magic-study

[magic-study]

there's nothing wrong with living an aesthetically pleasing life, or having an aesthetically pleasing magical practice - beauty is meaningful, and personal, and that meaning can be powerful.

however, it has to be aesthetically pleasing on your own terms. having an aesthetic practice shouldn't be done for others, for consumption or notes or whatever. looking at your surroundings and seeing beauty can give you energy, but if you look at your surroundings and see only the effort you've put in for other people, there's no energy or personal power to be gained from that.

be proud of your aesthetic, whether it's soft or dirty or bright or dead. but also be proud that it's a real extension of yourself, done for yourself, creating power in beauty for yourself.

[magic-study]

There is no moral.

The wolf eats you one day,

And until it does,

The forest is beautiful

[Neverafter - Brennan Lee Mulligan]

[magic-study]

Defining Luck in an Occult Context

Luck is most often associated with gamblers in the grimoires. Klepoth is one such spirit, noted as giving away the cards of other people, which may be seen in a metaphorical context of her giving away private details to the magician for their aid. The latter interpretation gives way towards protection magick and unveiling of enemies who would otherwise remain hidden in the dark.

Outside of this, luck often appears as something solar - a constant blessing. A person who constantly gets out of trouble that would otherwise be devastating would be considered lucky, and we might note this in trickster gods who have ways of getting out of situations that would be considered 'strange' to the eye. Fortuna, a form of Tyche, also represents this form of luck where a person may experience the best and worst aspects of it, considered superior to the gods because she has the ability to remove fortune from their endeavors at will.

Luck is also mercurial, in its temperament, far outside the realm of fate associated with Saturn and Jupiter. As such, we can further find connections to gambling and trickster spirits. In that capacity, luck can be seen as the realm of thieves, their ability to distract and the acts of sleight of hand.

In regards to Will-to-Power, which often appears with the trickster spirits who constantly strive to impose their own will on the world, we might note an influence of Ananke. Luck, as the Wheel of Fortune, has the ability to raise the poor and strike down the rich in equal measure, even returning back to its usual phase.

Ananke here represents the restless drive of humanity to overcome, to defend and to develop.

I'm currently working on this chapter in my book, but here's just a few thoughts

[magic-study]

"before it was called science it was called Natural Magick" the vast majority of western thinkers used the term "Natural Philosophy" and you damn well know that.

[magic-study]

Accidentally dropped off an apartment application on the day of the full moon. The number of the building I'm applying for reduces to 8. And I got free ice cream today!!!

[magic-study]

Thisssss!!! I've always hated the 'natural vs unnatural' mindset. Literally everything is natural. Humans are natural creatures, which means everything we do is natural. It's such a useless distinction.

(Also, yes, less slavery is a good thing, Stephaneigh.)

my youtube is all witchy reccs cuz gearing up for spring has meant spring cleaning which means background noise and now my homepage is hippies "exposing" lab grown crystals. stephaneigh. you're wiccan. You're vegan. You never shut up about harm reduction. but crystals produced in a lab without child labor and slavery are fake? it's the child slavery that makes the material useful to you? hate to break it to you but uh. Laboratories? on earth? Also from the earth, steph. you're lookin a little bit dumb af

[magic-study]

Yessssss all of this! There's a local place that makes a "four thieves" soap that I use whenever I feel like I need a good protective layer on me.

people shit on bath magic so much in (self diagnosed) "hardcore" witchcraft circles. everywhere. and like. self own. you're into witchcraft and you can't think of how soaking things in other things might be useful? probably hits hard if you have 0 alchemies

[magic-study]

a friend showed me how many appalachian folk magic books are out now and I was almost sad about it till I remembered witchcraft authors do not generally write historically or regionally accurate vivisections of folklore to a high enough degree of parity to cause trouble beyond rendering a topic completely unresearchable by swarming it like locusts and milling out a fresh new content farm hedge industry based on its SEO clustering and namedrop to decorate their specific brand of whimsigoth granola influencer shamanism so I feel like the core spirits are safe. but i do expect to see appalachian orgone pyramids declared a secret witch cult thing that has always happened there and has something to do with the terrifying rugged pointiness of the upper eastern mountain ranges, including powerful, traditional, authentic appalachian ingredients, like roots that cannot grow there and cat yronwode recipes. also stop plucking the goddamn ghost pipes and the endangered trilliums oh my fucking god.

[magic-study]

I just saw a book suggest patchouli as a way to connect more closely to the Appalachian region and on that horrible note, I want to say that when claiming to adhere to a bioregional practice, the bio part of that should be specific to the region you live in.

All I know about patchouli is that I tend to find the perfume revolting. I don't know much more than that because it doesn't grow around here, so it's irrelevant to my personal practice.

However, I can almost wax poetic about broadleaf plantain. This is a common weed that can be found on any stretch of grass here. It doesn't even need to be harvested or crafted into a tincture or a salve (unless you wanted to) - for the majority of its use, you need only chew it up and spit it out.

Plantain leaf (not to be confused with the banana) can immediately provide relief for bee stings, mosquito bites, cuts and scrapes, and it can help back out a sliver - all just by making a poultice from the chewed up leaves.

Get good with your local plant spirits.

[magic-study]

This is so cool!!! 😍

May Day Honeysuckle Syrup

I was delighted to find honeysuckle blooming already on May Day. While it’s not completely unusual, often it’s a week or two later before it blooms.

I foraged along the barbed wire fence line and the thick vine that grows in the possumhaw tree and found just enough to make a first small batch of the season (leaving behind plenty for the bees.

The recipe I have used in previous years is done in an hour, but after having so much success with a longer steeping time with the redbud syrup this year, I wanted to do the same with the honeysuckle syrup. So I poured 1 and 1/4 cup boiling water over the 1 cup of blossoms and let it steep in the fridge for approximately 36 hours.

After removing the blossoms I added a cup of sugar and brought it to a boil and then immediately to a low simmer. I wanted a thick, honey like syrup so I allowed it to simmer for about an hour.

This syrup has a heavily floral, honey like flavor. The longer steeping time made a much more flavorful syrup. I will use this syrup much as I would use honey.

The first thing I made was a peanut butter, honey suckle, and bacon sandwich! 🤤

@magic-study

[magic-study]

Omg I love this, would you be willing to share your process?

Working on a May Day batch of honeysuckle syrup.

I foraged just enough for a small bottle.

[magic-study]

Black Phillip by Kitty Grimm (2022)

Source: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/VyN8G5

[magic-study]

Please share this wherever you can.

[magic-study]

Like to charge, reblog to cast.

[magic-study]

Just a little throwback to the time I let Heinrich Kramer take up my headspace. Disgusting.

[magic-study]

Just a reminder...

As a witch, and especially if your practice is anything like hands-in-the-dirt, wading into rivers, bones and teeth folk witchcraft, you don't have to settle for anything.

You don't have to wait for good things to happen to you out of the random walk of life. You don't have to be a passive vessel in your own life, either.

You've got magic. Make shit happen.