Do they conflate all pantheons as one? Do they apply a collective label (the celts/celts/celt/celtic people) to modern day Celtic nations? How far back in history do they claim to reach?

Research the author, are they dubious in more ways than one? Have they written blog articles you can access to understand more of their viewpoints? Where are they located?

Find the people the author cites within their work - it can be time consuming but incredibly rewarding and can also give a good hint at the author's biases and research depth. You may even find useful further reading!

Find primary sources (or as close too), or translations of the originating folklore, e.g The Mabinogion. Going to the source of a pantheon’s mythos and folklore can be helpful in discerning where soup begins in more recent books as well as gaining insight into deities' actions and relationships.

Ask lots of questions

Question every source! Question every person telling you things that don't define what pantheon or region they’re talking about! Write all your questions down and search for answers! Talk to other polytheists that follow specific Celtic pantheons, find where your practices naturally overlap and where they have been forced into one practice by authors!

Be honest with yourself

There’s no foul in spreading your worship over several pantheons that fall under the celtic umbrella! A lot of polytheists worship multiple pantheons! But be aware of the potential for soup, and make sure you’re not exclusively reading and working from/with sources that conflate all practices as one.

If you approach any Celtic polytheistic path with the attitude of blood percentage or 'ancestral right', stop and think critically about why you want to follow a Celtic polytheistic path. Is it because it's the most obviously 'open' path to follow? Is it a desire to experience what other folks experience? Being critical, turning inward, and really looking at yourself is important. Originally posted in the Raven's Keep discord server

#celtic polytheism #celtic paganism #celtic soup #celtic #celtic reconstructionism #celtic revivalism #celtic polytheist #celtic pagan #celtic religion

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teawitch · 1 year

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Trying to figure out how to phrase this.

If you go looking into Southern/Appalacian folk magic/witchcraft, you are going to find an intersection of Native practices, African-centric practices and white poverty.

These days the tendency is to want to find a clean separation of these to avoid cultural appropriation. But, umm, the delicate point - among old practioners, this was the last thing anyone would usually do. Because if you scratched the surface and went back a generation or two, you could run into a difficulty around who was "white."

Look, if someone's great grandparents moved to an extremely rural area and declared the family "white" because, well, at least one of them was and the kids passed, then it's not your business to get up in their business.

It was a practice of disinfranchised, impoverished people with little to no access to medical care. It's not pretty witchcraft with crystals and wands.

Oh, it also didn't have a lot of "your practice is your own" to it. You were taught what to do and sometimes it wasn't safe unless you did it right.

Also it involved a lot psalms and bible passages.

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madmonksandmaenads · 7 months

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Medicine and Prostitution are among two of the oldest practices in human history. There has never been a society without both of them.

In many ways, the modern hospital is a descendent of the Temple of Thoth. New generations of healers are taught constantly, and the common folk know they can go there for aid. It's not perfect, no institution is, but it does pass on millenia of knowledge and provide protection for its parishioners and priests.

Where is the descendant of the Temples of Inanna? Why is that sacred knowledge not given a home? Why are the practioners of that art not protected? Why is one vital trade elevated in a bastion and another forced into the shadows?

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afrocentric-divination · 1 year

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I think when we talk about the craft, abundance workings and magic, manifesting, and just trying to be more comfortable in a capitalist world, results get overshadowed when the person who got hundreds to thousands of dollars expands on their story.

And this is not to say that the person who got 20x what they asked for shouldn’t share their experience, it’s nice to hear those experiences because it shows that it is possible to get that. But in the world that we live in now, a lot of people are just trying to get just enough. Just an extra $500 a month. Just $4-5k a month (to move out because they keep asking for 3x the rent). Just $1k to fix their car. Just an extra $300 a month so they can go to the grocery store a second time a month. Some people are not looking to become rich. The majority of people are just trying to live.

So when you go out and do your abundance working and spells, just know that you don’t always have to shoot for the stars, or don’t feel bad because you didn’t. As a folk practioner, alot of people are just trying to get by in another way. And that is more than ok.

#witchcraft #folk practitioner #folk magic #abundance #prosperity #money workings #abundance workings

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buggywiththefolkmagic · 7 months

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Saw your book post and I think you've confused a few things...

You seem to mix up Hoodoo and Vodou a lot. They are not the same. Hoodoo is not a closed practice nor religion. It's just fking weird and poser-ish if someone claims it without ever growing up in the culture for it. But many Hoodoo practioners will tell you their practice is not closed. Vodou/Santeria is closed.

Also saying to be careful not to fall into Hoodoo while doing Conjure... you know rootwork is similar across all cultures right? This just feels like a gatekeeping statement and prevents people from really digging into their folkwork by making them constantly worried they're appropriating.

The thing with smudging: you make no mention of which kind of smudging is closed. You just said it generally, which is a bit ridiculous. Burning herbs for the sake of energy and cleansing is not inherently a Native Indigenous practice. Bayabas, or guava leaves, have been used in the Philippines pre-colonialism. Frankenincense in Europe and Old Christianity. Ti Leaves in Hawaii. Rose in Ancient Rome, and Blue Lotus in Ancient Egypt. As a latina, and as half of one myself🇨🇺, we both know our people love to use incense at altars. SAGE, particularly white sage, is where the line is drawn. Same with palo santo. I agree with your points, but I think you need to be specific if you're being critical.

Much love from 🇵🇭✨️

Hello there anon! I see you sent another ask apologizing for assuming I was Latina, and you're quite forgiven! I am as they say white as white can be.

As a white person I went to an American BIPOC friend of mine in order to answer all of this as honestly as I possibly could. Hoodoo by means of origin IS a closed practice. It's roots come from Ghana and was created in America as a very specific response to slavery. Both Hoodoo and Vodu are tribal/family based, and both require a initiation of sorts through community in order to practice them. Vodu's roots are in Haiti, and through community, enslavement, and initiation needed through the "family" as some groups of Vodu practioners call themselves, are required therefore it is also closed. I shall include some links below to help with the distinction of Hoodoo and Vodu and why they are both closed practices/religions. Hoodoo could be considered a religion in Louisiana specifically due to it's usage there and sometimes it's blending with Vodu. https://medium.com/@empressnaima/my-hoodoo-initiation-5086e375e378 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoodoo_(spirituality) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou https://cswr.hds.harvard.edu/news/magic-matters/2021/11/10 https://brizomagazine.com/2020/06/15/the-appropriation-of-magic-how-white-people-demonised-voodoo/ Now that I've cleared up through BIPOC voices/history/links on why Hoodoo is in fact closed...let me address the specific comment of

"You know rootwork is similar across all cultures right? This just feels like a gatekeeping statement and prevents people from really digging into their folkwork by making them constantly worried they're appropriating." Rootwork in of itself is a Hoodoo term iirc, but I may be wrong on that front. As for worrying about appropriation...white people SHOULD BE worried about appropriating. Hell currently in America we still through simply social climate and judicial systems are failing our BIPOC/Indigenous communities.

As a folk worker who has some herbalism that stems from Cherokee and Creek peoples I am so beyond careful to make sure my practice is not appropriating from them. White people demolished them, slaughtered them, and took away their homes and sacred spaces, hell, we stole and demolished their LANGUAGE. And you're telling me I don't need to worry about taking anything else from them? The best option is to contact the people you believe is being appropriated from and just...asking them. Wild concept I know. Make friends that are not from your station! Send emails and letters to community leaders in these appropriated cultures in an honest and respectful way to see if what you're studying is appropriated. A good example of this was I found recently an ancestor of mine worked closely with what she called "Grandmama Spider". Grandmother Spider is a Cherokee creation deity. Referencing the above horrors and terrors us white folk did and are still doing to the Cherokee people...I will not be following in her footsteps. Individuals like Cat/Catherin Yronwode has perpetrated that Hoodoo is open, and has caused catastrophic issues with her large standing in the American Folk Magic world. A link to an open letter about Cat Yronwode and her severe appropriation/dismissal of the real history of New Orleans Voodoo being "fake" and "not a slave based religion" is here: https://conjureart.blogspot.com/2013/10/open-letter-to-cat-yronwode-and-lucky.html I don't want to pick on any specific religions/groups of people but all you have to do is read through ONE "witchcraft for beginners" book written in America or England and find at least two stolen items from Indigenous Americans AND the BIPOC/Black community. It's THAT common. Totems and Spirit Animals? Not entirely Indigenous but the ones these authors are teaching about ARE. The same goes for the word smudging, when I mention a book has smudging in it I am talking about white sage. White Americans love to use their white sage with an illegal owl feather and a shell to hold their bundle of sage in. The word smudging in of itself comes from the 15th to 16th century Germanic language and was actually talking about using smoke to rid a home or building of insect infestations. The word we SHOULD be using for cleansing with smoke should simply be...smoke cleansing. It avoids the person reading from having to guess if it's appropriated or not.

Having said all of that I guess all of this boils down to one thing: Listen to the voices of the cultures first. If they say something's appropriated? Stop. If they say it's closed? Stop. I have no authority on anything at all, but if I can speak up just once and give others a platform to say, "Hey this is kinda fucked up" I will. It's the least I as a white person can do.

#witchblr #appalachian folk magic #folk magic #buggy answers #tw: slavery #tw: appropriation #tw: atrocities #Whew this one took a while.

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mahayanapilgrim · 21 days

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"Son, there are five things that are useless:

These five refer to what is not true Dharma: if you follow them they will lead you to ruin;

1) No Need to Say You are Interested in Dharma if You Have Not Turned Your Mind Away From Samsara;

Unless you feel deep down that samsara is a pit of burning coals, there is no point in saying "I practice the Dharma, I am meditating, I am deep in samadhi".

'Without this profound conviction, you can only go the opposite direction in Dharma. If your practice leads to you getting a good reputation, it will be completely in vain.

With this sort of attitude it is impossible to practice the Dharma properly. You will simply get involved in things like protecting your relatives and friends and getting rid of your enemies; your life will run counter to the Dharma.

Dharma and world activities are like fire and water. If you practice genuinely, you cannot help giving up worldly activities. On the other hand, if you devote yourself to worldly activities, you will never be able to practice the Dharma properly. So cultivate a deep desire to abandon the things of this world and a strong determination to practice Dharma.

To practice the genuine Dharma, you have to counter attachment to samsaric perceptions.

The root of our repeatedly taking birth in samsara is the alternating desire and loathing we have for the objects of the five senses- forms, tastes, smells, sounds, and physical sensations - together with perceptions our eight consciousnesses hold of these sense objects. When we feel attachment or conversely, aversion to the experiences of the five senses, we sow the seed for rebirth in

samsara...

2) No Need to Meditate on Emptiness if You Have Not Countered Attachment to the Things You Perceive

Meditation on emptiness implies a state like space. There is no occasion for thoughts like "|", "mine", "my body", "my mind", "my name", or "my belongings". This sort of clinging has no place in meditation on emptiness. So if you have thoughts about "my possessions" and so on, there is no way your meditation practice can be genuine.

One meditates on emptiness in order to release one's clinging, believing that things truly exists.

A genuine practitioner does not have this attachment to relatives and possessions, neither does he feel any aversion to enemies.

Unless you are free from this, emptiness is no more than some word - and it is quite useless.

3) No Need to Practice Mediation if You Don't Turn Your Mind Away From Desire

To say "I meditate" and at the same time still have an ordinary mind with desire and attachment will give no result.

Great meditators who end up getting sidetracked by village ceremonies risk dying as ordinary men.

Practioners who have mediated in mountain retreats for a few years are often taken by ordinary folk to be very advanced meditators, an many of them begin to believe the fools who speak of them as great meditators who have reached a high level of realization. They start accepting offerings and reverence from people, and they grow rich. They end up spending their time going from one ceremony to another and behaving in a completely worldly way. This is no use at all.

4) No Need for Fine Words if You Have Not Assimilated the Meaning Yourself.

There are many who are fooled by smart talk about the view, so hit the crucial point of the natural state.

To say things like "everything is void," "There is no such thing as good or bad, virtue or evil,"

"All perceptions are spontaneously liberated as the arise," or "Afflictive emotions are liberated as they arise," without having true confidence in such a view and actual stability in one's practice, is known as merely carrying on the view with ones lips. This is why Guru Rinpoche said to King Detsen, "my view is like space, but conduct must never slip toward the view, for if it does, it will be a wholly demonic view." He said that the view should be as high as possible but ones conduct should accord with the most basic of teachings. So it is important to get the crucial point and master the true nature of things through your own experience and not merely words. And regarding this there is;

5) No Need to Apply the Instructions if You Do Not Have Devotion

If you have great devotion, seeing the teacher as the Buddha himself, and maintain a lofty inner view while keeping your external conduct completely down to earth, all the qualities of experience and realization grow effortlessly.

Experiences and realization in fact come through the spontaneous devotion you have, so when they occur, they are truly due to the teacher's kindness..."

-Dilgo Khventse Rinpoche

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etxfolkmystic · 11 months

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Thinking back to when I was the only openly baneful magic practioner on staff of the metaphysical shop I worked at, and how I'd teach people that the "reiki infused candles" for ____ intention can be repurposed into candles for curse work by flipping the candle upside down, digging out the wick, and burning it in reverse with their specific intention.

Idk man, maybe some folks just need to know curse work isn't always super complex and complicated.

#witchcraft #witchblr #candle magic #baneful magic #baneful witch

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hell420er · 13 days

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My favorite thing about john constantine as a practioneer of magic is quiet genuinely the accuracy of what modern spellcraft looks like. Usually less demonology focused however still ingenuity based spells broken down from rituals or folk tradtion to fit a spefic purpose. The rituals and folk tradtion are diffrent because diffrent universe so its not 1 to 1 at all. But it's still the basic principles you see in modern witchery.

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tonechkag · 2 years

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this is a long shot but do you have any information on German folk magic or German American folk magic?

I'm not a German folk practioner but you are in luck because I do know of a few creators online who are! They'll do a hell of a lot better job at directing you to good information than I can.

I'd recommend doing the usual stuff like searching on social media platforms for relevant tags like #germanfolkmagic #braucheri & #hexe. Learn the language, read the folktales, learn some recipes, listen to the folk music & learn the history. When searching online, use whichever web browser is commonly used in Germany because that'll open you up to a lot more information.

There are a few awesome German & German American folk practitioners on tiktok I follow. Go check their content out & look on their Linktrees for more information. I think all of them are on YouTube as well.

Hexe Marie ◇ A Hearth Witch ◇ De Spokenkieker

For more Pennsylvania Dutch folk magic (also known as Powwow or Braucheri), i'd recommend these channels on YouTube:

The Pennsylvania German Cultural Heritage Center

The Pfalzisch Braucher (I'm pretty sure Olivia's also on Tiktok)

The Powwow Guy

Douglas Maderford

Hopefully this gives you a good place to start. ❤️

#german folk magic #german american #german folklore #germanic paganism #folk magic #witchcraft #resources #braucherei #pennsylvania dutch #asks #anon #powwow

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hagoftheholler · 2 years

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Folk Practitioner Survey Results

We had a total of 87 people take part in this survey, so thanks to all of you who submitted your responses! I won't be posting every single response to every question, because that would be way too much to fit here. Instead, I will show the charts available and mention the responses to questions that stood out/weren't repetitive.

Written responses will be quoted, and if I have any commentary to add it will be noted with an ➳ arrow.

The first question was asking about the person's general age, which resulted in the following:

The second question asked about what the individual practices, which resulted in the following:

The third question was optional, specifically catered to those who selected the "other" option. We got a variety of results from this, but to simplify it, the following folk practices were mentioned in those results: Welsh, Filipino, Caribbean, Cornish, Hoodoo, Australian, Brujeria, Jewish, Romani, Hungarian, Transylvanian, Brazilian, Dutch, Western American, Japanese, Finnish, Dutch, French, Scandinavian, Polish, Jeiwsh, Midwestern American and Lithuanian.

The fourth question asked about their ancestors homelands and where the individual came from themselves. Specifically, if they came from the region their folk practices originated from or their ancestors. This resulted in the following:

The fifth question was optional, specifically catered to those who selected the "no" option. We asked why did they choose the folk practices they follow. There weren't many responses that weren't repetitive, but I'll post this one so you can get an idea on what most people said:

"For the Slavic practice, neither myself nor my ancestors came from the region - however it has been calling to me since I was young and their stories and cultures have reached me in my soul. I do my best to not involve myself in ancestry or cultural rites I haven't been invited into, but some I have as I've traveled through the Balkans"

The sixth question asked if the individual was a generational practitioner, reconnecting, mentored or learning by themselves. This resulted in the following:

The seventh question was optional, catering to those who selected the "Not generational; I am learning by myself currently" option. It simply asks how are they learning, which resulted in responses such as the following:

"Mainly by reading books about Appalachian folk magic and following tumblr pages about it"

"Research through as many mediums as I can get my hands on. Academic histories, biographies, other practitioners online, podcasts. I try to cast my net as wide as I can so I have multiple sources that I can contrast and compare."

"books, science articles, personal experience, journaling, cause and effect"

"I have books of Scottish folktales that I try to sieve for info, I have a website full of folktales. I'm looking into witchcraft books written in/about Scotland."

"Not being mentored by any one person re: Appalachian/Ozark magic, but given general guidance and advice by a number of practitioners in the region. Self taught for the rest."

"Somewhere between reconnecting and taught. Took much of my practice from observation of my relatives but I was missing key pieces so I'm going through family accounts and works written by other folk practioners in the region to fill in the gaps."

"Online resources and folklore books mostly"

"Reading. Translating when I have the energy to do so."

"I am learning through research, talking with other folk practitioners from the same areas, and asking other people from my country/region about stories/superstitions!"

"Good ol' internet sleuthing (including JSTOR documents), repudated books, folk witch covenmates on discord, podcasts by authors I like"

➳ A small note I'd like to add; I myself do not believe people can truly learn the folk practices directly related to specific regions without speaking to generational practitioners/folk practitioners native to those regions, but I do applaud many of these people for digging up old books and translating them.

The eighth question asked why the individual chose their folk practices. These were some of the results:

"Other forms of work just didn't work for me, then came the realization that what my Granny did when I was little was a type of magic and I dove headfirst into it."

"It’s a part of my culture and religion. My parents taught it to me and it makes me feel connected to my heritage and my family."

"The adaptable nature and the instinct of it, I grew up with many of the practices just labeled under superstitions instead of magic."

"It's comforting and familiar, it makes the most sense in my head."

"I feel like I resonate with it more. Forgive me, but it's not as hippy-dippy as some of the other magic crafts I have seen. It comes from a place of ancestry and history."

"I’m not a fan of any new age stuff…I remember almost being turned away from magic because i thought it was all love and light with a bunch of yoga teachers….until a brilliant folk witch swept me off my feet and put me in the right direction."

"Truthfully it's the path of least resistance. It makes sense to me in a way that learning other systems never did. It gives me connection to my ancestors when as a queer person that relationship was fraught."

"Folk magic has established traditions that are still highly adaptable"

"To connect with my past and my ancestors. Although I am not white, I grew up in a very white environment, which was rather isolating."

"I find it comforting and it brings me meaning."

The ninth question asked if the individual believed their folk practices are closed, semi-closed or open. This is a topic that tends to be debated a lot, and unfortunately I can't narrow down the results much more than this, so here is the chart:

The tenth question asked to explain their reasoning for the previous question, but I failed to require people to include what folk practices they were speaking on in this question so I'm going to skip over this one.

Many of the responses summed up to "It's open, because if you feel called to it that should be enough" or "It's semi-closed because although many traditions are open, you should be living on the land it's from/learning from generational practitioners/much of it is oral tradition". Those who selected "closed" were dominantly bipoc individuals who were speaking on hoodoo, brujeria and things of that nature.

The eleventh question asked everybody to select the religion (or lack of) they followed. These were the results:

The twelfth question asked if religion (or lack of) impacted the individual's practice in any way. These were some of the responses:

"Yes. I incorporate the worship of God into my practices"

"No it doesn't. I keep my religion and my practice very separate due to quite a bit of Christianity related trauma."

"They are intertwined! The christian part anyway. I keep my pagan practices separate."

"I've definitely had to make compromises with a few spirits because of my personal beliefs but we cool"

"Yeah i struggle a lot with how religion fits into my practice as i am From primarily Christian areas. It’s something i am still working through"

"Yes, Christianity is very tied to Appalachian folk magic but I’m not longer Christian so sometimes it can be hard to balance being atheist with the strong Christian traditions of the practice."

"I identify as pagan and often times struggle to make folk practices which are heavily influenced by Christianity fit my deities and what I want to work with."

"A lot of folk magic is intertwined with Christianity. I'm not over the moon about it, but I understand why. I'm trying to see if it makes a difference if you separate out the Christianity versus leaving it in."

"Raised culturally Christian but Norse pagan now, but am attempting to incorporate certain Christian beliefs (saints, novenas, etc) into my own practice, since a lot of the texts/sources we have are from after the conversion of Scandinavia."

"Not particularly. I keep things separate."

And, finally, the last question simply asked if anybody had anything to add onto their submission for the survey. Here are a few responses that stood out to me:

"If you hear whistling in the woods at night no you didn't :)"

"I enjoyed answering these questions. It has brought some things up in my mind that I need to contemplate for a while. Thank you for that."

"I can’t stand witchcraft social media spaces. Incredible levels of disrespect done against all cultures and practices, meanings and definitions change and become more trendy than sincere. I can’t be a part of a community like that."

"I'm not very articulate and I'm certianly afraid of this coming across the wrong way, but I think there's too much infighting in different esoteric communities when half the time we're doing silly little spells and charms and yes, religion and spirituality are deeply personal and powerful subjects, but the fun in it came from me when I thought how ridiculous it is that my grandma on my dad's side knew mustard seed in a necklace would give me good luck and a wish, or that my baba knew that crosses on the window panes that she traced with fingers dipped in olive oil would keep the house safe. None of these things mean anything except that they mean everything."

"Trans rights"

"Personally, I think we lost something when folk magic began to go on the decline. Throughout all human history magic has been there. Now we have new age people and such. lmao"

"Even if you only just moved to a place, immediately research it's folk traditions cuz they're yours now, too. Chances are as a newcomer you prolly have something new to bring to the potluck as well. Just cite your sources, always."

Thanks to everybody who took part in this survey! I got a lot more responses than I initially expected. I was expecting no more than 30, maybe 40 tops. Yet there were 87. Y'all had me shook lol

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arcangeloscuba · 1 year

Text

NEWBIE NEEDS HELP

Hello all. Very new and currently reaserching. Looking for guidance and reading materials. I will give some backround info, the reason I'm reaserching, and what I have consumed already.

Backround on me. I am an Italian American, mostly southern Italian, primarily Sicily. (As far as I know, i will be takeing an ancestory DNA test soon) My family was running from organized crime and wanted to "americanize" fast so I did not really grow up culturally scicilian. I grew up catholic. I generally consider myself an architypical theist. I am not opposed to others views and practices like some people that use a similar identity. I have been passively practicing various traditions at my leisure for a few years now. Some inspiration from Wicca, the Heathen Reconstruction Movement, and more modern eclectic writers like Mat Auryn's "Psychic Witch." With all that being said I am a casual practioner of witchcraft at best but am very much convinced of a creator diety.

Recently I have came across itallian folk traditions and found striking similarities with my family and "what we did in Sicily" as my grandpa would say. About 2 years ago there was a lot of random shitty things happening in the family. My grandpa instructed my sister to gift me a cornicello neclace because he thought this is the work of the Mal'occhio. (he pernounced it ma-luk-e-a) Ever since I've worn it everyday. After a recent death in the family I decided to research this further and came across a YouTube video by Chaotic Witch Aunt that was a kind of "beginners guide," from here is where my general research has taken off from. I noticed, in my family, a focus on saint veneration, saint punishing, Mal'occhio, and stories of my great Grandfather describing a kind of shamanism in his "pinwheel village". My guess is that my recent family partook in a type of Benidictaria. And yes I know they would not have called themselves that as far as I know everyone has been Devote catholics, even though they don't really act like devote catholics. I COULD BE WRONG OFC.

Some of the stuff I consumed so far is various blog posts and reddit threads relating to symbolism, charms, icons.., the previously mentioned YouTube video, a interview with Angela Buca from Chaotic Witch Aunt, I started reading "itallian witchcraft" by Raven Gramassi (taking it with a grain of salt), and I will occasionally crack into the 13 part paper "Spells, Saints, and Strege." By Sabina Magliocco, not much yet though.

My to read list is this right now.

Finishing Sabinas paper.

The things we do, Augustino Taumaturgo.

Aradia, Charles Leland. Stregheria, Leland.

Etruscan magic and occult remedies, Leland.

Pre prints that Angela Buca has made available.

My goal here is more so in the realm of reconstruction, history, and gathering more info. I have made the decision to experiment with saint veneration since it is somthing I have done in the past and somthing that feels natural to me. I do not want to jump into a new practice all willy nilly without the proper reaserch.

Looking for more reading materials, guidance on prioritizing the materials I already have listed, general advice to newcomers into the community, personal stories of your practice or relationship with italian folk traditions, and a reason why everyone seems to hate Gramassi haha.

Sorry this post is so long I felt it necessary to explain my intentions and where the come from. I understand that this is a diverse and nuanced community and subject to research.

Feel free to reach out in DMs aslo.

#stregheria #stregoneria #italian witchcraft #italian folk magic #traditional italian witchcraft #traditional folk magic #benedicaria

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