bardicblessing

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Here's another set of my blatantly gay Pride Norse designs (because fuck hateful appropriation of norse symbols)

Posted Odin's crows, Huginn and Muninn, a few days ago, and I finally finished the next set; Pride Thor Bindrunes

(If there's a particular pride flag you wish to see with this design that I haven't made yet, always feel free to send me a request!)

Like always, I’ve got the full-res designs hosted on my Ko-fi as free downloads for anyone who wishes to use them. Print them on a shirt, make yourself stickers, use on gifts for others- whatever.

I also have them available on Threadless for those who don’t want to or can’t print them on stuff themselves but still want something with the design on it. Each sale will also make an automatic donation to one or more of several related LGBT+ charities.

I’ll be making the Jörmungandr design I mentioned next, so stay tuned for that- it may take me a few days.

Hope you like these, and happy Pride!

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Apollo 🌟

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braids the hair of his love

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Praise to you, Lord Ares, fiercest on Olympus, Lord of War. May all find justice in Your reign. May you keep those seeking shelter safe.

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"are you guys seeing this"

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My little hyperfixation

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Work with moon cycles but don't forget that witchcraft can be just as effective by daylight as well! Nature provides us with many opportunities to work with its tides and cycles; use and explore as many of these opportunities as you can. There are no "right" or "wrong" ways - but I would argue that there are more effective or less effective ways to do things based on your local landscape, natural resources, personal taste, traditions, culture, and disposition. You are the witch, and you are in charge of your own magic and power, so have fun and get your hands dirty making and doing magic.

A Witch's Ally: Building a Magical Relationship with Animal Familiars and Companions (page 158) by Dodie Graham McKay

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you cannot be anti-immigrant and a Zeus worshipper.

being an anti-immigrant hellenic polytheist is directly against the Gods, and you are not welcome to my blog.

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Repeat after me, folks!!

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and be pro-Zionist.

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and be anti-Semitic.

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and be homophobic.

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and be transphobic.

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and be sexist.

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and hate on other minorities/religions.

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and be racist.

You can't be a Hellenic pagan and be an asshole.

Xenia is such a crucial part of Hellenic paganism. Anyone who disagrees with any of these points can kindly fuck off my blog.

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thrinacia

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A small digital offering for Lord Hermes Eriounes, bringer of luck

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The Sixty Three Adorations of Apollon

Hail Apollon, cherished son of Zeus, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, cherished son of Leto, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, delivered by Artemis, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, rejoiced by Artemis, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, attended by Themis, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, gifted by the arts of Pan, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, gracious father of Asklepios, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, celebrated among Hyperboreians, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, bearer of Helios’ flame, I give adoration unto you.

Hail Apollon, lord named destroyer, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, of the golden sword, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, of the silver bow, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, archer far-shooting, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, slayer of mice, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, lord of the cemetary, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, deliverer from fear, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, praised by the paian, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, marshaller of the host, I give adoration unto you.

Hail Apollon, lord of the harmonic art, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, leader of the daughters of Mnemosyne, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, master of the kithara, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, drawer of the golden string, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, singer of the divine word, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, maker of the beautiful sound, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, of the laurel circlet, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, purifier by the laurel bough, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, restorer of blessed health, I give adoration unto you.

Hail Apollon, protector of children, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, delighting in the songs of boys, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, bringer of youths into manhood, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, father of Hymenaios, blesser of marriages, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, slayer of righteous men, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, receiver of the dead, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, protector of the cemetaries, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, champion of humanity, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, lord of freedom, I give adoration unto you.

Hail Apollon, keeper of sacred laws, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, crowner of victors at the games, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, deliverer of Zeus’ will, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, of truthful speech, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, establisher of equality in assembly, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, protector of the assembly, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, uniter in equal law, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, divider of good from bad, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, weilder of justice, I give adoration unto you.

Hail Apollon, turner of seasons, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, of the bright chariot, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, charioteer of dragons, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, great cultivator, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, ripener of vines and crops, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, delighter in orchards, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, divine shepherd of the pastures, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, receiver of Kore, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, celebrant of Dionysos, I give adoration unto you.

Hail Apollon, torch-bearing lord of light, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, lord of the boundary, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, lord of the winding road, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, gryphon-born king, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, king of the axis, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, lauded by singing swans, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, two-formed Bacchian king, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, ram-horned Karnean king, I give adoration unto you. Hail Apollon, of golden hair unshorn, I give adoration unto you.

Hail Apollon! Khaire Apollon! My beloved God, I will never tire of praising you.

credit: beloved in light blog

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It makes me so sad that in the HelPol community I see people screenshot some kid's posts just to ridicule their worship here. I've seen that multiple times, and not just with children. Disabled pagans get ridiculed here as well.

I think it's cute when a kid offers kid things to the Gods. It's innocent and sweet. I also think it's cool to see the creative ways that disabled or poor people carve out our own access to worship. It's not disrespectful to offer what you have or what you care about to the Gods. It's not disrespectful to share your meals and snacks with the Ouranic Gods. Kids, the poor, and the disabled all have very limited resources to work with. There are also people that have to hide their worship. And we all still make it work in our own way.

If you start getting some elitist thoughts about this, consider why you do. Is it not the effort/sacrifice or LOVE that matters most? What makes you think that a disabled or poor person is not putting in an equal amount of effort as you? Because the results aren't as grand and conventionally attractive? What makes you think their love for the Gods is lesser than yours? Because you have more resources to show it? Get a grip.

Xenia is one of the most important aspects of Hellenic Polytheism, so have some basic respect for innocent strangers.

Praise be to the Gods, especially Lord Zeus, and may we all receive the same treatments we give to others.

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Choose your spell ingredients intentionally

It's all well and good to Google "spiritual protective herbs" and pick a couple random ones off the list, but do you understand why that herb is protective? Does it align with your intention?

I've always liked to use baking as an analogy for spellwork:

Let's say you want to bake a cake - yummy! You'll need flour for the basic structure, sugar to sweeten, eggs to bind the ingredients, a fat for texture and a leavening agent to make it rise.

So you pop to the shops and you grab bread flour, icing sugar, eggs, shortening and yeast.

Technically, these are all correct: bread flour is a flour, icing sugar is a sugar, yeast is a leavening agent etc. And they all work great for other baked goods! Yeast is great at making bread rise and icing sugar is super sweet on top of a cupcake.

But if you mix all of these together, the final result probably isn't going to be what you wanted. Why? Well because you haven't understood why each ingredient is needed or how a cake works!!

When crafting a spell it's important to understand what your intention is and how the spell is going to work - it can also help to think about how certain ingredients might interact within the spell.

The best way to start doing this is to experiment. Have a go at crafting your own spells and working with different ingredients. What does their folklore say? What does their energy feel like? How do they interact with the other ingredients! Keep a journal or notebook full of your notes as you build up your knowledge!

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Straw Into Gold - A Spell to Bring Wealth

The little man took the necklace, seated himself before the wheel, and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round and the bobbin was full; then he took up another, and whirr, whirr, whirr! three times round, and that was full; and so he went on till the morning, when all the straw had been spun, and all the bobbins were full of gold.

-Rumpelstiltskin

Intent: To bring wealth to the caster.

Ideal Timing: Waxing or Full Moon

Materials:

Small glass jar

Empty thread bobbins or spools

Yellow or golden embroidery floss

Green or gold chime candle

Optional: Amber or orange oil

Most sewing or craft stores will sell empty spools or bobbins for sewing machines. Acquire three such spools or bobbins and enough yellow embroidery floss or sport-weight yarn to fill them.

After sundown, light a candle (yellow or green is ideal, but white works also) and sit down with the bobbins and floss. Focus on the candle flame and think of the way in which you would like money to come into your life.

Once you have the idea firmly in mind, begin winding the floss slowly around the bobbin and continue until it is full. Repeat until you have filled all three bobbins, then blow out the candle.

Anoint the three bobbins with orange or amber oil. Place them into a small jar and leave it somewhere it will not be disturbed. If the desired wealth does not come into your life within three months, or if you need more money, repeat the spell and add the three new bobbins to the jar.

- From The Sisters Grimmoire: Spells and Charms for Your Happily Ever After, 2nd ed., © 2017 by Bree NicGarran.

Want more fairy tale spells? Check out the masterpost here and visit my shop for spell kits, books, magical powders, and more!

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, tune in to my monthly show Hex Positive on your favorite podcast app, or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

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Homemaking, gardening, and self-sufficiency resources that won't radicalize you into a hate group

It seems like self-sufficiency and homemaking skills are blowing up right now. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic crisis, a lot of folks, especially young people, are looking to develop skills that will help them be a little bit less dependent on our consumerist economy. And I think that's generally a good thing. I think more of us should know how to cook a meal from scratch, grow our own vegetables, and mend our own clothes. Those are good skills to have.

Unfortunately, these "self-sufficiency" skills are often used as a recruiting tactic by white supremacists, TERFs, and other hate groups. They become a way to reconnect to or relive the "good old days," a romanticized (false) past before modern society and civil rights. And for a lot of people, these skills are inseparably connected to their politics and may even be used as a tool to indoctrinate new people.

In the spirit of building safe communities, here's a complete list of the safe resources I've found for learning homemaking, gardening, and related skills. Safe for me means queer- and trans-friendly, inclusive of different races and cultures, does not contain Christian preaching, and does not contain white supremacist or TERF dog whistles.

Homemaking/Housekeeping/Caring for your home:

Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen [book] (The big crunchy household DIY book; includes every level of self-sufficiency from making your own toothpaste and laundry soap to setting up raised beds to butchering a chicken. Authors are explicitly left-leaning.)

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust [book] (A guide to simple home repair tasks, written with rentals in mind; very compassionate and accessible language.)

How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis [book] (The book about cleaning and housework for people who get overwhelmed by cleaning and housework, based on the premise that messiness is not a moral failing; disability and neurodivergence friendly; genuinely changed how I approach cleaning tasks.)

Gardening

Rebel Gardening by Alessandro Vitale [book] (Really great introduction to urban gardening; explicitly discusses renter-friendly garden designs in small spaces; lots of DIY solutions using recycled materials; note that the author lives in England, so check if plants are invasive in your area before putting them in the ground.)

Country/Rural Living:

Woodsqueer by Gretchen Legler [book] (Memoir of a lesbian who lives and works on a rural farm in Maine with her wife; does a good job of showing what it's like to be queer in a rural space; CW for mentions of domestic violence, infidelity/cheating, and internalized homophobia)

"Debunking the Off-Grid Fantasy" by Maggie Mae Fish [video essay] (Deconstructs the off-grid lifestyle and the myth of self-reliance)

Sewing/Mending:

Annika Victoria [YouTube channel] (No longer active, but their videos are still a great resource for anyone learning to sew; check out the beginner project playlist to start. This is where I learned a lot of what I know about sewing.)

Make, Sew, and Mend by Bernadette Banner [book] (A very thorough written introduction to hand-sewing, written by a clothing historian; lots of fun garment history facts; explicitly inclusive of BIPOC, queer, and trans sewists.)

Sustainability/Land Stewardship

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer [book] (Most of you have probably already read this one or had it recommended to you, but it really is that good; excellent example of how traditional animist beliefs -- in this case, indigenous American beliefs -- can exist in healthy symbiosis with science; more philosophy than how-to, but a great foundational resource.)

Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer [book] (This one is for my fellow witches; one of my favorite witchcraft books, and an excellent example of a place-based practice deeply rooted in the land.)

Avoiding the "Crunchy to Alt Right Pipeline"

Note: the "crunchy to alt-right pipeline" is a term used to describe how white supremacists and other far right groups use "crunchy" spaces (i.e., spaces dedicated to farming, homemaking, alternative medicine, simple living/slow living, etc.) to recruit and indoctrinate people into their movements. Knowing how this recruitment works can help you recognize it when you do encounter it and avoid being influenced by it.

"The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline" by Kathleen Belew [magazine article] (Good, short introduction to this issue and its history.)

Sisters in Hate by Seyward Darby (I feel like I need to give a content warning: this book contains explicit descriptions of racism, white supremacy, and Neo Nazis, and it's a very difficult read, but it really is a great, in-depth breakdown of the role women play in the alt-right; also explicitly addresses the crunchy to alt-right pipeline.)

These are just the resources I've personally found helpful, so if anyone else has any they want to add, please, please do!