#aboutnito

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Fuckin @ the crafty diy blog who just followed me: y'all should know, when I say 'craft' I don't mean pipe cleaner, googly eyes and feathers crafts. I mean witchcraft. As in.... shit well I guess I do use pipe cleaners and feathers to make witch's ladders and other magical shit but

YOU GET MY POINT RIGHT?!?

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 2: What do you think magic actually is? What is the power or force behind witchcraft?

I believe magic is the innate energy that exists within the universe. Of course, all human have a small bit of this energy within them, but witches and other ‘mystic’ humans are more able to access the energy than beings who claim magic isn’t real. There is power in belief, and so by believing we cause own internal energy, or magic, to grow.

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Heads up

I'm going traveling for the next three weeks. I'll try to give you guys some updates.

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I mean, I know I look like a girl, I sound like a girl, my body does dumb bullshit like a girl...

But I really fucking despise when people ignore the real me and refer to me as a girl!

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 3: How powerful do you believe magic to be and why?

Tricky question. I think the magic that dwells within the universe has a, for lack of a better word, basic state of power.

The magic within humans fluctuates, since all of us are at different stages of life. I believe that as you grow wiser, not necessarily older, the magic within your soul becomes stronger.

So, the more experienced a witch is, the stronger their personal magic is. And so they are able to use the natural magic in the worlds to greater effect.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 25: Curses. Do they work? Would you use them? What do you think of those who do? Why?

Absolutely curses work! Magic gains power from intent, so if you really want to curse something, they're screwed! Because in my experience, hate and anger are some of the most powerful emotions one can have. Powerful emotions = powerful intent = powerful magic.

I have never actually gone through with cursing something. I can bloodydamn close because they deserved it, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Honestly, I don't think I'm capable of truly cursing people.

Everyone's path is unique. Some witches curse, some dont. I don't have a problem with pro-curse witches, because I understand the reasons to curse. What I do have a problem with is witches who will rant and rave about how 'curses are evil/ malevolent magic' and 'the 3 fold rule will come back to you' blah blah blah. Like, first of all, of course curse are mal magic that's why they're curses! Duh!! Second, the 3 fold rule is a Wiccan thing. And as I'm sure many witches have had to scream at the top of their lungs : Not All Witches Are Wiccans!! What works for one does not work for all.

Basically, if someone deserves it, and you're okay with cursing, then curse away, my witch. If you're not about curses, then I respect that, but don't gatekeep other people's path. Or, who knows, but you might find a hex or two coming you're way.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 9: Was there a tipping point that convinced you witchcraft was worth practicing? What influence your desire to learn more and why are you learning about it?

I've always been curious about magic, but I think when I decided to practice myself was in 10th grade. There was some pretty dark and serious shit going on in my life. I felt powerless to change it and I was hopeless that it would change on its own.

My first 'spell', if you could even call it that, was on a whim. Just to see if it worked, I suppose. A simple spell to prevent someone who constantly invaded my privacy on multiple levels from being around me. And after casting the spell, whenever they would try to come at me, they seemed to just...forget that I was there. Like they wanted to mess with someone but they couldn't remember who.

To me, that was a successful spell, so I decided that if this was the only way to keep myself safe and happy, then I would dedicate my life to becoming a stronger, better witch; So that I could not only protect myself, but the people who could not protect themselves.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 30: What do you think of practicing magic in a group setting? What about practicing alone? Why?

I would love to have a group of witch friends to experience magic with. Unfortunately, living in Iowa doesn't really give me that opportunity. So I work alone, for now. Which is good because it let's me figure where my path goes without influence from other witches. But, still, I dream of being apart of a coven in which I can learn from other witches with their own beautifully unique paths and practices.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 8: Do you think you will work with deities as part of your Craft? Why or why not?

I didn't plan to work with deities, but when they showed up and offer to help, I wasn't going to be rude and say no.

The god I work with the most is Dionysus. He's the god of theatre, revelry, and madness; and he is the patron of gender non-conforming persons because when he was mortal, he was raised as a girl and acted as a boy when he achieved god hood. While I can't speak for how he is with other witches, when he's here he's super chilled out and a fantastic listener when I need someone to talk to. He's a great friend, honestly, and I don't know what I would do without him.

I also try to work with Artemis and Apollo, though sometimes I get the feeling that the are trying to direct me towards Nyx and Ouranos, because the later are the gods of Night and Space, which is closer to my personal magic than Moon and Sun.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 7: What was your earliest memorable exposure to the concept of witchcraft? How did it influence your interest in it?

The first time I really thought about witchcraft and what it could do in my life is about 5 years ago, after I read the book "Blue is for Nightmares", and the subsequent series after, written by Laurie Stolarz. While the protagonist is clearly Wiccan, which I was never into, I loved how it portrayed her magic. As a gift to help her through her difficulties, not an all powerful answer to everything.

And that has shaped my idea of magic. That is here to help, to guide, but not to hold your hand. It taught me that magic is all around you, you just have to be willing to see it.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 18: Are there any witches or magicians in fiction or history that you particularly admire? Why or why not?

As far as fictional magic goes, I admire 'the Evil Queen' Regina Mills from Once Upon a Time. She started out so consumed by anger and hatred (for the heroes and herself) that her magic could do nothing but destroy everyone and everything around her. But over the course of the show, she learns to let go of her hatred of Snow, Charming, and Emma. She learned to accept herself and love the person she is. Her magic, while still touched with darkness, became a way to shield her loved ones, when originally they needed to be shielded from her. She let her magic become so much more than a weapon to hurt. She became a hero of light, an adoring mother, and a truly regal queen.

Historically, my favourite witch is Circe. She just hung out on her island learning necromancy and herbology. Then Odysseus and his crew showed up, started screwing up her home with their nonsense. She didn't take shit from anybody. Mess with her and she'll turn you into a pig. Like, honestly, goals.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 15: If you could list one thing that you hope to gain from practicing witchcraft, what would it be?

Hmm, the first thing that comes to mind is 'serenity'. I want to learn to be at peace with my lot in life. To gain peace of mind. Life without magic is horrible, anxious mess. With magic life is calm, controllable. I want to know how to be in control of magic, in control of life.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 14: What excites you most about learning witchcraft? What might be a reward?

Learning magic, I finally feel like I'm in control of my life. Witchcraft set me free. I'm in charge of myself now and, while slightly concerned about what to do with freedom, I'm excited to see what happens next. Before I discovered witchcraft, I truly believed I'd be dead by 25, because I had no hope, no future. And though I still have a rather morbid view of my life, I have faith that magic will save me, time and time again.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 13: What worries you most about learning witchcraft? What might be a risk?

Mostly I'm worried that my parents will find out that. If they do, there's two possible outcomes:

1) They kick me out of the house, which will suck but at least I have the option of staying with my sister.

2) They try and force me to back to church with them so 'Jesus can save me' or some bullshit. I expect the 2nd, because they have already tried to get me to talk to pastors about 'how I lost my way' and 'walked away from god'.

I'm also a little worried about all the negativity within the Tumblr witching community. I tried to mind my own business and be a good witch, a good person but, there are some, shall we say, distasteful witches out here that I try to stay away from. Though I think a lot of us have some idea of who the good witches and who the bad witches are.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 12: What do you think you life will be like in five years, magically speaking?

Okay, I'm going to start this one off by saying I have a 'sense of foreshortend future', where I cannot perceived myself as having a future. If I can plan for tomorrow, that's a success. Planning for 5 years from now? Nope not happening.

That being said, I would hope that my grimoire is complete. I've been working on it slowly for a while and I wish I had the discipline to sit down and finish it in one go, but I'm okay with building it up a little at a time.

I also want to have a better understanding of star charts; I know the basics of identifying constellations and planets, but my current knowledge is not nearly what I want it to be.

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Roots of Your Craft

Day 6: What kind of belief system were you raised with? Do you feel it suits you or are you making a change?

I was raised in a Pentecostal Christian household. While I wouldn't say I was a devout Christian, I did pride myself on my knowledge about Christianity; when I was young I was a part of a team that participated in Bible Quiz tournaments all over the Midwest. And I was bloodydamn good! I set records in Iowa, won a bunch of trophies, the whole nine yards. But I was never there because I wanted to be there. I was only there because my mother was the coach for our church and demanded that I participate.

During middle school and high school some . . . bad things happened to me. And when I talked to my pastor about them, I was told that I had brought those events on myself. That they were my fault (not the fault of the one who did those things to me), that I was a sinner and a whore, and that I was going to Hell. I thought, " Well, then, if your god is going to hate me for what happened, then I don't want anything to do with that god."

So I walked away from Christanity and eventually I made my way towards the Hellenic deities, whose stories I'd read all my life, and who I felt a much more real, solid connection with than I ever had within the church.