That feeling when your cards are right, you know your cards are right, but you just don’t want them to be right so you read them over and over again, trying to wiggle out from ‘round the truth, out from underneath it, but in the end you’re just tired and bruised and the cards are still sitting there, implacable.
That feeling.
So.. this is the altar in my kitchen. It gets shifted around if I need the space for cooking, but it always comes back to this configuration. The weird thing about it, though, is that it grew up almost completely organically this way. The butterfly box holds my Ogham acorns and the peacock book holds my Tarot deck and cloth.
I got most of the pieces in this during a trip to a thrift store, and the other pieces have found their way there over time, but this is pretty much the only setup that will happen here.
I have a couple problems with this– firstly, it doesn’t match the ADF style of altar that they recommend you set up, nor is it particularly comfortable for meditating in front of.
I have a second altar space in my bedroom that I’m going to rearrange to be my ADF altar where I can meditate and do other things, so that’s not a huge problem.
My big question is, what the fuck is this for? It’s clearly for something because it sets itself in this position like iron filings drawn to a magnet, but I have no idea what to do with it. I’ve cast a few spells here, but it’s more of a workspace than a ritual space since I don’t really do much ritual magic.
Tonight is the blood moon-super moon-lunar eclipse. It is conveniently visible from my geographic location and at a time that doesn’t require me to disrupt my sleep schedule to observe it.
The main issue is that it’s cloudy as fuck here and I’d have to drive out west to get a clear view of the sky, and that’s pretty much not happening. I’m very much a homebody and putting on pants after 9pm just isn’t in the cards.
My practice is very much one of working with earth-as-it-is and the daily, monthly, and yearly cycles of the world. Something like this that comes around every 33 years or so is nifty and cool and I kind of want to see it just for science’s sake, but it’s far too rare to really have that much of an impact on my daily work.
Plus, putting too much stock in rare events like these that I may or may not get to see would make me feel really discouraged about the rest of my practice, so it’s best if I just let it be and enjoy the idea of it.
After joining the community here on Tumblr, I was a little overwhelmed at all the different types of craft available and all the ways people were experiencing them. I dove in headfirst, excited to try out as many different things as appealed to me.
Unfortunately, the jack-of-all-trades approach left me with a pretty shallow impression of each subject and frustration because nothing seemed to be connecting or really bearing fruit. I decided it was time to take a step back and examine why exactly I came here in the first place and what I wanted or needed from this.
What originally drew me to earth-based religions (which is where my interests truly lie) was the concept of the Wheel of the Year, seasonal celebrations and customs, and just being more in tune with natural cycles. I wasn’t necessarily here to work my will upon the world or tell the future or meet any kind of spirits or guides. I just wanted to appreciate the seasons and decorate my home appropriately.
Specifically, I loved the symbolism of the broom, and sweeping out the house at the end of the old year. I love the idea of keeping sprigs of certain plants in certain places to bring good luck or ward away evil, of celebrating the harvests and the return of spring.
So I’m turning my back (for now) on the rituals, the spells, the readings, and focusing on nature and the seasons and finding my roots, both literally and figuratively. In time, I’d love to come back to these things, but only once my confidence in my position is stronger.
So, you see all those posts about making ink out of natural materials like flowers or walnuts, but what are you using to write with?
I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Wink Pen, a nifty refillable fancy pen that can be used to write with pretty much any liquid you can stick in it.
They’re currently getting the first production run ready, and any preorders they can get will help speed things along.
Take a look! https://winkpens.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
I’ve owned a Tarot deck for several years now, but haven’t actually touched it in the past four years or so. I decided that I would draw a card every day to help me learn more about Tarot in general, and draw me closer to my deck.
Card of the Day: I – The Magician (Major Arcana)
Upright: New beginnings, cleverness, eloquence, creativity, skill, potential, a connection between the natural and the supernatural, the reveal of new ideas
Reversed: Deceit, manipulation, blocked energies, underutilized talents, low self-esteem, inability to complete projects
Associations:
I find it very interesting that this was the first card I drew, at the beginning of my exploration of both Tarot and witchcraft. It feels very promising, and I intend to take it as a good sign that I’m on the right path right now. Things in my life are going well, nothing feels too overwhelming, and I’m focusing on the things that will help me achieve my goals.
So I’ve decided to start practicing my craft, and my first step is to cleanse my working area and tools. I’ll start tonight with my incense burner, and I thought I’d throw out a request for any specific tips or good-to-knows for cleansing objects or imbuing them.
This past weekend, I got to take my first trip to my local metaphysical shop as a witch! I’d been there once before, a couple years ago, and picked up a tarot deck. I didn’t know what I was doing at the time, so it never really went anywhere.
From the upper left, clockwise:
“Meditation” incense, jasmine incense, and a small strawberry sample pack that the shop gave me for free.
Seven candles in the basic colors, about 5″ long.
Clear quartz crystal, no apparent bubbles, about 4″ long. I picked this up and held it in my hand and it just fit perfectly. I tried a few more to see, but none of them felt like they fit as well.
Guard dog incense burner. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, except that I wanted a place to burn incense, but when I walked past this little guy, he gave me a very clear impression of being a Good Doggy who will watch out for the family.
Small “citrine” crystal. Labeled citrine, but clearly a heat-treated amethyst. I still haven’t decided how important that is to me, but it has a perfect thumb-groove on one side which is great for fiddling with when I have excess energy to disperse.
All in all, a pretty good trip. I’m pleased to know that this place is only twenty minutes away, though I plan on buying a lot of my stuff from etsy shops and online suppliers.
Let’s get practical for a minute here: everyone loves the aesthetic of wandering through a wood by the light of the full moon, harvesting herbs and communing with nature or your deities or whoever. I do too, I won’t lie.
But how do witches deal with the very real threat of ticks? This is important to me because ticks are goddamn terrifying.
I deal with it by wearing hiking pants and wading boots, but that doesn’t look very witchy and breaks the aesthetic somewhat. Is this something other witches worry about? How do you deal with it?
I realized my blog has almost no information about me, so here’s a quick intro post so you know who you’re dealing with. 🙂
I am twenty-eight years old, white, cis-het woman, and married. My husband and I have an open marriage, though I don’t have any other partners at the moment. I’m in school right now, but not working. I have my own apartment due to commuting issues, which I share with my two cats.
I haven’t chosen a name yet, but I intend to once something pops out at me. Right now I’m mostly in the “reading everything I can get my paws on” stage of witchling-hood, but I’m finding that my interests lean heavily towards kitchen/garden/cottage witchcraft, and herbalism. I’m really tempted to group the whole lot of domestic witchery under something like “hearthcraft” because it seems silly to have to list them all separately.
At this point I don’t think I’m really interested in exploring a specifically Wiccan path– any relationships I’ve had with Divine beings thus far have been somewhat standoffish at best. I’m open to the idea, but I suspect that’s much further down the line for me.
This blog is definitely a MOGII-friendly space, and I try very hard to give appropriated aspects of neo-paganism a wide and suspicious berth. That said, if I ever post anything that you feel doesn’t fit with the previous two sentences, I absolutely welcome criticism and corrections.
My ask box is open and anon is on, so please feel free to contact me about anything at all!
all manner of hearthly concerns 