#podcast podcasting tarot reading tarot goddess

[wicthdragon]

#gayhot #gay trade #podcast podcasting tarot reading tarot goddess #Spotify

[emidealia]

☆ timeless what's AWAITING YOU next month ☆

Hey lovelies! Bienvenue! This is a PICK A CARD tarot reading is about what you need to hear about your upcoming month, starting pretty much from where you are right now. Choose a picture from the top 1, 2 or from the bottom 3, 4. Be kind and take with you only what applies. Take a deep breath ...and enjoy!:)

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pile 1

Nurture your Goddess energy

Main thing you’ll focus this month is bringing back rosy feeling(fresh, sweet, gorg). You have a tendency to not feel like a boss a— bitch and this is rooted in trauma from home/finances and results in lack of trust, confidence in yourself. Perhaps not feeling “clean” or not having a romantic lifestyle like others around you and on internet. It is affecting how you express your mind, the way you present yourself etc. Because you don’t really believe in yourself you treat yourself as such. The way back from this is from outward actions too. This month you’ll start prioritizing having a put together bedroom, aesthetically pleasing desk and thought-out hairstyles, makeup and outfits. Healing feminine energy will be truly empowering for you. Look into that! When you act confident you start gaining back your power, truly believing and feeling worthy and divine.

Don’t deny it, there’s a lot you could do in your situation. There’s absolutely no point in sitting in your despair, hoarding sadness, feeling pathetic. Literally no one else cares, no one will come feeling sorry for you and no one but yourself can save you. Be known for having built yourself up or are you envisioning yourself in the same pile of pity years from now, only more bitter? If you can change it, stop whining and change. If you can’t, then there’s no point in whining either, it’s out of your control. But be honest.

Back to what you can do. What is it that creates a spark in you? Even the smallest of desires to get yourself together. For example late at night on pinterest or the right tiktok hitting the spot, maybe the right friend or seeing what your interests can accomplish. Journaling, vision boards, meditating, working out, waking up early, podcasts. Gather everything that sparks the motivation to start something, change sth about yourself, chase your dreams and such. Use these things to your advantage, learn what helps your mind to stay focused, body to stay healthy. Learning about the way you can motivate yourself with your actions, you’ll trick your brain into being more confident as the brain changes everyday according to your surroundings. I do recommend notion for putting down your plan to renew yourself, music, habits, dreams, routines etc. This month you’ll be in your element and succeed babe. Love the process, love yourself, you are so goddamn worthy of living as you desire. You are divine as fuck, you lack nothing!

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pile 2

A long period came to an end. School term, finals, relationship, friendship, lease on sth or a project? Even though it’s over, rather than being grateful, glad, you visit the situation and feel a bit guilty, uncertain, could you have changed the outcome, said/done it better or been more present? Yeah, no, stop, it’s useless. Maybe you could have, how about that? Nothing to do about it anyways. Find peace for yourself human! You are in the now, it is certain that storm is over and be glad.

MOVING ON. Too much overthinking, man, this time about the future. You are tiring your mind, so much is going on, like the 13 open tabs and there’s music, screaming, a random question about lemurs and existensialism video essays. A lot of escapism, wishing someone would make the decisions for you or being far away from here, doing nothing. No no no. You can’t give away your oppurtunities and potential, you’ll learn a lot from this. You are destined for greatness. I’ll be honest this month there are a few days of feeling shitty but it’s in your control and nothing you couldn’t deal with. Also nothing you haven’t done before so this may be a reoccurring lesson. Main question is, how tf to sustain yourself? In healthy-ish coping mechanisms please. Learn to find something stable in your life that doesn’t fall apart if everything else does.

Main focus this month is about concious progress, intentional advancements. Things will get better, you’ll keep pushing forward, along with much success and enjoyment. You can shape your career, hobbies, plans in according to your own timetable, if you make the needed choices. In this upcoming period you need to be grounded and ready to jump at oppurtunities. You are ambitious, career-driven, but a step back does not kill you. It’s actually essential to sustain yourself. Your brain is a resource, for too long you have used it only for work, being in survival mode, resulting in feeling drained out of power.

I know how hard it is, but take a break, several breaks, a vacation even. Learn to do nothing more than just exist for once. Loving yourself for you, not just for your work validation. That’s also something you should tak einto consideration this month. Separating yourself from performance statistics in your job. If you give it so much control it can really eat you up and destroy you. But you are more than that, am I right? I bloody am, you are an amazing person. Reconnect with yourself, with more humanity. Get rid of the need to be perfect. You really don't need to. Truly okay if you couldn't do your best, or just didn't. It's okay.

Being mentally ready, feeling present and being truly glad to wake up to experience the world is pretty awesome. You’ll be ready for anything then. Love you for you!!! Kisses and hugs, muah :)

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pile 3

Right away, when starting this pile I was full of the feeling YOLO, let’s do it :D. Spring is coming. Oh the cards made me smile right away. Attracting like a rose, receiveing abundance, you have a right to your joy. Screamiiiiing in joy. I’m obsessed. You have noticed how easily you manifest, right? The little things just flow to you. This is your time: vision boards, letters, writing down your wishes, affirmations, being grateful. You’ll receive everything you manifest right now.

Fall into the mystery, when you receive oppurtunities take them. Your manifestations come in different forms, what you might gain may be hidden but you will receive what you desire for sure. If an offer sparks feelings in you, the ,,what if ;)” type. DO IT! It’s your soul calling. If you want to advance creativity, learn new skills or gain a little money, you might do it in a different way you anticipated. I sense some workshops or little jobs, it might not be exactly what you thought about when manifesting but it’s like such a cute opportunity to also take some time off. It will be easy and safe to you, in a good way. Your boss or the manager and colleagues will be such great people, you’ll gain so many connections. I hear some teamwork is in order. I feel you will be receiving abundance in the form of what your inner child loved to do. You’ll be connecting to that forgotten side of yourself. I think you are aware of the hobby, but forgotten the potential of it, the joys it can bring you. This can turn out to be first of all an amazing way to connect to yourself, but also a way to gain mental well-being and little side cash. It will offer emotional and physical things, like the joy of creating art and having paintings in your home or selling prints on internet.

I just need to put this out there that it will be something you can connect over with your future significant other too. This shared joy for a hobby is truly pure, healing and sweet. You may even meet through this. Yep they are amazing, but don’t take your focus on romantic validation, you know better. There’s this beautiful saying. If you spend your time chasing butterflies, they'll fly away. If you spend your time making a beautiful garden the butterflies will come to you. And if they don't come, then you still have the beautiful garden.

STAY LOVELY!

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pile 4

I started the reading with bits of confusion and come clumsiness but in a free nonjudgemental chill way if that makes sense? Pfft oops:D anyways … You are the essence of confidence, self acceptance, at least you are perceived that way. You know your needs, you don’t resist when you need a break, you ask and you receive. Great standards, others must accept you like u do. Just like it should be. I am enchanted by your energy and I’m not the only one. This month you’ll keep on shining like you are, taking it to another level. Others will be greatly motivated by your ability to be in total control of your life, caring for your wishes and needs with trust. Main focus this month is advancing your everyday things: style may be the most prominent, also smaller things like a new type of go-to food or coffee you swear by. You’ll have great luck in finding new items for your wardrobe and new ingredients for recipes. So saying yes to going thrifting or buying mysterious exciting things will be rewarding.

Traveling to a neighboring city or country most likely alone. A great refreshment for you. I see you safely wandering in the evening, finding cool bars, cafes, museums, talking and hanging out with strangers but essentially making new friends and learning about people. This is something that really interests you, finding out about different subjects, talking to strangers, learning about different opinions and world views. At the same time, you will also develop your own hobby, photography or filmmaking, writing or doing remote work.

So to sum up, this month is about great curiosity, travelling, charming, communication with new people, developing your style and pursuing a hobby. Life is a grand adventure!

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#tarot #tarot reading #2023 tarot reading #pac #pac reading #pick a card #pick a card reading #pick a pile #pick a photo #pick a picture #tarot card reading #reading #prediction #what you need to hear #advice

[theblackdahliaemporium]

Tips for Pagan Parents

This post is for all the parents that follow a pagan or witchcraft path! Tips and tricks.

-Build a community of support around yourself. Resources for pagan parents are incredibly limited. To help make those parenting challenges easier on you, give yourself a place to turn to on those bad days! Join a Pagan Parenting Facebook group, or something along those lines!

-Start a “Spiritual Scouts” group! This is a group of young children (like boy or girl scouts) that do Pagan activities and you can even make up your own badges and have your own ceremonies.

-Bring a little magic into your child’s life -Embrace your child’s imagination -Bring Nature into your child’s everyday life.

-Involve your child in your faith. -Most pagan parents are not looking to push their personal beliefs on their children. Involving them in your faith and/or practice is a great way to help them find their own path! Help them celebrate the holidays and answer any questions they ask. Help them build their own set of Magickal tools like building their own set of Runes.

Some Everyday Tips and Tricks:

1. Transportation Magick: Most parents are busy driving their kids around from place to place. Mix in a little Magick! Play your favorite witchy music, look for divine messages on license plates or in the clouds, and talk to your guides once the kids have left the vehicle. Some good Magickal and folklore podcasts on Spotify: The Midnight Library and Supernatural. Use essential oils in your car, peppermint, lavender, eucalyptus depending on the mood.

2. Morning Blessings: In the morning, bless your coffee, tea, and breakfast by drawing sigils or symbols over them. Pray to your goddess (or deity) while getting ready in the morning. If you are an early riser, spend some time at your altar! If you are not a morning person, Try evening rituals instead!

3. Quick Divination: This is a great way to add Magick to any moment and connect with the divine. Read nature signs outside, try a rune or tarot mobile app for practice and knowledge. Listen to the songs stores play!

4. Lunch Break: Take the time to yourself and eat a lunch outside. Enjoy fresh air and connect with nature. If you have time, go for a short walk! Listen to a meditation podcast through earphones or just listen to nature! If your kids are with you, take them for a walk too! We look for items to bring home, pinecones, acorns, cool rocks. Look for anything Magickal!

5. Add Magick to your chores: I have an entire post about this—View on my Page "Turning the Mundane into the Magickal"

6. Cooking Magick Meals: If you are a kitchen witch, You got this covered! Consider learning how to add intention into your meals, work with culinary herbs, make teas, and more. Get the kids involved! Make moon cookies, craft fairy offerings, etc.

Books for Pagan Parents- · The Magickal Family- Monica Crosson · Witchy Mama- Melanie Marquis & Emily A. Francis · Circle Round- Starhawk, Diane Baker, Anne Hill · Pagan Parenting- Kristin Madden · Children of the Green – Dr. Hannah E. Johnston · Parenting Pagan Tots- Janet Callahan · The Earth Child’s Handbook- Brigid Ashwood · Pagan Family Values- S. Zohreh Kermani

#witch #hearth witch #herbal magick #small business #witch blog #kitchen witch #etsy shop #pagan #kitchen witchery #herbs #paganism #pagan witch #pagan community #witchcraft #witchblr #wicca #paganblr #witchy #witchyvibes #green witch #witch community #witchlife #witches #witchcore #witch aesthetic #pagan parent #pagan parenting

[ascendantevolution]

When we are called to pursue our path with purpose, the way does not always feel clear. While obstacles are certainly a challenge and a reality, oftentimes our greatest challenge is ourselves. Even though we have the base knowledge we need - and that has been earned - and our abilities and gifts are simply present as a part of us, it is still possible to feel like an imposter. You aren’t an imposter. You have earned your stripes. Are you done? No. Learning is never done. Now would be a good time for expanding your consciousness by 1) networking with people who can help you to see fresh perspectives and offer guiding advice, and 2) listen to the Divine Wisdom that is already channeling through you. It is true that, when we are in a state of expansion, we can feel like we are in between worlds - because we are in the space between having what it takes and expanding into mastery through experience. Don’t compare yourself to others who have already been there done that. That’s not a fair analysis. Let them inspire you - to see what you want to become as well as how you want to do it differently. 🧡𐃏🧚𐃏🦁

Coming soon: book, tarot, and oracle deck reviews as well as podcast-style talks.

I want to thank you, thank you, thank you for liking, sharing, and subscribing. I wish you well on your sacred path. Blessed be.

To book a reading, email me at [email protected]

The links to decks used in this reading are provided for your convenience  below. I have also begun the work of cataloguing my collection of decks. For your convenience, I am linking the decks. Indie decks are linked to sites where you can find those decks. All others are linked to Amazon. I have become an Amazon Affiliate, and that means that, if you decide to buy a deck as a result of seeing it used in one of my readings on Youtube, and you ORDER IT FROM THE AMAZON LINK provided in my deck collection doc (linked below) or in this description box, I get a little commission for the referral! It’s an AMAZING way to help support my ongoing work and the expenses associated with it, such as purchasing decks for readings, recording equipment, and the upkeep of my digital subscriptions. THANK YOU for YOUR SUPPORT 💚

ESTARA’S DECK COLLECTION: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a_B6pp6ezlpW0_GyZJJU_QU4A7DvyAYUHUX6Y3SEDy4/edit#

Decks used in this reading are: Journey to Enlightenment Heavenly Bodies Astrology Sacred Spirit Reading Cards Goddess Power Oracle Goddesses, Gods, & Guardians Energy Oracle Cards

#youtube #tarot #daily tarot #free tarot #tarot cards #oracle #psychic readings #medium #psychic #shaman #energy healing #spiritualawakening #spiritual evolution

[thewiccanrede]

Becoming a Witch or working in the witch craft world is hard enough when you start off. You’re unsure where to start, what to do and who if anyone you can turn to. I started off by reading a lot, listening to books on tape, searching Pinterest and going on YouTube. They ALL talked about different ways to start your journey off right but they all briefly touched base on a book called “Book of Shadows” I didn’t know what this really was. After doing research strictly regarding the “Book of Shadows” is when I found out what it actually is and why it’s so important. So now I started creating my own Book of Shadows even though I still didn’t know what to do, I was just winging it! After time, I finally came up with some items I wanted in my book and “must have” items. I’m now into my journey and have created a great starting point for someone out there who is in the same boat I was. So here we go.

There are so many books, video, websites etc out there it is so hard to focus on where to start. I had papers printed out all over the place, notes written down on sticky notes and notes stored on my phone. Notes, details, ideas EVERYWHERE! I wish I had someone sitting next to me daily telling me what to do first, second then third but I didn’t so I winged it all on my own and I’m still running strong. From listening to podcasts and books on tape recently I realized I’m not alone in this journey. We all normally start off like this. Too many of us start this way feeling alone and unsure where to turn. It can be hard becoming a witch, working within the witch craft world or whatever you are or might want to be is normally hidden at first from your loved ones and friends.

So lets get back to the Book of Shadows details – The first thing you need is a book to create your own Book of Shadows in. Its always great to use a black bound book, leather if possible but cloth will work too. You can also use a binders which is easy to move around pages, add and remove pages and adjust what you already wrote down prior. In this day of age people also have there Book of Shadows online through APPS. But if you are old school like I am, a good old fashion black bounded book is perfect.

Now again 2 years in and I’m still working in my original Book of Shadows. Sometimes I wish I did things different but at the same time I’m very happy with my book. I have now started a few different books which I’ll get into down the line in.

“MUST” HAVE ITEMS

• The Wiccan Rede – this is what all Wiccans base there practice on and around as well as some people who study witch craft that are non Wiccan.

• The background about Wiccan or Witch Craft – Beliefs & Values

• The Wiccan Altar and the Sacred Circle

• Deities, Gods and Goddesses

• Spells, Rituals and Cleansings

• Wheel of the Year – Sabiths Good Idea Items

• Types of Witches – to figure out who you are or want to be and its good to learn about each witch. You don’t have to be only one!

• Moon Phases – Names of the phases, spells per phase and why

• Days of the week spells

• Candle spells

• Crystal spells

• Color spells

• Divination – Tarot cards, palm ready, pendulum work, the all famous crystal ball readings and more.

• Herbs and flower use

Listen, this is just a great starting out point and again nobody’s books are EVER and should not EVER be the same. We will all have similar details in our books BUT the book must be for you and only you. This is your chance to shine and be creative. It should make you feel good to create whatever you want to create – it shouldn’t make you feel like its a chore. If it does, then maybe its not the right moment for you, try again later or on another day. There is no rush! Enjoy, it is a magic time in your new venture!

So mote it be!

[u-mind-me]

We recommend you watch this one on YouTube to fully comprehend the gifts of @nyxievonrose : witch, high-priestess, exorcist and one of the fine and freaky folks behind the @horrorgasmsd art collective. . . . See her give me a disturbingly accurate tarot reading in our latest episode! . . . 🎥 ‪ https://youtu.be/rJIygKig-n4 . . . 🔊☁️ https://soundcloud.com/user-757911521/u-mind-ep41-nyxie-von-rose . . . 🧵https://www.stitcher.com/s?eid=69996851&autoplay=1 . . . 🎶📥 http://tun.in/tj1GW0 . . . Part of the @projectentnet family of podcasts! #podcast #horror #witch #witchesofinstagram #tarot #goddess #reading #spiritualism #art #artistsoninstagram #podernfamily #interview #esoteric #paranormal #intuitive #magic #astrology #psychic #spirit #soul #witchcraft #excorcism #angel #divine #divinefeminine #catmagic #theumindpodcast #lucidnapproductions #supportindiepodcasts #supportindieartists (at Vista, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAviPCzDfNs/?igshid=mreepyr01g9f

#podcast #horror #witch #witchesofinstagram #tarot #goddess #reading #spiritualism #art #artistsoninstagram #podernfamily #interview #esoteric #paranormal #intuitive #magic #astrology #psychic #spirit #soul #witchcraft #excorcism #angel #divine #divinefeminine #catmagic #theumindpodcast #lucidnapproductions #supportindiepodcasts #supportindieartists

[the-black-rose-witch]

Hi (•: so happy I found your blog. I have had a spiritual emptiness for a long time now and recently started reading books on Wicca and I’ve resonated so well with what I’ve read. I bought a tarot deck too but I haven’t felt very connected or confident in my readings or anything. How did you get better in touch with the goddesses/gods and such if I don’t mind me asking? Thank you so much✨

Once again, I’ve asked the very lovely @persephonecats for help with this question!

@persephonecats :

For a beginner, there are a couple things I would recommend. Some key skills to learn before you start reaching out to deities would be: energy sensing and manipulation, centering and grounding, casting a circle, meditation, visualisation, mind-calming, and protective magic. Okay, I know it sounds like a lot, but Hearth Witch on Youtube has an awesome playlist on Witchcraft for beginners including all of these key steps, and there are plenty of great podcasts created with baby witches in mind. Once you’ve got those mastered, and when you feel ready, you can (and only if you want to! There’s no pressure for witches to work with deities if they don’t want to) reach out to a deity. If no one particular deity calls to you, then do some research. Tumblr is a great place for this, but beware of UPG (that’s unverified personal gnosis, which is when the information is based on someone’s personal experience instead of sacred texts or mythology). Once you’ve done your research, pick a deity! Some deities I know aren’t shy of working with beginners are Aphrodite, Hestia and Gaia. If I were you, I would leave working with deities that require a lot of complex offerings at the beginning. Start by leaving out a simple offering to the deity, perhaps some water in a bowl, or a cookie, and say a little prayer, offering the thing to the deity. That’s the best way to establish a line of communication. Then, leave it for a little while. Maybe light a candle for them while you do chores or study or work. Pray to them, even just to tell them about your day. And see what response you get.

A response might be: a sign of that deity, for example seeing a wild rabbit when calling to a deity whose sign may be a rabbit, a dream with that deity in it, a response through divination, a sudden bout of good luck, or a repeating message in your head that persists and may be a response to your prayers. You may get no response, and that’s okay too. You can keep trying with that deity, or try another.

The rest is up to you! You can keep working with that one deity, or you can branch out and try to communicate with other deities. Good luck!

Take care :)

Mine:

Tarot cards! One of my favorite tools. Tarot cards not only use deity input but many many forces, so it may be that you aren’t connecting with your pack as you’d like, which I’m planning to do a post on with PC!

Just here to be the worry wart: sometimes you need a little more prep before deity work. Now I don’t mean this in a baby witches shouldn’t work with deities, but in an inner reflection way. Before everything, I suggest you meditate on the question of working with deities. See what emotions arise: anxiety, excitement, happiness? Write them down and make an analysis. Are you comfortable and ready for this?

Now for the fun part! Mediating on the question on what deity you should work with, looking for omens as @persephonecats says and asking spirit guides is a great place to start. Don’t be disheartened if nothing happens at the beginning, you might just not be seeing the signs or you may not be at the place in your journey to work with them. I personally talk and leave offerings to Aphrodite but other than that I do not really commune with the gods anymore, however @persephonecats does often! Everyone’s path is different.

Whenever communicating with any being spirit or other offerings are always a good idea so have a go. Remember respect but never lose your dignity.

#advice #spells #wicca #spell #witch #witchcrafts #baby witch #tarot card #tarot cards #tarot reading #deities #deity #deity work #gods #gods and goddesses #goddesses #witches of tumblr #my lovely parter and their help

[itsthewickedwitchofthewest]

craft.

The Key to Being a Balanced Busy Mom Witch

The key to being a balanced, busy mom witch is to fit small rituals and magical habits into your daily mundane routine. THEN when you have extra time (the gods allowing) on the weekends, nights, and holidays, fit your more elaborate rituals in.

1. Transportation Magick

Most busy mom witches are driving their kids around from place to place: to school, sports, clubs, friends’ houses, doctor’s appointments, etc. We are literally our children’s chauffeurs on a daily basis. In the midst of all the driving, instead of loathing the commute, mix a little magick into your journeys! Play your favorite witchy music, look for divine messages on license plates or in the clouds, and talk to your guides and ancestors once the kids have left the vehicle.

2. Morning Blessings

In the morning, bless your coffee, tea, and breakfast by drawing sigils or symbols over them. Pray to your goddess while getting ready in the morning (you can easily work praying into your showering and while getting dressed). If you are an early riser, try waking up earlier than the family to spend a few moments at your altar. Give offerings, pray, chant, or meditate while the house is still quiet!

3. Divination on the Fly

Whether you’re in the car line picking up the kids or running down a grocery aisle, divination on the fly is a great way to add magick to any moment and connect with the divine. Read nature signs while outside, practice listening to others’ conversations to divine a message, OR try a Rune or Tarot app on your mobile phone. You could pick a card or rune anywhere and at any time!

4. Lunch Break for the Busy Mom Witch

If you’re a working mom and get a lunch break, take advantage of the time you have. Instead of eating inside, take your lunch outside and enjoy the fresh air and connect with nature. Or eat your lunch then go for a quick walk. If you can’t get outside, sit quietly and listen to a witchy podcast or meditation through your phone/earbuds. If you have your kids at home with you, take them for a nature walk too!

5. Add Magick to Your Chores

As a busy mom witch, the chores never seem to end. Some days I feel myself drowning in laundry, other days I want to throw the dishes away in the trash. Instead of loathing or avoiding our chores, why not work some magick into them? For example, bless your laundry room and dedicate it to a domestic goddess. Add different herbal infusions to your wash for different intentions. Scry with soap bubbles while doing the dishes. Sweep the house and sweep away negative energy.

6. Cooking Magical Meals

Cooking is one of those things we have to do as busy mom witches. If you’re a kitchen witch, you may already work magick into your meals. But if you’re not, consider learning how to add intention into your meals, work with culinary herbs, make teas and more! All easy ways to be a busy mom and a witch simultaneously – practice while cooking and cleaning.

7. Checking the Mail

You wouldn’t think checking the mail or taking out the trash could be magical, but I’m here to confess that it is! Any time I walk outside, I take in the world around my driveway and home. I look for nature signs and omens, i.e. feathers on the ground, birds in the trees or flying overhead, new plants or flowers, etc. While you check your mail, say hello to Mother Nature. A simple yet serene moment in a busy mom’s day.

8. Less Screen Time

While TV and scanning our phones may seem relaxing, in reality we are cheating ourselves of key spiritual and mental time. I’ve made an effort to lessen my screen time at night by replacing it with thirty minutes or more of reading. Read a witchy fiction or non-fiction after the kids are asleep instead of scanning through FaceBook or watching Netflix.

9. Locking Up the House

Every busy mom has a sundown routine. You know what I mean – you walk around the house and close the blinds, turn on lamps, and lock the doors for the night. Have you ever thought of adding a little witchcraft to that routine? While locking my doors at night, I also magically lock them by drawing a protective rune with my finger over them. I also take a quick moment to pray to my ancestors and goddess for protection and blessing over my house.

10. Cherish the Holidays and Moments

Even though it gets busy on the holidays, most of us have at least a few moments of relaxation and family quality time. Cherish these moments – create your own witchy family holiday traditions to continue each year. Even if it’s not a holiday, breathe and be thankful for the small moments with your children and loved ones. Love is what keeps a witch’s power flowing

11. Get the Kids Involved

Trying to figure out how you can work magick and keep the kids entertained? Get your kids involved! There are so many fun crafts and activities that kids would enjoy that would also support your witchcraft practice. Craft suncatchers, sew dollbabies/poppets, bake fairy cakes, etc. My daughter enjoys looking at my oracle card collection, so when I want to do a quick reading I let her admire the artwork. There are many ways to be a mommy AND a witch…you just have to be creative!

#witch community #witchblr #witches #witches of tumblr #spellwork #magick

[lonelypond]

Moonlight Becomes You: Apocalypse Midnight Dance Party, Ch. 20

NozoEli, NicoMaki, Love Live, Love Live Sunshine, 1.7k, 20/?

Summary: Nozomi and Eli's date is not what Eli...or Nozomi expects at all. And can Nico and Maki have one uninterrupted meal?

What The Hell, Eli?

““Hey I recognize this neighborhood.” Eli sat up, sniffing. She could smell the Russian spices in the air. Nozomi had brought her back to Nozomi’s shop/apartment.

Nozomi giggled.

“This has the best chocolate in LA?”

“No, I picked it up from Jin’s Patissierre before I picked you up.”

“So no restaurant.” Eli felt overdressed and suddenly on the spot. She could feel her neck get prickly.

Nozomi laughed, “I thought we could talk more privately.” Nozomi parked and when Eli didn’t get out of the car walked over to open her door, “Plus, is it my fault all the best places are takeout?”

Eli sat, stiff, arms crossed, “I dressed up.” Eli glanced at Nozomi, “You dressed up.”

“And you look lovely.” Nozomi grinned, “Why can’t we have a date here?”

Eli pouted.

“It really is the best chocolate in LA.” Nozomi sighed, “I will drive you home or to any restaurant you want, if you really want that.” Nozomi crouched, her green eyes worried, “You just seemed like you needed to talk about something. And I wanted you to feel safe. You trust me don’t you?”

Eli heard Nico’s voice in her head, “You trusted Nico. Trust Eli.”

Nozomi stood, about to close the car door. Eli put out her hand. “I do like chocolate.”

“So I heard.” Nozomi stepped back, “We can watch a movie or something. You don’t have to talk, if you don’t want to.”

“Okay.” Eli got out of the car, Nozomi giving her space.

And then Eli felt herself being grabbed in a strong, warm hug, Nozomi’s voice soft in her ear. “But when you want to talk...”

###

Booksmart was a good choice, Nozomi thought. Eli was relaxing, the chocolate had been a hit. And now that the final credits had rolled, there was opportunity to get to know Eli better.

Eli stretched and turned to Nozomi with a smile, “That was a relief.”

“How?” Nozomi leaned in. Her couch was more of a love seat so there wasn’t much space between them. She’d sat first and let Eli choose between joining her or the beanbag chair.

Eli chuckled, “Usually when I’m watching a movie it’s for the podcast so Nico keeps up a running commentary.”

“Nico huh,” Nozomi poked Eli in the ribs, “I remember hearing your voice on those podcasts.”

Eli blushed, “Well, I have gotten used to keeping up with Nico.”

‘I guess you can get used to anything.”

Eli’s face darkened for a second, but then she smiled brightly, “So did you like the movie?”

“You heard me laughing.”

“Yeah. It was pretty good. Can’t imagine things like that happening.”

“Didn’t you go to parties in high school?”

“No.”

Nozomi’s smile was wry, “Me neither. But I bet Mari partied like that.”

“Yeah, I think that was actually the weirdest party I’ve been to…” Eli shrugged, “Nico drags me to some, but they’re premieres so more red carpet, less dance on the pool table in some fancy mansion.”

“But you dance so well.”

Eli blushed again, ducking her head, but then staring into Nozomi’s eyes, “Any chocolate left?”

“So you’re only here for the chocolate?”

Eli shook her head.

“How about some tea too. I picked up some from next door I thought you might like.”

“Ooohh, that sounds good.”

Nozomi stood up, ready to bustle in the kitchen, and Eli glanced at her phone.

“Expecting a call.” Nozomi couldn’t help the disappointment.

“No, no.” Eli bounced up, “Just curious how Nico’s date is going.” Eli paused, “I’ve kind of been in the way and I feel bad.”

“So you want it to go well.”

“Nico deserves someone who appreciates her.”

“Don’t you?”

“It’s different when a person’s in love with you.”

Nozomi had her back turned as she measured out tea, “Which you know from experience?”

A pained laugh, “No. I guess actually that’s the romantic in me coming out, thinking it’s better if you’re in love. I wouldn’t know. Haven’t dated since college. Got dumped.”

Nozomi turned to take a long, appreciative look at Eli, “They weren’t into super hot blonde dance goddesses? Because, spoiler, I am.”

Cute girls blushing was pretty much everything that was right in the universe, especially right here on Nozomi’s home. Eli seemed to be getting more restless though, pacing, rubbing her forehead…

“Getting a headache?”

“Yeah. It happens sometimes.” Eli flumped onto Nozomi’s couch, frowning as she leaned her head into her hands, muttering to herself.

“Need aspirin or…”

“No.” Eli shook herself, “Maybe the tea will help?”

“Here you go.” Nozomi poured a steady stream into the cup but Eli’s hands on the saucer were shaky, not graceful. And then the saucer dropped, spilling tea everywhere and Eli pitched forward, curled up in a ball on the ground.

“Eli?” Nozomi was on her knees, reaching out to Eli.

“Call Nico.” Eli’s eyes were wide and panicked, her mouth clamped down on what Nozomi was sure were whimpers.

###

"So Nico was sprinting through the airport chasing this driver for someone named Nik Yazik, while Nico’s actual driver was chasing after me, while Nik Yazik was chasing after her...”

Laughing, Nico leaned forward, sparkling, ruby eyes burnished and bright, strawberry lips carved into a smile, and Maki had never been happier. So, of course, that’s when Rin’s business emergency ringtone went off.

Nico frowned.

“Sorry, Nico. That’s our emergency ringtone. I’ll be as quick as I can.” Maki pulled out her phone.

Nico nodded, taking the opportunity to steal a bite of Maki’s dessert.

“What’s the matter, Rin...yes, Nico’s here with me, why…”

Nico froze in mid chew.

“What did you say...Eli?...okay, okay…”

Nico grabbed Maki’s phone out of her hand, “What happened to Eli?”

“Huh...Oh, Nico! Hi, Nico! Maki thinks you’re really cute. How’s your date going?”

Nico gritted out each word, “What happened to Eli?”

“This Nozomi person wouldn’t say, just that Eli was at her place and said to call you. Sounded like she was in some kind of trouble. Do I need to call the cops?”

“DON”T CALL THE COPS!” Everyone in the restaurant was now looking at Nico, who grimaced, tossed Maki’s phone back at her, “We have to go. NOW.” Nico waved at Mama Gianelli, “Put it on Nico’s tab.”

Mama Gianelli nodded, “Take care of Eli.”

“Nico always does.”

And now they were sprint walking toward where the cars were and Nico was keeping up a constant flow of commentary, “I knew there was going to be trouble....Eli just can’t cope….how much of a disaster lesbian do you have to be....stupid Eli wrecking Nico’s....” Nico stopped and Maki ran into her, causing both of them to stumble down the sidewalk. Fortunately, Nico managed to stay on her feet.

“Maki.” Turning, Nico had Maki’s hands, “I’m so sorry. But....”

“Eli’s family.” Maki finished Nico’s sentence, grinning as Nico’s eyes widened and a smile replaced the grumpy wrinkled frown.

Nico grabbed Maki in a huge hug that made Maki grunt as the air escaped her torso. When Nico released her Maki decided they were taking her car. “Nico, I’m driving. You’re too emotional.”

###

Nozomi dealt the cards, pushing away the wet nose that kept pushing into her hands to be petted.

“Let’s see what the cards have to say about your future now.”

The creature that had finished where Eli started sat next to Nozomi, watching the cards as she dealt them out face down on the low table and then flipped them. Nozomi could feel the intelligence so she just explained like she would if the Eli she started the afternoon with were sitting next to her.

“Four of Cups, reversed.” Nozomi turned to the angular, almost foxlike face, somehow different from her first encounter with four legged Eli, a difference more than lighting. “Are you ready to be brave?”

The reply was a sharp yip.

“Good girl.” Nozomi turned over the next card, “Queen of Swords. Reversed. Someone hasn’t been the best influence on you.”

No response.

“And finally, The Star.” Nozomi giggled, “It looks like you, well, non furry you. Blonde and strong and focused.”

Eli barked.

Nozomi reshuffled. “Sometimes, there’s some more information needed so we have one more card.” Nozomi revealed the Two Of Pentacles, a lively fellow with a pentacle in each hand. “This means balance, Eli. It’s a good sign.”

Nozomi considered the array of cards she’d drawn. Eli had obviously had a strong female influence in her life who wasn’t supportive and made Eli wary of new connections, but by reaching out Eli could have a bright future, with happiness and balance.

“Who hurt you, Eli? Was it Nico?”

Eli cocked her head at Nozomi, bright blue eyes confused. Nozomi reached out a careful hand, wondering if she could touch Eli’s ears, but the creature shied away. This was why Kanan and Yoshiko had dragged Eli down to the beach. But what were they up to? Did they transform as well? Some of the Yoshiko-Yohane confusion would make more sense then. Nozomi was going to have a serious talk with Hanamaru as soon as Eli was safe and restored to what Nozomi suspected was her native form.

Frantic banging on the door downstairs, and Nico’s voice carrying through the open window. “Hey, open up, Eli, where are you?”

Eli recognized Nico’s voice and howled. Nozomi hurried downstairs, Eli carefully following, sniffing everything in reach of her nose, even if they were the same things she’d sniffed on her way upstairs.

Nozomi opened the door, Nico rushed past her, Maki stepping in with a polite nod. As soon as Eli noticed Maki, there was a throaty gekkering noise and Nico frowned.

“We talked about this Eli. Maki is not a threat.”

Maki took a step back, leaning against the archway, watching Nico.

Nico was staring at Eli, who was still sniffing her way around the room.

“Three?” Nico muttered, turning to confront Nozomi, “What did you do?”

“A Tarot reading.”

“Did that give her extra tails?”

“When she changed…” Nozomi was not going to forget that scene anytime soon, “this is how she looked.”

Nico dropped to the floor, legs crossed, “What the hell, Eli? What are you doing?” Eli, responding to her name, trotted up to Nico, nudging at her.

“I might know people who can help.” Nozomi’s voice attracted Eli’s attention back to her, and Nozomi knelt to pet the friendliest of her visitors.

Nico sighed. “Kanan, right?”

“And Yoshiko.”

Nico rolled her eyes, “Oh this’ll be fun. Another party.” She facepalmed, muttering. Maki began to look concerned and stepped forward, kneeling to hug Nico.

“Call ‘em,” Nico said through her fingers, “Call any damn body who might know what’s going on.”

A/N: Tired, but here you go. Take care.

#NicoMaki #NozoEli #werewolf #Apocalypse Midnight Dance #Ayase Eli #Tojo Nozomi #Yazawa Nico #Nishikino Maki #etc

[wicthdragon]

#eros god #podcast podcasting tarot reading tarot goddess #Spotify

[therestlesswitch]

Witchcraft for the Restless, Ep. 1 - Welcome, all Restless Witches!

Listen on iTunes,  Podbean and Stitcher, ! 😁

Hello, Friends! Welcome to all you wonderful, restless, witchy people!  This episode is an introduction to me and my practice, a chat about tradition and ritual, how it can centre us, and some ways that you can incorporate some traditions and ritual into your life.  

And then we have our recurring segments. In RestlessWitch’s Community (now called Coven Corner), I answer an ask about what energy feels and looks like to me. In podcast community, I share some of my favourite podcasts and what i’ve been listening to this week. This week’s Witchcraft segment features the California poppy and in the Restless segment, I’ll tell you about my current crochet project. And we’ll close with a tarot reading that will advise us on how to reach our goals.

I’ll be posting bonus content and episodes (including the next episode of WftR) on Patreon for anyone who’s a Meadow Witch contributor and up!

The transcript can be found here.

That tarot mat that I talked about is coming along quite nicely!But I played yarn chicken and lost! So I'll be making the trek back to the little boutique I found this yarn at to get some more!

And here's the cards from our tarot reading. This deck is so gorgeous. I wasn't sure I'd like this style, but I could get lost in these cards. And the artist's instagram feed is magnificent.

Thank you so much for listening, all the links mentioned in the podcast are below:

Blog Instagram Twitter Submit questions either through my blog’s ask box, or email me at [email protected] Support the show through Patreon, paypal or ko-fi Tarot for the wild soul ep. 60 Miriam Webster dictionary definitions of tradition and ritual Brigid’s cross tutorial: Part 1 Part 2 Restless Community at 32:15 Podcast Community at 34:55 Harry potter and the Sacred Text TheFatFeministWitch ep. 43 Interview with Mallory Kirsten, the Joy Goddess The Serpent Cast Kava—NOPE Witchcraft segment at 39:23 California Poppy - Eschscholzia californica Restless segment at 43:16 Tarot reading at 44:13 So much love to you all!

- Kai, TheRestlessWitch

#witchcraft for the restless #wftr #pagan podcast #my podcast #mine #podcast #witchy podcast #california poppy #pagan podcasts #tarot witch #tarot reading #free tarot readings #paganism #pagan #magic #magick #witch #witchy #witchcraft

[toastedpumpkin]

Magickal Resources List

These are all of my favorite witchy, magickal resources.

A note: My path started out with Wicca, and while I’m not Wiccan anymore, Wicca still heavily influences my practice.  Many of these books are Wiccan, but I still think they provide a good foundation for magick and witchcraft.  As with everything, take what resonates with you from these resources and leave the rest. Remember, it’s YOUR practice.

Books

Wicca

Spellcraft for Teens by: Gwinevere Rain

Confessions of a Teenage Witch by: Gwinevere Rain 

The Wiccan Year by: Judy Ann Nock

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by: Scott Cunningham

Living Wicca by: Scott Cunningham

 Witchcraft

Inner Witch by: Gabriela Herstik

Magic for the Resistance by: Michael M. Hughes

Witchcraft Activism by: David Salisbury

Sabbath Almanacs from Lewlyn Publishing

The Path of Paganism by: John Beckett

Urban Witch by: Patricia Telesco 

Witchcraft on a Shoestring by: Deborah Blake

Everyday Witchcraft by: Deborah Blake

Witch Crafting by: Phyllis Curott

Power Spellcraft for Life by: Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells by: Judika Illes

Tarot

Everyday Tarot by: Brigit Esselmont

 Other

Becoming Dangerous by: Katie West and Jasmine Elliott

The Book of Goddesses by: Nancy Blair

Cakes and Ale for the Pagan Soul by: various authors

Books I Haven’t Read Yet, but Want to

Waking the Witch by: Pam Grossman

The Witch’s Shield by: Christopher Penczak

Light Magic for Dark Times by: Lisa Marie Basile

Women Who Run With the Wolves by: Clarissa Pinkola Estés

Modern Witchcraft Spell Book by: Skye Alexander

The Holy Wild by: Danielle Dulsky

Crystal Healing and Sacred Pleasure by: Vanessa Cuccia 

Glamour Magic by: Deborah Castellano

Encyclopedia of Witchcraft by: Judika Illes

Witches, Sluts, Feminists by: Kristen J. Sollee

Tarot for Troubled Times by: Theresa Reed and Shaheen Miro

Astrology for Real Life by: Theresa Reed and Shaheen Miro

Who Are You In The Tarot? by: Mary K. Greer

 Free Online Resources and Classes

Biddy Tarot- Online tarot trainings and resources

Betsy LeFae- Free trainings and classes for empaths

Joanna DeVoe- Host of the Hippie Witch Podcast and author of Hippie Witch, a free ebook

 Paid Online Resources and Classes

Biddy Tarot- Tarot certification programs

Lindsay Mack- Various Tarot courses and offerings.  She offers scholarships for some of her classes

Joanna DeVoe- Psycho-spiritual offerings to help you work with the wheel of the year, shadow work, and more

Eryn Johnson- Host of the Living Open podcast. She offers astrology based tarot readings, reiki, and more. She also writes zines for each astrological season.

Gabriela Herstik- Ritual guides for New Moons, Full Moons, and Sabbats

iPhone Apps

Mooncast

Co-Star

Insight Timer

Podcasts

The Witch Wave (Interviews with magickal people)

Living Open (witchcraft, tarot, astrology, reiki, interviews)

Tarot for the Wild Soul (tarot, interviews)

Hippie Witch (witchcraft, law of attraction, interviews)

The Fat Feminist Witch (witchcraft, astrology, feminism, weed)

The Serpent Cast (witchcraft, sex, feminism, weed, astrology)

The Sex Magick Podcast (sex, interviews, witchcraft, feminism)

The Word Witch (interviews, witchcraft, tarot)

Cosmic Cousins (astrology)

What’s Your Sign (astrology)

Your Own Magic (DO NOT RECOMMEND)- I found this one to be culturally appropriative and ignorant.  I do not recommend this podcast and just added it as a warning. 

 Pop culture

Netflix

The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina- Looooove it! So witchy and Halloweeny without being too scary or horror movie-ish

Supernatural- I don’t love how witches are portrayed, but it’s fiction and overall I still love this show.

Coco- If you haven’t seen Coco, you’re missing out. A wonderful animated movie that takes place on the Day of the Dead, and as we know October 31 is every witch’s favorite day.

Charmed- A 90′s classic about a family of witchy sisters

The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell- Oh. My. Goddess. LOVE this show.  Christine McConnel is like the macabre Martha Stewart.  She’s good at EVERYTHING.  This show is part cooking show, part Halloween sitcom.  It’s amazing and you should watch it in October.  It’ll put you in the perfect Halloween mood.  Also, follow Chrisitne on Instagram to see all of her creations.

Stardust- The only witches are evil, but they are damn cool.  I love this movie. It’s so quirky and fun, and includes magic, witches, and action.  The only thing is that the witches sacrifice animals a few times, so be aware of that.

Always a Witch (DON’T WATCH IT)- Literally just putting this on here so I can tell you not to watch it.  The premise of the show is that a black witch from the 1800 falls in love with her white slave master and goes back in time to save him.  It’s handled poorly and is just another racist, disempowering narrative.

 Movies

Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost- My all time favorite witchy movie.  This is where I first heard the word “wiccan” and while they didn’t exactly get it right, it’s what started me down my witchy path.

The Craft- Classic witchy movie. Not my favorite, but it’s a classic.

The Book of Life- Another Day of the Dead story that isn’t magickal or witchy per se, but puts me in a great October mood.

The Addams Family- Family goals

Practical Magic-  An awesome classic.  I want to be as cool a witch as their aunts.

Halloween Town- Disney classics.  Pretty corny, but I still love them.

 Books, fiction

Circe by: Madeline Miller

The House of Knight Series by: P.C. and Kirsten Cast

Incarnations of Immortality Series by: Piers Anthony

#witchcraft #witch #wicca #wiccan #resources #magickal vegan #vegan witch #vegan witchcraft

[hennyjolzen]

by PAM GROSSMAN May 30, 2019

Pam Grossman is the author of Waking the Witch: Reflections on Women, Magic, and Power.

Witches have always walked among us, populating societies and storyscapes across the globe for thousands of years. From Circe to Hermione, from Morgan le Fay to Marie Laveau, the witch has long existed in the tales we tell about ladies with strange powers that can harm or heal. And although people of all genders have been considered witches, it is a word that is now usually associated with women.

Throughout most of history, she has been someone to fear, an uncanny Other who threatens our safety or manipulates reality for her own mercurial purposes. She’s a pariah, a persona non grata, a bogeywoman to defeat and discard. Though she has often been deemed a destructive entity, in actuality a witchy woman has historically been far more susceptible to attack than an inflictor of violence herself. As with other “terrifying” outsiders, she occupies a paradoxical role in cultural consciousness as both vicious aggressor and vulnerable prey.

Over the past 150 years or so, however, the witch has done another magic trick, by turning from a fright into a figure of inspiration. She is now as likely to be the heroine of your favorite TV show as she is its villain. She might show up in the form of your Wiccan coworker, or the beloved musician who gives off a sorceress vibe in videos or onstage.

There is also a chance that she is you, and that “witch” is an identity you have taken upon yourself for any number of reasons — heartfelt or flippant, public or private.

Today, more women than ever are choosing the way of the witch, whether literally or symbolically. They’re floating down catwalks and sidewalks in gauzy black clothing and adorning themselves with Pinterest-worthy pentagrams and crystals. They’re filling up movie theaters to watch witchy films, and gathering in back rooms and backyards to do rituals, consult tarot cards and set life-altering intentions. They’re marching in the streets with HEX THE PATRIARCHY placards and casting spells each month to try to constrain the commander-in-chief. Year after year, articles keep proclaiming, “It’s the Season of the Witch!” as journalists try to wrap their heads around the mushrooming witch “trend.”

And all of this begs the question: Why?

Why do witches matter? Why are they seemingly everywhere right now? What, exactly, are they? (And why the hell won’t they go away?)

I get asked such things over and over, and you would think that after a lifetime of studying and writing about witches, as well as hosting a witch-themed podcast and being a practitioner of witchcraft myself, my answers would be succinct.

In fact, I find that the more I work with the witch, the more complex she becomes. Hers is a slippery spirit: try to pin her down, and she’ll only recede further into the deep, dark wood.

I do know this for sure though: show me your witches, and I’ll show you your feelings about women. The fact that the resurgence of feminism and the popularity of the witch are ascending at the same time is no coincidence: the two are reflections of each other.

That said, this current Witch Wave is nothing new. I was a teen in the 1990s, the decade that brought us such pop-occulture as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Charmed and The Craft, not to mention riot grrrls and third-wave feminists who taught me that female power could come in a variety of colors and sexualities. I learned that women could lead a revolution while wearing lipstick and combat boots — and sometimes even a cloak.

But my own witchly awakening came at an even earlier age.

Morganville, New Jersey, where I was raised, was a solidly suburban town, but it retained enough natural land features back then to still feel a little bit scruffy in spots. We had a small patch of woods in our backyard that abutted a horse farm, and the two were separated by a wisp of running water that we could cross via a plank of wood. In one corner of the yard, a giant puddle would form whenever it rained, surrounded by a border of ferns. My older sister, Emily, and I called this spot our Magical Place. That it would vanish and then reappear only added to its mystery. It was a portal to the unknown.

These woods are where I first remember doing magic — entering that state of deep play where imaginative action becomes reality. I would spend hours out there, creating rituals with rocks and sticks, drawing secret symbols in the dirt, losing all track of time. It was a space that felt holy and wild, yet still strangely safe.

As we age, we’re supposed to stop filling our heads with such “nonsense.” Unicorns are to be traded in for Barbie dolls (though both are mythical creatures, to be sure). We lose our tooth fairies, walk away from our wizards. Dragons get slain on the altar of youth.

Most kids grow out of their “magic phase.” I grew further into mine.

My grandma Trudy was a librarian at the West Long Branch Library, which meant I got to spend many an afternoon lurking between the 001.9 and 135 Dewey decimal–sections, reading about Bigfoot and dream interpretation and Nostradamus. I spent countless hours in my room, learning about witches and goddesses, and I loved anything by authors like George MacDonald, Roald Dahl, and Michael Ende — writers fluent in the language of enchantment. Books were my broomstick. They allowed me to fly to other realms where anything was possible.

Though fictional witches were my first guides, I soon discovered that magic was something real people could do. I started frequenting new age shops and experimenting with mass-market paperback spell books from the mall. I was raised Jewish but found myself attracted to belief systems that felt more individualized and mystical and that fully honored the feminine. Eventually I found my way to modern Paganism, a self-directed spiritual path that sustains me to this day. I’m not unique in this trajectory of pivoting away from organized religion and toward something more personal: as of September 2017, more than a quarter of U.S. adults — 27% — now say that they think of themselves as spiritual but not religious, according to Pew Research Center.

Now, I identify both as a witch and with the archetype of the witch overall, and I use the term fluidly. At any given time, I might use the word witch to signify my spiritual beliefs, my supernatural interests or my role as an unapologetically complex, dynamic female in a world that prefers its women to be smiling and still. I use it with equal parts sincerity and salt: with a bow to a rich and often painful history of worldwide witchcraft, and a wink to other members of our not-so-secret society of people who fight from the fringes for the liberty to be our weirdest and most wondrous selves. Magic is made in the margins.

To be clear: you don’t have to practice witchcraft or any other alternative form of spirituality to awaken your own inner witch. You may feel attracted to her symbolism, her style or her stories but are not about to rush out to buy a cauldron or go sing songs to the sky. Maybe you’re more of a nasty woman than a devotee of the Goddess. That’s perfectly fine: the witch belongs to you too.

I remain more convinced than ever that the concept of the witch endures because she transcends literalism and because she has so many dark and sparkling things to teach us. Many people get fixated on the “truth” of the witch, and numerous fine history books attempt to tackle the topic from the angle of so-called factuality. Did people actually believe in magic? They most certainly did and still do. Were the thousands of victims who were killed in the 16th- and 17th-century witch hunts actually witches themselves? Most likely not. Are witches real? Why, yes, you’re reading the words of one. All of these things are true.

But whether or not there were actually women and men who practiced witchcraft in Rome or Lancashire or Salem, say, is less interesting to me than the fact that the idea of witches has remained so evocative and influential and so, well, bewitching in the first place.

In other words, the fact and the fiction of the witch are inextricably linked. Each informs the other and always has. I’m fascinated by how one archetype can encompass so many different facets. The witch is a notorious shape-shifter, and she comes in many guises:

A hag in a pointy hat, cackling madly as she boils a pot of bones.

A scarlet-lipped seductress slipping a potion into the drink of her unsuspecting paramour.

A cross-dressing French revolutionary who hears the voices of angels and saints.

A perfectly coifed suburban housewife, twitching her nose to change her circumstances at will, despite her husband’s protests.

A woman dancing in New York City’s Central Park with her coven to mark the change of the seasons or a new lunar phase.

The witch has a green face and a fleet of flying monkeys. She wears scarves and leather and lace.

She lives in Africa; on the island of Aeaea; in a tower; in a chicken-leg hut; in Peoria, Illinois.

She lurks in the forests of fairy tales, in the gilded frames of paintings, in the plotlines of sitcoms and YA novels, and between the bars of ghostly blues songs.

She is solitary.

She comes in threes.

She’s a member of a coven.

Sometimes she’s a he.

She is stunning, she is hideous, she is insidious, she is ubiquitous.

She is our downfall. She is our deliverance.

Our witches say as much about us as they do about anything else — for better and for worse.

More than anything, though, the witch is a shining and shadowy symbol of female power and a force for subverting the status quo. No matter what form she takes, she remains an electric source of magical agitation that we can all plug into whenever we need a high-voltage charge.

She is also a vessel that contains our conflicting feelings about female power: our fear of it, our desire for it and our hope that it can — and will — grow stronger, despite the flames that are thrown at it.

Whether the witch is depicted as villainous or valorous, she is always a figure of freedom — both its loss and its gain. She is perhaps the only female archetype who is an independent operator. Virgins, whores, daughters, mothers, wives — each of these is defined by whom she is sleeping with or not, the care that she is giving or that is given to her, or some sort of symbiotic debt that she must eventually pay.

The witch owes nothing. That is what makes her dangerous. And that is what makes her divine.

Witches have power on their own terms. They have agency. They create. They praise. They commune with the spiritual realm, freely and free of any mediator.

They metamorphose, and they make things happen. They are change agents whose primary purpose is to transform the world as it is into the world they would like it to be.

This is also why being called a witch and calling oneself a witch are usually two vastly different experiences. In the first case, it’s often an act of degradation, an attack against a perceived threat.

The second is an act of reclamation, an expression of autonomy and pride. Both of these aspects of the archetype are important to keep in mind. They may seem like contradictions, but there is much to glean from their interplay.

The witch is the ultimate feminist icon because she is a fully rounded symbol of female oppression and liberation. She shows us how to tap into our own might and magic, despite the many who try to strip us of our power.

We need her now more than ever.

[ascendantevolution]

becoming something new. This requires a careful refinement of the self, not a violent lopping off of parts of yourself. Here we speak of shadow work - keeping what has gotten you this far and transmuting those imperfections that have caused issue in the past. The process requires gentleness and understanding - grace. Gratitude for who you now are - and all that got you here. Give thanks, keep up the good (& hard) work, and you will succeed: “Parvati is mother to all and her presence in a reading augurs success on every level. With Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, love, and spiritual enlightenment, and Sarawati, the goddess of wisdom, music and creativity, Parvati is Tridevi, the sacred triune of feminine nature or the triple goddess of Hinduism” (Fairchild, The White Light Oracle). Engaging the shadow - Universal Mother shows up with beauty & grace - can you mirror her within? 🌑𑪞🌞🪄🧡

Visit my Youtube channel to see more Divine Tidings Tarot timeless readings. Coming soon: book, tarot, and oracle deck reviews as well as podcast-style talks.

Timeless, general energies readings are meant to find you when you need them.

I want to thank you, thank you, thank you for liking, sharing, and subscribing. I wish you well on your sacred path. Blessed be.

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#youtube #tarot tarotreading tarotreader tarotreader tarotcardsreading dailytarotreading dailytarot psychic medium lightworker starseed

[queerasfolkmagic]

Introducing myself

Hello folks, 

Having been here a while, I thought it was about time to formally introduce myself to you guys. Plus I’ve spent most of the day drafting a letter of introduction to apply for an apprenticeship, so my thoughts on who I am in terms of magical practice and where I’ve come from feels a lot more organised than it has for years. 

So the basic stuff. I’m a queer cis man living in the UK, but I grew up working class in Georgia. I’ve got a brilliant boyfriend who is a dyed in the wool atheist & sceptic who nonetheless is extremely supportive of my practice. I work in the arts, and have been working professionally as a poet, performer and installation artist for the past 15 years or so. However, I’m taking some time off next year from both my company and my arts practice to focus on retraining as a psychotherapist. In its own way, this feels closely linked to my renewed interest in magic, but more on that later. 

So my journey into magic - When I was a freshman in high school, a way-cooler-than-me senior sat me down in a patch of grass near our school and asked me if I’d ever heard of Wicca. I’m not sure why she singled me out – I was a pretty nerdy and way into fantasy novels, but she was friends with my older brother. It was the first time I’d ever heard of Wicca, but she lent me a copy of Cunningham’s Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner, patted my head, and sent me on my way. I read the book from cover to cover and shared it with my friends, and we formed (or at least formalised!) our first coven. 

The 90s was a pretty good time to be a teen witch. The Craft came out, and you could pick up Llewellyn books at Barnes and Noble (even if your heart was pounding the entire time you walked up to the register). It was good, even in the Bible Belt. There was a metaphysical shop in downtown Atlanta we’d all make the occasional pilgrimage to when we could convince an older sibling to drive us down, or later when we started getting our own licenses. We traded books and stayed up late. We burned candles in the woods – scrappy copses of undeveloped lands at the edges of our subdivisions, our public parks, our back yards. I started wearing a pentacle and drawing green men on my textbooks. It was the 90s and it was exciting. I read a lot of Cunningham and Caitlin and John Matthews. Later I found Starhawk, both her fiction and non fiction. 

However, I remember that even at the time I felt like I got more out of books like Brian Froud and Alan Lee’s Faeries or pretty much anything by Charles de Lint or Terri Windling, and the bits of folklore that got slipped into their stories. I felt more resonance with current writers grappling with and interpreting myth and folklore than I did with people writing about modern witchcraft. Partly, it was because I felt uneasy about some of the claims around unbroken lineage a lot of writers were making, rather than admitting and owning a reconstructionist approach. Also, the emphasis around fertility never felt like it fit for me. As a queer kid in a small southern town, the last thing I needed was another dogmatic approach to gender. When authors talked about the Wheel of the Year, it sounded like a beautiful myth but one that felt so removed from me. The Horned God felt like just another straight guy – unknowable and unrelatable, 

 I spent a lot of time walking through woods, and trying to be open to what they contained. Looing back, I think what resonated a lot more with me was a sense of animism – something that was discussed briefly in the books I read, but never given the same sense of importance as Deity worship. 

Then things fell apart. My dad committed suicide and my mom’s addictions started spiralling out of control. My own drug and alcohol use increased massively. I started spending a lot more time at raves than I did in nature. By the time I finished high school, my sense of connection with nature and interest in spirituality of any stripe pretty much disappeared. Occasionally it would resurface. I went to acting school, and the Goddess showed up in more than one visualisation exercise – which was both powerful and uncomfortable. After I got sober I discovered Quakerism and connected to a different kind of god – not quite the Christian one, not quite the Wiccan one – but someone who felt like a loving father and also mysterious and awesome. Still, nothing really stuck. I moved to the UK in 2004 and religion and spirituality is pretty much a no go here.  

So fast forward a couple of years – I promise I’m getting to the end! Two things happened. I took my partner back to the US to meet my family, and the newness of seeing my family through his eyes taught me a lot including the fact that my family is witchy AF. We talk openly about seeing ghosts, we talk with our dead and they speak to us in signs, we share stories about premonitions and intuition, and we create little altars all the time. I know it sounds stupid, but I’d genuinely never really thought about it before. It was just my family. I though magic came from wise women in the woods, not my Aunt Nancy in Chicago. For the first time, I thought about magic as being an inheritance, and as something that bonds me to family both living and dead. 

 The second incident happened while on holiday in Cornwall when for the first time in years I took a whole week off and sat by the sea. I didn’t do anything else. I turned off my phone and just sat in the sunshine, slept when I was tired, ate when I was hungry, watched the waves and the moon and the bees and just listened. And a message came through loud and clear (and terrifying in its clarity).  

And so with both those things in mind, I opened myself up. There were a lot of mistakes. The first witchy book I bought after 20 years was a beautiful book on natural healing – gorgeous pictures, but mostly recipes for homemade bath bombs and raw smoothies and nothing on spirituality. I bought some santo palo and realised I do not like the smell of santo palo. I bought way too many crystals and tarot packs, all of which looked beautiful and felt dead in my hands. I started a tumblr page and followed pretty much anyone who looked a bit witchy and got lost down some unfulfilling rabbit holes. 

 Then one day I pulled out a tiger’s eye my best friend had given me in high school and I felt something. Something profound – a tingle in my hand and up my arm, small but undeniable. I found a tarot pack that started giving me startlingly clear answers. – turns out it was a basic vanilla RWS pack I needed! I found some great witchy podcasts – New World Witchery, The Witch Wave, and Betwixt and Between – who were talking about things that made sense to me. 

The world of witchcraft has changed SO MUCH in the past twenty years I was away! Wicca is no longer the only flavour! No shade to Wiccans, but it feels so good to see other traditions be given more airtime. I’d never heard of Southern Conjure, hoodoo, and cunningfolk practices, and it has been so exciting to learn a bit about them. I’ve found Judika Illes and Byron Ballard. I’ve rediscovered Cunningham – not all of it is relevant to me, The Magical Household is one of the best books I’ve ever read. Most importantly, I’ve started thinking again about what bits of folklore and fairy tales feel ‘right’. So while The Green Witch and The Sorcerer’s Secrets are on my beside ‘to read’ book pile, so is The Book of English Magic, A Treasury of British Folklore, The Long Lost Friend, and A Deed Without a Name. So is Brewers Book of Phrase and Fable and Red Sky At Night and In The Pines and The Book of English Folk Tales and fairy tale collections from the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson.

So while I’m still finding my way,I’d like to be a modern-day cunning man. I’d like to use traditional and folkloric knowledge relating to my cultural and ancestral heritage (Irish, Welsh, Hungarian, Southern American, working class, queer) to help myself and the people around me deal with the challenges of being alive – finding security, dealing with grief, understanding their loved ones better. I’d like to be a repository for old ways and the creator of new ones. I’d like to be open and honest about my practices and my spiritual life. I’d like to be mostly kind and sometimes righteous when I need to be. I’d like to be on a first name basis with my ancestors and the land I live on. I’d like to spend time learning about little gods – house spirits, local faeries and land spirits, the birds who live in the local park, the spiders who make their homes in my garden – than building up big pantheons from other cultures. I’d like to celebrate the phases of the moon rather than the Wheel of the Year. I’d like to worship my mom and dad as the fierce, wonderful, loving, dangerous spirits they are. I’d like for casting a spell or talking to my ancestors to be as immediate an impulse as looking something up on Google. I’d like to be Sally Owen. Maybe Gilly Owen. One of the Owens, anyway. Definitely one of the Owens

#queer witch #gay witch #folk magic #folk witch #folklore #green witch #hedge witch #witches #witch #witchcraft #witch community #male witch #witches of tumblr #working class witch #london witch #bristol witch

[davonnerochelle]

The Struggle of Being Human: A Stream of Conscious Expression, Post Semi-Public Breakdown.

It’s a pretty weird concept to digest, the idea of being human. Not being the flesh and bones earthly manifestation of human, but the act of being human. I wonder what people think when I say things like, “ I’m struggling with being human?”  Probably, something along the lines of “what the hell are you talking about?” “Are you not human?” “What are you an alien?”  Though I don’t think this conflict of acting as human is so foreign to someone like me. Like me, meaning someone undergoing a conscious spiritual awakening, someone who tries their hardest to do everything right; not even consciously, but feels if I’m going to do anything at all, I do it with all my best effort and I succeed, no exceptions.

Someone who, when they actually allow themselves to slack or do poorly, feels wrecked about it. Feels guilty about it. Being human in this context means allowing myself to error; allowing myself to mess up and be okay with it. Being okay with being angry, or frustrated, or pessimistic, or negative, or talking shit about a perfect stranger. Bakara Wintner and Lindsay Mack talked about this in episode 13 of the Tarot for the Wild Soul podcast: when they do readings for people they’re non-judgemental, open-minded conduits for their clients. However, outside of that context their human just like everyone else.  And that is okay.

I struggle with this and clearly, this struggle has been boiling under the surface of everything that has been plaguing and pulling at me over the last few months? Two years even!!! At lunch today with my favorite colleague I said the words “I’m struggling with being human” out loud and I nearly burst into tears. It took all of the strength within me, not to ugly cry in front of 6-8 suits sitting at a table across from us. Inevitably, I broke down in my office after lunch. I called her and she let me cry with her on the phone (she’s so awesome!). I just kept thinking it to myself as I was power walking back to my office: “I’m struggling with being human! WTF!” Even now, tears are threatening to mess up my modest working girl makeup look.

What does this even mean? It means I’m trying so hard to be a “perfect” disciple of New Aged principals that I forgot perfect is an illusion and by default humans “ain’t perfect”....and we never will be. We are a mess. We are a hodgepodge of a mess. We are a mess, on top of chaos, smashed within circumstances. We can’t be perfect! We have to relinquish that control. Even if the intention is to hold space for others to feel and be imperfect, we are not going to do that perfectly. There’s a lot of shit happening in my life right now. I’m trying to remain strong and positive, trying to let work things roll off my back because, in perspective, it’s not that big a deal, and stay cool when the personal things mushroom into anxiety laiden irrationality. The fact of the matter is holding that much potential stress in a human size container is not sensible, and it is not recommended. Eventually, you’re going to implode and implosion gets messy.

Hence this post-traumatic breakdown, stream of conscious brain vomit. This is not healthy. ...this expression is healthy. The fact that it took a semi-pubic emotional breakdown to allow sed expression to manifest is unhealthy.

So what did I learn from this experience? (Because that’s really the point right?)

Well, I’ve learned a great number of things:

I’m not perfect. I never have been and I never will be. This is some 4th house/nadir, Tower transformation epiphany shit! My standards are too high and I need to cut myself some slack. Give myself a break. It is not my life’s purpose to take over the fucking world. That is not why I’m here. I need to be okay with minimum effort sometimes. I need to be less guilty about my more human qualities. I trip and fall (and sprain my ankle apparently) sometimes and that’s okay. I misread emails and walk clear across campus in the wrong direction to the wrong classroom to teach an information literacy class (that I don’t want to teach in the first place) after bitching about the class’ instructor being lazy and unkempt (yes! That happened!! And you can slice the irony with a cold butter knife).

The above mentality allows me to create the overly stressful situations in which I have recently found myself: this neverending vortex of “holy shit!” that hurricane’s around me while I try to doggy paddle to safety. Yes, I’m admitting, I’ve done this to myself. Apparently, I measure success by how many circuses I can juggle over my head with my eyes closed (7 safely; 9 is where destabilization tends to happen). Majority of the things I’m engaged in right now I don’t want to do, or I’m doing it in such a way that I never wanted to. And I wish I could just start over and do it the way I wanted in the first place. It feels really good to “say” that out loud. I hate this hysteria I have created for myself. I hate it! I hate it! I hate it!

Goddess/Spirit/Universe (whatever, you get the point!) is done with being subtle with me and will not be ignored. If I ignore her she will allow me to throw myself off a cliff to make a point. Maybe this is why Joey was yelling and swiping at me this morning. I think my cat is psychic/intuitive (we’re just a family of witches at the Rooney household). If I get home and get sassy “I told you so” cat eyes I’ll let you know. What exactly am I saying? Yes! Yes i received numerous intuitive warnings about this breakdown and ignored them all: don’t wear your spirituality as a badge on your ego; go easy on yourself you’re only human; slow down, ask for help, don’t take on too much; I’m struggling with being human/don’t forget to be human. These are verbatim things I’ve read either over IG or Facebook, received during an intuitive reading, picked up on myself through injury or card reading, or a friend/family member told me recently. I have to stop ignoring them. I just suffer in the end.

Finally, THIS is okay! Breaking down and sharing it with the world is okay. I wanted to write about being human for the last few days and I just kept putting it off: too busy. I need to stop doing that too. I need to share with you all what I”m thinking and going through because apparently some of you like reading it. But, ultimately, it just helps me feel better (i’m okay with being selfish about this! See! I’m learning). There doesn't always have to be a higher purpose or agenda for something. Sometimes you just need to express yourself and that’s okay.

Thank you all for reading my word vomit! If I’ve been a little “holier-than-thou” lately I apologize. I’m just really into this shit. I love everything about everything I’m doing right now: meditation, yoga, reiki energy work, Oracle/tarot, astrology, other such similar things. They just make me happy. Please feel free (gently) to point out to me when I’m being hard on myself and not allowing myself to be human. I need that grounding.

Be Well!

#stream of thought #stream of conscious writing #thetower #epiphany #journaling #beinghuman