Author: candlelightmagick

Made this because of yet another Tumblr fiasco! Im a queer witch trying to find a new home that offers the same quirkyness as tumblr. But without the problems :)

To Those Who Are New to the Witching Ways

outsideperception:

Whether you’re new, pondering, investigating or are actively enduring initiation, becoming a neophyte, on a probationary period, enduring coven acceptance, going to your first group magic/celebration or shared correspondence, please take this into consideration:

If you are being told to become sexually liberated…don’t feel obligated to succumb to such requests, especially if you aren’t comfortable with them. The whole point of magic is to be in touch with your higher self and surroundings. 

If you are being told to start using drugs or become a psychonaut…it is not something you have to do in order to validate your path. To become a psychonaut takes a lot of commitment, dedication and careful application; it is not meant for everyone. It also requires a lot of reading, trust in who you’re surrounding yourself with and it will, in essence, become something that is meant to open your path. If you aren’t comfortable using drugs or becoming a psychonaut in order to reach gnosis, then don’t do it. Your practice is still powerful as long as you apply the power of belief.

If you have boundaries that are being violated…don’t crumble to it. Perhaps it is not the right group for you. If you feel a strong connection to said group, talk to your High Priest/Priestess, Soror, Frater, etc. to let them know what is happening. From there, if they do care for your safety, they will negotiate re-locating you with a different chapter, ward, group, coven or gathering.

If you’re being told by fellow members that you’re doing it wrong and they aren’t willing to help…don’t take it personally. Sadly, elitism is rampant everywhere, especially fringe groups and more obscure ideologies. It’s always hard to hear, however, it isn’t your fault if you haven’t been instructed on how to do things. If you find that rituals in a certain order doesn’t work for you, there are alternatives out there such as chaos magic, dedicated to those who want to create their own magic without any designated dogma or applied ritual.

If you’re being addressed as a Whore of Babylon, Harlot Woman or anything that is demeaning…be weary, regardless of whether it is how the group operates or not. If you’re entering the path of magic, you deserve decency and to be treated as someone who is a student. Not someone who is a pass around, disregarded or easily forgotten about. If you’re being addressed as a Soror, student, practitioner, magician, solitary, etc. then you know you’re perceived as someone who takes their practice seriously, as someone that is seen with a level of respect within your group. 

If Wicca doesn’t resonate with you…then there is no need to feel like you’re lost or don’t know what you’re doing. A large majority of us don’t identify as such and do not partake in their practices. 

If you’ve gone solitary, planning to go solitary or are considering going solitary…don’t feel guilt or shame from others within your peers or group to stay. Solitary magic is beautiful because you’re going your own way. You’re transcending a group dynamic because it may not work for you. Perhaps you don’t feel comfortable with those around you. 

If you are being coerced, manipulated, pressured or told that you have to do things you aren’t okay/comfortable with…steer clear of those who are trying to tell you that the only way you can be effective in your practice is to follow their lead. It is never okay in any situation to follow suit. You have to do what’s right for you. The beauty of the witching way is that you establish your own path and find what works for you. If outside influences are trying to force you into a certain criteria, then it is their own problem. You deserve better. 

If you’re not sure how to start, what your path is or what you identify as in that regard…that is more than okay. It can take years for you to find what fits and what speaks to you. There are many people who finally become established in their 40′s, let alone their 20′s. There is no shame in not knowing and it’s always good to read more, ask questions and to experiment with what works. 

Common courtesy among witches

countesskaos:

Here are some key points we should all note when dealing with other witches. 

  • Their path is not your path, don’t act like it is. 
  • Don’t demand or feel entitled to others’ knowledge. Do your own research first before asking.
  • Don’t bash other witches paths. You don’t agree with what they follow? Don’t follow that path yourself. 
  • We’ve all dealt with spells backfiring or not working, don’t sit there and make someone feel like crap because their spell didn’t work.
  • Don’t bash other witches because you disagree with their morals behind certain spellwork. They want to hex someone? Unless they’re hexing you, leave them to it. 
  • Don’t bash witches who practice “dark” magic, there’s light and dark in everything. It’s all about balance. 
  • Most of all, be helpful, courteous and friendly. We’re all going through this path together and we’re all brothers and sisters of the craft who need friends alike. 

thedragonshunger:

Hope friends in the Las Vegas area are safe.

If you live in the area, have O- blood, and are 17 or older please consider going to donate as 400+ people have been injured and supply is low.

If you’re trying to locate a missing friend or family member call 1-866-535-5654 for the Las Vegas Metro PD

da-at-ass:

sciencefriday:

digg:

The plate is called a Chladni plate. When he plays it with a bow (you know, like a violin) the couscous aligns itself it certain patterns. We’re not sure if this is science or magic.

Definitely science!

You can make your own to to simulate an eardrum.

This brings to mine the magic disciplines that state that each sound/tone has a certain vibration that is in itself powerful. If the effect above really is similar to what happens to our eardrums when we hear sound, then there’s an actual glyph shape on our eardrum that goes with each tone we hear. Which basically becomes a visible language for sound if mapped out.

Have fun with your music sigils!

Do you think the rite of initiation goes hand in hand with denoucing the church? All of the iniatations I have read about are that, or “find a teacher/ find coven to join”, which i would love to have but I live in the middle of nowhere and doubt there are any sort of crafter, trad or not be me.

ofwoodandbone:

I try to keep the initiation questions to a minimum, but I think this is a good question to be answered. 
Initiation is, above all else, a death of the self, ego, and soul. When it begins, they accept that all that they are will no longer be. When they finish, they are made anew, with a new self, ego, and even a changed soul. 
When people make pacts with gods, bind themselves to them with dedications rites and baptisms, they wear oaths on their souls and selves. “I give all that I am to you.” 
What happens when that person no longer exists? What happens when that soul is transformed? The god no longer has claim on it. 
Some witches make this explicit in their initiation rites, denouncing God for connection with the Devil or whatever spirits that lead their tradition.

Now, as far as finding a teacher or other witches goes, this specific question has been flooding my inbox as of late. Evidently, a lot of witches are feeling very lonesome. 

Many rituals used by American witches to ask for initiation also doubled as a way to call witches to them. If they passed, if they became one of them, witches would come to them and invite them into their circles. 

Many of the witches who do things that others believe impossible, even other witches, live secretly. They don’t announce who or what they are. They simply do their thing. You’d be surprised how many of them are scattered and hidden. 

With concern to a teacher, witches haven’t needed people to teach them the craft. It certainly makes it a lot easier, but it’s not necessary.
I never had a teacher, yet I learned as much as I know now.
There are other things that will teach if they feel you are the right student. 

a-polite-melody:

Biphobia/multispec-antagonism
is a subset of homophobia you say? It’s just a category that can be lumped
under homophobia, huh?

Because calling
a queer person who is attracted to multiple genders a “dickriding bislut” can definitely
be
classed under homophobia (/s – bold and italics will be used to refer
to sarcasm for the rest of this post). [x]*

And saying
that bi people are only comfortable with the word queer because it is never
used against them is exactly the same as homophobia. [x]

Just like
calling bi people nuthuggers and saying that they’re dangerous, disgusting,
dirty, misogynistic manlovers who condone rape is totally just a form of
homophobia. [x]

And saying
that bi women having attraction to men makes them untrustworthy is entirely
like homophobia. [x]

Or like how
essentially victim blaming bi women because they didn’t drop their attraction
to men and dated more men after enduring so much from men before and claiming
they have het privilege is so similar to homophobia. [x]

And using one
example of a lesbophobic bi woman as a reason for it to be okay to call bi
women “vile man lovers” is just like homophobia. [x]

In the same
vein as using some examples of not so nice bi people as reason to hate all
bisexuals is just like homophobia. [x]

Having people
claim that bi women aren’t as oppressed and aren’t queer when they’re in a relationship
with a man is close enough to homophobia to call
biphobia/mspec-antagonism a subset of it. [x]

And having
people say that bi people are contributing to their own erasure for “enjoying
the comfort and safety of a heterosexual relationship” and that they “aren’t as
queer as actual homosexuals” is similar to homophobia. [x]

Or saying that
because it’s more common for bi people to end up in relationships that are not
with someone of the same gender, that we have privilege is pretty well the same as
homophobia. [x]

And purposeful
and even explicit want of the exclusion of pansexual (and asexual) people from LGBT+ spaces
is relatable
to homophobia. (Bonus points for aphobia.) [x]

Oh, and a
person within the LGBT+ community erasing a canon bisexual character’s
orientation while simultaneously denying that bi women can be correctively
raped and saying that bisexual women are considered the ideal women sounds so much like homophobia. [x] [x]

And someone
claiming that calling someone “bihet” or calling a couple “bihet” isn’t erasure
and isn’t demonizing bi people not in same gender relationships is
just part of homophobia. (Bonus points for it being in reference to a
polyamory-antagonistic post. Yes, I do know that it can sometimes be a problem
in terms of cat-fishing to add someone for a threesome, however simply a polyam
couple looking for a third isn’t in any way intrusive. And this post doesn’t
clarify one way or the other about which this was.) [x] [x]

Claiming that
bi women call themselves wlw to claim lesbian oppression and distance
themselves from “straight privilege” while denying that biphobia isn’t equally
harmful, claiming that bi people are trying to help trans people “trample over
the LG” (bonus points for transphobia), and even denying the multispec
orientation of the well-known champions of Stonewall is entirely like homophobia. [x] [x] [x]

And centering
bi women’s lives revolve around being “proud cocksuckers”, “loving dick”, “craving
sperm”, “whoring it up with jizz”, calling bi women nuthuggers and dick suckers
while saying we should calm down about it because it’s “just words”, telling bi
women to shut up if they’re in a relationship with a man and that we need to
give up on men to be accepted (into TERF spaces, so yeah, don’t want that
anyway), saying that bisexuals are less oppressed than homosexuals, and
claiming that bisexual women are politically classed as heterosexual to the
point of saying that the purpose of bisexuality in modern society is to keep
women heterosexual can totally be classified as a subset of homophobia. [x] [x] [x] [x]

Yeah. You can
totally class biphobia/multispec-antagonism as a subset of homophobia.
Entirely. Because it’s so similar, and totally only demonizes people for
same-gender attraction, and doesn’t at all specifically target their
attraction to multiple genders, and totally doesn’t make multi-spec
people feel that they need to be closeted even in LGBT+ spaces. [x]

Fuck off with
that shit.

*Links in [x] are archived versions. I wanted to leave the links to the actual tumblr posts so it’s easier to block these people if you choose to.

The evidence speaks for itself about why this is terrible. Please unfollow (and better yet, just fucking block me) if you think this way

🍁Autumn Leaves – Magical Correspondences đŸ‚

orriculum:

this is just a short list to get you started, all other plants and trees have their own correspondances you can look for and use, or define from how you personally think of them.

🍁 Maple – 

love, kindness, wealth.

🍂

Oak – 

protection, fertility, strength.

🍁 Chestnut –

love, longevity.

🍂 Hazel – 

truth, divination.

🍁 Pine –  banishment, exorcism, purification.

🍂 Rowan

– 

defense, creation, travel.

🍁

Paperbark / Birch –

exorcism, protection, and purification.

🍂

Cedar – healing, psychic abilities, purification.

🍁 Apple –

banishment, fertility, healing, love.

in general, if you dont know the species of trees you’re working with, you can use fallen leaves in spells/rituals to signal change, death before rebirth, shedding excess, and making room for growth.