"Moonlight made a ghostly path for me, and shadows, eerie and fantastic, lurked behind the trees." –Daphne Du Maurier 🍂 // all photos are mine 🌙
honestly the human brain is so small that you *will* forget how much beauty there is out there to experience unless you leave your house every three days. ik its fucked up but i promise its true
To Banish: • Burning to ashes and sweeping away the ashes • Cast out a window, down a cliffside, etc • Bury it and spit on the spot
To Bind: • Wrap in black thread • Cover in wax or other material • Seal in jar and hide in dark spot
To Hide: • Wrap in ribbon • Place in a (painted) black jar or other container • Cover in cloth or other material and bury
To Encourage: • Plant or bury near the front door/steps • Plant or bury near a window • Place near a window
To Communicate*: • Anoint a candle • Leave out an offering • Meditate • Open the front door and/or windows
To Glamour: • Leave under the full moon • Work with its reflection
To Cleanse: • Bury in salt • Burn herbs and pass through the smoke • Let it bathe in the moonlight
To Protect: • Leave sigils/wards on doors and windows • Carry sigils/wards on every day items (keys, phone case, etc) • Enchant jewelry with protection spells
*: Communication with deities, spirit guides, etc
life is for taking therapeutic walks and being in your own bubble and reading books in bed and drinking iced beverages and eating fruit and gaining new experiences and dozing in sunlight and finding love in everything and not letting guilt consume your life actually
(Copied from my grimoire)
Place on paper, burn it
Draw on bread, toast it
Trace with crystals
Use your own energy (touch, breath, proximity)
Sew on clothing, wash them
Place in front of music speakers
Let it sit in a sunny place
Bury in the earth*
Use prayer
Dissolve in water/hold under running water
Set as phone lock screen, charge phone
Tape to window on full moon
Meditate
Hold near fire
Throw into wind*
Add a drop of blood*
Carve into candle, let it melt
Draw with honey at the bottom of a mug, activate with hot drink
Draw on flag, leave in wind
Trace in dust, blow it away
Use crystal grid
Draw with cooking oil, cook
Draw on foggy windows/mirrors
Trace using water, let it evaporate
Carve in soap, wash body
Utilize storm energy
Use light
Draw on beach, let the ocean take it
Use charging board
Draw on rock, throw it in a river*
Carve into wax, melt it (for wax melters)
Draw on self, take a shower
Use glow-in-the-dark paint
Place on shoes, utilize the energy of walking
Draw in the air with energy, push through it
Take a picture, charge device
Hold to your pulse point/s
Speak to it
And many, many things I did not list here.
*Make sure you are being safe and/or eco-friendly!
Deception Pass, WA.
“no matter how badly you think you’re doing it, someone else has done it a lot worse and been fine” is applicable to a wide, wide range of things and i say it to myself all the time
“—how wonderful to be who I am, made out of earth and water, my own thoughts, my own fingerprints— all that glorious, temporary stuff.”
— Mary Oliver, excerpt of “On Meditating, Sort Of”, in Blue Horses
silly witch tip #3
this one *can* be targeted at our lovely neurodivergent witches!
correct me if im wrong! :)
As a Black witch, it first made me relieved to see so many people in the community band together for Black Lives Matter. Over the past 5 years as a member of the Witchblr community, I have been subjected to numerous acts of racist microaggressions and attacks ranging from slurs being thrown at me, death threats, insults to my cultural practices because they’re different from European witchcraft and folk magic, attempted doxxing, and more because I was outspoken about anti-racist action. And that doesn’t include the many accounts of racism and bigotry that I witnessed secondhand. So seeing the community come together to support BLM made me hopeful that there would be a cultural shift within the community.
But, as time went on, the amount of support for BLM that I saw in the tags slowly began to dwindle as if the movement had some hidden expiration date for allies, as if all the work was done after the mass spells performed on the eclipse.
The work is far from over, witchblr. We still need to protest, sign petitions, donate, and do our part to end police brutality, defund/disband the police and abolish prisons, and address the systemic racism that exists in all facets of society.
To look “locally,” the same problems in our community still exist. And while we alone cannot eradicate racism from the whole of society, we can absolutely prevent its spread on witchblr and in other spiritual/occult communities.
Being an ally means more than posting a black square on your Instagram page or changing your profile picture to “heathens against racism.” Being an ally means actively being anti-racist and doing your part to ensure the community is truly inclusive and safe for people of color.
So, how can we begin to address the problem of racism in the spiritual communities both online and offline? Here are a few tips. I’ve focused largely on how white allies can address racism as it impacts Black practitioners, as I can only speak from my own experience as a Black person. Other people of color of all races are welcome to add onto this.
Stop supporting cultural appropriation. I don’t care if they’re your favorite blogger, your favorite diviner, your favorite occult supply store, etc, but if they’re posting about hoodoo sweetening/honey jars and they’re not Black, it’s time to block and unfollow. If they claim they speak for the Orisha or the Lwa and they aren’t initiated, it’s time to block and unfollow. If you don’t respect our cultural practices, you don’t really respect us.
Educate yourself on non-European practices. Did you know that there are more ATRs than just Lucumi, Vodou, and hoodoo? Can you explain the difference between Voodoo/Vodou and hoodoo? What is the difference between hoodoo and witchcraft? If you can’t answer these questions, time to do some reading! Educating yourself prevents you from appropriating or saying/spreading ignorant misinformation.
Stop supporting spiritual/occult organizations that act as performative allies and/or refuse to explicitly support practitioners of color. That means covens, fraternal organizations, Discord servers, pagan temples, conventions, and other spiritual organizations (large and small.) Don’t donate to these groups and don’t attend these groups or their events.
Amplify the voices of Black practitioners. How many Black spiritual/occult authors, diviners, bloggers, podcasters, astrologers, priest/priestesses, and/or vloggers can you name? How many African or Black philosophers can you name? Our voices and contributions to religion, spirituality, and the occult matter. Listen to us.
Deplatform racists. If you are a moderator or leader of a spiritual/occult community, delete/ban/kick out anyone who expresses racist or bigoted ideologies. Defending racists under the guise of “freedom of speech” just allows them to spread their hate and potentially harm or traumatize POC. Even if you’re not in a position of power, refuse to engage with bigots to prevent their message from spreading. Don’t reblog their posts, watch their videos, buy their products, etc. If you can, spread receipts of their racist acts instead.
Stop speaking over practitioners of color. If we say that something is racist/appropriation/insensitive, listen to us instead of arguing in an attempt to “save face.” We all make mistakes. Just own up to it and do what you can to fix the situation. Attacking us just because we demand equal respect is an act of racism in and of itself.
Support Black-owned businesses. Instead of buying your herbs from Amazon, go to a botanica. Get readings or other metaphysical services from Black diviners. We deserve to be compensated for our labor. It’s the least you can do considering a large chunk of modern folk magic is inspired by, influenced by, or straight up stolen from Black spiritual practices.
De-center yourself from the conversation. Cool, you’re an empath or a “sensitive”, but venting all day about how much pain you’re in is honestly insulting. And, if you want to rant about all the racist things your family has done, maybe go to one of your other white friends instead of forcing us to listen to you repeat their racist garbage.
Acknowledge your own biases and privileges. There are tons of resources out there on white privilege, white fragility, and unconscious forms of racism. Educate yourself.
Keep up the work outside of witchblr and spiritual communities. Keep donating, keep signing petitions, and keep using your platform for anti-racist action.
These points are only the tip of the iceberg. Racism is so deeply embedded in our society that it won’t be removed overnight. But if you want to claim the title of “ally,” you need to join in and continue doing the work. Unlike you, we don’t get to “opt out” of caring for the movement as racism impacts us every single day of our lives. Don’t opt out on us now.