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[hildathesaint]

How I Build My Spells

There are a lot of ways to approach spell crafting. My preferred method is just one of many, so don't worry if the way I approach it doesn't work for you. We're all individual mages and it would be dumb if we all went about things the same way.

I start with a focus. What is it that I want this spell to do? Typically, it's a protection spell or some variation of baneful magic. These are my go-to spell types.

When I'm making a spell based on, say, an MTG card, I try to fit what the card does. Or for a D&D/Elder Scrolls spell, I try to adjust what the canon spell or ability does to something that can be copied by magic in my practice.

Then I figure out the method. Do I want a spell jar? A one-and-done? Spell bag? Something I can drink? An object or enchantment that I can recharge and reactivate as needed? A sigil? There are so many options, and I can blend all of my options together. (Again, if the spell is based on something from pop culture, I'll try to make it flavorfully fit the original spell or card.)

So once I figure out the method, then I get my big book of correspondences out. And by book, I mean 3-inch D-ring binder. A little much? Yeah, yeah it is.

I have this binder separated into crystals/rocks (my go-tos), drink/food, plants, miscellaneous, and blank pages. This lets me skip to particular sections if I decide on, say, a drinkable spell so I don't have to dig through bullshit first.

Then I brainstorm how it all comes together. How do these disparate pieces form a whole? This is the step that I struggle with the most. It's what I'm currently hung up on for two spells I'm trying to build at the moment.

Once I finally hammer out the details, I write the spell down in a very particular way to put in my "spellbook" (a 3 and a half-inch D-ring binder). Then I declare the spell done and ready for future use.

Overall, spell building is a very linear step-by-step process for me.

[hildathesaint]

[hildathesaint]

Hellenism Resources

This is by no means a complete list, it’s just a collection of some sites, articles, and books I’ve found online that are interesting or useful.

Ancient Greek Cults:A Guide by Jennifer Larson

Aristotle on Religion by Mor Segev

Brutality of Citizen Wives, The by Mary E. Naples, M.A.

Collection of Greek Ritual Norms

Dionysus and His Cult and Worship; a Gender Study by Leah Hatch  

Divine Appetites and Animal Sacrifice by Mat Carbon

Greek Philosophy and Religion by Gábor Betegh

Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies- Classical Inquires page 

Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies-Library

Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies- Research Bulletin

Homer’s Gods, Plato’s Gods by Dr. Garrett 

Households, Families, and Religion by Matthew Dillon

Human Transgression–Divine Retribution by Aslak Rostad  

Imagining the Afterlife by Radcliffe Edmonds

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Introduction to Inner Purity and Pollution in Ancient Greek Religion by Andrej Pertovic

Meaning of Reciprocity in Ancient Greek Religion, The by A. Koutoupas

Mortal and Divine In Early Greek Etymology  by Shaul Tor

Oracular Functioning and Architecture of Five Ancient Apollo Temples Through Archaeoastronomy: Novel Approach and Interpretation by Belen Martin Castro, Ioannis Liritzis, and Anne Nyquist

Pausanias’ Descriptions of Greece

Personal Religion in Ancient Greece by Emily Whitmore

Plato’s Writings

Pythagoreans, Orphism and Greek Religion by Gábor Betegh

Recovering the Past: The Origins of Greek Heroes and Hero Cult by Jorge Bravo

Rethinking Aphrodite as a Goddess at Work by Gabriella Pironti

Sacred and the Profane, The by Mircea Eliade

Theoi.com

Theoi.com- Library

Theophoric Names and the History of Greek Religion by Robert Parker

Unraveling the Eleusinian Mysteries by Mary E. Naples, M.A .

[hildathesaint]

If people were too mean to you when you were growing up, a newborn animal will materialize inside your brain and it’s so so scared and shivering and it will stay there for years. Decades, even. And whenever you say something kind of weird but true to your heart the animal will tell you “Noo! You can’t say that! If you say that, everyone will hate you!”. The animal means well. It’s so so small and everything is so scary for them and it’s just trying to protect you. But listen to me. Listen to me. Whenever this happens, you can’t do what the animal says. You can’t. If you do, you’ll become as scared as the animal. You have to keep saying weird shit. You have to keep doing things the animal wouldn’t approve of. If you do enough things that scare the animal, maybe one day it’ll go to sleep.

[hildathesaint]

"Don't use Libby because it costs libraries too much, pirate instead" is such a weird, anti-patron, anti-author take that somehow manages to also be anti-library, in my professional librarian-ass opinion.

It's well documented that pirating books negatively affects authors directly* in a way that pirating movies or TV shows doesn't affect actors or writers, so I will likely always be anti-book piracy unless there's absolutely, positively no other option (i.e. the book simply doesn't exist outside of online archives at all, or in a particular language).

Also, yeah, Libby and Hoopla licenses are really expensive, but libraries buy them SO THAT PATRONS CAN USE THEM. If you're gonna be pissed at anybody about this shitty state of affairs, be pissed at publishing companies and continue to use Libby or Hoopla at your library so we can continue to justify having it to our funding bodies.

One of the best ways to support your library having services you like is to USE THOSE SERVICES. Yes, even if they are expensive.

*Yes, this is a blog post, but it's a blog post filled with links to news articles. If you can click one link, you can click another.

[hildathesaint]

Entities within the World.

This is a non exhaustive list of some of the entities that exist within the story “You are Sheol”. All of these entities are inspired by figures in myths around the world, but are not exactly the same.

Chimeras

Chimeras are inexplicable creatures who defy the natural laws of death. Chimeras do not die when killed, rather, they reorganize their cells and reanimate as a different person with the same memories. Chimeras have the ability to influence the fabric of reality. Notoriously fragile, Chimeras are known to split into separate consciousnesses when severely injured to avoid reincarnation. Chimeras are the only entities observed in creation that are skilled at absorption. There are perfect and imperfect Chimera.

Higher Gods

Higher Gods are entities which exist in dimensions tens to hundreds of layers above ours. Because these entities are so incredibly complex, powerful, and dense, Higher Gods will split their consciousness among thousands of Angels who will all collectively carry out their will. This allows Higher Gods to interact with the universe in lower dimensions without destroying the fabric of everything. Every angel within a Higher God’s pantheon is literally a piece of that God. This means that in order to witness a Higher God, every single angel from its pantheon must be observed in a single realm.

The risk with splitting your consciousness among angels like this is that angels, while extremely disciplined, also have free will and can and occasionally do seek other Gods from other pantheons to work with. Likewise , Angels are known to disagree with each other very often, and conflicts between specific Angels mean the decimation of an entire pantheon.

Lower Gods

Lower Gods can be described as Gods whose consciousness can be contained within a single entity. Lower Gods do not split their consciousness among Angels and can operate completely independently. Daemons and Angels alike can become Lower Gods with enough Energy. Lower Gods are known to do magick with humans often. Lower Gods can take Angels and Daemons from other pantheons under their ray. Lower Gods can be worshiped. Lower Gods are not to be mistake for “lesser” gods.

Collective Angels

There are some pantheons that do not follow this traditional understanding of the hierarchy of Angels, some of which may be explored at different times. Our story is mainly centered around a Pre- Abrahamic understanding of the traditional hierarchy inspired by Summaria, Zoroastrianism, Canaanites and early Judaism with a dash of Christianity; however, this pantheon can be considered *somewhat* original as it does not strictly adhere to the beliefs of these faiths. Consider it an eclectic blend of all of these things.

Every Angel looks and behaves entirely uniquely, however, they all share the quality of being highly energetic, incredibly bright burning, intensely massive, lofty entities. Both Angels and Demons present in many forms including humanoid and anthropomorphic. Angels will appear as different sexes at different times. Their truest form is inconceivable to normal Humans.

Highest orders: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones.

Middle orders: Dominions, Virtues, Powers.

Lowest orders: Principalities, Archangels, Angels.

(These directional descriptors do not at all reference power or importance, rather consider them explanations of how close or far away from Humanity each order is, with the highest being furthest away. Archangel Jophiel, for example, commands legions of Cherubim even though they are technically in a higher order than her)

Collective Angels work as a hive mind, though they do not all have the same thoughts or opinions. Any prayers made towards The Higher God or energy given is distributed evenly among every single collective Angel.

A Nega (Pronounced Negga)

A Nega ____ can be described as the inverse function of a celestial. Every celestial has an inverse counterpart. The Negas of the 72 Angels of Creation are the 72 Angels of Destruction. Negas also carry out the wills of their God and can be considered a part of the Collective Angels.

^ This song captures the vibes of Collective Angels well

Watchers

A class of Angels that were exiled for lusting after and procreating with Humans.

Nephilim

The unholy offspring of Watchers and Humans. Giants.

Daemons

The difference between Daemons and Angels is more political than physiological. There are many reasons why an Angel may radicalize and become a Daemon, however, the most common reason is a desire to operate as an individual rather than as a collective. Along with this many Daemons are not fond of the very strict contact rules with Humans that Angels must follow, and would like to do magick with them. “Daemon” is a self proclaimed title. Because Angels and Daemons cannot accept worship, the only time they are able to accept energy from a human as their own is through magical operations and offerings. After being cut from the collective pool of energy collective Angels share, many Daemons utilized magical contracts with Humans to stay self-sufficient.

Daemons are known to have better social skills with Humans than Angels. Daemons do not have Negas. Like Angels, Daemons are free will entities and may or may not be tolerant towards Humans.

^This song captures the vibes of Daemons well.

Djinni, Fairies, Natural Spirits

Human-like entities that existed before humanity. These entities have their own beliefs and religions. All of these living creatures have free will, eat, sleep, procreate, and die.

Thank you for reading! I think in my next posts I’ll explore the main characters of the story.

[hildathesaint]

a bit of info on working with archangels 🕯️

the archangels, and angels in general, are beings that will never intercede without your expressed consent! they believe in free will which means that they will only work with you, give you messages, etc., if you are open and willing to receive their divine messages.

a common misconception is that angels will only help those who are religious (i.e. christian, jewish, muslim) but that is not the case! angels have nothing but love for humans and nature so they aren’t tied to any specific religious affiliation, though they come from a more religious background.

each archangel, and angel, has their own areas of expertise when it comes to guidance but nothing is beyond them! so you can essentially reach out to any angel for anything and they will do their best to help you.

i’m going to briefly talk about seven of the main archangels and list some correspondences and offerings as well!

archangel michael - the great defender

archangel michael is the great defender of all that is good. he can be called upon for help with strength and courage as well as general protection.

he is associated with the sun tarot card

offerings include: frankincense, rosemary, basil, white or blue candles, selenite, water, letters or prayers addressed to him

archangel raphael - the divine healer

archangel raphael is the divine healer. he assists with physical healing as well as emotional healing. he is especially popular with healers and those who work in the medical field.

he is associated with the strength tarot card

offerings include: lavender, rosemary, chamomile, peppermint, green candles, fresh flowers, emeralds, water, letters or prayers addressed to him

archangel gabriel - the messenger

archangel gabriel is a messenger who helps people learn how to communicate effectively. he can help you find the words you need to get your point across. he helps artists, writers, and teachers.

he is associated with the moon tarot card

offerings include: lavender, jasmine, lily, white candles, moonstone or clear quartz, water, letters or prayers addressed to him

archangel uriel - the hermit

archangel uriel is a wizened hermit figure who helps us deal with feelings of loneliness that can become overwhelming at times. he helps us learn how to be alone without feeling lonely.

he is associated with the hermit tarot card

offerings include: sandalwood, frankincense, cinnamon, red or gold candles, citrine, water, letters or prayers addressed to him

archangel chamuel - the peace bringer

archangel chamuels main mission is to bring peace to the world. you can call on him when you're suffering from anxiety or if you need help forgiving someone. he is especially helpful when it comes to relationship troubles.

he is associated with the lovers tarot card

offerings include: rose, chamomile, lavender, pink candles, rose quartz, love letters, water, letters or prayers addressed to him

archangel zadkiel - the forgiver

archangel zadkiel is who you should call when it comes to forgiveness as a whole. he helps regulate emotions and work through them so we can feel that sense of forgiveness for others and ourselves.

he is associated with the temperance tarot card

offerings include: rose, lavender, chamomile, eucalyptus, purple candles, amethyst, engaging in acts of service like volunteering or donating, water, letters or prayers addressed to him

archangel jophiel - the transformer

archangel jophiel is responsible for the positive transformations we go through in life. he encourages inner journeys that help us to discover our passions.

he is associated with the star tarot card

offerings include: chamomile, lemon balm, sunflower yellow or orange candles, yellow jasper, spending time in nature, practicing positive affirmations, water, letters or prayers addressed to him

[hildathesaint]

Bringing this up again cause I need friends👹

Are there any pagans and witches in the southern hemisphere that i can follow and share in the festival excitement with? I feel lonely practicing the festivals here in the South when the majority of my pagan mutuals are celebrating it the other way around. I would love to find a community i have a little more in common with season wise!

[hildathesaint]

Advice for beginner Hellenists

This isn't necessarily a post where I include a list of Gods, epithets, resources, and offerings for said Gods, but rather, hopefully soothing the worries of those of us who are starting the journey into the religion. As someone who was once in a religion that made other religions sound like something absolutely terrifying, my journey into Hellenism was once which was also... pretty terrifying, and this fear was mostly just from my own mind.

Anyways, my list of Advice:

You can literally just start praying. If you want to get more formal, you can absolutely get more formal, but you very much don't have to. I've definitely had my first prayers to some Gods be "hello, [God or Goddess's name], I want to worship You! Please lead me in my journey. Thanks!" I can promise you, the Gods are much kinder and more understanding than any of us fully know.

You can also just start worshiping in general. I feel like I've seen on occasion people worried about the Gods not "calling" to them. This is definitely not something that needs to happen pre-worship. If you find them interesting enough to pray to, then that in and of itself is enough.

In a similar vein, I wouldn't be too concerned about the idea of "signs". I feel like there's a tendency for folks to be incredibly worried about everything when first starting out - the behavior of a candle, the sighting of an animal, a strange dream, all can suddenly seem to take on jarring significance. But I can promise you, the Gods don't constantly give out signs, and frequently, these strange occurrences can be attributed to the mundane. When something comes from the Gods, you will know, trust me!

You don't have to worry too much about the idea of cleanliness, be it spiritual or physical. Khernips are cool, and I'd definitely recommend integrating them into your practice sooner or later. Hygiene is cool too! But if I'm being honest, we in the modern day are far more physically clean, and a lot less likely to regularly encounter the type of pollution that would have been encountered in ancient Greece.

The Gods will be at varying distances over the course of your worship. Sometimes, They will feel close, joyfully, burningly so. And sometimes, They will feel far, and prayers may even feel a bit futile. Both of those are perfectly okay, and neither of those will be permanent.

And, once again in a similar vein, you will likely not find yourself having constant, close mystical experiences with the Gods (i.e., conversations, visions, etc.). These experiences are rare and far between, and I would advise that you not make them a central part of your worship. They will come when the Gods deem you're ready for them, and you definitely won't be expecting it. Focus on the little things!

My final thing (for now) is that you also shouldn't put undue pressure on yourself to be doing some sort of big offering to the Gods. If that's what you can afford, that's great! But if not, fresh water, a small wildflower that you came across and picked*, or a small bit of a meal also count as a good offering!

And with that, my (much longer than I was previously planning on) list of things for beginners to keep in mind! A lot of this list is made up of things which I picked up along the way, and a lot of it is also made from my own personal hindsight being 20/20. I hope this is helpful to someone, and that it maybe soothes some of the (incredibly common) worries which so often accompany those who are venturing into the world of Hellenic polytheism!

[hildathesaint]

The Colours of Nature part 6: Purple Bugs

First Picture (Left to right, then top to bottom):

-Irura bidenticulata jumping spider

-Lycaena alciphron butterfly

-flower mantis

-fungus beetle

-coreid bug

-Apatura ilia butterfly

-damselfly

Second Picture (Left to right, then top to bottom):

-Chlorocara Africana beetle

-Purple emperor butterfly

-violet ground beetle

-warty leaf beetle

-metallic purple beetle

-Isopod

[hildathesaint]

wjen i graduate and they strip me of my free database access im literally going to walk into the ocean

[hildathesaint]

i hate seeing people now making fun of those who care about privacy online. i've seen people saying things like "well they already have your data. what are companies going to do with it" and it's like, that's not the point. it's that companies /shouldn't/ be able to have my data and sell it. am i aware they probably already have my data? yes, absolutely. but i'm still going to try and keep them from monetizing it any further, why are we defending companies selling data they shouldn't have to begin with though?

[hildathesaint]

LOW ENERGY LITHA ACTIVITIES

light colourful candles

watch the sun rise or sun set

brew a honey & chamomile tea

burn a floral scented incense

decorate your altar with flowers

eat fresh fruits and berries

open the windows and let fresh air in

admire flowers

read a faerie related book

have a cleansing bath or shower

meditate outside

press some wildflowers in a book

[hildathesaint]

Sabbats Masterpost

The History of Samhain

Samhain Facts

Samhain Correspondences

Samhain Crystals

Samhain Colors

Samhain Plants

Samhain Incense & Oils

Samhain Animals

Samhain Foods

Samhain Ritual & Magick

Samhain Deities

Samhain Altar Ideas

Samhain Activities

Last Minute Samhain Ideas

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The History of Mabon

Mabon Facts

Mabon Correspondences

Mabon Crystals

Mabon Colors

Mabon Plants

Mabon Oils & Incense

Mabon Animals

Mabon Foods

Mabon Ritual & Magick

Mabon Deities

Mabon Altar

Mabon Activities

Last Minute Mabon Ideas

———————————–

Lughnasadh/Lammas History

Lughnasadh/Lammas Facts

Lughnasadh/Lammas Correspondences

Lughnasadh/Lammas Crystals

Lughnasadh/Lammas Colors

Lughnasadh/Lammas Plants

Lughnasadh/Lammas Incense & Oils

Lughnasadh/Lammas Animals

Lughnasadh/Lammas Food

Lughnasadh/Lammas Ritual & Magick

Lughnasadh & Lammas Deities

Lughnasadh & Lammas Altar Ideas

Lughnasadh & Lammas Activities

Last minute Lammas Ideas

—————————————-

Litha History

Litha Facts

Litha Correspondences

Litha Crystals

Litha Incense & Oils

Litha Colors

Litha Plants

Litha Animals

Litha Foods

Litha Deities

Litha Altar Ideas

Litha Ritual & Magick

Litha Activities

Last Minute Litha Ideas

—————————————–

The History of Beltane

Beltane Facts

Beltane Correspondences

Beltane Incense & Oils

Beltane Colors

Beltane Crystals

Beltane Plants

Beltane Animals

Beltane Altar

Beltane Food

Beltane Deities

Beltane Ritual & Magick

Beltane Activities

Last Minute Beltane Ideas

———————————-

Ostara History

Ostara Facts

Ostara Correspondences

Ostara Colors

Ostara Crystals

Ostara Incense & Oils

Ostara Plants

Ostara Animals

Ostara Food

Ostara Altar Ideas

Ostara Ritual & Magick

Ostara Deities

Ostara Activities

Last Minute Ostara Ideas

—————————–

The History of Imbolc

Imbolc Facts

Imbolc Correspondenses

Imbolc Colors

Imbolc Crystals

Imbolc Incense & Oils

Imbolc Plants

Imbolc Animals

Imbolc Food

Imbolc Altar

Imbolc Ritual & Magick

Imbolc Deities

Imbolc Activities

Last Minute Imbolc Ideas

————————————–

The History of Yule

Yule Facts

Yule Correspondences

Yule Crystals

Yule Colors

Yule Plants

Yule Incense & Oils

Yule Animals

Yule Foods

Yule Ritual & Magick

Yule Deities

Yule Altar

Yule Activities

Last Minute Yule Ideas

[hildathesaint]

RECIPES I KEEP IN MY ONLINE KITCHEN WITCH JOURNAL #2

I love making these oh my gosh.

Why?

It's really fun

It's been a while since my last one

I get an excuse to try yummy recipes

You all are way too good at what you do

It's fun x2

Teas, Drinks, And Syrups

🍊 Orange Peel Tea 🍊

Violet Lemonade

Coconut Summer Drink

Dandelion Honey

The Best Hot Spiced Cider recipe you’ll ever try

Apple Cider is basically a homesteading spell

Rose Lemonade Syrup

100-Year Garlic (Garlic Honey)

Fire Cider Spell for Winter Protection

Blackberry & Apple Jam

Witchy Recipes - Blackberry Lemonade

Baked Goods + Sweets

Prosperity Bread

Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

Easy Rosemary Focaccia Loaf for Love and Protection

Heavenly Lavender Scones

Honey Vanilla Peach Butter 🍑

Pumpkin Pie Dip 🎃

Vanilla-Pumpkin Cupcakes

Soups, Stews, And Dinners

Super simple secret potato soup

Forest Porridge

Heartwarming potato soup

Perfect Homemade Garlic Bread

Creamy vegetable soup

Springtime Soup

Stuffed Maple dijon glazed roasted butternut squash

Summertime stir fry

Sabbat Stuff

Litha Orange Honey Cake

Litha Thyme Chicken

Stuffed Apples for Mabon

Mabon Mug

Imbolc Pretzel wreath

Oatmeal Bread for Lughnasadh

Samhain Mulled Cider

Samhain Irish Apple Cake

Angel's Best

(my favorite recipe posts I've made over the years, plus backstories that sound like your grandmother's reminiscing over the past.)

LATE WINTER BUTTER ROLLS

My first post I ever made. I was pretty new to the tumblr community at the time. I loved kitchen witchcraft, and I'm the type of person who will ramble on about how much I love cooking and baking. This blog gave me an outlet to express my love of cooking, baking, paganism, and witcraft. And these rolls are very tasty, I make them to this day!

WITCHY TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Tasty, simple, and a crowd-pleaser. It's perfect for a beginner kitchen witch! It was also the second recipe I ever posted.

SWEET CREAM BUNS

It was a recipe given to me by one of my good friends at the time. Every time I make it, it gets devoured in less than 10 minutes. It was also my first recipe to get over 50 notes. I was shocked but ecstatic that so many people would even give it the time of day lol.

WITCHY THUMBPRINT COOKIES

These ones were just fun to make and delicious lol.

A WITCH’S COZY BUTTERNUT WINTER SOUP

A quick soup that feeds a lot of people during the fall season. Fall is my favorite season, so of course I'm very biased lol.

SAMHAIN PUMPKIN BREAD

I love pumpkin bread and apple cider... So why not combine the two? This one was definitely one of my favorites of all time. Moist pumpkin bread and chocolate chips have to be one of my favorite things on this planet. It also makes for the perfect gift for friends and family. Yummy!

ANGEL’S AWARD-WINNING LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD

I love dessert loaves of any kind, so naturally, this would be on the list lol.

MAPLE BUTTER COOKIES

Super simple comfort food! I love any time of cookie with brown sugar.

BRING ME POSITIVITY PECAN FRENCH TOAST BAKE

I love French toast, and I love positivity~

SAMHAIN SOUL CAKES RECIPE

These are really good! And traditional. If you celebrate Samhain, I recommend you make some soul cakes and have friends and family help decorate. I give the littles a bag of orange frosting and let them go crazy lol.

FEEL BETTER CHICKEN SOUP

One of my most recent is my witchy twist on chicken noodle soup!

[hildathesaint]

Litha (June 21st) also known as the Summer solstice is almost here.. Litha marks the first day of summer, the longest day and shortest night of the year. 🌞

In slavic traditions called Ivana Kupala (June 24/ July 7), flower wreaths are made and floated on water, it promised happiness and a long life or marriage.

Here are some Litha/Summer solstice correspondences: Symbols | The sun, blooming and colorful flowers, honey, fruits, bees, animals Colors | Yellow, blue, green, white, pink Spells | Love (self-love), protection, growth, abundance Crystals | Tigers eye, moonstone, agate, citrine, sunstone, amber, jade Herbs and flowers | Chamomile, thyme, dill, lavender, rose Food | anything with honey (cakes), herbal teas, fruits (ber ries, strawberries), cheese, wine, salads, homemade breads How to celebrate | Make flower crowns/wreaths, pick strawberries/cherries, bake!, go for a nature walk, picnic, sunbathe, make sun water/tea.

[hildathesaint]

Let me tell you about Sockstice

We made up a holiday in my house…

For Sockstice, all of my housemates buy socks for each other. It becomes a weird psychological experiment to see what my housemates think of each other due to their sock purchases. I have ended up with several pairs of socks with cats on them. We started this because everyone (well, adults) like to get socks, but no one wants to buy them for themselves. They are relatively inexpensive and are a small gift to give.

After our house sock exchange we have people over who bring their orphaned socks (because their match was lost in the dryer) and see if there is a match in our pile of orphan collective socks. This is also an amnesty for housemates who may have ended up with each others socks over the year.

Guests also bring a wrapped pair of new socks for the general sock exchange white elephant. This is like your normal white elephant where you can choose a wrapped pair from the pile or are permitted to steal particularly intriguing socks from the fellow guests. it’s silly and it is fun.

We drink mulled wine and cider, we write bad things from the past year on paper and toss then in the fire and sometimes we play Apples to Apples because that games always makes everyone laugh, and laughter is very important in the wet and dark days of winter.

A few people I know have started celebrating sockstice (od SockMas) in other cities and that makes me really happy to spread such a fun and silly thing) I think next year I’d like to combine Sockstice with some sort of sock drive for a charity but I’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.