I have this friend, N, that has recently started believing things very out of the ordinary. He said that he's been getting into paganism and studying runes and candles. I told him that was very interesting, it sounded like a fun time and a good hobby to have. N let me know that it wasn't just a hobby, but that it had a function...
We had a preacher submit an application to vend at our witches' market.
We were going over apps last night and he stated he did "Physical Impartations", which anyone raised on the Bible knows that was Apostle Paul's version of sharing blessings....and casting out demons through the laying of hands.
So being in the Bible Belt, we are gearing up for protests on the day of the event, just in case.
If you had to put up wards over a venue for an event like this, what would you suggest? We don't mind the protesters so long as they stay across the street (free advertising). But to protect the space, what would you do?
So I'm just livid. Yesterday, someone from the DNR contacted me to inquire about our Walk in the Woods for witches & he said, "Cutting down plants and removing them from the woods is illegal." I was like, "What? We aren't doing that."
Now I'm jumping through hoops, sending pamphlets that we're handing out to this guy so he can "approve" our walk in the woods after we've already rented a shelter.
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😡 #Witches#Witch#Witchcraft
Are you comfortable with ghosts/spirits being in your house?
So growing up in rural Kentucky with tons of superstition, we were all raised NOT to have ghosts in our houses. Communication when needed is fine, but the living and the dead have their own places.
Nowadays, many people talk about living in haunted houses and feel very comfortable with this.
We have our huge autumn equinox celebration tonight with a dessert potluck. We have monthly full moon and new moon celebrations, generally with a witchy craft or spellwork.
We also hold the following celebrations:
Winter Solstice
Spring Equinox
May Day
Summer Solstice
First Harvest
Autumn Equinox
Samhain
Occasionally we will hold something for the other cross quarter day but most of us hole up between Jan-March.
Personally, I've never held full/new moon rituals.
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).
It is literally impossible to be an expert in everything relating to #Paganism and/or #Witchcraft. The umbrella is too broad. So after the initiate stage, we tend to settle into a few niches.
I think this is a great humbling and equalizing factor within the community. We are all novices at something, and it's possible to find experts in all kinds of specific fields of study.
When I started learning witchcraft, the majority taught that a spell should not be performed on someone without their consent, even benefic ones like healing or protection. I'm wondering how much/if this opinion has changed.
Would you do a spell (or pray) on someone without their consent?
I've come across a lot of people who say they ground and shield everyday. I'm a pretty earthy sort and feel grounded most of the time without doing any intentional grounding. I'm outside and in the woods a lot, too. The only time I intentionally ground is when I am going into large crowds or something chaotic.
As for shielding, only when I perform certain types of work in my practice. So when hexing, cursing, etc.
Do you feel you need to ground and or/shield everyday?
I remember in the 90s & early 2000s, there were several books published where the authors were speaking of coming from several generations of witches...a long line.
Seems it was a way, they thought, to legitimize their craft & practice.
I hope not too much stock is put in that now, because being the first witch in a line is incredibly powerful in and of itself.
I have two sons, & both have grown up in our way of the craft, which isn't ceremonial witchcraft, but celebrated solstices & equinoxes & spellwork being done in the kitchen & hexes outside.
What are your thoughts on the claiming on lineage?
Do you think the energy of a stone can become dead or deadened?
Just as dried herbs lose potency after time, do you think the energy in stones/crystals also can lose potency?
We hear so much about "charging" stones by moon energy. What does this really mean?
A stone has been removed from the ground or its mother. It's then moved and shipped, often run through tumblers, packaged, shipped again, set on a shelf until purchased, then more than likely kept inside, on a shelf again.
Or a person walks through the woods, picks up a stone on the ground, carries it home, puts it on a shelf, indoors.
Witches! As I melt in this current heatwave I am reminded of a thing I used to do back in my witchblr days.
The great Autumnal Summoning... with pie!
The first week or so of Sept I encouraged as many witches who could to bake pies. And in doing so, focus their intent and magical energy on channeling cooler, autumn weather.
I suspect that the introduction of moveable type to Germany greatly contributed to both witchcraft panics and anti-Jewish pogroms.
Even before the first actual, regular newspaper was published in 1604, Germany was rife with "news sheets" that printed all sorts of lurid and fantastical tales in order to increase sales. Think of modern-day tabloids or FOX News at their worst. And all those tales must be true, or else they wouldn't have been printed, right?
Some of the tales are rather amusing (like the Sankt Andreasberg cat that gave birth to 300 kittens and a goat in a single night while under the influence of a comet). But then there's a tale of a Jew who supposedly tried to "torture" blessed altar bread and, when he could not destroy it "with fire or water", he tried to "bake it into a cake". And then the dough became red, and he beheld a vision of Baby Jesus within the oven...
Such tales took on lives of their own, and helped keep all sorts of bigotries alive. Just like modern-day social media do...
(By the way, if anyone can give me some recommendations for scholarly works on the early era of mass printing, I am all ears - so far, I've mainly picked up individual anecdotes.) #printing#witchcraft#antisemitism#history
Anyone want to discuss the commercialization of witchcraft?
I love that it makes it more accessible to those who can't easily venture out into nature.
I hate all the plastic and gemstone mining.
I've changed a lot since 1991, when I first self-dedicated myself to the practice and gods. Now I no longer use deities in my practice, my tools are minimum but have worked with me through so much magic.
We go out as a family, gather holly, pinecones, and berries and put them onto a large wooden tray with lights instead of putting up a tree. We've done this since the kids were young. We have so much fun going out together to collect, then coming home for hot drinks.
My group and I put on a huge celebration.
We have a potluck, light a 12 days wheel, burn a Yule log, and do some serious drumming and give warmth and energy to the light.
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.’
I came across this article and was wondering what y'all thought about using the word WITCH as an identifier.
Do you claim the word? Why or why not? Is there a term you prefer instead?
I think I've always preferred this stripped down sort of witchcraft. An afternoon in the woods divining in the creek, or vision on the front porch, collecting black walnuts and moss...this is the type of witchcraft that seems most natural to me. I do love a good meeting after dark, though.
How can I help a friend who is falling into "witchcraft"?
I have this friend, N, that has recently started believing things very out of the ordinary. He said that he's been getting into paganism and studying runes and candles. I told him that was very interesting, it sounded like a fun time and a good hobby to have. N let me know that it wasn't just a hobby, but that it had a function...