1. THE DEPICTION OF WITCHES IN THE MEDIA OR OTHER FORMS OF EXPRESSION AS EVIL, UGLY WOMEN

All women are evil, ugly women sometimes. If you think you’re not at least a little bit occasionally, then you’re really not paying attention to yourself and your own inner emotions. We have our dark sides. As a witch, embrace it, make it your own, use it to your advantage, and by no means dwell on that side only.  

2. VEGANISM AND WHETHER OR NOT IT SHOULD BE PART OF A WITCHCRAFT OR PAGAN LIFESTYLE

The two have nothing to do with each other. If you’re a vegan and a witch, then being vegan does not necessarily have anything to do with you being a witch unless you personally  integrate it into your path. I’m not vegan. I’m a witch. I like some vegetarian dishes and I only eat meat twice a week or so.  I could give it up completely. I will not, however, give up cheese. EVER!  Still a witch!

3. ANIMAL SACRIFICES

There are ways to do this that are proper and improper. Not my thing, but I don’t disrespect those that do.

4. PEOPLE WHO ARE AGAINST USING ANYTHING BUT WHITE MAGIC

Not my thing, but I don’t disrespect those that do. To me, there’s a balance. I actually like a lot of white magic folk, and a couple of them could probably teach me something about working through issues more effectively in certain situations, as I tend to be hot tempered and react thus:

5. THE SPELLING OF MAGIC (MAJICK, MAIJIZZ?)

Magic or Magick (only because Uncle Al did it.)  Other ridiculous spellings are pretentious and unnecessary, and looking for attention.

6. MEDITATION AS A FIX ALL FOR EVERYTHING

Er…what? Never heard that before. Meditation is a great tool that is a jumping off place for many, many practices and abilities.  It isn’t a panacea though.

7. NECROMANCY AND WHETHER ITS OKAY TO FORCE THE DEAD TO COME BACK INTO THE REALM OF THE LIVING TO DIVINE FROM THEM.

Not all necromancy forces the dead to do anything. Most necromancy is just communication and honoring ancestors. If you enslave or force the dead to do things, I just hope you know what you’re doing. I don’t personally agree with enslaving any sentient being.

8. GRAVEYARDS

Graveyards are trendy these days.  Everyone’s doing it. I have greater respect for those who go to graveyards to put flowers on their great-grandma’s grave, or leave a beer for some war hero than those who go just to get their dirt.  The dead are not to be used any more than the living. Do everything with respect and I’ve got no problem with you.

9. THE DEPICTIONS OF DEITIES IN WORKS OF FICTION/THE MEDIA

Meh. I love Supernatural, for example, and they get shit wrong all the time, but it’s entertaining. If you’ve ever noticed, their myths are contradictory and not always flattering. Avengers/Thor, same thing. Entertainment, and some free press for the gods. This usually ends up with some schmuck going and looking up the actual myths and maybe finding a new spiritual path.

10. PEOPLE WHO ARE OLDER THAN 35, WHO CALL THEMSELVES YOUR ELDERS IN WITCHCRAFT AND DEMAND THAT YOU GIVE THEM RESPECT

I’ve never seen anyone demanding anything, but someone who clearly has been on the path longer than I have and knows their shit gets my respect. Some of those are younger than me (I’m 34). I think some want to help the community through education, but just have bad people skills. If you have to demand respect, then you haven’t earned it.  That’s why I don’t demand it. I get respect from those who need something from me. And you know what? I will never stop learning. It’s the newbies who have to most to teach us, by asking questions, challenging our assumptions, and giving us a reason to hold ourselves to a higher standard.  So, in order to get what I need from them, I make sure that I’m available, that I’m respectful of what they have to teach me as much as I hope they’re respectful of what I have to teach them.

11. Z BUDAPEST AND HER COMMENTS ABOUT TRANS* PEOPLE

Z seems to have created a negative legacy for herself by being hateful. I get that if you are going to have a tradition, you have a right to run that tradition in whatever way you see fit. But then if you go to an open and public venue like Pantheacon and think you’re going to check under everyone’s skirts to see if they’re sporting a genuine vagina, you’re being rather stupid. They have stem cell research that will both help trans people in the future get their sex changes and it will help her with her dementia. WIN!

12. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS AND PEOPLE WHO CONSIDER THEM TO BE BAD

Dwelling in the negative is not healthy. Let’s get that out there right now. It’s important to embrace your shadow, to deal with anger constructively, and to not bury negative emotions. People who hide their negative emotions get ulcers, suffer from depression, alcoholism, self-harm. It’s just no way for a human to live. I know people who also think they are “nice”, but are the most passive-agressive assholes you’ll ever meet.  Balance is key.

13. PEOPLE ON TUMBLR WHO THINK THAT THE AMOUNT OF FOLLOWERS THAT THEY HAVE IS DIRECTLY PROPOTIONAL TO HOW CORRECT THEY ARE 

::SNORT::

14. PEOPLE WHO SAY THAT SATANISTS ARE ACTUALLY CHRISTIANS IN REVERSE 

[see above]

15. PEOPLE WHO CLAIM THAT THEIR GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT ANCESTOR WAS A WITCH, AND THEREFORE THAT THEY ARE MORE LEGITIMATE THAN ANYONE ELSE 

Guess what, if you’re alive, there is a good chance that some ancestor of yours was a magic practitioner of some kind. The closer the ancestor in generations to you, the easier it is to contact them in order to get some teaching. If you are claiming some specialness just from blood and haven’t learned from anyone living or dead, you can’t really talk about being a witch. Witchcraft is a learned craft, something you practice, and do, and live.  It isn’t handed to you.

BONUS RANT QUESTION: WHEN PEOPLE TELL YOU THAT YOU’RE NOT A REAL WITCH/PAGAN/OCCULTIST.

No one has ever said that to me. If they said it about me, I’m not aware of it. If they describe traits they think are required to be a Witch/Pagan/occultist that don’t apply to me, then their definition does not apply to me.  I’m quite confident in my status as a Witch.

Someone’s technique needs refining. SHIELD!

witchyproblems:

A friend of mine suggested this one.

• Do words have inherent power?

I absolutely believe so. The ancients did. To quote Terrance McKenna:

“The syntactical nature of reality, the real secret of magic, is that the world is made of words. And if you know the words that the world is made of, you can make of it whatever you wish.”

• If you use language in your practice, do you rhyme anything?

Sometimes I do. I always found echoes to be magical, and have been known to chant into a chasm to hear my words reflected back to me. Rhymes mimic the effect of an echo.

• Have you ever changed or altered someone else’s spell?

Yep.  Not like I published the damn thing, but that’s what other people’s spells are for!

• Have you had someone ask you to do a spell for you?

Yes. Many times. I don’t always agree to do it, but I have.  People ask for some stupid things sometimes and I am really not into sticking my neck out for stupid.

• Do you let people know that you are a witch?

To people important to me, I do. I want to be more out, but I am not the attention-getting type, and as it stands right now, I am closeted in my  community to protect someone close to me from being ostracized, my father. He’s a pastor and it could actually land him and my mother on the streets if it were known.

• What is your favorite aspect of witchcraft?

Being my own boss.

• Do you perform divination?

Yes. I read Rarot, Runes, go into trance to get visions, automatic writing, and interpret dreams.

• If you use candles, do you use beewax, soy, paraffin, or some other type of material based candles?

Yes.  I prefer beeswax and soy, but paraffin is plentiful. For really  important things, I get the more expensive stuff.

• If you use candles, do you use ones you made, or ones that you bought?

Both

• Do you worship anything at all?

I don’t like to call it worship, but some other people do. I honor, adore, and love my goddess.

• How are the five senses (Sight, Hearing, Touch, Taste, and Smelling) incorporated into your practices?

How are they NOT?  I use tools, color, incense, food, music, the spoken word, the written word, symbols… The only way I would not use my senses in my magic is if I didn’t have them. If I were blind or deaf, for example.

• If you use representative symbols [colors, objects, sigils], what are your favorite?

The pentagram without a circle is my favorite symbol.  It is a symbol to me of power, freedom from restriction/containment (as a circle is), of nature/the Elements, and of science.  I do use the contained pentagram (circled), but on purpose to contain power.

• Do you know at least one method to break a curse or hex?

Yes. Several candle spells, a burial method, and the usual cleansing/uncrossing methods.

• Have you ever made a witches ladder?

Not yet.  I’m in the planning stages of one, but it isn’t a traditional one.

• Have you ever looked into a witchcraft tradition and decided that it wasn’t for you?

I started off with Wicca. I like Wicca very much, but I don’t much care for the restriction.

• How do you feel about harvesting organs from animals?

I understand and condone it in a proper context done respectfully and for the right reasons.  I personally have a phobia.  This isn’t to say that a spirit isn’t nudging me, and I may be heading into the direction of preserving the skull of an animal who died of natural causes (storm-hit bird), but I’m very trepidatious about it.

• What is your opinion on using wood in witchcraft?

I like wood. A lot.  I use a lot of wooden bowls and trays. I like wands and staffs.  Sometimes groves need to be maintained by clearing sapplings. Sometimes an old tree needs to be cut down to keep it from falling and hurting something. Trees need to be pruned occasionally. Some trees happily will give a branch for a wand. I don’t believe in clear-cutting, but I have rescued a bit of wood that was a result of someone else clear-cutting.

• Do you make anything in your witchcraft?

It’s my favorite thing to do. I make candles, pouches, spell kits, jewelry, wands, and lots of other things.

• Have you ever created an egregore?

Egregore requires a group. I’ve created a servitor.

• Name the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about the worst spell you’ve done [worst meaning any way you take it]?

Be careful what you ask for.

asksecularwitch:

If you reblog this, please keep the title of Witchcraft Survey attached. This is not a Pagan-specific survey, and it can be insulting to people who are Pagans but who are not witches.

I don’t want anyone upset or made to feel that they are unwelcome because of reblogging error. -Thanks Secular…

Truly wonderfully said and how!

rootandrock:

NOTE: This is a parody/response of and to another post, which I reblogged prior to this one.

I am a Witch. I do not need to justify the Spirits and Gods I call upon; I am not interested in your approval. I honor and revere Gods cross-culturally, though sometimes not at all. Those gods belong…

An online spiritual bootcamp

thewitchescauldron:

My Path

Original photo: http://sdofb.deviantart.com/art/Legends-of-the-Celts-167114821

It’s confusing to us, most of whom have been born into a culture steeped in the singularity of the one male Deity. But that was very far from the experience of the ancient world. They were used to dealing with any number of Deities—as well as other Divine beings. The face of the Divine could be seen and sensed in many ways and many places and be known by many names.

Except for the law of 3 thing, I agree.  Besides, um…economy?  

princessthewitch:

“You shouldn’t do spells for money unless you NEED it”….um…I’m a fucking witch…I’ll do what I please, thank you very much. Don’t get me wrong I believe in the law of three so i know it could come back to bite me in the ass, depending on what i do with the money after i…

I <3 Spirit Houses!

perlinavichingamigurumi:

256 on Flickr.

I. love. this. so. much.

Wtf ever, dude.  Making up your own definitions don’t make them true.

re·li·gion   [ri-lij-uhn]  

noun

1.

a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2.

a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects: the Christian religion; the Buddhist religion.

3.

the body of persons adhering to a particular set of beliefs and practices: a world council of religions.

4.

the life or state of a monk, nun, etc.: to enter religion.

5.

the practice of religious  beliefs; ritual observance of faith.

Idiom

9.

get religion, Informal .

a.

to acquire a deep conviction of the validity of religious beliefs and practices.

b.

to resolve to mend one’s errant ways: The company got religion and stopped making dangerous products.

I have spirits and a few deities I honor/work with, but not a religion.   My spirituality is many layered but it is not a religion.  My spirituality is fluid, ever changing, evolving.  The moment I think I have a religion it changes form.

I’m not a fucking Wizard. My Craft is Witchcraft. 

You may have an entity attached to the crystal that is feeding off you.  Bury it in salt for a month.  In the meantime, take daily salt water baths and do this ritual:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcyrrvnsE24

Let us know if you need further help.

malificarxlove:

I have a big nasty shadow energy following me around. It has been for months. Does anyone know of any sort of tarot spread I could use to help find out more about it? I don’t have a big library of tarot spreads at my arsenal, and I need to find out what this thing is to help me best figure out how…

Screw you, Z Budapest.  My 8 year old daughter sings this song.  Someone’s going in my mirror box!  You hex my family, you get it sent right back!

‎”This hex comes from Z Budapest, and to her it shall return, like her own reflection, staring right back at her!”

Terrence McKenna Novelty / I-Ching / DNA / 2012

Set this dandy little guy on your bedside table and prepare for enhanced dreaming. This vintage Avon bottle has been filled with botanicals and herbs known for enhancing dreams, astral projection, protection and psychic ability. Unicorns are not the fluffy creatures they are made out to be by pop culture. They are beings of strength, virility, and beauty. The archetype is a guardian and guide to the mysteries. Their horn represents singularity of purpose, unity from duality, and alignment between the crown and 3rd eye energy centers.