Anyway, Daily Reminder From A Culturally Isolated Romani Person.

crystals in death magic

ajoite - overcome sorrow, emotional healing

amethyst - eases grief and sadness

andalusite - crossing over into the afterlife

apophyllite - spirit communication

bixbite (red beryl) - eases grief

black tourmaline - eases grief

bloodstone - to strengthen ties with ancestors or loved ones who have passed on

blue lace agate - connection to the spirit world, eases passage into the afterlife

calcite - emotional healing, peace

carnelian - eases sorrow, protection in the afterlife

celestite - spirit communication

charoite - eases passage into the afterlife

cuprite - spirit communication

halite - dispelling negativity, protection

hematite - grounding, peace, transforming negativity

jade - protection in the afterlife

jasper - safe passage into the afterlife

jet - eases grief and mourning

kunzite - eases heartbreak

labradorite - spirit communication

lapis lazuli - spiritual connection

obsidian - healing, deflecting negativity, grounding, protection

onyx - grounding, protection

pink tourmaline - emotional healing

quantum quattro silica - eases grief

quartz - safe passage into the afterlife

selenite - spirit communication, eases passage into the afterlife

sunstone - spirit communication

tanzan aura quartz - spirit communication

tsavorite - connection to the spirit world

turquoise - spiritual attunement

violet flame opal - spiritual awareness

© 2024 𝚊𝚍-𝚌𝚊𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚊

Queer witches have always been here

We all know the gays love tarot and astrology, but did you know that the connection between witchcraft and queer sexuality goes back to ancient times?

Throughout history, cultures all around the world have believed that queer people have special spiritual or magical abilities. While "queer" and related labels like "gay," "lesbian," and "transgender" are modern terms, all cultures have people who exist outside of mainstream gender and sexuality norms. These people with non-normative identities are sometimes believed to have a special connection to the world of spirits.

(I am using the word "queer" as a convenient umbrella term for all of these complex identities, but I do recognize that this isn't historically accurate.)

In some cases, such as some parts of Europe, these queer people were explicitly called witches or magicians. "Deviant" sexual behavior was often part of accusations during the English witch trials, for example.

In other cultures, queer identity is connected to other special spiritual roles. Some examples include:

Ancient Mesopotamian sal-zikrum (literally “women-men,” priests of Inanna)

Ancient Roman galli (male priests of the goddess Cybele who were castrated as part of their initiation)

Old Norse vitkar, men who practiced a feminine magical art called seiðr and were sometimes accused of having sex with other men

It's interesting to note that many cultures assign a special spiritual role to people who fall outside the categories of "man" and "woman" -- people we might identify today as nonbinary or genderfluid. In other cultures, magic was associated with homosexuality or bisexuality.

And then, of course, we get into modern occult movements with figures like Aleister Crowley who, as hateful as he may have been in some ways (and he was), was also unabashedly queer in his practice and his writings. If you follow any magical path influenced by Crowley's writings, including Wicca and Wicca-inspired witchcraft, you are borrowing from the work of a queer sorcerer.

Several of the most notable witchy and pagan authors of the 20th century were/are also queer. Scott Cunningham, who pioneered ecclectic Wicca as we know it today, was a gay man. Starhawk, who wrote The Spiral Dance and founded Reclaiming, is bisexual. Stewart and Janet Farrar, who published some of the first widely available books about traditional Wicca, were in a polyamorous triad with Gavin Bone. (Stewart has passed away, but Janet and Gavin are still together.) If you read any popular book on witchcraft or occultism published in the last 50 years, it probably cites at least one queer author.

Witchcraft has always been queer. We have always been here, and we're not going anywhere any time soon.

I think this has been my favorite episode to date, thank you for posting! Living in west Texas, which is mostly desert, the Wheel of the Year doesn’t apply to me, and the world around me is brimming with medicinal and culinary food but no one talks about them, locals included.

I’ve been doing my own research about how I can include the local land and spirits into my practice, and it gets tricky!

Hex Positive, Ep. 051 - Weather Witching with Marci the StormBornWitch

As so many of us are watching the weather reports with no small amount of anxiety, I sat down with my good buddy Marci (aka StormBornWitch from tumblr) to talk about her particular brand of weather magic and how a weather witch gets things down in a biome that looks very little like the one upon which the ubiquitous Wheel of the Year is based.

Further Reading by Marci:

Marci’s Weather Witching Tips

The Importance of Understanding Your Environment

Connecting With The Land – Australia

Marci’s Australian Seasonal Calendar Project

Communing With Spirits To Create Personal Correspondences

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⁠Follow Marci on Tumblr⁠!

⁠Register for the January 11th CritWitch Brew event⁠!

⁠Donate to the American Red Cross to aid with ongoing California wildfire relief efforts⁠!

Visit the⁠ Willow Wings Witch Shop⁠ on Shopify and check out this month’s featured items and ⁠Upcoming Events⁠. Make sure you also visit the⁠ Redbubble⁠ page for even more cool merch!

Check my ⁠⁠⁠Wordpress⁠⁠⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as ⁠@BreeNicGarran⁠ on TikTok, Instagram, and WordPress, or as⁠ @breelandwalker⁠ on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠⁠⁠Patreon⁠⁠⁠.

Proud member of the ⁠⁠⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠⁠⁠.

MUSIC CREDITS

Intro & Outro – “Spellbound” & “Miri’s Magic Dance”

Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

⁠http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/⁠

Just a reminder...

As a witch, and especially if your practice is anything like hands-in-the-dirt, wading into rivers, bones and teeth folk witchcraft, you don't have to settle for anything.

You don't have to wait for good things to happen to you out of the random walk of life. You don't have to be a passive vessel in your own life, either.

You've got magic. Make shit happen.

Any guesses as to what I’ve been up to lately?

Honoring the Spirits of Home: Creating Sacred Spaces for the Unseen

Welcome back, Seekers! Within my local coven, we are journeying through the mysteries of Spirit until Winter Solstice. Today, I introduced the art of crafting Spirit Houses, and I thought it would be fitting to share a bit of that here. I like to keep these crafty posts simple and open-ended, leaving space for the practitioner to add their own touch. The best magick often arises from just diving in and letting your intuition guide the way. May this inspire you to connect, create, and explore! 🌙✨

As witches, we work with spirits every day, whether we realize it or not. Our homes, like ourselves, are steeped in the spirit world, alive with layers of unseen inhabitants that have their own roles, wisdom, and stories to tell. For many of us, it’s a quiet understanding that a witch’s home should be haunted—not in the fearful sense, but filled with life that pulses in harmony with our craft. From ancestral guides and house spirits, to the land’s ancient beings, these entities weave themselves into the very fabric of our spaces, enriching them with energy and presence.

Regardless of whether a home is newly built or weathered by decades, each dwelling becomes imbued with spirit. There’s an existing ecosystem of energies that connect to the land itself, the history of the area, and the layers of life that once lived or passed through. These spirits, sometimes subtle, sometimes profound, thrive within the space we call home, coexisting with us and enhancing our magick. But it is up to us to nurture a balanced and harmonious relationship with them.

Why Connect with the Spirits of Your Home?

Developing a deep, reciprocal relationship with the spirits of your home doesn’t just benefit your craft; it offers blessings for everyone under your roof. When these spirits feel acknowledged and respected, they offer protection, lend strength to your magickal workings, and create an atmosphere of peace and nourishment. A home can truly feel like a sanctuary when the spirits that dwell within it are in harmony with those who reside there in the flesh. This connection turns your space into an anchor—a place of personal power, healing, and resilience.

Building Friendships with Spirit

Nurturing relationships with spirits requires time, care, and a commitment to reciprocity. Just as with human friendships, there is a cycle of giving and receiving. Spirits respond to sincere attention and intention, as well as the gifts and gestures we offer them. One meaningful way to foster this connection is by creating a spirit house or a dedicated space where spirits can feel welcomed and honored.

A spirit house is both a physical symbol and a spiritual anchor. It becomes a place where offerings can be left, and it serves as a gateway for interaction with the spirit world in a respectful and clear manner. It’s a way of saying, “You are welcome here, I honor your presence, and I seek your guidance and protection.”

Creating Your Spirit House

Designing a spirit house is a creative, personal process. It need not be elaborate; sometimes, the simplest gestures carry the deepest respect. You may choose a small altar, a shelf, or even a discreet box placed in a peaceful corner of your home. Consider using natural materials—wood, clay, or stone—as they tend to resonate well with spirits of place. Personalize it with items like stones from your land, soil, dried herbs, or even water from a local stream. Each addition builds a bridge between your energy and the spirits you invite into your home.

When crafting your spirit house, remember that offerings and gifts can strengthen this relationship over time. Spirits, like friends, appreciate time, energy, love, and tokens of appreciation. Remember, spirits are aware of intention as much as they are of the physical offering, so approach this creative expression with reverence and sincerity.

For my spirit house, I’ve chosen to weave in unsea, or “old man’s beard,” gathered lovingly from my mother tree, a sacred link to the ancient and wise energies of the land. I've placed birds within the space, their forms standing as messengers and symbols of spirit, guiding and connecting with the unseen. Mushrooms, too, find their place here, embodying my bond with the natural world—grounded yet reaching into hidden realms. They carry the magick of spiritual growth, reminding me of the mystery and connection to realms beyond. Each piece breathes life into the space, deepening my relationship with the spirits I honor… and I placed a bell at the entrance, placed with the hope of hearing it softly chime as the spirits pass through.

Love is your gf offering you a glamor when you’re getting ready to go out and do a big thing🥺

I’ll share info on the big thing as soon as I can, though it’s not witchy! I do have this pic as a sneak peek of what I was out doing

Reblog daily for health and prosperity

How to Raise, Move, and Throw Energy: A Practical Guide

One of the most common questions I get is "Ash - how do you ACTUALLY, PRACTICALLY move, throw, and raise energy? A lot of those guides seem to be missing some key steps!" I hear you - and I'm here to break it down.

Below is my own method, slowed down piece by piece. Remember - raising and using energy is a personal matter/varies from person to person, so feel free to adjust, change, or discard any part of this guide to suit your practice!

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1. Raising Energy

With a combination of physical action, “psyching yourself up”, verbal action, or psychological methods, raise your adrenaline, emotional, or excitement levels in a way that gets more intense the more you do it. E.g., chanting until the words start to lose meaning or you get into a trance state, dancing around the circle until you get a runner’s high and start laughing/having fun and forgetting yourself, and then basically keep performing that action until your emotional/excitement/adrenaline reaches a breaking point. The best way to describe this is escalating excitement. If you’re into EDM, this is how it feels when a beat is about to drop and keeps escalating. This should feel physical and psychological - literally like hitting a runner’s high when you’re exercising, or getting so excited about a date you start to shake. The easiest way to do this is to raise energy with physical activity or chanting. You can enhance this action by doing it moving in a circle around the object you’re going to put energy into.

Many sources cite a series of ways traditionally used to raise energy, which are practical actions to be used in conjunction with the above, as a focus: Raising power with chanting (sub in your own belief system in what you choose for the chant), dance, or singing is common - you can stick with praying too, just be sure to raise and escalate, just to name a few.

2. When you’re sufficiently pumped, keep going. Now, let's THROW!

At this point, you have two options: Physically moving the “energy”, or achieving “gnosis”. (This is the beat drop.)

A) Gnosis

Gnosis is (oversimplifying) the moment when you fully forget yourself and the energy takes over. Basically, you lose sight of where you are and what you’re doing and there’s a moment where everything snaps into place. A real-world example would be, if you’re raising energy with sex magic, the moment of climax. A SFW example would be - this should feel like, when you’re staring at a magic eye painting, after a long while of staring it “clicks” to form an image. Physically IRL, this should feel like - for a split second, even - you do not have control over your energy or emotion. When achieving gnosis, look at (direct your attention to) the object you are raising energy for.

B) Moving or “throwing” the energy

Moving or Throwing is a little more abstract, but I’m going to guide you best as I can. By now, you’re buzzing with actual physical energy, like before a birthday party (nervous jitters OR excitement), or like when you’ve just finished a workout. Take a moment and feel the physical and mental effects of this. Do a body scan if helpful. (The reason why visualizing is helpful is that you can visualize this buzz as a physical thing, once you sense its effects with a body scan, for the next part.) You’ll now need to “direct” the energy. Try and physically move your body to “gather” all your energy up (moving your arms to see how far-reaching the effects of the buzz are, then experimenting by moving your body to see if it changes the scope of the buzz). Then, physically thrust your hands or arms (or your body parts of choice) at the object you’re directing energy to. Do this by performing a strong, firm, decisive physical action, and, if it helps, visualize the energy flowing from your body into the object like a giant blast of fire/light. If done correctly, YOU should no longer feel a buzz - the buzz should now be entirely within the object. If you still feel full of adrenaline, try again - perform a physical throwing movement or (sorry for the dumb example ahoy, it’s 9AM) Dragonball style kamehameha at it. You know how when you’re really upset or nervous, and you shake it off or primal scream and your energy dissipates? Do that, but this time, using a combo of physical actions (and if you wish) visualization, instead of shaking it off into the air, “shake it off” into the object. Try and repeat until you feel like you can appropriately “transfer” the energy using physical movement, and you are able to reliably A) create the physical emotional buzz, and B) use physical actions to move that buzz into something else, removing it from yourself.

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Over time, you’ll become adept at not only raising that energy, but physically sensing it and acknowledging it, and then you’ll get quite good at being able to move the energy around without using visualization at all, if you wish. It does take practice and it is rather abstract.

A great way to practice this sort of energy movement is (and I’ve seen folks bring this up on witchblr lately!) tai chi (with love, your favorite Cantonese witch). Your local park should have approximately 20 aunties doing this at any given Sunday morning.

Ash

Okay, so I try hard to cover global queer history, and this isn't marking a stop to that, but I am aware that most of my audience is American, and I want to address them very directly right now.

Google Removed Pride Month From Its Calendar App, and Stonewall National Monument's "LGBTQ" status was changed to "LGB" on the government website. This is the beginning of the erasure of queer history, not the end. I don't know what the future of the United States looks like, as someone who studies queer history and has done so for many years, I want to share some tools with you.

Now is a good time to prioritize local queer history, Making Gay History is a great project, so is the Digital Transgender Archive, but also check your city and see what resources there are.

Read and buy books about queer history. I have an affiliate list with some of the books I personally recommend.

If you use Google Calendar, repopulate that resource with so much queer history with a free queer history calendar plug-in, it has names from queer history that you can also learn more about for free when they come up. As the author of these articles, feel free to save them, print them off, whatever makes them freely accessible as suppression get's worse.

Use your local library. Email the board about book bans, request banned books, request queer books, and make your voice heard.

Make queer art. Share queer art. Protect queer art. Here is some public-domain queer art to use as you wish.

Keep up with queer news, THEM is a great resource.

All of these tools are currently freely accessible with an internet connection. Queer history is a community responsibility, do your part.