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"you don't owe anyone anything" You are a tar pit. Speak for yourself. I personally owe the cafe employees my dishes put away and my friends a listening ear and small scared insects a cup and a gentle trip outside. Hyperindividualism is a rancid infection borne of capitalism and willfully misinterpreted therapyspeak and I will defy it by continuing to be kind regardless of whether or not it benefits me personally

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Genuinely question in your opinion what are we exactly cleaning when we do self cleansing?

I have seen differents opinions from book authors in this matter

Just as with mundane cleaning, you are targeting something which you want to be removed, and removing it. Or, targeting something which must be sorted, and organizing it.

This 'something' should be understood to be ethereal energy, which everyone generates and encounters as part of normal life.

You can cleanse "energies of anger" but not "trauma that causes anger to be triggered." Cleansing =/= healing.

By and large, the thing that is being cleansed is just basically the ethereal equivalent of dust, body oils, sweat, and germs that you've accumulated by virtue of being a living thing that exists in the world.

You can also 'sort' your energies, although this might be referred to as centering and not necessarily cleansing itself.

If you've had a very muddy day - like customers shouting at you, people tearing into your dangerous saltwater cleansing methods, etc, some extra grim might accumulate. This is the equivalent of going dirt biking and needing an extra shower before bed.

Self cleansing (and centering) feels absolutely amazing, it's a great way to use magic to acquire good feelings.

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Driving home I saw a male cardinal standing in the middle of the street. Every time a car approached, he fluttered out of the way and immediately returned as it passed. I pulled over and moved his mate's limp, warm body to the base of a tree so he wouldn't get run over while grieving her.

When she gets to bird heaven, I hope she says hello to my friends there.

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So, like, why are witches having such a hard time with this.

Shadow work was invented by Carl Jung, a psychologist.

Carl Jung was not a witch.

Shadow work was not created by witches. It was not created for witches. It is not witchcraft. It is psychology. It is a form of psychotherapy.

There are like, witches who are taking plain old facts as a personal attack here.

Witchcraft doesn't equal therapy and it shouldn't either. There's a reason why people have to go to school and get licensed to be therapists.

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Here is something I’ve learned that made my life better. You can believe in the efficacy of science, and also that there’s magic in the world. You can choose to believe in whatever makes the world more wonderful and livable for you as long as it hurts no one. You can believe, for example, that the trees you walk by often notice you, or the crows in your area recognize you when you go outside. You can notice special places in your area and believe there are quiet beings there that you can leave small gifts for or that something in the little stream nearby is pleased when you visit. What possible harm can it do to believe something like that? Why deny yourself that if it brings you joy? People try to get you to believe there are all these things wrong with you and wrong with the world, all kinds of things that make you sad or mad. Why not choose a few things to believe on purpose to make you glad? Why not be an OC in your own secret story?

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I found out that a good way of battling anxiety is to tell myself: "Is this what Granny Weatherwax would do? Would she be scared and fold like that? No! She'd be angry and do it out of spite! Be like her!"

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Moon-Cross

Aspen Grove Cemetery Ware, MA

prints available

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My cicada experience reminded me to post this little art project I did last month. A close friend came to visit me from out of state and she thought it would be fun to bring blank masks for us to paint (it was)!

I painted an annual cicada, as a kind of tribute to summer, while the one I last posted was a periodical species.

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“Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair, not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily, and I must return the gift.” ~Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

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Partner and I went on a day trip, not knowing that we had arrived just in time to witness Brood XIV! Meeting these little cuties was such an incredible experience for me and I'm still not over it.

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Raindrops

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Magpie Spirit Helpers

Last night, on the hour and day of Jupiter I summoned/formed two magpie spirits to fetch wealth and opportunities for me - just as their living counterparts may do with coins and shiny trinkets.

I really focused in on my energy work and visualisation skills - imagining myself literally moulding them from beak to tail out of energy.

They have names (which I will not share), as well as a small nest of offerings (reminiscent of a money bowl) to return to, where their physical 'vessels' reside. Here, I can place specific goals/desires for them to find me if needed.

They are a fire and air based energy to help ensure quicker results and also because a number of ingredients used were active/warm and I wanted the spell components to meld smoothly. This will mean they might need recharging a bit more often, but I'm happy to take that trade-off for what they'll provide.

I have their candles lit now - last night was their creation, and now I am giving them some extra energy as they set off into the world - and I am excited to see how they fare/how this pans out as it's a little bit different from my usual workings.

Of course, I drew them.

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The Four Elements of the Wise Book Review

When I bought this book, I was already familiar with the basics of the elements. I wanted to know why it mattered in magical practice since I didn’t seem to really use the concepts in my own. So before throwing the baby out with the bath water, I thought I would read more deeply about it.

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Contents:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

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Published 2021

"The four elements are the pillars that uphold the manifest world and anchor spirit to matter. They are associated with diverse spiritual entities, ranging from small elementals to divine beings. The four elements also comprise a system of understanding that supports most of the magic in the West and paganism.

Longtime practitioner and respected teacher Ivo Dominguez Jr. discusses the use of the elements in a wide range of systems and presents the information in a way that is accessible and significant to newcomers and experienced practitioners alike. In this definitive work, Dominguez provides an in-depth exploration of the elements and their lore, history, correspondences, and use in spellwork and ritual. Each of the four elements is covered in detail, including the fifth element--quintessence. Practical applications for working with the elements are woven throughout the book."

-from the back of the book.

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What I Liked

This book is designed to make you think, literally. Within the paragraphs of information are exercises that make you stop, observe, think about what you're observing and how it connects to the text (or doesn't), and come to your own conclusions through experience. The history is also really fascinating. You hear about people you may have first heard of in Math class or Chemistry. The way the four elements were used along with the Four Humors in medieval medicine through to early chemistry and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

While many beginner books that include the elements make mention of the elementals, this book talks about what they actually are, how they're different from other spirits, who the monarchs (normally called Kings) are, as well as their realms.

There's a section where Dominguez talks about how to construct spell work and ritual. This is in the context of using the elements within these structures of magic, however even without the elements these would still be good things to keep in mind when writing your own work.

Platonic solids in relation to elements are given their own chapter. While I had heard of these concepts vaguely in scientific terms, the metaphysical properties here were new to me (though the shapes just mostly remind me of ttrpg dice). There's lots of suggestions on how to use them in ritual and spell work or even as stand ins on altars. Hope you like shapes!

Another idea I don't see talked about often is the idea of elements within elements; aka sub-elements. Everything from glyphs, tables with astrological inclusions, a ritual to connect you to all four forms of water, as well as invocations to these sub-elements written by the author and some covenmates. This leads into chapters dedicated to a single element each, going over the previous topics in more depth (except for elementals) and different places to look for them.

The last chapter is dedicated to finding the elements within the landscape. This isn't your average "earth is the mountain" type elemental landscapes though. It looks to the liminal places, the spirits of place and nature spirits. Making things just slightly more tangible.

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What I Didn't Like

There is no bibliography to this book. While Dominguez references different sources there is no list in the back of the book that shows when and where the sources were accessed. It's meant to be an easy reference of where the author got their information. There is a recommended reading list, however this does not serve the same purpose as that is just what the author feels you should read next. Not a way to check over the veracity of the information being presented, or if it's being represented accurately, or the author's of the sources being referenced being given proper credit.

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Overall Thoughts

This book is very ceremonial which is to be expected, much of our metaphysical understanding of the elements comes from alchemy and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which Wicca (the practice of the Ivo Dominguez, Jr., Alexandrian Wicca specifically) draws much from. Overall this book has a ton of information and rituals to get you working with the elements in more depth, so much so that I didn't touch on half of what's inside. If you're really interested in this topic, I highly recommend this book. It's pretty easy to fact check despite the bibliography. Ivo Dominguez, Jr. is very clearly knowledgeable on the subject and cares about what he is writing.

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Conclusion

If you want to learn more about Ivo Dominguez's ideas and some of his practice, I suggest checking out the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel. If you want to read this book it can be found on Amazon, Thrift Books, Book Shop, Google Books, Red Wheel/Weiser (the publisher), Shamans Market, Brooklyn Public Library, and more!

Other Reviews:

Aerik Arkadian

Flying the Hedge

Major Arqueerna

Mat Auryn on Patheos

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Christina Marie Brown, Ghost I, from My Body is a Haunted House

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Friendly reminder to my anxious animist witches that while the tools and accoutrements of your craft may have an energetic signature that resonates with your intuition, and while you might personify them in your own perception, they are not sentient and they are not angry with you.

If you are experiencing feelings of guilt or anxiety connected to your pendulum, cards, wand, etc, that's coming from your own worry or an imagined sense of inadequacy, not animosity from the items themselves. If you feel like your tools aren't working properly, it's because there's some internal or external factor affecting your ability to focus, not because the objects are somehow refusing to work.

Please know that you are always enough and that your tools are extensions of yourself, rather than independently intelligent entities that might randomly decide to thwart you. If something doesn't work, it does not mean that you suck and everything is against you. It just means try again later. 💜

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One of my favorite tropes is character with a nasty toxic personality who tries very hard to do the right thing anyway

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Things that irritated me about A Witch's Ally: Building A Magical Relationship With Animal Familiars & Companions by Dodie Graham McKay:

despite how good it was going until that point, the shoe finally dropped on page 50 with some Lilith bullshit (including the debunked Sumerian relief misinformation)

I am redacting a point for numerous editing mistakes

and the misuse of "shaman" in witchcraft spaces is still very apparent in this book

Things I liked about the book:

there was a decent disclaimer at the start

Kelden, who wrote the foreword, seems to know their shit and gave in-text citations (which I adore)

the introduction gives background on the author for this book without taking forever

more importantly, the rest of the introduction gives an overview of the books parts and expectations

the author clearly defines what she means by pets, animal companions, animal familiars, and non-animal familiars from the get-go

there is a whole section about not using the term spirit animal followed by a section of alternatives that actually discusses the nuances of each word

the author uses they/them pronouns for a generic witch figure

there are in-text citations for nearly every historical claim

the author points out that most victims of the witch trials were likely not actual witches but instead drawing on what was either fed to them by their torturers or pop culture superstitions about witches at the time

the history section is incredibly thorough and nuanced

the author encourages an ethical approach to animal use/inclusion in magic without being overly-pushy, including an entire chapter on the legality and ethics of animal parts

there was also a great "respect animals" talk on page 58 and an anti-appropriation one on page 74, I just wish the latter had been more thorough

overall the book is incredibly practical, pragmatic, and common sense-driven

I had my coworker who uses essential oils fact-check the essential oils section and her verdict was that it looks good overall and checks out in my coworker's experiences and own research

greatly appreciate the mention of what's toxic for pets and the repeated stressing of the fact that just because something is natural, that doesn't mean it's safe

there's a realistic approach to spell consequences on pages 157-158 instead of an overexaggerated "a money spell will kill your relatives so you get your inheritance" bogeyman

incredibly thorough bibliography

In addition to that, I appreciated the animal keywords list on pages 54-55. I do not have the knowledge and experience required to verify the bone cleaning instructions in the animal parts chapter. And the death and mourning chapter tore me the fuck up.

Overall, 9/10 book, it's very good for being what it is.