Sometimes, it isnt that mercury is in retrograde, even if it is – it may be you’re not putting enough effort into being clear and effective with your communication, or that the other person isn’t.
Your energy my be stagnant, but you can also be sick and need rest, or just an emotional break.
You might be cursed, but the way you react to accidents and small misfortunes things may be making things worse than they need to be.
Try not to overlook practical causes and not taking care of your more earthly needs. Take care of yourself
The state of Kerala, India, is experiencing one of the worst floods since 1924. Over 20,000 houses have been damaged completely and 10,000 km of roads have been destroyed. Essential services have taken a hit, with shortages in medical supplies and drinking water reported from several places. A red alert has been issued in 11 of the 14 districts.
324 people have lost their lives since the rains started on May 29. Over half of them – 190 across 14 districts – have died in the last few days. Over 314,000 people have been moved to relief camps across the state with many more still missing or unreachable.
AnboduKochi is a non-profit organisation that has been one of the largest groups to provide relief support in Kochi, they need cash to transport all the donations they have been getting and make sure it gets to the relief camps.
keralarescue.in is an initiative by Govt. of Kerala, Kerala State IT Mission and IEEE Kerala Section for effective collaboration and communications between authorities, volunteers and public
Google has put out a consolidated and pin-dropped list of centres providing rescue ops, including shelters, food and water, medicine and essentials, volunteers, Jeep rescue and ambulances, among others.
In case you are looking for someone stranded in Kerala or have information about someone, use the Person Finder, which crowdsources information, to help.
Below are some ways to donate and help rebuild the lives of those affected.
The Chief Minister’s Distress Relief Fund (CMDRF)is 100% exempt from tax and “is an emergency assistance release mechanism granting immediate relief to families and individuals distressed by calamity, loss of life due to accidents and chronic diseases.”
Amazon lets users donate to one of three NGOs: Goonj, Habitat for Humanity and World Vision India. Once you select one of the three NGOs, you can choose what you want to donate by going through their wishlist
Please consider donating any amount of money you can. If you know of any more resources and ways to help, please add to this post.
Hi! I am not sure if any of my followers saw, but I’ve been
saying it is pretty bad for Kerala right now. (PS: I’m safe right now, and my
family has moved to shelters or high-level areas).
Just in case, if you didn’t know, Kerala is a small state in the
south-west part of India. We are mainly known for our cynicism, sarcasm, and
our love of going to “The Gulf”. We are that part of India that had Muslims before the Mughals Invasion and Christians before the British Invasion
and lived more-or-less in harmony with each other throughout. We love our
socialism, our love of eating beef, and generally trying
to resist the majoritarian principles of rest of the country.
And currently, Kerala is trembling under the fury of the
monsoon.
There has been incessant rain for the past three weeks, and
most parts of Kerala are flooded. Till yesterday , 12 out of 14 districts were on
Red Alert. All 44 rivers on this small strip of land was overflowing.
As the rains continued, most lakes, reservoirs, and dams got filled and 33
dams were opened. And the outflow of these dams combined with rainwater rushed through towns and cities alike.
There has been landslides, sudden top soil movement and road
collapses throughout the state, but especially in hilly areas. Most bridges,
roads (including National Highways) are either completely destroyed or flooded beyond
use.
Ten thousands of homes have been inundated and families have
moved away. People and entire cities
& towns have been marooned.
This man is inside his home; neck-deep in water [he made this
video and shared it through social media in an effort to get noticed and
rescued]:
The Kochi International Airport is flooded and would be shut
down for ten days. Railways are jammed and most roads are flooded. Most dams are open and cities have turned into lakes and
rivers. The fact that there are water disputes with neighbouring states and state-level
& national-level politics involved doesn’t help the common people of Kerala
either.
This is not a water-tank over-flowing.
It’s an entire dam that is overflowing
(the Peringalkutthu dam, to be precise):
.
The death toll is currently estimated to be about 300 and over 3 lakh individuals have been displaced.
It is only because of high inter-connectivity and an educated
population that the death toll has been under control.
And this is just the beginning:
Those who are rescued has to deal with extensive
property damage.
Farmers have to deal with huge crop loss.
Most rescue shelters are running out of food and
medicines.
Food shortage will continue even after the floods
as most of our food comes from Tamil Nadu/Andhra Pradesh, and the roads and railways connecting
the two states are flooded.
Roads, Bridges and Communication channels will
have to be rebuilt.
Outbreaks of water-borne diseases as water will
get contaminated
Outbreaks of mosquito-born diseases like Dengue
fever as stagnant water persists.
Large sections of Kerala is flooded. Kochi has come to a halt.
Seriously, we are in big trouble. So,if you can donate,
please do. Small acts of kindness goes a long way. If not, please signal boost.
so you dated the wrong person and learned a hard lesson. you chose the wrong major and had to start over again. you cherished a friend who backstabbed you. it sucks, but it’s also going to work out. that’s life; you learn, hurt, love, cry, laugh, and keep going. you experience setbacks and you grow and it’s all okay.
There is an infamous building on our campus, called “Montgomery House” or more commonly, “Monty.” Monty is the building for animation, game design, special effects, sound design, and basically everything that requires highly powerful, highly specialized computers and software. The building is infamous for a couple of reasons. It’s located pretty far away from any other building, for one.
The building itself used to be a coffin factory, no joke. Another is the building has no windows. None. There are also no clocks anywhere. Once you enter Monty, you are completely separated from the flow of time and the light of day. Probably the reason Monty is most known though is because students in the “monty majors” have to spend a lot of time there. A lot. It is not uncommon for somebody to spend more than a few days exclusively within the sunless, dark walls of Monty. If you go to the building, it is not surprising to see students sleeping on the floor, on the few chairs available, on the computers. Some bring sleeping bags and rations. Some just forgo sleep, buy espresso shots and work. The entire building just smells of coffee and sweat. It really seems like an exageration, but its not hyperbole.
Why I bring this up is because of something that’s started recenetly. Inside the building, the school has hung up artwork on the walls from other majors as is typical on campus. One of the artworks was a self-portrait painting of a man with long, scraggly brown hair and a full beard looking pensively off into the distance. The painting became known as “Monty Jesus.”
Students, in their desperation for their files to render, or the computers to work, began to offer prayers to Monty Jesus. Soon, they began writing their prayers and taping them next to the painting. The wall is now covered, completly plastered, in prayers to Monty Jesus for things like “Fix the wifi” and “let me live through finals” and more simply “help me.” Candles have been added. Literal candles are placed around Monty Jesus in hopes he will help them.
This is how religions are born. Monty Jesus is considered a “joke”, but people at Monty still hold…. quite a lot of superstitious faith in the concept. There is even talk of a “Monty Satan” that creates software failures. It might be in jest, but these students really are hoping for some force to help them. And they’ve given it a name, an image, and respect. Monty Jesus is real, and I’m sure of it. The desperate students have created their own spirit and their own form of worship, out of need.
Religion, spirituality, didn’t stop being relevant. It didn’t stop being something people need and want, and have the desire to create. It’s still happening, and it always will as long as their are people. The spirit of creation, new deities and new worship, is alive and well today and should not be ignored simply because it is “new” or “a joke.”
Monty Jesus is Real and Strong and Our Friend
SCAD is such a weird and magical place.
As soon as I saw “Monty” I knew this was about my school
I go to this school and I can confirm he is real. Another weird happening that occurred in the dorm adjacent to Monty is the smashed fly incident. Basically, someone smashed a fly on the stairway wall in the dorm and, because no janitor in this building ever bothers to thoroughly clean the place, the fly stayed there for a good few weeks. Eventually, one of the students wrote “ART” next to the fly with a sharpie, and a few days after that, someone made a tiny frame and name tag to accompany the art piece
Eventually some fool took this beautiful art piece down, and someone wrote a goddamn article about it in our school newspaper
which prompted several students to erect a mini shrine on the stairwell in honor of the smashed fly. Art school is truly a magical place.
Your school is a microcosm of how human culture develops, incredible.
For you nerdy witches who play RPG like D&D well I have a new divination tool for you that I developed on my own. As far as I know there is one other person who does it but he uses a D6 if I remember correctly. Also this is for witches who can’t afford pendulums either. So here we go…..
What is a D20?
well in simple terms it is a 20 sided dice.
So How Do You Use It?
So first i get all my D20 out and roll them all. I currently have four they each all have names: Blanche, Tatiana, Viking, and Derp. Ask whom wants to help you. Whomever has the highest number is the one I use because it means they want to help you with your questions. Then you start asking your yes or no questions with the selected dice.
Now this is how it works:
If it lands anywhere from 1 to 9: It means No
If it lands anywhere from 10 to 12: It means Maybe
If it lands anywhere from 13 to 20: It means Yes
If it lands on an edge where you can’t get a for sure number, falls off the table, falls in your legs or it has landed weirdly: It means: I Don’t Know
There are many ways to go about beginning spells and rituals, from complex rites to simple methods such as casting a basic circle. Often there’s very little discussion of personalizing an opening rite. Instead many of us use a preset ritual or simply follow along with whatever opening rite is included in the spell we’re currently working.
While this can and does work for many people, designing your own personalized pre-spell ritual has many benefits. As with all aspects of the craft, personalizing it to match your own beliefs and priorities allows your power to flow through the ritual more smoothly, there is no disruption from going through the motions on aspects of a ritual that seem extraneous or tedious to you.
Creating continuity and stability in your craft can also be useful, along with allowing you to find a kind of ease in this aspect of your spell work it can serve as a mental and energetic “trigger”. Repeating the same ritual every time you perform a spell will build a habit that will allow you to switch quickly from any mindset into your magic working mental space. For many witches trying to perform magic when you’re “off” in some way can prove rather frustrating and giving yourself a switch can prevent these frustrations and streamline your spell work.
When writing any sort of personal ritual the first thing you must do is clarify your intentions. Ask yourself, what do you want out of your pre spell ritual? What do you need? Your ritual should not only meet your personal beliefs and sense of aesthetic but also your functional needs and style of spell casting. A poorly designed ritual will quickly become a nuisance and end up cast aside.
The first thing to consider is the desired length of your ritual. Will it need to be short and succinct so that you can perform it quickly before small spells? Or do you prefer to have more preparation and solemnity about your spell work? How long does it take you to prepare mentally to perform a spell? Keep this in mind as you assemble the pieces of your ritual, too many or too few steps and you could find yourself with a ritual that doesn’t suit your needs appropriately. If you’re unsure of what you may need in this area start small. You can always add to your ritual as you become more comfortable with it but starting with a mammoth of a ritual could very well end in you abandoning the ritual altogether.
In addition to the length, the complexity of your ritual should be carefully considered. Are you interested in using lengthier incantations or will you be performing wordlessly? If you want to be able to memorize it then you should only make it as complex as your memory will allow. If you will be performing the ritual from your grimoire every time you use it then feel free to create something more elaborate.
Will you be needing tools for your ritual? Tools can be exceptional additions to any spell but they can cut down on the portability and spontaneity of your spells. If you don’t often perform spells spontaneously or away from your main work space then tools can add a more tangible feel to your ritual which many people find helpful.
How many people will be involved in your ritual? If you work alone then this is simple and you only need to consider your own desires when building your pre-spell rite. If, on the other hand, you work in a group or coven you may wish to consult the other members of your circle or even build this ritual with them.
Now that you have an idea of the general kind of ritual you’ll be creating it’s time to start adding in the individual components. All of the following suggestions are excellent additions to an opening rite but you can elect to use only a few of them or none at all if your imagination and inclinations draw you to some other form of ritual. These are simply some of the basic building blocks of opening a spell.
CLEANSING YOUR SPACE AND SELF
Cleansing is a regular part of most ritual openings. It removes any stagnant, stuck or unhelpful energies that might get in the way of your spell work as well as ensuring that the room is properly prepared in more commonplace, earthly terms. There are two types of cleansing that should be considered for your ritual: cleansing your space and cleansing yourself.
Preparing your space may seem like a mundane task, tidying up isn’t necessarily the most magical act, but it can be incorporated into your ritual. Cleansing your workspace, both physically and energetically can be an important first step if it isn’t something you take the time to do otherwise. Energetic cleansing removes stuck or unwanted energies from the space, ensuring a clean slate for your spells.
There are many ways to cleanse a room in this manner, for example, you could sweep your ritual space with a besom, cleanse the room with burning herbs or incense, tidy your altar, or even create a crystal grid to cleanse the room over a period of hours if you like. Other ideas include sound clearing with bells or singing bowls, visualizing white or gold light filling the space, or opening windows to allow fresh air in.
In many traditions cleansing yourself before performing magic is an indispensable step. Smoke cleansing may also be used for this purpose but other methods to consider include ritual bathing, washing the hands, feet and/or face, changing into clothing reserved for your spell work, performing meditations, using crystals or even taking a ritual meal or drink.
SETTING THE TONE
This part of your ritual is largely for aesthetic purposes but it can absolutely have an effect on your personal sense of power in your ritual. When setting the tone there are many ways to go about achieving your desired feel; music, candles, incense, the level of lighting and the decor of the room you’re in all play a part in setting the tone for your ritual. If you aren’t picky about this sort of thing you can eschew this step altogether or simply leave it as a blank space to be filled based on your current whims. If it suits your practice you may also consider changing your ritual aesthetic based on the seasons, moon phases or holidays.
Building energy for your spells and rituals is an act that isn’t always included but it is one of my favorites. This step gets you thrumming with energy, unlocking channels in yourself and in your surroundings that may stay stagnant the majority of the time. In many circles this is achieved with drumming, chanting or other kinds of music. You can also draw up energy for your rituals using dance, guided meditations, visualizations or releasing energy from charged objects.
Consecration is a ritual step for religious witches. It’s the process of dedicating your tools and/or magic work space to your gods, should you have any. This process can vary greatly depending on your religious leanings and which gods you worship or work with so I won’t be giving much detail on this. Some witches choose to consecrate once, some choose to consecrate on a regular basis (every full moon/solstice/etc) or on an as-needed basis at each ritual. If you do involve gods in your witchcraft and would like to learn more about consecrating I would suggest looking into the specific traditions associated with your particular gods or deities.
In the same vein, invoking your gods may be an important part of an opening rite however, if you aren’t religious invocation may still play a part in your ritual. Often spells may include spirits or energies that need to be summoned (or perhaps politely invited) to your ritual. As an example, calling the four corners involves invoking the elemental energies of fire, air, water and earth and their corresponding cardinal directions. If there is an energy, spirit or being that you work with regularly this is the time to call it to your aid. Often an offering may be appropriate as thanks.
PROTECTING YOUR SPACE
The act of protecting your ritual work space is perhaps considered one of the more important aspects of designing your own opening rite. Casting a circle is certainly the most commonly known form of protection but there are many other ways to protect your ritual space.
There are many ways to cast a circle, in some methods the circle is physically drawn with salt or a cord, in others the circle is denoted with four candles or other markers denoting the cardinal directions, in some the circle is only held in the minds eye. Typically the circle is cast by walking the perimeter clockwise three times, speaking a protective incantation or perhaps simply using your will to create a barrier against unwanted energies coming into your space. Your protective circle may also be used to keep anything in your circle from getting out depending on what sort of magic you have planned.
Other forms of warding are equally effective, my personal preference is using a guardian (add link) to protect my space. With this form of warding I include an offering to the guardian in my opening rite.
When deciding how to protect your ritual space you should decide what you will need from your wards. If you are working by yourself they can be quite simple, working with a group may call for something more complex or even multi-layered. For example, you may wish to protect your ritual space against the emotional baggage of other members of your circle, for this you could erect a ward designed to “hold” these energies outside of the circle until the members leave again.
Another consideration is whether or not your wards should be permeable and to what degree. Perhaps a designated “door” in the ward might be prudent to allow members to leave for the bathroom or in the event of an emergency without breaking your circle. Would you like certain spirits, gods, or energies to be able to come and go at will? Your wards can be designed to allow this to happen.
In many practices it’s considered an absolute necessity to ward your ritual space in some way. There are no grand rule makers in the world of witchcraft though. You are the witch. You hold the power. You make the rules. If this practice feels too rigid, doesn’t speak to you, or doesn’t serve your personal purposes then omit it. No one can decide what you should or should not be doing in your craft except for you.
When you have chosen what you wish to include in your ritual it’s time to start fitting the pieces together. The order I have presented these ideas in is not necessarily the ideal order for your ritual. Play with your opening rite and rearrange it as you see fit, a smoothly flowing ritual is a beautiful thing and well worth the time and effort it takes to create.
Hey everyone! I’ve moved all of my best witchcraft resources to my new blog, many of my old posts now have downloadable upgrades and new information added. I’ll be posting new witchy material over there weekly, if any of you have topics that you’re particularly interested in learning about let me know!
Candlelight-magick 