saintsandspells

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“Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.”

— Linda Hogan, Dwellings: A Spiritual History of the Living World

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this june we are 1) receiving the Holy Spirit, 2) gazing in love and adoration upon the Sacred Heart of Christ, and 3) transing our genders

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“love thy neighbor” collage [analog] 2025 - credit to me

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We interrupt your regularly scheduled folk catholic programming to talk a bit about an experience I just had with my Protestant ancestors in a professional reading. For some background, my family is split evenly down the middle regarding denomination. My mom’s side is Catholic, my dad’s side is Protestant, both very staunchly so. I learned early on in my ancestral veneration practice that these different sides did not want to be approached the same. My Catholic ancestors love rosaries, etc. and are completely fine with communicating via tarot. My Protestant ancestors, on the other hand, have been kind of a mystery. Every tarot reading I’ve tried to do with them has been somewhat garbled, bordering on nonsensical, and I’ve only ever had success with clear communication through flipping a coin, which is rather limiting. Smash cut to this session with a professional reader where I’m trying to see if they get anything regarding how this set of ancestors wants to be interacted with.

Reader: so….have you tried playing card divination with them? Because they’re showing me playing cards.

Me: …….

Reader: I think they don’t like tarot because they don’t really understand how to use it. They’ve never been exposed to it before.

Me:

Y’all. I genuinely thought they just straight up didn’t want to talk to me because I’m not A Christian™️. I’m floored, but super excited for this new phase of my practice!

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Virgil Rainer, Pietà, ca. 1910

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Conclave (2024)

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DIVINE IS THE FLESH THAT KNOWS ITSELF!!

- by me! (Do not reupload)

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i need feminism because when jesus does a magic trick it’s a goddamn miracle but when a woman does a magic trick she gets burned at the stake

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Worship Your Form!

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Joan of Arc (1999) dir Luc Besson

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i think sometimes yall need to take a moment to remember that the Church is, in its modern existence, an oppressive organization with its fingers in hundreds of pots that negatively effect the lives of millions and not your circle of progressive parishioners in your home church. I know hearing that hurts but we cannot liberate each other and live radically Christlike lives through pretending the Church is holy and pure in its actions, intentions, and effects. Your home church priest might be nice, but pretending this institution doesn’t kill people is both naive and irresponsible

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My ancestors are the whole reason I decided to start studying folk magic, which introduced me to folk catholicism! I have an ancestor altar in my home with photos and water that I refresh weekly. I pray rosaries with/for them, sometimes praying the Eternal Rest prayer on the mystery beads. Only one side of my family is Catholic, the other is Protestant, which is…. Complex…. but I find my Catholic ancestors to be much more active anyway. Folk catholicism, doing the things they did, praying the prayers they prayed, makes me feel very connected to them.

Do yall incorporate your ancestors/ancestry into your practice/faith? If so, tell me about it I wanna know what you guys are up to and love finding out more about how other people approach the divine

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It is far more fulfilling to think of Jesus dying on the cross as an act of solidarity, rather than one of sacrifice.

In this essay, I will...

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“Being gay is a sin” didn’t ask don’t care

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Jeanne d'Arc, 1900 by Wolfram Onslow Ford (English, 1879–1956)