phrases-and-phases

[phrases-and-phases]

2025 Witches Calendar

Seasonal Festivals: Southern Hemisphere

❤️ Lammas/Reflection: Feb 1 (traditional) / Feb 3 (astrological)

🩷 Autumn Equinox: March 20

💜 Samhain/ShadowFest: April 30 (traditional) / May 5 (astrological)

💙 Winter Solstice: June 21

💚 Imbolc/Quickening: August 1 (traditional) / August 7 (astrological)

🌿 Spring Equinox: September 23

💛 Beltane/Floralia: Nov 1 (traditional) / Nov 7 (astrological)

🧡 Summer Solstice: Dec 21

(Dates given are based on GMT+8 - Check the dates/times of the seasonal festivals in 15 different timezones)

...

Seasonal Festivals: Northern Hemisphere

💚 Imbolc: Feb 1 (traditional) / Feb 3 (astrological)

🌿 Spring Equinox: March 20

💛 Beltane: May 1 (traditional) / May 5 (astrological)

🧡 Summer Solstice: June 21

❤️ Lammas: August 1 (traditional) / August 7 (astrological)

🩷 Autumn Equinox: September 22

💜 Samhain: Oct 31 (traditional) / Nov 7 (astrological)

💙 Winter Solstice: Dec 21

(Dates given are based on GMT - Check the dates/times of the seasonal festivals in 15 different timezones)

...

New & Full Moons

🌑 December 31

🌕 January 14

🌑 January 29

🌕 February 12

🌑 February 28

🌕 March 14

🌑 March 29 - Super new moon

🌕 April 13 - Micro full moon

🌑 April 28 - Super new moon

🌕 May 13 - Micro full moon

🌑 May 27

🌕 June 11

🌑 June 25

🌕 July 11

🌑 July 25

🌕 August 9

🌑 August 23 - Black moon

🌕 September 8 - Total lunar eclipse

🌑 September 22

🌕 October 7

🌑 October 21

🌕 November 5 - Super full moon

🌑 November 20 - Micro new moon

🌕 December 5 - Super full moon

🌑 December 20

(Dates given are based on GMT+8 - Check the dates/times in your local timezone)

...

About the Calendar Wheel

The image on this post is the calendar I made for 2025, based on my location in Boorloo (so-called Perth, Western Australia), on Wadjuk Noongar boodjar.

From the centre, outwards, you'll see:

The 6 Noongar seasons

The 8 seasonal festivals (I've used the common names for the cross-quarters, since I'll probably use this on my business socials)

The 12 months of the year

The 52-ish weeks of the year

The 365 days of the year

The new, full, and quarter moons for 2025

Depending where in the world you're from, you might also notice some things look a little different than you expect...

The wheel is arranged Southern Hemisphere sunwise. Because the sun skewing towards the equator at midday take it to the north, the sun's path over the course of each day appears to move counter-clockwise (because clocks were made based off northern hemisphere sundials).

The quarter-moon icons seem inverted, because we're viewing the moon from a different vantage point. Southern hemisphere moon phases look like:

🌘🌗🌖🌕🌔🌓🌒

Likewise some dates might seem a little off - Astrological events occur at the same instant, regardless of where in the world we are, but how we mark that instant on our calendar will depend on what timezone we're located in (and which side of midnight that timezone places us).

I'm located ~12hrs ahead of the Eastern United States, so a lot of the events above might be the date before for folks in earlier timezones (likewise for folks in Eastern Australia and New Zealand, a handful of events might be the date after if they're in the early a.m.)

[phrases-and-phases]

this will be the year I finally convince everyone to abandon New Year's resolutions in favour of Yule Boasting, the clearly superior tradition

[phrases-and-phases]

onion magic

[phrases-and-phases]

In my defence, the moon was full and I was left unsupervised.

[phrases-and-phases]

SILENCE TRANSPHOBE

[phrases-and-phases]

Love and light yeah but also sacred rage and darkness

[phrases-and-phases]

www.instagram.com/kocopaly/

[phrases-and-phases]

[phrases-and-phases]

thanksgiving is cancelled in 2020. instead, november will be a month of Dionysian madness, casting curses, moonlight revelry, dubious self-care methods, ritual sacrifice, and mashed potatoes. 

[phrases-and-phases]

[phrases-and-phases]

Getting Started With Magic:

I am often asked “Caretaker I want to get in to magic but I don’t know where to start. Any recommendations?“ and I am at a loss for an answer. Magic is about as unformalized as you can get, and due to the nature of the occult in general, attempting to find a good starting point is almost explicitly impossible. What follows is a jumble of broad generalizations that make up my best shot:

Part 1: A sense of humor

The world is magic. Everything from physical objects and people to ideas and dreams has some relationship with magic. Some things are chock full of it, some are made of it, some resist it, some produce it, some feed off it. At the end of the day, any magical practice will involve experimenting, reading, and learning firsthand how different things interact with magic. Our goal with these first steps is to figure out how you personally interact with magic.

For us humans, magic comes in three primary forms I call humors. To use an analogy, if magic itself is the idea of color these are the three primary colors. Almost any magical act will function on some blend of these three things. Most practitioners tend to either specialize in one humor, or sit comfortably in the middle between two, and the majority have at least modest ability with all three. The humors, the magic based on them, and the archetypes associated with them, are described below. See if one in particular stands out to you.

The Sorcerer - Will: Will magic is logical. Things like sigilcraft, occult geometry, runework, and most forms of magical artifice like enchantment, are all based on will. Traditionally, will magic has been the purview of secret societies, alchemists, and occult researchers. A will user manipulates the magic of the world through sheer focus, and often finds themselves drawn to the mathematical elements of magic. They are the person who spends long hours pouring over occult texts that seem to pull them in.

The Priest - Faith: Faith magic is social. Anything involving communication or interaction with a non-human entity or intelligence is generally faith magic. Most religious magic is based on faith, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be faith in a god, just faith in something besides yourself. This could be anything from the major god of an established religion, to a pagan god, to a local water spirit, to a ghost, to a demon. These are your priests, mediums, and spirit workers.

The Witch - Instinct: Instinct magic is meditative. Its anything that works best when you don’t think about it, or anything that works based on vibes. Most folk magic and superstition falls into this category, along with the oracular arts, divination, and most of alchemy and herbology. Instinct users have a good nose for when stuff just feels magic. These are your classic witches, psychics, and apothecaries. 

[phrases-and-phases]

Getting Started: The Seven Laws of Magic

Magic is an inherently mysterious thing but there is a strange logic to its nature. Describing said nature is a difficult thing. How does one describe something that can never truly be known?

The answer for most of history? poorly. Practitioners of the arcane arts are not known for straightforward explanations. I will do my best to explain the basic mechanics:

The Law of Contagion: Once together, always together. The part of the thing is the whole of the thing. By performing magic on a strand of your hair, one can effect your entire body. The more intimate the connection, the more powerful the effect. A cigarette butt you smoked will have almost no effect, but a phial of your blood will be extremely effective. Magic using this law is known as Thaumaturgy.

The Law of Sympathy: Like attracts like. The image is the thing. A drawing or representation of something can gain its properties. A photo or drawing of you will have a similar thaumaturgical connection to you. Combining sympathy and contagion is the basis for poppet magic.

The Law of Correspondence: As Above, So Below. The gods are like us and we are like them. When viewed closely, atoms resemble solar systems. The big effects the small. The idea that there is a sort of harmony between similar patterns no matter their size. This is the basis behind astrological magic.

The Law of Resistance: Some things are more magically conductive than other things. Everything exists on a spectrum of “magical“ to “mundane“ and the less magic something is, the harder it is to effect with magic. The same extends to people who, for whatever the reason, simply have a harder time being interacting with magic. 

The Law of Balance: Magic seeks equilibrium, and therefore, every magical action has a cost. No magical act takes place without some sort of power behind it. Energy will not move unless something is moving it, be it a practitioner or the natural energy of the moon. A body in motion will stay in motion, a body at rest will stay at rest unless acted upon by an outside force.

The Law of Reciprocity: If you don’t know where its pointed, its pointed at you. If it doesn’t have enough energy, it will get get energy from you. The process of getting hit with your own improperly constructed spell is known as Recoil. Safe practice often involves setting up wards to act as a barrier between you and any mistakes.

The Law of Reversal: That which is done by magic can be undone by magic. For every spell there is a counterspell, for every ritual a counterritual. Every ward can be hexed, every curse can be dispelled. This does not mean countermeasure will be easy or efficient.

[phrases-and-phases]

What is dead man's dust (if you can say) and more importantly, what is it used for?

Sure thing! Dead Man’s Dust is one of my magic powder recipes. Despite what the name would have you think, it does not contain any human remains. It is made of chili pepper (or powder), salt, basil, garlic, dill, and lemon peel. The current batch I have for sale also has a little bit of willow bark and angelica root for extra punch.

The name comes from the use of the powder, which is to keep ghosts and spirits from following you home. Just toss a pinch on the ground, scrape your shoes over it, then take a few steps back, turn around, and head home. A handy thing to have this time of year, when so many of us are keen to go out and visit haunted places....

[phrases-and-phases]

“Jessica has a forehead scar from the deep end of a pool. I ask Jessica what drowning feels like and she says not everything feels like something else.”

— Angie Sijun Lou, “Jessica gives me a chill pill,” published in Muzzle

[phrases-and-phases]

I'm having trouble finding a good rune meanings/learning site that isn't either completely divorced from Heathenry (to the point where it says Eihwaz represents "kundalini" I SHIT THEE NOT) or, you know, fucking Nazis. Is there a website you recommend? Actual books are a bad option due to Extremely Mormon Family. Halp?

I have run into those sites and they make me go ?????? the fuck 

Here ya go. 

And here ya go. 

One more. 

[phrases-and-phases]

Sometimes you just gotta do some ecstatic rites and give into the madness for a lil while

[phrases-and-phases]

The Light.

a tarot spread for litha.

1. The Heart.

The heart of the sun is your center. This is where you hold all your truths. Do not live in fear any longer. Let this card be your constant reminder that the time has come to be the person you truly are.

2. The Air.

The rays of the sun can be felt all around you within the warm summer air. Let this card be your constant reminder that you have been reborn as a being of strength and unwavering positivity. When you feel the warmth of summer, remember you are a new creation.

3. The Light.

Let the light of this new day chase the shadows of doubt far away. Know that there is nothing you cannot obtain. Let this card be your constant reminder that you have the ability to achieve your goals.