Witchy meme, concluded.
Since I am leaving tomorrow for a weekend in Gettysburg, I am just gonna wrap this up today.
27. A spell you’ve done.
I've had two occasions to do the magical equivalent of cease and desist. One, years ago, was a freeze-bottle spell filled with hot peppers, etc. Basically, the idea was that if the person even so much thought of harassing me again, they would find themselves unable to, with a nasty sting to boot. It worked, suffice it to say. Another was a mix of self-shielding (ie, you will not even think about me, in any capacity) combined with a candle spell to get the other person to stop spreading untruths. I carved a black candle, anointed it in a TAL oil, rolled it in appropriate herbs. I ringed that candle in salt, then surrounded that candle in small white chime candles for protection/shielding and to draw positive energy. There was lots of visualization, as well as a very precise statement of intent. The idea for both was never to cause harm, but to dissuade the other party from continuing to do damage. And, to my knowledge, so far, so good.
28. A description of your Book of Shadows (and pictures, if you're comfortable with that).
My BOS is a lovely leatherbound book with a front illustration by joannabarnum, who I hope to commission similar illustrations for the section headers. Basically, the front part has basic stuff-- Sabbat readings, lists of commonly used stones, herbs, symbols. The other parts are a list of workings that can be adapted. I actually keep a second book that's more of a magical diary-- some people would actually call that a BOS, but I think of them sort of as companion books.
29. A magical dream you've had.
Hmm, There was that one time I had three dreams on the topic of liminality in one night, including a visit from Hecate & Jim Henson. It was weird, but it stayed with me.
30. Music you might play while working a spell.
Loreena McKennitt, Faith & The Muse, classical music, and the Medieval Baebes around Yule. Plus the Carmina Burana is a mainstay around Beltane.
31. Witch’s choice!
Dear fellow witches & Pagans. I have two things to say to you.
Thing one: Learn to tell the goddamn difference between "alter" and "altar," OMG.
Thing two: When it comes to "what will other people think?!" it is time to stop giving a shit. Really. I understand not bringing up religion etc. at work. Ideally, no one should, but I'm not going to pretend that we don't live in a world where it's perfectly acceptable for Christians to talk about their beliefs while everybody else gets shat on. Yes, that happens, and it sucks.
But everybody else? And I mean this as kindly as I can: Fuck 'em.
There will always be people who look down on what you believe, be they smug atheists or zealous born-agains or people with equally whacky beliefs who feel the need to pick on someone else for a change. Doesn't matter. Your beliefs are a culmination of your own personal experiences. Your experiences are valid. They cannot take that from you, and their even trying to diminish you speaks more to a lack in their own life than one in yours.
One of the coolest things about Paganism is that we define our own relationship with the Divine. The fact that we don't have a single go-to holy text to outline for us how we should interact with the Gods enables us all to find our own way by intuition, by listening to the subtle ways the Divine speaks to us. We find and light our own paths. This is not unique to Paganism, of course, but it tends to be frowned upon in our Evangelically-dominated society, a society that constantly tells us what God thinks or wants or has decreed, whether it be about morality, sexuality, bodily autonomy, or gender roles. There are others in our society that are bound to envy our freedom, our ability to question and revise our beliefs as we go along and have different experiences. That's their problem, not yours. Do as thou wilt.
Provided you are not one of those Pagans who constantly embellishes their own experience in order to ~appear spooky~... (ie, don't be Christian Day) whatever. Do your own thing. Fuck the haters.
27. A spell you’ve done.
I've had two occasions to do the magical equivalent of cease and desist. One, years ago, was a freeze-bottle spell filled with hot peppers, etc. Basically, the idea was that if the person even so much thought of harassing me again, they would find themselves unable to, with a nasty sting to boot. It worked, suffice it to say. Another was a mix of self-shielding (ie, you will not even think about me, in any capacity) combined with a candle spell to get the other person to stop spreading untruths. I carved a black candle, anointed it in a TAL oil, rolled it in appropriate herbs. I ringed that candle in salt, then surrounded that candle in small white chime candles for protection/shielding and to draw positive energy. There was lots of visualization, as well as a very precise statement of intent. The idea for both was never to cause harm, but to dissuade the other party from continuing to do damage. And, to my knowledge, so far, so good.
28. A description of your Book of Shadows (and pictures, if you're comfortable with that).
My BOS is a lovely leatherbound book with a front illustration by joannabarnum, who I hope to commission similar illustrations for the section headers. Basically, the front part has basic stuff-- Sabbat readings, lists of commonly used stones, herbs, symbols. The other parts are a list of workings that can be adapted. I actually keep a second book that's more of a magical diary-- some people would actually call that a BOS, but I think of them sort of as companion books.
29. A magical dream you've had.
Hmm, There was that one time I had three dreams on the topic of liminality in one night, including a visit from Hecate & Jim Henson. It was weird, but it stayed with me.
30. Music you might play while working a spell.
Loreena McKennitt, Faith & The Muse, classical music, and the Medieval Baebes around Yule. Plus the Carmina Burana is a mainstay around Beltane.
31. Witch’s choice!
Dear fellow witches & Pagans. I have two things to say to you.
Thing one: Learn to tell the goddamn difference between "alter" and "altar," OMG.
Thing two: When it comes to "what will other people think?!" it is time to stop giving a shit. Really. I understand not bringing up religion etc. at work. Ideally, no one should, but I'm not going to pretend that we don't live in a world where it's perfectly acceptable for Christians to talk about their beliefs while everybody else gets shat on. Yes, that happens, and it sucks.
But everybody else? And I mean this as kindly as I can: Fuck 'em.
There will always be people who look down on what you believe, be they smug atheists or zealous born-agains or people with equally whacky beliefs who feel the need to pick on someone else for a change. Doesn't matter. Your beliefs are a culmination of your own personal experiences. Your experiences are valid. They cannot take that from you, and their even trying to diminish you speaks more to a lack in their own life than one in yours.
One of the coolest things about Paganism is that we define our own relationship with the Divine. The fact that we don't have a single go-to holy text to outline for us how we should interact with the Gods enables us all to find our own way by intuition, by listening to the subtle ways the Divine speaks to us. We find and light our own paths. This is not unique to Paganism, of course, but it tends to be frowned upon in our Evangelically-dominated society, a society that constantly tells us what God thinks or wants or has decreed, whether it be about morality, sexuality, bodily autonomy, or gender roles. There are others in our society that are bound to envy our freedom, our ability to question and revise our beliefs as we go along and have different experiences. That's their problem, not yours. Do as thou wilt.
Provided you are not one of those Pagans who constantly embellishes their own experience in order to ~appear spooky~... (ie, don't be Christian Day) whatever. Do your own thing. Fuck the haters.