FAVORITE MOVIE GENRE? WOMEN

frog cake / credit

heres a couple more pf characters im starting to play now

Tarot Reading Tips 💖

🔮 Learn the classic definitions of the cards - you don’t need to memorize every card’s meaning, I still use my book, but knowing a general meaning of cards will help

🔮 Wands- fire, Cups- water, Swords- air, Pentacles- earth

🔮 Using the elements helps me understand the cards and give them meaning

🔮 You can connect with a card by envisioning it and placing yourself inside of it- Stand in it and think of what you feel, see, smell, hear. I think this is a fun little exercise, though I don’t do it frequently.

🔮 Incorporate lucky numbers, personal habits and preferences into the way you shuffle, pull cards and organize spreads

🔮 I cut the deck and deal cards with my left hand (I’m right handed), but that’s just me

🔮 If you want more information on a card, pull another one and place it on top of the first.

🔮 Don’t pull too many cards or do too many readings- If you overwhelm yourself with information or deal half the deck, the cards tend to lose meaning and you learn very little from the reading.

🔮 Practice on yourself, family and friends- the more you practice the better you’ll know the cards and be able to create a story, which brings me to…

🔮 Connect the cards to make a story- this is how my mom reads cards and it always blew me away how she could just create this little story from a few cards and really give them life. Connecting the cards makes it easier to understand and less like random tid-bits of information.

🔮 Thank your cards when you’re done

🔮 Try meditating before a big reading- this doesn’t have to be classic meditation where you clear your mind, it can be very personal and whatever you feel like connects you to your cards, the person you’re reading and any deity or spirit you might be asking for help.

🔮 You don’t need to call on Gods or spirits while reading. If you’re not into that, don’t mess with it. And if you do practice this, please do it responsibly.

🔮 When I meditate I see vines, water, energy and spirits- I know that when these all come together I’m calm and focused. Your meditation will probably be nothing like mine and that’s perfectly normal.

🔮 Not a tip, but now that I’m thinking about it, is there a name for what I’m doing besides ‘meditating’ because I don’t find that fitting? 🧐

🔮 Never stop learning (exhibit A ⬆️) and don’t be afraid to ask possibly silly questions (see: exhibit A)

we should encourage kids to have less realistic goals in life. so many people asked me what I wanted to do after college and I responded with absolutely bonkers shit like ‘a computer programmer’ or ‘lawyer’

fuck dude, neither of those are anything, they’re nothing, not even half-way aligned with who I am as a person. We might as well go all the way now, like

“What do you want to do with your life?”

“Hoping to single-handedly reform the supercontinent of Pangea at the end of all this. Thanks for asking.”

18- Baba Yaga

18- Baba Yaga (Slavic Folklore).

This classic witch originates from Russian mythology and Slavic fairytales. Baba Yaga appears in various legends, often occupying the role of the witch residing deep in the woods that the main character must interact and barter with. She is the predecessor to witches like those found in the fairy tales of Charles Perrault, as well as those found in the Grimm Brothers’ works. Baba Yaga retains many unique characterizations and attributes not found in any other witch, however, making her singularly iconic.

Baba Yaga is described as a hideous, deformed, and vicious looking woman, resembling the classic hag archetype. In some versions of her story, Baba Yaga is not one, but three sisters all named Baba Yaga, each sister being older than the next. In this way, Baba Yaga is intimately connected to both The Graeae and the Moirai (#64), and illustrates the triple goddess. More specifically, Baba Yaga is a representation of the Crone phase, and is associated with death, darkness, and winter. Her function in the legends she appears in further matches this archetype, as she “may help or hinder” the characters that beseech her. She stands at the crossroads of death and mystery, allowing some to pass unscathed.

Baba Yaga is best known for two specific attributes that have defined witch iconography and contributed to Baba Yaga’s mythological uniqueness. Her residence, as well as her choice of aerial transportation, are some of the most distinctive out of any witch in this series. While most fairy tale and fictional witches fly through the sky on their iconic brooms, Baba Yaga sits her little old body inside a mortar, and steers her “spice-craft” with a pestle as rudder. The iconography and symbolic nature of this, with the mortar representing the divine feminine/womb and the pestle representing the divine masculine/phallus, shows Baba Yaga to be a character in balance with nature, called by some as a “phallic mother”. Other depictions show Baba Yaga riding through the sky in a cauldron, further solidifying the relationships between witches and their love of these cast iron pots (Ceridwen #56).

Baba Yaga’s hut is similarly iconic and unique, and has influenced centuries of witch-lore. Her house sits upon a pair of chicken legs (sometimes just a single claw). It jumps in the air and spins around, constantly moving from place to place and turning direction. I’ve seen dozens of references and depictions of witch-homes on chicken legs, but they are all imitations of Baba Yaga’s. Her yard is surrounded by a fence impaled with skulls, furthering her placement at the gates of death and dying. Her fowl-legged home appears in the earliest references to Baba Yaga, so whatever this strange attribute means, its intimately connected to her being.

The etymological roots and significance of her name are disputed. It’s generally agreed that the Baba is the same root as babushka, meaning grandmother. Other roots in Old Russian bring the shared meaning of Baba to “midwife, sorceress, and fortune teller”. The Yaga part of her name is less conclusive, however, with no root universally agreed upon. Some believe it has its origin in “serpent, snake”, while others see it from anything from “horror”, “witch”, “evil woman”, and “pain and worry”. In this way, Baba Yaga principally means Grandmother Witch, the Slavic etymological counterpart to the Italian version, Strega Nona (#21). Both Strega Nona and Baba Yaga are examples of the tradition of witch names ending in an A, with Baba Yaga perhaps being the earliest (See: Hilda and Zelda #36, Sabrina #62, Samantha/Endora/Clara #s 89/54/39, Glinda 76, et. al.).

In modern times, Baba Yaga has become more of a bogeyman character, used to scared children into good behavior. She’s described as flying through the air in her cauldron, stealing kids away to eat them. She is often shown as a consort to the personification of Death, sealing her Crone status. This association expands beyond the original source material for her, however, and while she is now often seen as evil, she was more thoroughly understood as being morally ambiguous. Baba Yaga’s ultimate good or evil was brought out by the decisions and/or actions of the main character in the fairy tale who interacted with her, serving as a reminder of caution, thoughtfulness, and sure-footedness.

Baba Yaga remains one of the classic hag witches from world folklore and mythology. I am absolutely enamored with her flying around in a Mortar/Pestle, as I find her to be one of the prototypes for modern Kitchen Witch iconography. Her witch residence goes down in history as one of the most unique, rivaled only by the far removed castles of witch/queens. I find her manifestation as three Baba Yagas, each living in a chicken-clawed home, to be her most allegorical and fascinating. In this way, Baba Yaga illustrates the singularity and unity of the Triple Goddess into one character, promoting the final stage of Crone as the most pertinent to the archetypes of witchcraft.

What should you put in your bath?

black tea: soothes sunburns [1] [2] and is antimicrobial [3] contains some essential polyphenols and tannin, reduces puffiness/inflammation [4] 

green tea: antioxidant and detoxifier [1] soothes rashes, increases healing rate, softens skin [2] heals sores and wounds, rejuvenates skin cells, improve psoriasis and dandruff [3] anti-aging, mood stabilizing [4]

apple cider vinegar: anti inflammatory and softens skin [1]

ground ginger: increases circulation, promotes sweating, opens pores, relieves pain [1]

lemon: antioxidant (brightens skin) [1] 

olive oil: moisturizes skin [1]

calendula flowers: soothes burns, inflammation, rashes, insect bites, skin disorders [1] useful for small children [2]

elder-flowers: anti-inflammatory and heals rashes cuts and wounds [1]

Himalayan salt: soothes insect bites, heals blisters, relieves arthritis pain [1] softens skin [2]

oatmeal: soothes, anti-inflammatory, calms angry skin [1]

rose petals: relax mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe headaches and stress [1] promote positive feelings [2]

valerian root: relax the mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe headaches and stress [1]

lavender: relax the mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe headaches and stress [1] [2]

mugwort: relax the mind, relieve sleepiness, soothe and headaches and stress [1]

chammomile: soothes nerves [1] good for dry skin [2]

passion flower: soothes nerves [1]

hops: soothes nerves [1]

rosemary: pain relief, soothes headaches and fatigue [1] relaxing, increases alertness and clarity of mind [2] soothes sore throat[3]

thyme: pain relief, soothes headaches and fatigue [1]

devils claw: eases joint pain [1]

juniperberries: soothes muscle aches [1]

peppermint: increase blood flow, relieve congestion [1]

eucalyptus: increase blood flow, relieve congestion [1] increases energy [2]

thyme: increase blood flow, relieve congestion [1]

jasmine: emollient and antiseptic, soothes skin [1] 

organic coconut flakes: nourish the skin [1]

sage: uplifting, good for oily skin and back acne [1] stimulating [2]

marjoram: decongestant, soothes muscle pain [1]

whole cow’s milk: hydrates and mildly exfoliates skin [1]

cow’s buttermilk: hydrates and thoroughly exfoliates skin [1]

goat’s milk: thoroughly hydrates and exfoliates skin, provides nutrients [1]

Color Correspondences

These are the color correspondences that I collected from multiple sources and my own thoughts to put into my grimoire 

🌹Red - fire, passion, love, romance, strength

🌷Pink - love, self-love, happiness, positivity, friendship, romance

🎃Orange - happiness, alertness, harvest

🌻Yellow - Air, positivity, happiness

🌿Green - earth, nature, animals, growth, prosperity, money, wealth, luck

💧Blue - water, creativity, spirituality, calm, intuition, focus, tranquility,

🍇Purple - creativity, spirituality, clairvoyance

☁️White - air, healing, peace, cleansing

💀Black - death, safety, grounding, protection, banishing, scrying, night

🍂Brown - earth, grounding, nature, animals, stability

👻Grey - wisdom, balance, knowledge

marceline!!

With Elven Eyes

larsvandegoor

Pastel vibes at the street side flower shop 🌸