I still can't believe I found out where she is buried. It still makes me emotional. When I started this journey, I hoped to rewrite her legacy and emphasise her humanity. Sometimes, behind the Folklore and stereotypes is a far more interesting story ✨️
#WritersCoffeeClub 4. Do you feature real-world political and social issues in your work?
Yes. For starters, the 19th century German folk tales I am translating were deeply embedded in the political and social issues of their day.
For another, many of these issues are still relevant in the modern day. For instance, #antisemitism was unfortunately very common in German #folklore , and I wouldn't be doing my job if I just ignored this. And the #witchcraft panics have clear modern equivalents, like the "Satanic Pedophile Rings" conspiracy fantasies cooked up by #QAnon and others.
Human thoughts and human societies are shaped by their narratives. It is my hope that by shining a light on the narratives of the past, we can get a better understanding of the narratives of the present instead of being caught up in them.
I'm missing my witchcraft community over here on Horrorhub.
I'm doing a local online community group ritual on Sunday, April 21st.
The ritual will be posted a couple of weeks before the event. This is posted for people who haven't done a ritual before and need to get their feet wet. If you have more experience, you are more than welcome to use your own ritual. We will all posts pics the day of the event with a specific tagline.
Youth of Horns: Take care of your body. Make your physical health a priority. Make the effort to get moving a little, and take the time to rest when you need to. Pay attention to what your body is telling you, because it may be different from what other people say. Be in your body as much as you can (depending on pain levels, etc.) instead of being off in your thoughts. That will help ground you and make your experience of life more stable.
Priest of Labryses: When you're faced with decisions this week, make them from an intellectual, analytical point of view. Do your best to avoid letting emotion cloud your judgment. Instead, puzzle out your solution based on the facts and your personal ethics, make a fair and just decision, then stick with it.
This is a deck I created, with hand-painted images in the style of ancient Minoan art. It's published by REDFeather. Deck info via website link in my bio or at MinoanTarot dot com.
Wild Ginger (Asarum canadense L.)
Scattered beneath heart-shaped leaves, the blooms of wild ginger lay toppled over on their sides, as if the fairies were a little too rambunctious the night before and spilled over their pots of ale.
The ancient world is a magical place. From the ziggurats of Sumeria to the temples of Crete and the pyramids of Egypt, the ancients call to us.
Magic never dies, but only slumbers, awaiting discovery by those who would once again revel in its beauty and respect its power.
These spells speak to the many human needs and desires of protection, prosperity, romance, fertility, healing, and divination. Each spell is described in detail, complete with step-by-step instructions as well as background information about the deities involved, encouraging the reader to develop a relationship with these ancient deities who are still very much alive in our world today.
More info on my website (link in bio). Be the magic you want to see in the world!
Today I was wandering the woods and stumbled upon the surreptious bloom of bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis.
There is much folklore, Native American historical uses, and purposed medicinal information (some quite dangerous) floating around about this plant.
In our general area, southern Indiana/western Kentucky, it sprouts mid-march, blooming for only a day or two in the same month, leaving the greenery to grow the rest of the warm season.
My hexing group is meeting on April 6th to practice raising and pushing energy in a cone of power. We've done this on multiple occasions, but I wanted to switch things up this month and have them focus on elemental energy.
We will do a short, guided, meditation for each of the four main elements. They will write for 4-5 minutes on their meditation and what connections, or interruptions they feel.
Afterwards, we are going to focus on raising specific types of energy by focusing on one element and its attributes while we raise our cone.
The Witches Chair from the Mermaid Inn, Rye, East Sussex.
Judith Blincow the owner of the Inn has this to say about it, ‘It is a seventeenth century chair which used to belong to a witches’ coven and has a curse on it.’ We always tell people not to touch it.’
A government project support in the sustainable practices of the Ava Guaraní Indigenous Peoples in eastern Paraguay highlights how Indigenous knowledge, economics, and native plants can create a climate-friendly sustainable future.
In this week’s (long) Leap Day Pagan Community Notes: how Leap Year works, hummingbirds and Witchcraft, and more events and announcements, plus our tarot of the week.
We also bring news of two Crossings of the Veil -- Diane Lorraine Darling and Edward "Ed" Fitch have recently passed away.
Read more about each of these items in today's PCN:
My partner & I also finally finished this skull installation, and it's in a spot that's difficult to photograph (right now), but it looks incredible, take my word for it.
This piece of hornet's nest blew onto my porch yesterday, and I decided to keep it as a spell ingredient. I think wrapping it with some tobacco would make an excellent banishment.
Can we talk about burnout and/or boredom in the craft?
It feels like I haven't been expanding myself lately. I spend a good bit of time preparing events for our community every month with three other members. Our paths are all different so we take turns leading the events. I partially started doing this thinking I would find others who follow a similar path to mine and we could do group work together (not as a coven but as a circle).