#acalypha

[faguscarolinensis]

Acalypha gracilens / Slender Threeseed Mercury

[kolibruy]

"A Plant"

[btteredtoast]

vegan ownage

[musicandgallery]

Mangora acalypha.

(2 photos)

[nagaino]

[thebotanicalarcade]

n4_w1150 by Biodiversity Heritage Library Via Flickr: Curtis's botanical magazine.. London ; New York [etc.] :Academic Press [etc.]. biodiversitylibrary.org/page/437739

[breelandwalker]

Witchcraft Exercise - Creating Correspondences

There are dozens of plant species in the arsenal of the green witch. Commonly-used varieties and usage varies somewhat between traditions, but most of us are fairly familiar with industry standards like basil, bay, rosemary, sage, and so on.

But what do you do when faced with a plant that has no listed magical correspondences anywhere that you can find in your witchcraft library? Simple - you create some.

Allow me to demonstrate with a little plant I found in my own backyard. It's a common weed called Virginia copperleaf (Acalypha virginica). But despite it's widespread range and abundant growth as a field weed, there are surprisingly few references to the plant in regional folk medicine and none at all that I could find in contemporary witchcraft.

So in order to incorporate this hardy little weed into my practice, I set about creating some correspondences for it.

First, I researched the physical properties of the plant. It is a small annual spurge with long taproots, a resistance to drought and many herbicides, and a reputation for fast growth and being difficult to eradicate from fields due to prolific seeding. The leaves turn coppery-red in the fall and small spiky flowers bloom among the foliage. It is also mildly poisonous. The juice of the plant may cause contact dermatitis or a mild rash in some people and if ingested, it may cause GI symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea.

Next, I researched references to the plant in folk medicine. I could only find a single reference that cited copperleaf as a possible diuretic and expectorant. That does track with the previous mention of GI symptoms, but it doesn't mean the plant is safe to use. I did discover that an alternate name for the plant is three-seeded mercury or mercury weed, likely because of its' tendency for fast growth and the fact that it is propagated by the wind.

So now comes the business of creating the correspondences, using the physical properties of the plant as a basis.

The first and most obvious association is strength. Any weed that is resistant to drought and herbicide and uprooting is bound to be useful for spells involving tenacity and fortitude. Prosperity is also a likely use, both because of the name copperleaf and the way in which the plant grows and spreads quickly. Because of the alternate name mercury weed and the wind propagation, it could be used for wind magic or communication spells. (I often associate the element of air with communication and the name of a messenger god is right there as well, but your mileage may vary.)

The plant could also be used as an ingredient for baneful magic, either to bind and frustrate someone's efforts by consuming available ground where their ambitions might grow, or in its' capacity as a mild poison, to cause physical discomfort and stomach trouble.

So in the end, I have a handful of copperleaf and a listing in my witchbook that details the properties of the plant and notes that it could be useful for spells involving strength, tenacity, prosperity, wind, or communication, as well as possible baneful uses including binding, discomfort, and sickness.

This is my system for assigning correspondences to previously-unknown plants, and I encourage readers to use it as a template for their own practices or to create their own system. Either way, I recommend the use of a field guide or plant identification app like PlantNet to properly identify plants as you find them. Remember to forage and harvest responsibly, be a good steward of the land around you, and always label your plant cuttings.

Happy Witching! 💚🌿

(If you're enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. You can also check out my show Hex Positive wherever fine podcasts are heard. 😊)

More witchcraft exercises here:

[von-therion]

Acalypha hispida

[tokkias]

So I’ve been saying over and over that I want to write a multichap at some point and with me finishing classes before nanowrimo I am deeply heavily considering using that to work on a bigger project. That being said, I don’t know what that bigger project is soooo I’m just gonna put my ideas out there and let you guys vote for what you want to see.

Fair warning, I might not do whatever wins the poll—I might not do nano at all because I’ve been struggling with writers block real bad, but I still wanna get a feel for what we’re vibing with

Option 1 High School AU. Lucy is a new student transferring from Acalypha who has trouble finding her footing socially in Magnolia between her troubled home life and her need for academic success. She finds her closest friend in Natsu, a rowdy, class clown, rugby player. Classic High School AU slow burn shenanigans ensure. Estimated 90k+ words.

Option 2 Modern AU Lucy character study. A “Layla doesn’t die” AU where Lucy tries to balance her relationship with Jude, who wants to reconcile with her after Layla goes into remission, while also balancing her relationship with her best-friend-turned-boyfriend, Natsu, who Jude fucking hates. Estimated 60k+ words.

Option 3 Modern Fake Dating AU. Sick of his family bugging him to find a relationship, Natsu tells them that he’s already seeing someone. When they start nagging him to let them meet her, Natsu claims that he’s dating his long-time best friend, Lucy. Lucy would have no trouble playing along if it weren’t for the fact that she was stupidly in love with him. Estimated 50k words.

[faguscarolinensis]

Caligo on Acalypha hispida / Owl Butterfly on Chenille Plant at the Museum of Life and Science in Durham, NC

[dumpsterfireofsubtext]

Avatrice 1930s AU snippet

Easy, Beatrice thought, kissing Ava. Easy, she thought, tasting Ava’s faintly buttery lips. “Easy,” she said aloud, and ever so gently tugged Ava’s shirt up and out from where it had been tucked into her shorts. Her hands slid easily over Ava’s stomach; both of them were hot and damp with sweat from the humidity. The contact did not make Ava shiver, but rather it made her fall further into Beatrice and sigh.

In a move similar to the one she had done in the morning, Beatrice slipped her fingers between the waistband of Ava’s shorts and the skin of Ava’s stomach. Again, Ava felt the hard press of Beatrice’s ring against her flesh, except now it was warm from their shared body heat, when in the morning it had been startlingly cool.

“Easy,” Ava said back, and she smiled against Beatrice’s mouth.

The deep, verdant peace of the greenhouse was abruptly shattered by a voice yodelling through the greenery. 

“Yoohoo!”

Beatrice and Ava, in their collective shock, leapt apart like two tightly wound springs.

Beatrice dodged the irises behind her by mere centimetres and only slightly clipped her ankle against the table. With that catastrophe avoided, she then promptly stumbled back into a hanging pot of dangling red hot cat’s tails, whose flopping tendrils slapped directly into her open mouth and made her cough. 

Ava did not dodge the irises; she careened back-first into the plant pot behind her, making it rock dangerously on its plate and crumble dirt onto her shirt.

Someone was walking crisply, though cautiously, down the aisle towards them. Ava extracted herself from the plant pot, hastily brushing her shirt free of loose soil and tucking it back in her shorts. She had no time to check on Beatrice because just then Michael appeared, shouldering through the jungle of overhanging flora and smiling broadly.

As soon as she saw him, Ava relaxed her shoulders and practically wheezed out, “Michael. You scared me.” Though Ava realised, belatedly, that it really couldn’t have been anybody else; she didn’t know many people who actually said yoohoo with a serious face –well, apart from Michael, apparently. 

“Did I?” Michael’s brows locked together as he gazed from Ava to Beatrice.

Ava had gotten over her shock significantly faster than Beatrice, and so she turned and began tugging at Beatrice’s sleeve to get her attention. “Bea,” she hissed.

“Yes? What?” Beatrice replied absently. She was in the middle of the arduous task of methodically picking little red bits of flower fluff off of her tongue and hadn’t quite noticed what was going on around her.

Ava shot Michael a quick apologetic smile that seemed to say, Oh, typical Beatrice. You know how she is, always grazing on the Acalyphas. Then she turned her back on him to collar Beatrice. “Michael,” she whispered savagely out of the very confines of her mouth, punctuating the two syllables with icy insinuation.

Beatirce’s eyes widened, and she peered over Ava’s shoulder to smile uneasily at Michael, who, entirely unperturbed, waved back at her with a winsome smile. Beatrice hastily spat out a few more bits of flower and moved to stand beside Ava rather than in front.

“Well!” Michael said. “Beatrice and Miss Silva! I’m glad I caught you both.” 

Beatrice gulped down a final mouthful of cat's tails and turned a concerning shade of grey. “Caught?” she said waveringly. Her voice had taken on the tremulous quality of an innocent man receiving a guilty sentence.

“I heard noise coming from the greenhouse and noticed that the door was open. I thought the blasted foxes had gotten in again.” Michael, as oblivious and jocular as ever, was bouncing merrily on the balls of his feet, looking pleased to see them.

Beatrice, whose brief fit of terror at the thought of having been caught red-handed spooning behind the curtains had passed, cooled into irony, and she said, dryly, “Our mistake,” which Ava promptly elbowed her in the ribs for.

“Was there anything you needed me for?” Ava asked. “Something about my proposals?”

“Oh, yes,” Michael said, snapping his fingers. “I mean, no. I’ve come to invite you both for drinks this afternoon. We left off so strangely the other day. Besides, you two are jollier company than Koi fish.”

Beatrice blinked aggressively in Michael’s direction, but Ava, taking her to the side again, smiled lopsidedly and said under her breath, “Come on, Bea. Lets.”

Beatrice shot a few more hostile blinks at Michael before inclining her head and saying, “Five O'clock.”

Ava broke out into an irrepressibly glorious smile, and, forgetting herself (or rather, remembering herself and why she liked Beatrice such a tremendous amount), she bounced up and gave Beatrice a smacking kiss on the cheek. 

Michael turned from where he had been inspecting a slightly crooked iris and clapped his hands. “Five O’clock,” he said. “Excellent. I’ll tell Gordon to set up the terrace.”

And so Beatrice was left gulping and blinking amidst the cat’s tails, trailing slack-jawed after Ava and Michael as the two of them discussed what cocktails they would mix.

[kolibruy]

Potions Masters

[btteredtoast]

My aasimar druid Tav (+her and Astarions cringe fail children)

[bumblebeeappletree]

#ecoprint #naturaldye #bundlesecoprint

The Secret of Ecoprint Technique (Full Tutorial) Part 1 • The Secret Recipe of E...

The Secret of Ecoprint Technique (Full Tutorial) Part 2 • The Secret of Ecoprint...

So hi, im roman, FINALLY todays video id like to show you the secret recipe how i made ecoprint on fabric, how i create a beautifull print on it, a secret why and how the leave or the flower leave their shape beautifully, this is base on my exploration, maybe the weather, ph level of water and so many factor will affect the result, but you can try this recipe.

This video is maybe long, but i dont want to cut the video so i will show you every step of the process of the textile making.

Step by step :

1. Choose the best fabric/materials

2. Clean the fabric (Scouring), i have 2 ways to clean deeply the fabric (2 method)

3. Preparing the fabric (Mordanting), 2 step to make your fabric is ready to dye.

4. Selection of the plants.

5. Bundles and Steam Technique.

6. I love you.

1. Fabric / Materials

The first is the most important before you making natural dyes, selection of fabric or material, because we work on natural dyes, natural things, so make sure the fabric that u ll be use is from nature also, like linen, cotton, or maybe silk.

2. Scouring

The second, is to scoured the fabric, what is scouring means? Scouring refers to thoroughly washing or deep cleaning the fabric, to remove residue or residual chemicals on the cloth from the factory when fabric making.

This is one factor of success in achieving strong color on natural dyes, is to start with completely clean fabric. Does this mean fabric washed in washing machine? No! We think the washer gets our clothes totally clean but it honestly does not. That is why, to get a good even coverage with your dyes, it is very important that you deep clean your cellulose fabric such as cotton, linen, bamboo, or maybe silk.

For me, this is my method, i have 2 ways to scour the fabric, the first is boil the fabric on hot water with some soda ash about 20 minutes, or if you dont have a soda ash you can use any detergent, but i recomend a soda ash and TRO (Turkish Red Oil). Boil for 20 minutes and ready for the next step, but if you patient enoght i have another tips, another methos, that is leave your fabric on soda ash mix with water for about a night or a couple night, until the fabric is clean and dry it.

3. Mordant

The 3rd step, next for this step is to mordant the fabric, what is mordant means? Mordant is like to prepare your fabric for natural dyes, mordanting process make your fabric good enought to sticking the tanin (the substance in plants that produces color/natural dyes) from leaves and flower. More rich the tannins on a plant, more strong the color will be.

There is 2 step of mordanting the fabric,

Mordant First step, recipe (you can re-adjust composition) :

Aluminium Sulfate (Tawas)

Iron Sulfate (Tunjung)

Baking Soda

Vinegar

Mix all the ingredients with water

Dry the fabric.

Note : be careful with fragile fabric like silk, dont add too much recipe

Mordant Second step, recipe :

Calcium Carbonate (lime betle/kapur sirih)

Mix with water

Ready to print or you can dry it and keep for print when you need. (Make sure make it wet again the fabric before you print)

For the precise composition please follow and dm me on instagram / roman.muhtar ✨

4. Selection of Plant

More rich the tannin on a plant, more strong the color will be.

What i choose :

Hibiscus flower (Bunga sepatu)

Bidens pilosa (Dom dom an/babadotan)

Acalypha (Daun Ekor Kucing)

Vernonia (Daun Afrika)

And many more you can explore

5. Bundles Ecoprint

Here‘s tutorial • Bundle Ecoprint Tutori...

6. Thanks for watching, i love you!!!

Lets be friend

Lets be friend

/ roman.muhtar

/ romannuansa

my work https://msha.ke/boolao

[nagaino]