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my-witchy-witchy · 2 years

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Witch types pt 1🔮

Angel Witch: A witch who works with Angels rather than or in addition to traditional deities

Animist Witch: A witch who believes there is life in all things and sees no distinction between human, plant, animal, or material objects. The animist witch sees the Universe as a living entity and all are connected by it.

Augury Witch: A witch who divines omens, signs, and symbols.

Axis Mundi Witch: A witch who studies the core idea that there is a central pillar that joins Earth to Heaven.

Celtic Witch: A witch who focuses on Celtic and Welsh deities, mythology, rituals, and earth magic.

Ceremonial Witch: A witch who practices high magick (ceremonial) such as Hermetic, Thelemic, and Enochian with a rigid and step-by-step method.

Chaos Witch: A witch who has a contemporary practice that incorporates many types of magic and is guided intuitively rather than with strict steps as seen in high magick.

Cosmic Witch: A witch who focuses on astrology and the placement of planets, stars, and moons when practicing their craft.

Eclectic Witch: A witch that incorporates many different traditions into their craft; slightly similar to the chaos witch, but they may follow strict guidelines if desired.

Egyptian Witch: A witch who follows a path similar to Wicca, but with a focus on the Egyptian deities.

Elemental Witch: A witch who works with the five esoteric elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.

Faery Witch: A witch who works with the Fae rooted in Irish and Scottish culture.

Folk Witch: "Cunning Folk" ; hereditary witches who follow a path similar to British witchcraft and used their magic and skills for practical purposes which were passed down through generations; *not common*

Gardnerian Witch: A witch who practiced a secret, formal, and highly structured version of Wicca based on the works of Gerald Gardner, who is credited for the modern witchcraft movement.

Hearth Witch: A witch who focuses on magick in the home.

Hedge Witch: A solitary witch that holds both kitchen and green witch attributes, such as making healing potions and brews in the kitchen; think of the old women in the woods archetype.

Hellenic Witch: A pagan witch who worships the ancient Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses.

Hereditary Witch: Unique to each family, a hereditary witch learns from their ancestral line.

Kitchen Witch: A witch who focuses on magick at home, especially the kitchen.

Left-handed Witch: A witch who often breaks taboos.

Luciferian Witch: A witch who believes Lucifer as the "bringer of light" and reveres the angel for enlightenment, independence, questioning authority, and progressive ideals.

Lunar Witch: A witch that heavily uses the cycles of the moon to do nearly all her magical work.

Music Witch: A witch who uses music as the medium of her magic.

Neo-Pagan Witch: An umbrella term for witches who practice newer forms of the craft such as Wicca, Gardernianism, and all new earth-based customs.

Norse Witch: A witch who centers their craft around Norse tradition of ancient sorcery and deities such as Odin and Freya.

Right-handed Witch: A witch that practices magic that is guided by social norms.

Satanic Witch: A witch that lives by the seven Satanic tenets and is strongly against the constructs of a dictatorial society; has nothing to do with worshiping the Christian's idea of Lucifer. Devil-worshiping does exist elsewhere under the broad realm of witchcraft, neither is exclusive to one another.

Scandinavian Witch: A witch who practices and studies Danish Folklore and some Norse traditions.

Secular Witch: A witch who practices magick without worshiping any deities, or their deities and witchcraft are kept separate.

Shamanic Witch: A witch who uses an altered state of consciousness to deliver their magic.

Sigil Witch: Also known as Word Witch, these practitioners use sigils and words weaved into their magic

Solitary Witch: A witch who practices alone rather than in a coven.

Tech Witch: A witch who does most of her work digitally or with some form of technology; this will become more prevalent over time in modern witchcraft.

Thelema Witch: A witch who uses the occult philosophy founded by Aleister Crowley, which centers around ceremonial magic and Egyptian rituals.

Wiccan Witch: A witch who practices the modern pagan religion of Wicca introduced by Gerald Gardner. ***Note: Wicca is a religion; witchcraft is not a religion, although can be involved in religious beliefs and should thus be legally protected equally.

#witch #witchblr #witchcraft #baby witch #magick #occult #witchy #beginner witch #kitchen witch #moon

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semper-legens · 2 years

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164. Over Sea, Under Stone, by Susan Cooper

Owned?: Yes Page count: 175 My summary: On holiday in Cornwall, the three Drew children are bored on a rainy day when they discover a long-forgotten secret hidden in the attic. With their great-uncle Merriman, they are soon pulled into a world of legend, when great kings walked the land and did battle with their foes. But there are enemies after their secret. Will the children find the holy grail, or lose it forever? My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Yep, it’s that time of year again, for the third time on this blog we’re talking about the Dark Is Rising sequence! That text links back to the tag that contains all my previous posts about these books, check them out if you’re interested because I’m going to try not to cover old ground when I talk about these books. I love them. They’re like a slightly more grown-up Narnia - based on English and Welsh folklore and folk traditions, featuring a struggle between all that is good and all that is evil, old magic and high magic and wild magic. That said, this book in particular is more of a mashup of Narnia and the Famous Five. Posh kids on holiday find the Holy Grail! It’s a lot lighter in tone than the rest of the series, but I love it all the same.

One of the things I’m really appreciating on this readthrough is how likeable and credible these kids are. Sure, they talk a lot more posh and formally than any kid I’d know today, but also these are kids from the 1960s, before my mother was born. I’m willing to believe kids did genuinely talk differently then. But the Drew kids bicker and snipe at each other like real kids, they make dumb choices and weird assumptions like real kids, they love and want to protect each other like real kids. The other thing I really like about the kids is seeing glimpses of the character traits that would become relevant in later books. In particular, Jane’s empathy. Jane is going to be basically the main character of the third book, Greenwitch, and arguably the inciting incident of that whole plot is Jane feeling sorry for the titular Greenwitch, an (as far as she knows) inanimate offering given ritualistically to the sea. We see this here, with her feeling sorry for the Dark characters, or her innately understanding the emotions of other characters. Sure, it’s likely a side effect of her being The Girl of the team, but it’s also a nice character trait for her to have, and one I like seeing as heroic in this kind of media.

I feel like I say this every year, but Merriman, your plans are bad. Merriman’s heavily implied to be literally Merlin, yet he can’t come up with a better plan than ‘let these random kids loose in a house and hope they trip over the plot’? It would be a bit better for me if, say, the kids just happened to have tripped over the plot and Merriman just went along with it because hey, they’re involved now. But no, it’s almost explicitly stated that Merriman’s plan was to bring these kids here and involve them in the fight against the Dark. Good going, Merlin! It’s also kind of weird in retrospect that we see Merriman more as a regular human being and less of an Old One - he’s fooled by Mrs Palk telling him the kids have gone elsewhere, and we even see him having just woken up, something I can’t really imagine of the later Merriman. It’s not too jarring, but it is a bit weird in hindsight.

And while I keep calling this the lighter of the series (because it is) I am reminded on this reread that, yeah, this book has its darker edges too. The Drew kids are fighting the tide in the climax, and if they were a little slower they totally could have died. Barney gets kidnapped, and had he not managed to snap out of it, who knows what the agents of the Dark might have done to him. The house gets burgled by the Dark, and mention is made of the Dark’s agents searching the kids’ bedroom, although this didn’t actually happen. And the Dark’s agents are totally willing to kill kids! It’s not as dark as the later books would become (I’ve overused the word ‘dark’ here horribly) but damn, it’s not all sunshine and roses either.

Next up, the next in this series, as the Dark comes rising.

#Over Sea Under Stone #Susan Cooper #bookblr #book blog #book blogger #4

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wolverinesorcery · 2 years

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I posted 3,820 times in 2022

That's 981 more posts than 2021!

100 posts created (3%)

3,720 posts reblogged (97%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@springfey

@zarya-zaryanitsa

@dionysiandrama

@oleanderandsalt

@teawitch

I tagged 2,371 of my posts in 2022

Only 38% of my posts had no tags

#art - 431 posts

#scheduled - 392 posts

#fauna - 248 posts

#homes - 154 posts

#q - 130 posts

#flora - 82 posts

#landscapes - 76 posts

#heddwyn post - 67 posts

#politics - 66 posts

#about me - 55 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#im considering writing a review but i think half of it would be being unhinged over the entire book talking about sex and not mentioning the

My Top Posts in 2022:

If you're going to bat for regions and nations called celtic, take a second and remember that's MORE than just gaelic nations, lol, brythonic groups (cornish, Welsh, breton) need as much support and solidarity.

33 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

The way some people on witchblr talk about psychosis/schizophrenia, delusions, etc. is so degrading.

"We're not like those CRAZY people" yeah? say the wrong words to the wrong person and you too can experience the humiliation and lack of agency given to psychotic/schizophrenic people. Undo your own sanism.

42 notes - Posted February 3, 2022

Cornish Witchcraft by Kelvin I Jones

Pamphlet of Cornish witchcraft, posted here because mostly falls under folklore vs hard and fast witchcraft resources. Has some 'celtic soup' - author uses Irish holidays (that're put through Wiccan-ification) rather than the Cornish holidays he's referencing, along with mislabelling of piskeys as fairies/fairy folklore, speculates heavily on a triple goddess type figure (though doesn't outright call it that, references mother/crone aspects) and pre-Christian deities. Mentions Bucca by name for once! Generally pretty fun read though! Delves into a lot of niche Cornish traditions that're largely unrecorded.

Google Drive link (PDF)

Not Exhaustive Content warnings under the cut

Bodily fluids (including blood + urine), animal death| + hunting, human death, drowning, immolation, use of human remains in witchcraft, mentions of various illnesses & parasites, some ableist outdated language

53 notes - Posted March 22, 2022

What is a commonplace book

Commonplace books are a method of compiling knowledge into one place, traditionally by handwriting but more recently with computers/word processors. They’re different from journals in that rather than containing exclusively personal thoughts or feelings, they’re a collection of external writings, informations, or other snippets of things recorded whenever it is encountered + usually organised.

To simplify – a commonplace book contains anything that captured it’s owners attention! Poems, extracts of fiction & non fiction writings, remarks or comments by others, anecdotes, observations, pertinent images, or other things along the same lines are all things that belong in a commonplace book!

Commonplace books have quite the history – their uses range between reading logs, reference books for students, and historically they were required by young women to demonstrate their upbringing.

How do they work

The exact system you use in your commonplace book is entirely up to you and what you will remember to use. Usually information is organised under themed/topic-based headings, but this can be as flexible or stiff as the keeper desires. My personal commonplace book is organised by source material – all of my book extracts & notes are kept together and demarcated by paperclips.

A commonplace book has no requirements in terms of physical format, size, page type, etc. As long as it is something you will be able to keep using happily! There is also no rules around decorating any pages with stickers or washi tape, or any rules around using sticky notes to add information on the go.

A commonplace book can also be as expansive or restricted as possible in terms of subject matter. For example, I keep a specific commonplace book for Babalon & Sekhmet. Nothing else enters this book.

What’s their use in religious practice or witchcraft?

A commonplace book can function as an in-between for a Grimoire (a book of magical knowledge and instruction, usually written by someone else and usually for transmitting knowledge within a specific tradition or branch of religion/witchcraft) & a Witchbook/Book of Shadows (more akin to a magical/religious journal for recordkeeping). They’re also exceptionally useful if you read a lot of metaphysical, occult or spiritual/religious books and want to keep organised notes in a hard copy form!

Commonplace books can be used to record interesting information from other, non-metaphysical but useful sources too, foraging notes and recipes are an obvious choice to keep a record of, along with notes about celestial events from astronomy sources.

In some cases, a commonplace book can also be a devotional activity, or a shrine of sorts. Commonplace books as a devotional activity is easy to parse – collecting and mindfully recording information about an entity, deity, divinity or other spirit is a good means to show care and interest.

A commonplace book as a shrine has a similar function to an e-shrine on tumblr, by collecting things that remind or represent an entity, deity, divinity or other spirit, a notebook can be made into a shrine or sacred object. This can also be a useful way to have a sacred touchpoint with an entity and keep it relatively out of sight, for those who are not open about their practice.

Examples

See the full post

139 notes - Posted November 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Paleoancestor veneration

Paleoancestors (also called deep time ancestors) are a collection of Ancestors I’ve not often seen talked about. There is a lot of overlap between paleoancestor veneration and paleoanimism/deep time spirit work – it is important to establish a firm connection with the paleoancestors you’re interested in venerating so they have a link to you as well. It’s also something I’ve found to be far more research-heavy than ancestor work involving humans and both more enjoyable and more challenging (palaeontology talks are enlightening but can also be an information overwhelm).

There are two main branches of paleoancestor work that I’ve found, that being paleoancestor archetypes and paleoancestor individuals (there are many mammoths, but only one Mammoth). I have a preference for the archetypes over individuals currently so the majority of this post will be from that perspective. Paleoancestor veneration is a practice I’ve found to be incredibly meaningful and a way to connect to the world around me.

There are a few methods I’ve used to contact paleoancestors, the main one being ‘walking back’ (a meditative exercise posted below). My second favourite option is connecting via the land and taking into consideration what megafauna + other extinct beings would have inhabited it before me - it’s easy to find what fossils have been discovered in your area and what more recently extinct animals called it home.

‘Walking back’

A technique I’ve found fantastic for initially contacting paleo-ancestors is ‘walking back through time.’ It’s a meditative exercise that roughly follows this structure:

Find yourself at the mouth of a cave through whichever sense you find best – smell the damp cave walls, touch the rough rock, or look down into the depths.

Enter the tunnel, feel the ridges of rock layers on the wall and the fossils embedded within, feel the history of the rock and look at the striations of time.

Walk deeper into the tunnel, find yourself travelling back through the ages, past the industrialisation of the world, past the spreading of agriculture. With each major mark of an extinction event, find a branching passage.

When you find a passage that feels ‘right’, explore it – walk down it, feel and look at the fossils extruding from the walls. At the end, there is a light and fresh air – perhaps it has a peculiar taste to it if you are in the Cambrian era, or maybe it is heavy with moisture from a Cretaceous polar forest.

Emerge from the tunnel into a new, exciting, unexplored place. Venture into the environment and see what approaches you. If at any point you are afraid, or in danger, there is an easy out – look down at your feet for a hole, crevice or chasm into the ground below and slip into it, back into the tunnel, and walk home.

Communication

Ancestors communicate in different ways, depending on the era they are from. Pikaia has a much more basal version of communicating with me, a human, than Cave Lion does. Pikaia only communicates with the most basic essence of a sentence or message: it resembles talking with ‘feeling words’ only but has no bearing on the depth or complexity of the messages

An example of this is, when seeking advice on a situation regarding anxiety for the summer, Pikaia’s advice was “warmth, joy, blue (colour)” and I roughly interpreted as the summer will be joyful and warm if I make it that way, but not to forget my needs (the blue colour’s meaning in my personal practice).

Cave Lion’s communication style is much more familiar to me and uses full sentences (though, he is reserved with how much he speaks).

Something that has been invaluable with paleoancestor work is keeping a constant record of communication, advice, and lessons. This is especially important if engaging with them on a personal level outside of asking for general advice and favours at an ancestor altar. This has been most helpful with learning Pikaia’s communication style!

Not all deep time ancestors are receptive to human contact (at least initially), especially if they are a relatively recently extinct animal whorse distruction humans may have played a part in. I’ve found that giving them gifts and allowing them to dictate the terms of communication (within reason) is deeply helpful and even gives them space to grieve their loss. The most recent experience of mine that has made this necessary is Aurochs, who expressed grief and rage over her own species fate as well as the fate of her descendants (domesticated cows).

Outside of direct communication through meditation, it is entirely dependent on the ancestor what they’d prefer as an intermediary. Cave Lion talks through my animal tarot, Aurochs prefers only direct astral communication, and Pikaia works in mysterious ways and will only occasionally talk through specific decks, tools, or will sometimes appear through my intuition.

Altars and gifts

This is entirely dependent on the ancestor – Pikaia has not asked for anything beyond that I swim in the ocean regularly, while Cave Lion asked for a hand-drawn charcoal art piece reminiscent of cave art and an object so I can carry him with me regularly. Aurochs has asked of me that I don’t consume beef at all and dairy as rarely as possible (which is something I am okay with doing for her), because of her grief over the loss of her species. Altar-wise, I’ve given all of them the option of space on my main working place side by side with the deities I connect with. This is where Cave Lion’s art lives, along with a dish for any food gifts they may request or receive as a surprise.

As a semi-gift for my paleo-ancestors I follow rewilding projects closely and involve myself with the land & sea – it’s something that has been fairly continuous throughout time after all. Keeping the environment free of litter, well cared for and 'understood' has also helped strengthen my connections to them. This has extended into the political too – trespass and rewilding are political issues that I’ve thrown my weight behind (along with various others).

Paleoancestor veneration is a practice I’ve found to be incredibly meaningful and a way to connect to the world around me and something I am always excited to talk about and share with other folks that might not realise it's an option! My askbox is open for any questions about any of the above post.

Links

Dinosaurs in your locale (website, global)

DIY Animism (animism & spirit work text that has been foundational in how I interact with animal spirits, book, global)

The Missing Lynx (book about UK extinctions from oldest to most recent, book, UK)

Royal Tyrrel Museum (posts paleontology talks for free, YouTube, Global)

Paleoancestors mentioned

Cave Lion, Panthera Spelaea (wikipedia) / Pikaia (wikipedia) / Aurochs, Bos Primigenius (wikipedia)

See the full post

151 notes - Posted April 18, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #long post #wulfwynn post

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ashleysingermfablog · 4 months

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Wk 16, 25th of May, 2024 Reflection

Ley lines are depicted in my sculptural works through straight lined arrangements of small casts. These run for about a metre long, and chart the energy I feel moving through the dimensions of a given space.

e.g.

Ashley Singer, clementine ley line, 2024, unfired porcelain, 1M across

Other ideas for shapes:

Fairy rings in my sculptural works are circular arrangements (usually made of more bending and curved casts to guide the circular line). The diameter of the rings are approx 0.5 M to up to 2 M.

e.g.

Ashley Singer, madonna lily fairy ring, 2024, taper candle wax, 2M across

Half circles and half lay lines are also possible and would be smaller in their length or circumference.

So after all this broad research on natured-based spirituality, mysticism, druidism, fairy tales, nursery rhymes, the welsh language and folklores, why focus on ley lines and fairy rings?

Ley lines are linked to anthropological endeavours to mystify energy. Energy was seen as travelling (in a ley line) from prehistoric stone monuments within and outside of Britain and Cymru (Wales). As a Cymry descendent, I am joined by my genealogical lines (lineage) to a culture rich with fairy knowledge, tales of knights, and mysticism of nature as ways of transcending knowledge down generations. The ley lines, in my practice, act like a tracker of genealogical knowledge and help me contextualise myself as pakeha in Aotearoa.

My fascination in these "imaginary" and almost pseudo scientific concepts and systems of knowledge, doesn't lie in a questioning of if they are real? I am not testing for the validity of these esoteric thought systems. I am interested rather, in the way knowledge is ingested and transitioned through art making and builds culture. In the way that sculptural matter, art matter, and natural matter (organic) intersects and interacts as a part of culturally functions. This is what links my practice so heavily to anthropology. Which studies humans and what they have left behind on earth for centuries, using fine art as a language to re-engage with a cultural I feel somewhat distance from, linking to the colonial amnesia, I seek to reinvigorate the Celtic knowledge that has been lost in family over generations.

Fairy rings were an extremely memorable component of my childhood, daisy rings and mushroom circles were something I sought out often in my adventures into 'fairy land', which was the bush growing outside my home. My mum and I set up little offerings of stones, glitter in small posy bags, gem stones, wishing stones and handwritten notes to fairies hoping for good fortune and good luck. This was something I really cherished and it fostered a sense of care for smallness. I often spent a lot of time in these fairy worlds as we lived rurally.

I always wondered where these ideas of fairy rings, nursery rhymes, superstitions and general mysticism came from in my family as my father was very cynical to those things and much preferred the rational of science, to anything 'made up' like fairy tales. Connecting more deeply with my nana on my mums side and visiting Wales when I was older and working towards becoming de-colonial in my thoughts, led me to see genealogy (whakapapa) as crucial to understanding what has been lost in knowledge in my family.

By building fairy rings out of casts of gleaned matter, I am able re-loop myself into the genealogical knowledge of my ancestors, building a circle of knowledge of ancient peoples to become closely connected again.

#studio #may

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magicveiled · 11 months

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# MAGICVEILED. ❝ Watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it !

This is a fandomless, private, and semi-low-activity 𝐎𝐂 𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄 based on characters of my own canon and lore. Heavily inspired by Scottish, Welsh, and Irish folklore, muses are various witches, faeries, and magical creatures.

𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 : Supernatural, Charmed, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Marvel, DC, American Gods, True Blood, and Baldur's Gate 3, and more.

Please read character bios and guidelines before interacting. When liking my starter calls, sending in any inbox memes or asks, PLEASE SPECIFY A MUSE or you will automatically get my main girl, Morgan. Penned by Molly (she/her). 21+

𝐀𝐅𝐅𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐆𝐒 ; @hegrowth, @crackedmxgic, @untilthcyrot / @sookiestackhcuse, @blamedhe / @blazedborn, @frombloodandink, @daemondaes, @sasslightertm, @sgarrigh

𝐌𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐄 𝐍𝐀𝐕𝐈𝐆𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 + 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐌𝐔𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐖 𝐂𝐔𝐓 :

Morgan

Michael

Ciara

Carter

Rascal

Oliver

The Mórrígan

The Dagda

Joseph

Maddleynn

Juliette

code of conduct

world lore

meme tag

muse edits

muse tags

#ooc. | * pinned post !

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theladyofbloodshed · 2 years

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When i first read sjm books i thought she was a phenomenal writer and while i do think her books and character arcs are amazing i just found out that mostly all her iconic lines and scenes are ripped off or let's say hugely inspired. The whatever end isn't a rowan/aelin original quote it's straight from lotr and the rattle the stars as well is from another movie. The crescent city is heavily based on fever series which is one of sjm favorite series, the whole fireheart and aelin name is from her favorite childhood book the damar series and so on and on. There was a point in koa when i thought i was reading a lotr fanfic because of how similar some parts were

Yup! It is one thing to be influenced, but another thing to just rip it off. Even across series, she uses lines basically word for word.

Similar with a lot of the mythological elements too. Just off the top of my head:

Tam Lin is a Scottish ballad.

The naga are from south Asian folklore.

The bogge are a play on boggle which are from Scottish folklore.

Koschei is a Slavic myth right down to the black box Elain sees in her vision.

The weaver is based on stryzga, a Slavic demon.

Ruks in ToD are based on Middle Eastern myths of Rocs or Rukhs

Calan Mai is a Welsh festival.

Samhuinn is a knock off of Samhain, a Gaelic festival.

Lehabah is based on a kobold, a Germanic sprite who helps with domestic tasks and is usually found in the fireplace.

Ariadne, the dragon shifter, is based on verechelen.

Fenrys Moonbeam is a wolf shifter. In Norse mythology, Fenrir or Fenrisúlfr is a giant wolf that will kill Odin during Ragnarok.

The Valkyries are also from Norse mythology.

The Wild Hunt is taken from North European mythologies - it signifies a bad omen to see it.

Kelpies are from Scottish folklore.

#anti sjm #anon asks #me

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x-x-just-a-little-witchyy-x-x · 3 years

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Types Of Witches

Alexandrian Witch: A witch who practices the magic founded by Alex and Maxine Sanders in the 1960s with a focus on ritual and ceremonial magic.

Angel Witch: A witch who works with Angels rather than or in addition to traditional deities

Art Witch: A witch who uses art as the medium of their magic.

Augury Witch: A witch who divines omens, signs, and symbols.

Axis Mundi Witch: A witch who studies the core idea that there is a central pillar that joins Earth to Heaven.

British Traditional Witch: A witch who focuses on the superstitions and spells that originated in the British Isles.

Celtic Witch: A witch who focuses on Celtic and Welsh deities, mythology, rituals, and earth magic.

Ceremonial Witch: A witch who practices high magick (ceremonial) such as Hermetic, Thelemic, and Enochian with a rigid and step-by-step method.

Chaos Witch: A witch who has a contemporary practice that incorporates many types of magic and is guided intuitively rather than with strict steps as seen in high magick.

Chthonioi Witch: A witch who practices a variation of the Alexandrian tradition which also includes Greek gods and goddesses.

Correllian Witch: A witch that practices a type of Wicca founded in the late 20th century by Caroline High Correll. She descended from a line of Cherokee Didanvwisgi who intermarried with Scottish Traditional Witches, and Correllian witchcraft was further influenced by Aradian Witchcraft and the Spiritualist Church.

Cosmic Witch: A witch who focuses on astrology and the placement of planets, stars, and moons when practicing their craft.

Crystal Witch: A witch who focuses heavily on crystals in their magic.

Dianic Witch: Branching from Wicca, Dianic Witches focus on female deities. Dianic Witchcraft is named after the Roman goddess Diana, ruler of hunting, nature, and the Moon.

Eclectic Witch: A witch that incorporates many different traditions into their craft; slightly similar to the chaos witch, but they may follow strict guidelines if desired.

Egyptian Witch: A witch who follows a path similar to Wicca, but with a focus on the Egyptian deities.

Elemental Witch: A witch who works with the five esoteric elements: earth, air, fire, water, and spirit.

Faery Witch: A witch who works with the Fae rooted in Irish and Scottish culture.

Gardnerian Witch: A witch who practiced a secret, formal, and highly structured version of Wicca based on the works of Gerald Gardner, who is credited for the modern witchcraft movement.

Green Witch: A witch that uses gardening and herbalism in most of their craft and often focuses on healing work and earth magic.

Hearth Witch: A witch who focuses on magick in the home.

Hedge Witch: A solitary witch that holds both kitchen and green witch attributes, such as making healing potions and brews in the kitchen; think of the old women in the woods archetype.

Hellenic Witch: A pagan witch who worships the ancient Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses.

Hereditary Witch: Unique to each family, a hereditary witch learns from their ancestral line.

Kitchen Witch: A witch who focuses on magick at home, especially the kitchen.

Left-handed Witch: A witch who often breaks taboos.

Luciferian Witch: A witch who believes Lucifer as the "bringer of light" and reveres the angel for enlightenment, independence, questioning authority, and progressive ideals.

Lunar Witch: A witch that heavily uses the cycles of the moon to do nearly all her magical work.

Music Witch: A witch who uses music as the medium of her magic.

Neo-Pagan Witch: An umbrella term for witches who practice newer forms of the craft such as Wicca, Gardernianism, and all new earth-based customs.

Norse Witch: A witch who centers their craft around Norse tradition of ancient sorcery and deities such as Odin and Freya.

Right-handed Witch: A witch that practices magic that is guided by social norms.

Scandinavian Witch: A witch who practices and studies Danish Folklore and some Norse traditions.

Sea Witch: A witch who practices water-based magic and usually lives in a coastal area. A water witch works with lakes, rivers, streams, and is not confound to the ocean.

Secular Witch: A witch who practices magick without worshiping any deities, or their deities and witchcraft are kept separate.

Shamanic Witch: A witch who uses an altered state of consciousness to deliver their magic.

Sigil Witch: Also known as Word Witch, these practitioners use sigils and words weaved into their magic

Solitary Witch: A witch who practices alone rather than in a coven.

Tech Witch: A witch who does most of her work digitally or with some form of technology; this will become more prevalent over time in modern witchcraft.

Thelema Witch: A witch who uses the occult philosophy founded by Aleister Crowley, which centers around ceremonial magic and Egyptian rituals.

Traditional Witch:

Traditional witches are witches who have a base in the history of witchcraft and the Old Craft that came before Wicca. They take a historical (traditional) approach to their practice and often will study their ancestors or other folklore attached to witchcraft. Traditional witches want to honor the “old” ways of practicing their craft, and will often focus on working with the local history and spirits of where they are or where they’ve come from. While these witches do old history and customs in high regard, there are absolutely contemporary traditional witches practicing today.

Information found on: https://www.letterstolilith.com/blog/the-different-types-of-witches

#witchblr #my research #types of witches

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celiabowens · 4 years

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underrated SFF books (YA and Adult)

So uhm, since I keep seeing the same books on my dash all the time (and I like them too, just...there’s more! to read!) here’s a list of less popular SFF books, divided into YA and Adult. I’ve tried to mention when there is lgbt rep and the trigger warnings. Also, books written by poc will be in bold. Please point out any typo or mistake or if I’ve forgotten specific rep/tw mentions.

All of these are books that I’ve read and enjoyed (by enjoyed I mean anything from 3 stars and above), but if anyone wants to add titles please feel free to do so!!

YA:

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi: beautifully written, fairytale-like story rich in mythology (inspired by several Hindu myths. There’s a full list on goodreads indicated by the author herself). Roshani’s prose is gorgeous.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi: it’s a companion novel to The Star-Touched Queen, but both can be read as a standalone. I liked this one more than its companion and I particularly loved how the romance was written (slow burn, but specifically, the author really highlights the mutual respect between the characters, we love to see it).

The Young Elites by Marie Lu: fantasy trilogy set in a world inspired by Renaissance Italy, in which children who survived a mysterious and deadly illness ended up with strange and dangerous powers. Secret societies and a female villain!

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: historical fantasy following Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, a girl as talented as her brother, but afraid of being forgotten because of the lack of opportunities she has to be seen and heard. Nuanced sibling relationship, no romance.

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski: fantasy f/f romance! Both a coming of age story set in a society with a rigid class system and a slow burn f/f romance with a lot of banter. TW: abuse.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: magical realism. The book follows two families of traveling performers that have been locked in a feud for over a generation. This was the author’s debut and I remember getting an arc of it and being impressed by both the prose and how the forbidden love trope was handled.

When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: another magical realism novel. One of the main characters is a trans boy and the book focuses on issues of racism and gender. One of my favorite YA!

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton: fantasy romance set in a village that periodically sacrifices a young man in order to keep a deal with the devil that ensures their prosperity. Also, polyamorous and non-binary rep.

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee: first book in a duology following avatar Kyoshi’s life. It explores the political and cultural aspect of the Earth Kingdom and Kyoshi’s past. Bisexual rep.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: sort of a murder mystery fantasy, as the main character finds herself suddenly thrust into power once her father has been murdered. The story has a slow build up to a last part full of twists and machinations and it features lots of court intrigue. Warning: the ending is quite open and afaik there isn’t a sequel planned as of now.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones: a quite unique take on zombies influenced by Welsh mythology (it’s super cool). The novel follows Ryn and their siblings, as they try to get by after their parents’ death by working as gravediggers. Only well, the dead don’t always stay dead. The characters read a bit younger than they are imo. There is chronic pain rep.

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas: retelling of the original ballad of Mulan. The book follows Mulan, who’s trained her whole life to win a duel for a priceless heirloom, as she joins the army. There’s a lot of political and historical details, which I really appreciated. Do not go into it expecting a fun adventure though. The descriptions of war aren’t extremely graphic, but be aware of the fact that most of the book is set during a conflict.

The Candle and The Flame by Nafiza Azad: standalone fantasy set in a city on the Silk Road! It’s a quite slow-paced tale about love, family and politics. It has lush descriptions of landscapes and cultures (and FOOD, there are some really great descriptions of food). It’s a very atmospheric book and while I struggled a bit with the pace I’d still recommend it.

Forest of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao: sort of an East Asian inspired retelling of Snow White, but following the Evil Queen before she became Snow White’s stepmother. I honestly haven’t read its sequel (which should focus on Snow White herself), but I do think this can be read and enjoyed as a standalone too.

The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner: it’s hard to point out exactly what this series is about because it has evolved so much with time. It starts out as classic quest/adventure series with The Thief (which may seem a classic and simple book, but is actually full of foreshadowing and has a really clever set up), but develops into a complex and intriguing political fantasy in The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia (and then goes back to the quest theme in book 5, Thick as Thieves).

Adult:

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong: I’m cheating with this one because it’s technically a short story but I love Alyssa Wong’s stories so I’m putting it here anyway. It can be read for free and you should just...read it.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome. Please make sure you check all the TW before reading.

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang: a Japanese-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri: first book in an epic fantasy duology inspired by Mughal India (TW: abuse, slavery). I really liked both Empire of Sand and its companion and I find them pretty underrated. Both books have great slow burn romance (with a focus on mutual trust and respect) and focus on culture, religion, self acceptance and politics.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. It’s a great approach to adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human (this trope is everything!).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. The trilogy as a whole has one of the best arcs I’ve ever seen: each book is perfectly self-contained and has its own arc, but also fits perfectly in the bigger picture of the trilogy. The atmosphere is amazing, the cast of characters is extremely well developed. Also frost demons are better than men.

The Binding by Bridget Collins: historical fantasy, but with very minimal fantasy elements. It’s set in a world vaguely reminiscent of 19th century England. I’d say this book is about humans and self discovery. It’s about cowardice and the lies we tell ourselves and those we wish we could tell ourselves. Gay rep. (TW: abuse, sexual assault, pretty graphic suicide scene).

The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Set in a Venice-like merchant city. Also, slow burn f/f romance.

Jade City by Fonda Lee: sort of a gangster urban fantasy, heavily inspired by wuxia and set in an Asian-inspired metropolis. It follows a pretty big cast of characters, each with their own journey and development. It features nuanced family dynamics and a lot of political and economical subplots. Not extremely prominent, but book 2 features m/m side rep.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse: inspired by Native American culture and specifically by the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. TW: the book isn’t extremely violent but there is death and some gore.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn f/f romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks). I ranted a lot about it already.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault, abuse). I also really recommend Yoon Ha Lee’s short-story collection Conservation of Shadows.

The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. f/f romance.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed. f/f side rep.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans. I really like how creative Clark’s worlds are and how good he is at writing female characters (which rarely happens with male authors).

The haunting of tram car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark: novella set in an alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It’s set in the same world of a Dead Djinn in Cairo, which is a short story you can read for free.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: epistolary novella set during a time-travel war. It has gorgeous writing and an amazing f/f romance. As a novella, it’s quite short but it’s beautifully crafted and so complex for such a short book!

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake: self-published urban fantasy following two rival families in New York. Sort of a Romeo and Juliette retelling but with gangster families and magic. Honestly recommend all of her books, I love how Olivie writes and especially how she writes female characters.

#book recs #book recommendations #adult sff #ya literature #lgbt fiction #litblr #listen this doesn't show in tags i'm DONE #done with this tagging system lol #also if there are mistakes please tell me!!#book rec

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bean-na-farraige-agus-foraoise · 4 years

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Druids ain’t shit and here’s why.

Straight from the Pond- here’s a lesson from your friendly neighborhood historian.

It’s a long post so the history lesson is under the cut.

Druidic “history” (or pseudohistory rather) actually begins with early renaissance politics.

Basically Italy is dominating politics and religion by being able to call back to an ancient history that led directly into the formation of the centralized Catholic church. Surprising nobody who's familiar with European history- the German states want in on that action but they don't really have that direct line linking them to antiquity beyond their conquering by Rome- so, like any good 15th century academics, they create that link by just making shit up.

So they look back at ancient roman writings, and see mention of druids, and also realize that they actually don't know fuck all about them, there's no records of them beyond a few classical authors- and for the record, classical authors are NOTORIOUSLY unreliable, there are entire graduate level seminars dedicated to teaching people how to read through ancient Roman propaganda, almost every druid I have ever met has taken classical authors at face value, anyway I digress, they just start making up a history of the druids, German lands used to be populated by Celts, and they create these mystical druids who serve as the direct precursor to The Church in these areas, like they forge documents and everything so when Italy goes "oh yeah since when?" they have something to hold up as a "gotcha" - they fashion statues and hide them in crypts as further evidence. It’s wild.

So, France sees that the German states are becoming more politically popular within the HRE (Holy Roman Empire) because of these druid stories, and so they go "Hey Celts used to live in France too... we should have druids"- and they create druid stories. Scotland at the time is very close with France politically and they go "Hey us too, we're still Celts,” and then it spreads to Wales, and then England. Ireland is mostly staying out of druid nonsense- like in this period of the OG pseudohistories Ireland is like "this is disgusting we don't want druids" so like all the writings in Ireland in this period on druids are like "yeah the Church HATES druids"

Things quiet down for a little bit, because the stories are established, the cards have been played, whatever, but then Neo-Classicism and the Enlightenment- and now suddenly it's cool to have ancient history again - but like... Britain has "we got conquered by Rome" or "hey a few centuries ago people were saying we had druids?”; so naturally the more nationalistic go with druids....which is how we get, Iolo Morganweg. Iolo's real name is Edward Williams but he insisted on going by his "bardic name"- bc druids. Williams was a Welsh antiquarian- who is in some scholastic circles considered the father of “modern” druidry. Williams literally named his son Taliesin after the bardic poet behind the Poems of Taliesin which is frequently in association with the Mabinogi in Brythonic texts. To pull from the wiki on this asshole:

[he made] claims that ancient Druidic tradition had survived the Roman conquest, the conversion of the populace to Christianity, the persecution of bards under King Edward I, and other adversities. His forgeries develop an elaborate mystical philosophy, which he claimed as a direct continuation of ancient Druidic practice. Williams's reportedly heavy use of laudanum may have been a contributing factor

Yeah.... just... yeah. So not only did he forge like hella documents, which today in the 21st century, over 100 years after he was revealed as a fraud, are still more popular than the originals- but he also is the reason that ogham is like that. Williams created a ‘bardic alphabet’ based on combining Scandinavian runes and extant ogham - we are still wading through his bullshit trying to fix ogham.

And this brings us to the Celtic Twilight......

To quote @liminalblessings, “And a bunch of noodle fuckers decide "hey, we didn't bastardize the Irish enough for the last however long.... We should do more of that."” But for those of you not familiar with the term, it's a nationalistic pan-Celtic movement that wanted to like, make the Celts in vogue again? but like their idea of the Celts as "noble savage” - because the modern era was scary. At this point, Pan-Celtic Nationalism is starting to rise as pushback against British colonialism in Celtic nations. Unfortunately it's heavily reliant on the Druid myth as like.... A foundational shared cultural history between the surviving Celtic nations. The point largely is, though, "look at us. We should all be sticking together because we're the same / cousins / brothers". Which leads to a L O T of Celtic culture from various countries kind of getting.... molded into one singular idea- which is USUALLY what we think of today when we think of Celts. Basically everything gets branded as Irish because the Irish were “pure” and a “separate racial identity” as opposed to the Scots and Welsh. It took that idea of a pan-Celtic singularity, and then went ham with it mostly on Irish pre-Christian stuff, and as it occurred not too long after Williams’ fuckery, it really cemented those forgeries and psuedohistories in the cultural memory. And Williams wasn’t exposed as a fraud until after the Celtic Twilight had died down.

Now... Yeats, we all know Yeats- some people recommend his writings for learning about the fairies. DO NOT LISTEN TO THOSE PEOPLE. Yeats makes up an entire tree calendar, and also files all Scottish fairy lore under the “Irish” tab because he’s part of the Celtic Twilight and didn’t you know that everything Celtic is actually Irish? Fuck this guy. #yeetyeats

Enter... Robert Graves- destroyer of histories and all around fuckwit. Graves maked up an ENTIRE religious notion around a mother goddess and shit. And like, the irony of that is the people he supposedly went to originally were like lol dude you're a fucking idiot none of this is real. But he published it anyways and of course it got taken seriously. And then there's a lot of reverse etymology at this point which is just.... really bad linguistics. And because of Graves’ white goddess + said bad linguistics by others, you get Danu.(Danu is a whole thing, please shoot me an ask if you want a post about all of that nonsense).

So.... Gerald Gardener.... to quote @liminalblessings again- “didn’t have a direct role in druidism, except he kind of did.” See, Gardner had a good friend who was hella interested in the Celtic twilight. Said friend was hella inspiried by Gardner's "recreation" of old British trad witch traditions... But he didn't jive with the old British trad witch traditions. HE jived with Irish Druidry. So while Gardner's doing HIS thing, his friend's doing the modern Druid thing- heavily drawing from Gardner's own work but "making it more historically Druid" Except, as you may have picked up- there is no such thing as “historically druid” that can be reconstructed. Basically he can only pull from Williams, but because he had issues with with the old 15th century on stuff, up to the Twilight era (despite those being his sources) so he tries to distance himself from the earlier movements and leans hella heavy into Gardner's work as a result. Which is, if you've ever wondered, why Wicca and Druidry have such incredibly similar ritual structures and beliefs.

SO, this guy starts the Druid Order, decides that he’s gonna like pull his teachings from Williams- but he's also gonna say that Williams has nothing to do with his druidry because y'know, Williams has relatively recently been revealed as a fraud. This guy goes through the grueling process of ripping off his best bud gardner founding Druidry, right. So The Druid Order has this rebranding in 1951, that lauds the “history of the druids” as written by Williams but simultaneously rejects Williams saying “yeah we have nothing whatsoever to do with that guy.” Mix into this narrative, Gardener’s “burning times” bullshit, and now not only do we have mythical pseudohistorical druids, but a rewrite of Williams’ “the druids survived conversion” which then turned into - “The druids were heavily persecuted by the church and survived a horrible burning times but despite this there’s a tradition of continuous druidic belief.” Here begins the bullshit known as “vestiges of pagan thought”- which took actual historians not even a decade to disprove, and yet still circulates in pagan circles, because nobody picks up a fucking book. Theoretical Folkloric archaeology became very popular at this time, which postulates (incorrectly) that all folk traditions and folklore absolutely stems from Pagan times and is 100% the Christianization of pagan practices and thoughts- which is not at all true. (Not-so-friendly reminder that Eostre? DOESN’T FUCKING EXIST. STOP FALLING FOR A JOKE MADE BY A MONK)

Td;lr so far- the druids went from

the Catholic clergy before the Catholics existed

a religious group that survived conversion

druids survived an intense and violent persecution

And now? In this our 21st century?

Well.... druidic organizations today tend to still push these ahistorical narratives, that buy into the pagan persecution complex.... and several of these organizations also have known racists and terfs on their recommended reading lists. And while some organizations have made attempts to become more historically accurate- but the end result is usually.... bad. It tends to result in them using a source from like 1960 that’s been disproven 1000 times since by other historians to go “look a historian agrees with us!” rather than like... keep up with current research trends and academic standards. Druids also tend to be hostile to the syncretism of the Irish church which is just..... so fucking dumb. Don’t worship gaelic deities if you can’t accept that our lore are Christian texts about pagan beliefs.

So yeah..... druids ain’t shit and I can prove it historically. I am also more than willing to send anyone links to full length books on the history of druids if you want to learn more.

#anti-druidic rhetoric #druids #druidry #fuck druids #druidism #druid

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letterful · 4 years

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hello jaga! i really wanted to read a deadly education but i've seen people comment on it being racist.. have you noticed anything like that?

okay, full disclosure: i’m white (slavic), so i’m afraid i’m not the best person to make this judgement. however, both uprooted and spinning silver were heavily based on eastern european culture/history/folklore, and i can say it’s the single most acccurate portrayal of ee i’ve ever read (but then again, novik herself has eastern european roots). that being said: i cannot say i have, no! i haven’t seen any of my mutuals mention it either. they mostly complained about exposition (which is an issue, i agree, but i don’t care that much, since, well, i do love me some worldbuilding infodumps) or pacing. still, the majority of characters are non-white, with the protagonist being biracial (welsh mother & desi father), and while i cannot comment on the accuracy of her portrayal, i felt that novik had approached the topic of multiculturalism (which is one of the most crucial themes of ade, and what sets it apart from other british-adjacent boarding school novels) with care and respect. if anybody else has read the book and would like to add their own thoughts: please feel free to!

#Anonymous

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strange-lights-and-stardust · 4 years

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Write Your Witchcraft 36-40

36. Would I want to be dedicated/initiated?

I used to be sure that I would never want to be initiated into any kind of formal tradition, or take any sort of binding vow of dedication. Obviously that changed last year when I took my lifelong vows of dedication to Gwyn. I had gone from "absolutely not" to "well maybe" to (after meeting Him, and being asked if I'd consider dedicating) "oh yes please let's!" I've also had several initiations over the course of my path with Him. Those haven't involved any other humans, so it's not quite like the type of initiation I was imagining, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

37. Who do I honor (ex: deities, ancestors, myself, etc), and how do I, or would I like to, honor them?

My life is centered around honoring Gwyn, in lots of ways both little and big. I honor other Deities too, and try to respect all parts of the universe as best I can.

38. How do I create a sacred/witchy space?

Until last year I was learning and practicing in the context of being a Wiccan in a mostly Wiccan-leaning group, so my first answer to this is to cast a circle and call the quarters and all that. I think there are additional ways I would do this now, but I can't really put them into words yet. Spending time in the presence of my Godds and/or before my altars can feel really magical and sacred.

39. What do I believe is needed for a succesful spell/ritual?

I would say it's mostly intent--that is, it's not based on what tools you have, so much as what's in your heart or the ways in which you're interacting with Godds and spirits etc. I don't fully know though. I'm very unsure how to answer this question, honestly. Sounds like a thing to ask my Teacher (Gwyn).

40. Which cultures do I draw from in my witchcraft?

I'm a Brythonic Polytheist so Wales and other British and Celtic cultures tend to influence me heavily. In particular I'd like to learn all I can about Wales and the Welsh people, both about their culture and language, and the issues they've faced historically and now.

Although I have distant Welsh and Scottish ancestry, my family has been living in the Southern US (mostly Kentucky) for the past several hundred years, so despite growing up in California, I find myself heavily influenced by southern culture as well. I'd like to look into some folk magic and folklore from that area of the world as well.

#writeyourwitchcraft #Gwyn ap Nudd #witchcraft #gwyndeity #brythonic polytheism #witchblr

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vampire-himbos-of-santa-perdita · 5 years

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Picking out names for the Heaven’s Tiny Daggers characters has been both so lazy and yet so specific. It’s been very off the top of my head “THIS very specific name”, and yet it’s bang on somehow???

Finola Begby

Named for Robert Carlyle’s character, Begbie in Trainspotting.

I was an extra in the Trainspotting sequel while I was living in Edinburgh, which is a meaningful little snapshot of my life immortalized on film.

The scene we were filming was an 80s club night, which coincidentally is also the setting of my favourite scene I’d written into Regardless, years before this even happened.

They made us sing and dance along to “Radio Gaga” by Queen, an integral influence on a bunch of the bands in Heaven’s Tiny Daggers. (That’s also a song about how the way we listen to music’s changing, which is a nice parallel to HTD’s focus on the shift in the music industry over the years.)

My Chemical Romance was named after Mikey Way found a collection of Irvine Welsh stories referred to as “tales of a chemical romance”. Irvine Welsh wrote the Trainspotting series.

Finn’s character is heavily inspired by Gerard Way of MCR.

Vanilla Gunfire

Finola can easily be misheard as “vanilla”; She’s a “boring, white girl” about to prove everyone wrong. (I should note that Vanilla Gunfire is Finn’s stage name).

Gunfire- a weapon. Not a tiny dagger, but a weapon nonetheless. Often the signal for revolution.

Gunfire also refers to a 19th century cocktail, mixing black tea and whisky. I feel most at home both in Scotland and the UK, which associate themselves pretty heavily with whisky and tea.

Grace & Aster Maddox

Aster, meaning “star”; there’s a celestial background to the original demons in this novel, due to their ties to angels.

There’s an irony to Grace’s name, as she’s tormented by the demons that possess her.

Grace is also one of many girls in the music industry who gets brainwashed into compliance. Hence grace, meaning “polite, kind, merciful”. She’s named for what is expected of her as a woman. (Naturally, she’s gonna be the opposite.)

I just looked up Maddox right now, and apparently it’s a type of gun. Aster and Finn are very well matched. Also, another weapon reference...

Maddox comes from the Welsh “Madoc”, who according to folklore, sailed to America in 1170. The only hint in the US of his existence is the Devil’s Backbone between Kentucky and Indiana. Both Maddox siblings are heavily associated with demons.

The band members of Heaven’s Tiny Daggers come from a small town somewhere in the Ohio/Indiana/Kentucky/West Virginia area. (I’ve yet to decide where, but that’s a weird coincidence...)

Madoc is said to have left his home to flee rising violence. Aster and Grace leave a violent home to start their punk band, The Crossroad Burials.

Davina Jones

as in Davy Jones.

A coincidence, but 19th century superstition defines the Davy Jones’ locker superstition as the kidnapping of sailors. Kidnapping is an important plot point in HTD, particularly for Davina...

The pirate theme here is a nod to the network of lady pirates, Steamboat Annie in Haunt Your Murderers, and for good reason....

Penny Dreadful

19th century sensationalist serials, often featuring pulpy gothic horror stories.

This is a nod to Haunt Your Murderers, a loving homage to penny dreadfuls, and a couple characters therein who show up in this novel...

Lucretia Straker

Lucretia, named for the Sisters of Mercy song “Lucretia, My Reflection”, which is a song I put on the Regardless playlist to represent the motif of mirrors as a prison. (Her husband, a vampire also can’t be seen in mirrors.) There’s a lot of songs about mirrors I could talk about, but that’s for another post.

Lucretia Straker is the stage name of Millie Marsette, who first shows up in the Time series. (hence the aforementioned Regardless tie-in).

This is totally coincidental, but the original Roman tale of Lucretia is about a woman who was the direct cause of a rebellion. Gosh, I wonder what she’s up to in this novel???🤔

Straker, named for the villain in Stephen King’s vampire novel, ‘Salem’s Lot. Millie/Lucretia’s husband and bandmate, Ezra/Lazarus is a vampire.

In ‘Salem’s Lot, Richard Straker buys an abandoned old house on the hill and lures people in. Millie’s maternal family spent generations in an isolated old house on a hill, luring people in to sustain their dwindling magic (as heavily featured in Regardless).

Hellene Saturnine

Partially named for MCR’s “Helena.” Fans regularly debate how the name should be pronounced. It’s a running gag in HTD that no one knows how to properly pronounce Hellene’s name, and she’s not about to tell them.

Hellene as a name refers to a moon of Saturn.

She’s a fallen angel (or an elder demon), which in this universe, makes her a celestial, hence the astronomical theme.

Saturnine comes from Saturninus, Tamora’s husband in Titus Andronicus. Tamora is Queen of the Goths during the Roman Empire, as per Shakespeare’s interpretation. (The parallel between Saturnine and Saturn was a happy coincidence I ran with.)

Ezra Blutmann is an original Germanic Goth. There’s implications here that he and Hellene have tangled as far back as the Roman Empire, and their distrust in each other is part of what’s causing the rift between immortals in the punk scene...

I just so happened to look up the word “saturnine” and it means “slow and gloomy; moody or mysterious”. Hellene is based on Florence Welch, with heavy focus on her moody, mysterious qualities.

#...I'm seeing a lot of Rome in here #maybe I should chase that thread up #only half of that was intentional #sophie writes #anyway #here's only about a dozen of the several references I've made in this fucking novel #i'm not quite ready for a masterlist of ALL the references in this novel #as i'm only just getting started #but there's SO MUCH #and I'm getting there #heaven's tiny daggers #girl punk novel #also here's a little sneaky peek of how all my novels are intertwined in this novel.....

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