akawaskweyahk

[akawaskweyahk]

What is this about the tumblr staff wanting to sell art data to midjourney?

An ex-colleague of mine mentioned yesterday that there may be contacts between Automattic and midjourney in that direction, but nothing is public yet and I don't have any more info. They probably won't have anything specific to share either, since they left the company weeks ago too. That being said:

I have no reason to doubt my ex-coworker word, they are a trustworthy person.

Tumblr's CEO has been absurdly enthusiastic (comically, even) about AI, and is a big fan of LLMs and 'AI' companies.

A deal with midjourney could solve tumblr financial issues (not the same company, but openAi is paying up to 5 million/year to news companies to use their content as training data... tumblr generates several orders of magnitude more content than any newspaper or any media company and it only would need a 20 to 30 million per year deal to be profitable)

So I don't have any extra info yet, but I'm keeping my ears open.

[akawaskweyahk]

well guess who's related to the only sainted king of france louis ix.....

what a fun revelation! i love having a well organized family and access to direct records. perfectly timed too—this next cycle was lining up for ancestor bonds from across the pond. there are several folks who'd be quite interested to hear this news. he's quite the mixed bag it seems...with all things considered, it's a fascinating find.

welcome, st. louis.

[akawaskweyahk]

This is your periodic reminder that "reality shifting" is an extremely dangerous concept especially for young people! Not in an "oooh the spiritual world can get you" kind of way, in a "this is just extremely maladaptive behavior with spiritual lingo sprinkled on top of it to make it look pretty and unassuming" kind of way. People online sensationalize it and pitch it to people in a way which can cause real psychological damage.

[akawaskweyahk]

that little abundance working flew AGAIN. two separate workings, as simple as they are, working within 24 hours to the hour when gently asked! spellwork flowing beautifully, oracular workings accurate to the hour, prayers and petitions being delivered with speed to make the devil jealous, so much freedom and peace and nobody breathing down my neck about it. what a beautiful blessing.

the children are growing spectacularly, the husband brings me beautiful new plants to work with astralside whenever he comes back. the little twins are picking up their languages very quickly, the dragons even moreso, and after some hard work we've anchored the realm back down in a fresh spot and looked into having our names put on the surrounding plane. and jamie...

he's just wonderful. he's staying again for a while along with some slightly unsettling guests, but i'm sure we'll get used to them before they're all off to serve their highest purpose a while! it's been refreshing, honestly. though i'm not looking forward to the death workings coming up, not with who i'll be working alongside at least. it'll all be just fine, though.

got some crafting goodies coming, services going up soon, and some surprises up our sleeves! hopefully all are well and thriving in their own right, to the extent they deserve. see you all in a while!

[akawaskweyahk]

Healing Your Relationship with Christianity is Foundational Shadow Work for Witches

Many folks come to paganism and witchcraft after a falling out or even just falling away from Christianity. Not all, but a good many. And a lot people rush into this new spirituality with unpacking what didn’t work with the old one which means there’s a lot of baggage around Christianity in the community. I say baggage but a better word would probably hurt or pain because that’s how it often manifests.

And while I definitely do not blame what people experienced with Christianity on them, especially because so many of us were raised in it and didn’t have a choice, I do think people need to heal their relationships with Christianity. What some people won’t deal with is hurting all of us.  

The Boundary Problem

One way it’s impacting all of us is because the amount of people saying they left Christianity because they hate “being told what to do” is high and a lot of those people take other people enforcing common sense personal boundaries is “being told what to do”.  

I’m still not sure where all this comes from but I do think it’s in part because of hypersensitivity around social norms in religious and spiritual settings. Christian social settings can be extremely invasive and demanding, especially for queer and trans folks. So, I get feeling on edge socially when you’re participating in spiritual communities online or in person.

But not all restrictions are bad restrictions. It’s important to sort through that. People are absolutely allowed to place restrictions on their time, energy, and ways they prefer to be interacted with. And if you don’t respect those boundaries, you’re not rebellious, you’re just replicating what you’re running from.

We Need More Scholars

It’s also negatively impacting our community because people are rejecting reading source texts or “being told what to do” by people who’ve researched more. The latter part is the one I find especially toxic. The amount of times I’ve seen people state basic historical fact or present a primary source and see someone respond with some version of “well you don’t get to determine what’s true!” is wild to me. We can talk about perspective and lenses all day long but there are just some things we have evidence of and some we do not. There are places where we have written records or well-maintained oral histories and some where we don’t.

But too many people lash out at folks who are more knowledgeable in part because they’ve never unpacked their feelings around someone pointing to a text to back up their position in a spiritual setting. And it is absolutely necessary. Just because something is spiritual doesn’t mean it’s not rooted in the material reality of our histories. Those histories are absolutely worth learning.

But too many people want to form beliefs before they’ve ever investigated anything and they don’t want those beliefs challenged. If you make a spiritual assertion, I’m not likely to touch that personally. We all have some beliefs that just are what they are. But if you make a spiritual assertion with historical claims to try to validate them – don’t be surprised when folks ask for sources or you run across information that calls it into question.

Do not mistake this as me saying folks need to know everything before they speak – its not being open to new or better information that I think holds us all up. And to do that folks absolutely need to unpack their baggage with spiritual texts.

Ghosts of Fragile Christianity Past

Fragility is too huge a topic to unpack here but I wanted to talk about it around recovering from Christianity in particular. A lot of us grew up in churches with a tight hold on behavior, dress, and norms. And it’s a mistake to see that tight hold as power. What I’ve come to realize is that hold is actually fragility. It’s purpose is to prevent contact with challenges because someone or some group can’t withstand that.

Please note I’m talking about individual churches here, not Christianity as a whole. Because obviously it’s persisted in multiple different forms just fine. But churches know internal strife spreads much more rapidly in small groups. I have flat out had minister talk about this with me.

The thing is, even if you were on the outside edge of that, you take that with you when you leave. And if you don’t unpack it, you’re going to be constantly on guard for what may challenge you. I’ve talked about information and boundaries but it’s so much more than that.

People are going to share their experiences and it’ll seem like an attack. People will express a different preference and you’ll lash out. People won’t just go along with something you’re saying and you’ll get defensive.

You are going to wind up attacking anyone who is different than you and how different is that from what you left really?

I see it all the time.

How to Heal

This honestly could be a whole separate post but I’ll take a sec to touch on some points that have been helpful to me. Taking a leaf out of trauma-informed care’s approach, my goal for myself was to make Christianity just another religion. To not overgeneralize my experiences to all spirituality or all of Christianity even. I sought out conversations with Christians who were better with being respectful and thoughtful that helped me heal my impressions of what Christianity was. It helped me be less hypervigilant in spiritual settings and I really recommend it.

From the CPTSD approach, I try to watch for when I might be triggered into an emotional flashback. Damaging experiences with Christianity, when you grew up in it, can be so many and so massive that often times you’re not going to flashback to a specific instance when confronted with something in the present. Often times the only thing you have to go off of is feeling the same way you did then.

I also evaluate and support the spiritual needs that went unmet during my time as a Christian. I was not supported at all in my intellectual exploration of spirituality when I was younger. I was told to accept what I was told and actively kept away from information that would challenge it. So one way I meet my needs is by reading spiritual and historical texts so I feel like I have better access to information that supports my spiritual growth. I also seek out spiritual community with folks who accept who I am and have good boundaries as I wasn’t able to have that back when I was Christian.

A lot of healing is meeting our own needs, giving us what folks neglected to give us. We can’t control what people did but we can control what we do now.  

Conclusion

It’s absolutely necessary that healing from Christianity gets included in our shadow work.

It’s a constant process, not a thing we achieve. You can’t undo a lifetime of conditioning with a few journaling sessions. I know we’re all at different places with it but I wanted to take some time to nudge people to start pursuing it intentionally.

We absolutely need to do better for our community than what we received from our communities we grew up in.

We need to and we can.

Journal Prompt

What do I associate with Christianity?

When interactions in the witchcraft community remind me of Christianity, what am I afraid of?

What role do boundaries play in my relationship with Christianity?

[akawaskweyahk]

Shadow Work for the Community: What Do You Really Want With Witchcraft?

I’ve been wanting to write something like this for quite a while but I’ve been a bit nervous to honestly. I know it’ll come off really harsh to some, that to a certain extent it’ll be painting a target on my back but I really feel it needs to be said.

Witchblr has committed hard to the “all paths are valid” line, often regardless of anything else. And honestly, as long as you’re not touching traditions that aren’t yours to touch, I’m on board…with a fairly major caveat. All paths are valid - for the destinations they take you to.

I’m seeing so many people practice paths that lead to certain destinations and then get frustrated that place isn’t what they wanted. And I feel for folks, I do. It’s really hard to sort through the noise, especially as a beginner. A lot of folks just don’t have the frame of reference to be able to evaluate practices and it’s not really their  fault because a big part of what makes things hard for novices is Witchblr’s inability to distinguish between emotion and effect when it comes to magic.

So many people spend their time creating mood boards, playlists, “10 ways to add a little magic to your everyday” lists trying to capture a feeling. And if your goal is to essentially cosplay a witch, to inhabit that role for a bit, to feel a certain way for a while - all of those things are effective. They create a very real state change which can have cascading possible effects. Having a way to modulate your mood and increase self esteem can feel or even be magic to many. I endorse it in the same way I support people pursuing whatever subculture or special interest they may have.

The downside is that this creates a lot of noise for folks who are trying to find sources on how to practice magic to effect real change in their lives. They’re looking to get a job, keep their home safe, attract or maintain a lover. While I’m sure lifestyle witchcraft has helped some folks do those things, I’ve personally found it incredibly lack luster when it comes to results. Stirring my tea clockwise and “putting energy into it” can be really pleasant and nice - but it’s not going to come anywhere near what even paper astrological talismans have done.

There’s also an element of class and race to this issue that the Witchblr community doesn’t seem keen to confront. I’ve seen the feelings oriented lifestyle witchcraft crop up the most in white middle class practitioners who are primed to consume their way to solutions because they’ve always had the means. It’s at odds with many of the folk practices they’ve co-opted imagery from, practices that were often focused on turning available materials in to a solution that was otherwise unattainable to them often because of their class or race. It can honestly come across as one more way folks with more privilege take from those who have less to feel more authentic when they don’t have a culture of their own to pull from. I see some folks point to their gender as what give them the right, but that sidesteps the historical record of white women of means often policing folks practices and trying to eradicate them - not participating in them themselves.

And not confronting that means people often miss out on practices that don’t require pulling from less privileged groups. Chaos magic is fairly neutral. Astrological magic was common at points among the elite and is now more accessible than it once was. But I bet why folks aren’t pulling from these as much as they could is because it doesn’t come with that sense of authenticity, of “realness” that people seem to be looking for in practices.

I also know a lot of folks are going to say things along the lines of “but I’m disabled and this is what’s accessible to me - it’s no less valid.” To which I say, if it actually works for you keep doing it but “valid” just isn’t a word that makes a lot of sense here. It’s valid for me to cook during a fibro flare - but it’s going to leave me writhing in pain that takes days to recover from. It’s valid for me to try to hold down a job - but it doesn’t mean that I’ll physically or mentally able to. Like I get it, when so much of the world is reminding you you’re limited, you want to feel like your spiritual practice isn’t but the fact of the matter is we are. I’ve yet to practice some form of effective magic that didn’t require time, effort, means, and skill and I am often lacking in one of more of those thanks for my fibromyalgia.

This is all to say - you do you. I don’t have the time or inclination to police folks. But in the information you spread, it would be helpful if you talked about what you were looking to get, whether the practices you were recommending actually helped you, and what your evidence for that assessment was. This could really go a long way to helping out novices who are trying to comb through these materials.

And for folks who are into lifestyle witchcraft, who’s goal is to feel a certain way, please consider what sources you’re pulling from to feel that way. Are you co-opting a practice and imagery that isn’t really yours given your race or class? Are you inadvertently pulling from fiction that pulls from those sources? By all means, enjoy your witchsonas, add a little magic to your day, but just please consider the folks who originated the imagery and practices you’re pulling from. Even if they were white and women, it’s worth considering whether you’re trying to consume their image when they were punished for it. It’s worth considering if your romanticize of country life erases the hardships rural practitioners, historical and current day face.

Just be honest about what you want. Evaluate whether your practice is actually working. Understand why the image you want to inhabit has power and consider whether you’re only interacting with it on a surface level. I promise, you’ll not only be helping yourself out but the whole community in the process.

[akawaskweyahk]

Why do people on this webbed site get mad when people reply to public posts on the reply to public posts site...?

I see it in the witch circles a lot, people saying things along the lines of "you came into a private conversation among friends and gave your opinion" no its not? Did you make the post private? Did you note it was private anywhere? Did you turn off replies or reblogs? Did you take any steps at all to actually make sure other people wouldn't interact with your post? Because if not you just, posted a post on the talking and reblogging site and then got mad at people for talking and reblogging.

I get annoyed with people with bad takes or in bad faith come at my posts but I also know that it's possible to happen on this platform. Did we just like collectively forget that? Or is this the twitter/tiktok culture that I'm not really aware of?

[akawaskweyahk]

wheezingggggg oml. i'm practicing with a spontaneously acquired deck (was practically screaming for me to pick it up in the nearby bookstore, even the baby was glued to it) and i'm using one of the harder hitting spreads right?

well, the question just happened to be "what is (my) healing ability?" and y'all—

surprise, it's the tower! first it's a birth card, second an identifier, and now it's my healing ability it seems lmao. it makes plenty of sense in general, let alone digging into the book and plant meditations in the past and such. and it's a third reminder now that it's been AGES since i fed one particular serpent 😅

i'm loving this deck, i've got another much awaited one coming as well. i can't wait to get into using this botanical baddie for some client work! 💪

[akawaskweyahk]

went on a day trip up a nearby mountain! saw plenty of four legged and flying relatives, baby got a fantastic view, and a few of us got bit as expected lmao. some pictures to enjoy too!

there were nutcrackers (pictured), grey jays, chipmunks (also pictured), yellow squirrels, you name it. we started with picking up some family, grabbed breakfast and saw the first folks through a bike race, got covered in dirt from toddler handfuls of gravel, then we hopped off on our adventure. visited the creek, dropped family off, had lunch, grabbed more family and went up the mountain for a bit before hopping back down to enjoy the water. didn't go boating, but yk ☺️

it's good to get out and visit all of our relatives, two legged, four legged, flying, crawling, swimming...even our plant and stone relatives. the sun was the perfect temp and we all had a great time!

[akawaskweyahk]

The Star. Art by Kyou Nguyễn, from The Creative Visions.

After a tumultuous series of events, your soul and emotions are finally discovering a source of creative and peaceful inspiration. This is a rare period of peace that allows you to reflect on your successes, who you are, and where you are heading. A new ray of hope for your project is emerging; understand how to embrace that key time and realize your unfulfilled ambitions.

Although there will be times when you feel gloomy and insecure before this peaceful period, do not be scared to try new activities. Do not let yourself become blinded by unrealistic thoughts, and then become pessimistic about achievements that are not as expected. The Star also warns against fantasy that goes in the wrong way. Keep your will and your originality in your boundless creativity so that you can be free and ambitious in the pursuit of your goals.

Upright: hope, healing, peace after storm

Reversed: discouragement, insecurity, blind trust

[akawaskweyahk]

generally speaking, people never meet their guardian.

spirit, entity, any other being really—they never do. this class of being doesn't often directly interfere in our lives, and rarely makes itself known to those it guides and guards, let alone to others. they're private, reserved, focused on business and the task ahead.

yet here i stand, eye to eye and blessedly communing and working with mine. whether it's my unique path, my training, or luck, i don't know. all i know is the aid and love he gives, the guidance his hand provides, the beauty of life he paints with a simple phrase. he fought to be here, to live and teach and breathe life into lessons. he's opened up, given human relationships a try, and taken the divine over a mundane life trapped in a sterile, barren garden devoid of the growth he craves.

over a stressful, stifling whirlwind of nothing but flames and dust, he chose to remain free. he chose the curious breeze whispering old stories to new mountains, an ocean of emotional depths so unimaginably dark and inspiring, a library deep in the cosmos laden with the knowledge of several universes. he chose his god, took his faith in his hands and birthed from it a tool to better create with.

it was that husk, clinging to him desperately, whispering jealousy and refusing to shed and continue growing out of fear of all things he's most fond of, that allowed him this transformation. the being he is now could not have left his old carapace behind if not for that, he's told us all. for that experience, he's grateful. for the realizations it brought, he's appreciative.

and now he's weightless, more beautiful than ever. bright, magnificent, transcending that which doesn't bring his heart clarity.

i'm honoured to be your pupil.

[akawaskweyahk]

no big post, just a small one for now while i finish my break!

hopefully everyone who finds their way here is doing well. summer is always a time when my seasonal depression tends to peak, while my physical partner's peaks in winter. i'm blessed to have found that balance well! aside from astral and spiritual life buzzing along with the multitude of insects thriving at this time of year, things have been a slow blur, spinning lazily in the sun-warmed brook this season conjures. repetitive days, introspection, becoming more comfortable with receiving and teaching lessons...it can be strenuous if one's ungrounded, to maintain attempts to keep the focus on the path ahead instead of what was left behind.

luckily, as a mentor of mine enjoyed saying—the realm of witches is rarely stagnant.

in good time and faith, prayers were answered. whispers adhered to, promises upheld. a charm for clarity and focus just last night rewarded a large sum of money owed. all while taking a short break from the daily grind. it truly pays off to take a minute, breathe, and trust. each thing i've asked for, even far back at the seemingly stagnant pool i came from, has been placed in my hands.

and i am beyond grateful. 🌱✨️

[akawaskweyahk]

i have a post in my drafts detailing some of the days before my marriage that i was going to share initially, but have decided (with the spouse) that we would keep it purely to remember fondly ✨️ not to worry though! we do have some other exciting things to talk about, like all the babes our family has been blessed with after reuniting again!

first surprisingly was one of my sons, sunny! this winter he and his wonderful partner sweet had FIVE little ones and we were just esctatic to welcome them into our family—three girls and two boys! welcome to the family, dusk, berry, oat, cloud, and drop!

next was myself and spouse mentioned above, we had our wonderful twins jenna and tynan at the beginning of march! i love these two with all my heart, despite not expecting to have any more i'm so blessed to have them. they're absolutely perfect and they're already so so loved. 💛💛

then last month in april we hailed the arrival of achillea and althaea (rose's precious twins and little sisters to the esteemed miss artemisia), her mother lily's most surprising arrival of the smallest baby we have on record (hello little ophelia ardena!), and just a few days later her sister willow and divine husband pan welcomed their first (and willow's third by birth) arete!

that rounds out to a whopping 7 girls to 3 boys! 😅 things have been busy, but we wouldn't change any of it for the world. we're so lucky to have such a wonderful family and to see it grow is the greatest blessing! 🥳

[akawaskweyahk]

not sure much of an intro needs to be here, but why not!

i'm el, i run the blog, and this space is pretty much here for astral venturings and events and whatnot (if i actually remember to post, which i'll be setting reminders for shortly). i'm twospirit and an indigenous practitioner of 15 years, and i tend to keep my craft private because some people—one i can think of in particular—really enjoy appropriating practices and misusing them before bitching about being "attacked" for it online.

aside from that, i have a pretty big family! a good handful of us have spirit companions and have been sitting deep in spiritwork for a long while, and we've got some big events coming up that we're excited for. usually that stuff gets detailed on twitter, but we all know how that site's faring. this blog is linked there now, actually.

i chose the name âkawâskweyâhk for this blog because it's simple, descriptive, and protective like our astral home. it means just what the blog's title says: "in the shelter of a dense forest or wood". one of my teachings growing up was that our language is sacred, and to use it is to let our ancestors and the spirits know we're here. it tells the land that we belong here, and animals are said to understand it. our astral realm and the land it's anchored to are tended to by our relative badger, who as a bear i feel i can always rely on for strong medicine.

anyways, i've never been partial to clean introductions. i much prefer to get them out of the way 🤣 we'll just end this here so we can get to posting! see you soon!