There Should Totally Be A Movement Called “Sleep In Public” Where People Defend Their Right To Sleep

I see your “Apollo agreed so easily because he doesn’t care about Odysseus” and raise you “the god of prophecy knows that Odysseus is going to make it home, so he’s not going to make much of an effort to stop him.”

have these been done yet

To the Gods lost to time

We may have no way of knowing your name, but we do know you. We know you existed.

We may have no way of knowing what purpose you served in your pantheon, but we appreciate the work that you did, and the work you continue to do.

You may be older than what we think of as the first civilizations, you may be older than evolution, but thank you for being with our ancestors.

Thank you for holding their hands, teaching them how to hunt, which plants were edible, how to walk, how to develop.

It's because of you that humanity exists in the way we know today.

I'm sorry you've been lost to time.

some elements of spellwork distinguishing animist or spirit-based approaches from the energetic and psychological – a laughably basic and woefully incomplete list:

waking: most especially relevant for dried herbs or other preserved material. rouse what lies dormant with breath and touch and whisper.

speaking (or writing, etc): ask for assistance, don’t demand it. give praise, throw in some epithets. make deals, discuss terms and conditions. say thank you. say what you mean.

listening: now shut up for a bit. anticipate communication. words, song snippets, images, colours, feelings, whatever. look out for a “no” and be ready to honour it–it may hit hard in the chest or the guts. we have two-way streets here.

giving: praise, prayers, food, drink, candles, incense, crafts, all the usual suspects and more… reciprocity is key, no one likes a perpetual taker. some situations call for altruism, others for hard-nosed contracts, others for a secret third thing.

feeding: giving again, but specifically to maintain or revive longer workings. remember what the dormouse said…

sourcing: the perfect is the enemy of the good, but it makes a difference. grow, make, forage (responsibly) as much as possible. listen & give when sourcing things from the earth. shop ethically, re-use, thrift.

paring down: if it seems like a lot to go through for everything you want to include in your spell, then good. depth before breadth. use fewer herbs/stones/whatever that you know well, and that really need to be there. god i hate 12-ingredient spell jar recipes with #babywitch stuck on them. yes i will probably stick #babywitch on this. sue me.

to me these follow logically from the premise that plants, stones, bones, bits & bobs have spirit, not just energy. because that implies that their power must be given, it isn’t just there to be channelled (energetic model) or derived from the practitioner’s mental associations (psychological model). i claim nothing of reality and little of truth, but this premise has served me well.

just in case: the writing style is a little conceit that i use in many of my personal notes, which this was originally. obviously “in my opinion/experience/practice” etc.

the wicked movie teaches important moral lessons like "be bisexual in college" and "don't trust politicians" and "if you push someone who's in a wheelchair without their permission, someone might throw a bench at your head with their mind"

hey if you're running low on your meds and you've been putting off booking a Dr's appointment or calling your pharmacy, you should go do that right now.

Sometimes being Hellenic is like:

Here is an offering I worked really hard for, I made it/bought it specifically for you because this is something you're associated with. I hope you enjoy it and I pray that you can guide me on the path I need help with

Other times...:

Huh, I really need to give an offering and pray to this deity but I don't know what to give them. *feels compulsive urge to give them an avocado and instinctively knows its the deity* okay, if you want this. This is for you, please help me with what I need. Thank you for all your help