#jbird's asks

[friend-crow]

YOU JUPE BOOK IS DOPE. Did you bind it? It looks great!

Gosh, thank you! And yes, I did!

[musingmelsuinesmelancholy]

1, 11, and 21 for the ask game

1) a traditional witch, I’m hesitant to use the term “folk witch” as I haven’t grown up in a family/society with strong folk traditions even though I do practice folk magic. Idk, maybe I do fit the label 🤷

11) astrology! It fascinates me how people, like Sasha Ravitch, can see so much in the stars.

21) @liminalblessings @birch-bark-scribbles @windvexer @graveyarddirt @empyrealhesper @songsofbloodandwater @tyetknot @lailoken @jakattax @jbird-the-manwich @friend-crow @elminx @blackthornwren @spiritscraft @etamina-amata @banefolk @southerncunning I’m sure forgetting others but yea! I dig these blogs

Thanks for asking!

[windvexer]

I was having an interesting conversation with a friend last night about comparison to others in witchcraft, especially seeing what other people are doing and asking yourself if you're wrong for not doing that.

Which I do all the time. Like jbird I'll see you post and I'm like, my *god*, am I supposed to be doing Appalachian folk magic? Or I'll see a gorgeous picture of an altar... my god, am I supposed to have a seasonal wildforaged altar based on Catholicism?? Am I?! Because someone else is doing it and what am I doing, a whole bunch of dust and duct tape shit over in Tarpit, California.

As I was talking with this friend I said you know, I think comparing yourself to others is just something people do. But I think that we go wrong by internalizing it. I think maybe that impulse to compare and contrast is just a social thing, a quick check to see if that person is in our tribe.

"Ooo, Appalachian folk magic! Is that me? No?" And then at that moment I think you can continue as, "neat, now I have some social information about how this person and I relate," or "so I guess I'm wrong."

Anyway my PSA is that I don't think this goes away when you develop your own practice or gain confidence in your craft, I think this is something else about how you relate to the world, and if you want to stop feeling this way you have to practice and try to reframe the experience because (trust me) it will not go away just because you've found your own magical identity.

i see people post on here all the time about how they felt like a lesser witch because X, and advise not to feel like a lesser witch because X, and I really have to wonder if that would be such a common feeling if we weren't trapped in a bubble of advertising constantly trying to insinuate to the entire populace that lesser is a thing that happens in people and you need to be sure it doesn't happen to you, with our fresh new product all the people who aren't wastes of otherwise profitable organs are already using. I'm thinking it might have affected us

[lailoken]

Gotta agree with Red on this one - Snail, all the way. To the degree that I was beachcombing the other day, found a wealth of freshwater snail shells, and immediately thought of you.

That sort of thing makes me beam, honestly. I know that a lot of people wouldn’t be too pleased being correlated with a snail, but it just makes me feel happy and honored.

Thanks for letting me know! 🐌💕

[witchcraftingboop]

I for one have certainly missed you around here. Last week I was driving around and it occurred to me I never see you online anymore. I was like "shit, what the hell ever happened to boop?" glad to see you're still kickin!

You thought about me while offline?!?

No but seriously thank you! I never thought anyone would truly notice or care if I dropped off the map so this was really sweet 🥺

[soulmates-twinflames]

All I ask for is a life full of love and a love full of life. ~Jbird #lovequote #Lovequotes #reallove #truelove

[lunefrog]

👀

piggybacking off of jbird's--i once stole a mummified possum from my school's ag greenhouse. i recruited two ag teachers and an art teacher to help me smuggle it onto the bus. they immediately knew i was unhinged and basically just asked me not to handle it without gloves.

[will-o-the-witch]

if you don’t want to get into this further than your addition to your post i totally understand. but i’m honestly really shocked and don’t really know what to do with all the information being thrown around about Prim. i’ve never been in any of her servers, but have been a long time follower and i never got cult vibes from her. i never felt pressured to always uphold her words, i never felt pressured to pay her for anything(and i never have) and she was still always kind and thorough whenever

i asked for advise or help with gaining information. idk i guess i’m just really confused now and don’t really know what to believe. do you know if there are actual receipts anywhere of all of this? in an effort to learn more i looked through blogs from the other side like jbird and therainshallmakeadoor but really the only stuff i saw there was those people disliking primrose in general, saying pretty terrible and threatening things and not giving any actual places to go and look at proof the nastiness that radiated off the blogs made them hard to continue to wade through. it sounds like you maybe had first hand experience with this side of prim or with her server so i guess i was just hoping to hear from someone that’s on the other side that i trust the opinion of(ie. you) if that’s not uncomfortable or too personal for you. thank you very much if you’re willing to answer! (this was the last part of 3 part ask i’m so sorry i forgot to label them!) --- Hey there! I don’t have as much first-hand experience as some other people who were deeper in than me, but I do still have some experience (enough to make me not trust them, at least.)  I used to be a part of the Nightshade Network back when it was still around. On the surface it looked like it would be a really chill and safe space, right? But then as things progressed it got more and more apparent who was actually being protected and who wasn’t. Prim’s word was law, and anybody that questioned that authority was demonized and banned. Sometimes there would be people who actually were being nasty, but LOTS of people got banned for raising genuine concerns. More than once someone said (essentially) “Hey, you talk a lot about how your mental health is affecting you and how much of a burden running the server is, and there’s starting to be a lot of issues with management, are you sure you’re still fit to be the sole owner of the server?” only for that person to be banned and publicly shamed for ableism (with no chance to explain themselves, of course.) The MO was to ban the person, then paint them as bigoted/problematic and make sure the server knew to demonize them.  No (or very few if you pitched it exactly right) criticisms or concerns were ever treated as legitimate, it was the Nightshade Network (with Prim as the cult of personality behind it) as a perfect safe haven of good people vs. a legion of horrible bigots who just had it out for her and the server because they “just didn’t get it.” That was legit the narrative. The environment was very “trust no one and blow the whistle on any of your peers who step out of line.”

Sometimes the server would threaten to be permanently deleted only to go “just kidding!!” Which made the people who saw it as a virtual home get even more devoted. I remember modmin’s ko-fi’s/paypals/etc. being displayed and people were encouraged to donate. I knew if I raised any kind of stink I would be put under fire and it would follow me to my Tumblr, so I just left quietly and without notice one day. I kept my head down and sort of kept tabs on it through pals who were still in, until eventually everything imploded on Discord and made its way to Tumblr.  When that happened, Prim went real life with it and legitimately threatened litigation and tried to mess with people’s school enrollment. They actually made calls and threatened people and tried to f with people’s actual lives over... what could be considered moderate cyberbulling at worst? Over a discord server? There were definitely no grounds for an actual legal case but it’s still super threatening and not okay.  Later on they made a new server which tried to be a legit organized religion, fair enough, live your dreams. But Prim and another mod from NN included encouraging members to blow the whistle on each other for behaving incorrectly (which like, holding each other accountable is good but the NN already demonstrated how toxic this could be under their leadership) and referred to the High Priest and High Priestess (them) as Emperor and Empress. Prim’s bio is changed now, but I remember it used to say “certified High Priestess of ___” Which while technically true, it feels super misleading and manipulative to say you are ordained as a high-ranking member of a group you made yourself and gave yourself that title. And also, of course, Prim’s ko-fi/patreon/venmo links were accessible to everyone in that server even before they were verified members. It’s hard for me to get receipts for these moments because 1) I never expected it to blow up like this when I left and 2) it was over a year ago, so most of these servers don’t exist anymore.  Another user posted this recently highlighting some events in whatever server they run now. Prim has always taken a very vocally anti-appropriation stance (which like, good,) but this shows that their approach toward Kabbalah and Jewish mysticism is apathetic at best. I think some of the other stuff they’ve done is much more serious, but I think this helps flesh out a picture, and as a Jewitch it’s a little more personal for me.  So TLDR; 1) Prim uses social justice rhetoric in order to gaslight and demonize any criticism sent their way, taking on the identity of a martyr even when other people get hurt in the process and 2) threatened and went real life on people who shared any public criticisms all while 3) asking people to give them money or join their movement.  Prim is very nice and helpful on the surface for sure! But behind that is a very sordid track record. Could they improve one day? Absolutely! I never want to say that somebody is just a horrible person who must be permanently shunned from society. People grow. But I have never once seen them make any kind of reparations or apologies to the people affected, and everything I’ve seen suggests the same MO under a different username. They have not earned my trust back.

[stormcrow513]

@jbirdthemanwitch and therainshallmakeadoor just want to say as someone who's been following you both for a little while now (not sure how long year half a year? Can't remember at the moment). I started following you and some others as I'm not new to magic to the more modern witchcraft I am fairly new to trad craft I stumbled onto ofwoodandbone right before they left I've been unhappy in my practices for a while. I know magic to be real I've been doing it my who life and had found wicca at 13 but I felt stuck. Then trad craft I started following some of you guys and its been helping me figure myself out. (Obviously I don't agree with everything you guys say as I have my own brain) and in all this time I've never seen you guys pull racist shit wouldn't follow you if you were like that. Jbird I've spoken to you a couple times the first being an accidental ask and man messing up like that fucks me up I was so sick to my stomach but you were so nice about it that its not one of those things my brain pulls out to beat me with. your a real nice guy so seeing you attacked is just shit. Miss rain I haven't had the pleasure but again I've never seen any racism from you and your very polite until pushed to far then you know get em girl. (I still pretty shuck you don't like dogs ya cut me real deep that day)

anyway that was a long ramble to say you guys are great my tumblr life would be poorer without you in it and my craft path has been better for reading your posts. *kisses* <3 <3 <3 sorry if there's typos I've got to get off so can't check right now

[vintagegenderpunk]

On the topic of Primrose (nightshadeandroses) and this ask response by jbirdthemanwitch (link): 

I’ve been following this for a while, even though I’m not friends etc with any of these people. Although I don’t always agree with jbirdthemanwitch on some topics, I’ve found them to be reasonable and well-spoken in their responses to claims of bad behavior. 

I think the ask response spells out why Tumblr witchery is doomed to gossip and backlash, because as jbird mentions, the instinct of a lot of practitioners is to retaliate magically rather than deal with the mundane cause of the problem.... aka talk it out with the other party or literally talk to a therapist about it. Although I think the call of go see a shrink can be mean-spirited and could have been phrased differently, I think that jbird has a point. 

I will admit that I do not like Primrose’s content and agree that it’s repetitive and flashy, as if getting followers is the goal rather than accruing interesting conversations. I’m really not fond of TechnoCoven for reasons I can’t articulate well that may be personal trauma or simply a distaste for attempting to educate large groups on something like (tumblr) witchcraft, which is very personal and isn’t a unified community. (And, I can’t deal with large Discords due to neurodivergency, which just makes it feel more exclusive to me.)

I’ve been doing my best to avoid Primrose’s content for a while now, but know that I’m not a part of one set “community” within the witchcraft tumblr.

I’m not part of either “side” of this debate. I want it known to my followers that I agree with jbird’s ask response in terms of the drama-starting that’s happening around Primrose.

[scroll-of-thought]

I’m just going to say this plain and clear, since apparently there’s a lot of drama happening right now. I’ve got no horse in the Primrose and Jbird and whoever else race going on right now.

I’ve spoken to Prim maybe half a dozen times. I found her when either someone reblogged a post or maybe it was tumblr’s “orbit” thing, but I saw a post about some sigil she was working on, so I reached out to ask about it. We had a short conversation about the system she was working on and I gave her a follow because she entertained my questions. At that point I’d never heard of her before and I had no idea she had any followers, let alone was apparently super popular. Tumblr doesn’t tell you follower counts, so I have no idea who’s who in this community, I just occasionally talk to strangers and follow anyone who posts interesting projects, perspective, or spells.

Sometime later she posted a discord, and being that the previous discord I joined ended up full of holier than thou radfems, I felt like maybe a new place to chat once in a while was in order. I joined her last discord, never really talked directly to her or made any friends on there. It was just a place to chime in with advice or ask questions, maybe see if anyone linked a PDF on a subject I was reading up on. I’m in a similar situation with the current discord group. I mostly use their library section for PDFs and links to papers, I occasionally chime in on the daily promps and check the help sections for anything I might be able to give my opinion on or have experiences in.

I also attended TechnoCoven when I had some free time. Like I said in a previous post, it was a pretty chill event and I just listened to the panels and chatted with a couple hosts. I wasn’t really interested in the panels she hosted. I would classify the con as mostly uneventful in general. The only thing I can say might be viewed as problematic with the con was when a person was making complaints about shinto being discussed along side western spirituality, fae, and witchcraft. I gave a warning that they might be  racist because their wordpress was sprinkled with some vaguely violent anti-white, anti-western, and a few anti-Semite comments. Apparently some people in the channel thought I might be trying to invalidate their claim of cultural appropriation. They said I said the “claim was kind of fishy” where I said the blog making the complaint was kind of fishy. My goal was just to warn that the panel, it’s host, and the organizers might have caught the attention of someone with malintent and a few extreme views who might end up looking for trouble. I never got to clarify that because the channel was locked the next morning, but the mods apparently patched things up with the person later and I haven’t looked into it since.

The last real interaction I had with Prim was the post about anti-protest witches and magicians aiming to curse protesters. I did a little digging on my favorite spots, namely some pretty racist facebook groups I’m in to keep my ear to the ground and of course 4chan’s /x/ (paranormal) board, and sure enough there were people talking about cursing protesters and “anyone aiding them”, focusing on cursing other witches. So I gave my advice on avoiding that and spread the word and she thanked me for the input and help. Even if it turns out that whole thing was some kind of theatrics or way to gain clout from current protests, I don’t regret adding my two cents and she reblogged it which means my means of protection reached more people. Really, I’m almost at 340 followers, there’s no way I could warn people as fast as she can hit “reblog”. And had the same post came across my dash from anyone else I would have given the same warning, and I did a couple times as well as sharing that info with a not-racist facebook group I’m part of.

I really don’t have much of an opinion about this drama, or any of the allegations on either side. I’ve tried to research it a little to see if I should distance myself from this whole thing, but I can’t seem to find much of what people are talking about. Like, everyone is claiming to have screenshots of each other being evil, but no one is posting them. I’ve seen some of censored, edited, and otherwise sketchy stuff on both sides. Lots and lots of hearsay and stories about both sides. I’m seeing a lot of arguing over morally grey topics and personal opinions about each other. Honestly it’s almost enough for me to want to distance myself off of the drama alone. I’m not going to pick a side, but I’m probably going to leave the discord considering it’s been pretty dead for the past few months. I’ll admit that the few conversations I had with Prim have been pleasant, but history shows that there’s often people who appear nice and have done some fucked up stuff. You never know what a person does in private. I’m just putting my words out here in case tumblr does something stupid, like someone decided to attack anyone who’s ever agreed with Prim on anything ever. I’ve been attacked for reblogging a strangers post as it came down the grape vine to my dash. I’ve been called racist for not agreeing with someone without knowing their ethnicity. I could easily see being canceled because I talked to Prim a few times over the past year or two.

[austennerdita2533]

Rules: Answer 21 questions about yourself and tag 21 whom you’d like to know better, or just some swell people you can think of

Tagged by this lovely quad squad: @childoftimeandmagic, @lclrgsl, @meet-the-girl-who-can, @deathsweetqueen Thank you lovely ladies!

Nickname: Ash, Ash Bash, AJ, Aya, Double E, Jbird, Twin...

Zodiac: Aquarius

Last Movie Watched: Imagine Me and You. It’s been forever since I’ve seen it and I forgot how cute it is. WE NEED MORE LGBTQ ROMCOMS, DAMMIT. Their love is palpable, y’all. Palpable.

Last Thing Googled: “All things had turned to ghosts” which is by Virginia Woolf, but I wanted to know what it was from.

Fave Musician: Too difficult to choose

Song Stuck In Head: “Vivir Mi Vida” by Marc Anthony

Other Blogs: Not on Tumblr

Do I Get Asks: Sometimes, sure do. :)

Following: 428 and all are lovely

Dream Trip: Europe

Amount Of Sleep: 4-6. I do not sleep well but am always tired. Huh. The struggle is real, no?

Lucky Number: 2

What Am I Wearing: Jeans, a maroon sweater, black combat boots, and a tousle cap with a cute little ball on top 

Dream Job: Book editor. Seriously, somebody hire me because I’d love it and I could SO do it!!!

Favorite Food: Porkchops

Play Any Instruments: Unfortunately, no.

Languages: English and Spanish. (And every time I read stuff in French and Portuguese and can more or less understand the gist, I kick myself for not learning those as well.)

Favorite Songs: Right now it’s “Fresh Roses” by Juke Ross and “Hell or High Water” by Passengers

Random Fact: Nodus Tollens means “the realization that the plot of your life doesn’t make sense to you anymore.” (I actually copied a bunch of obscure words/meanings into one of my writing docs because I am one of THOSE weirdos 😂)

Describe Yourself In An Aesthetic: Pale sunshine, too many hats, vibrant lipstick, genuine laughter, poetry written in cobblestone, to-do lists that have no end, sunset secrets, crinkled library books and mocha lattes, reading with no heed of the hour, the swirl of red wine, languages whispered against the skin of an earlobe, a place where chivalry, romance, and culture isn’t dead, starry-eyed dreams tucked deep beneath eyelashes, the click click click of computer keys

Tagging: @ejunkiet, @roryssgilmore, @bullets-books-and-bourbon, @supremeuppityone and anyone else who’d like to partake. :)

[witchcraftingboop]

Ask & Ye May Receive

For those of you who are blocked by Primrose/Gabrielle, I apologize for not taking you into consideration. This version is for you. It is your right to have access to all of the information to share and do with as you please.

JBird & Briar Discourse

Link to Initial Post - A current example of using “-ist” words to justify blocking and harassing those who are vocally and publicly against them

Further Insight into Briar Discourse & Initial Proof of Prim’s Grooming

Admission from fore-runner that Jbird is not racist

Admission acknowledging Prim’s Grooming (and lack of overall racism from either)

Proof of Prim Actively Stirring the Pot - Note: the situation in question here is the same reason used originally to justify Briar & JBird being racist, a situation that had passed some years ago now, and that she still spreads screenshots about (the screenshots are discussed in detail in the initial post linked above).

Why “Groomer” is Applicable Here

Further Proof of Grooming

First-Hand Source Link

First Hand Sources Link

First Hand Source Link

Primrose & Cultural Appropriation Proof Post, Full Context:

Proof of Primrose’s History of Targeting & Harassing Others

Another “-ist” Example

First Hand Source (Nightshade Network) Deflection & Harassment

First Hand Source (Nightshade Network) Cont. Deflection & Harassment

Primrose Continually Spreading False Information about Topics/Practices She Claims to Have Been Researching/Practicing for “Years” (or Otherwise Showing She is Unqualified Despite Trying to “Teach” Others)

Basic Persephone Info - Link

“Mighty Dead” - Link

TechnoCoven - Ask & Response

Prim’s History of Fear-Mongering - First Hand Source

Prim’s History of Threatening to Sue - Nightshade Edition

Nightshade Legal Scandal In Order - also covers who received ownership of the server after Primrose (her then boyfriend & mod

A Very In-Depth Retelling of Prim’s Toxic Behavior - First Hand Source - I debated including this one. Details an intimate fall of the Nightshade server, Prim twisting narratives (repeatedly throughout), Prim inflicting trauma on countless individuals & groups, Prim keeping donation money, continues the timeline beyond what is included in the source listed above this one, and documents Prim starting her practice in Hoodoo in 2018 as opposed to her claim of 2015. Many other details included.

Prim’s History of Twisting the Narrative - First Hand Source

Nothing, Prim. This entire situation has taught you nothing. It repeats around you every few years, and you never ask yourself why. So this is our gift to you.

Ask and you may receive.

« Courtesy of the CultSquad »

[valathun]

I like your bark runes. Could I ask for a reading? Thank you vali

Thanks! I collected them from an apartment complex

Gibo, Sowilo, Raido

A little bit of visualization came with these while I read them

I kind of expected some complexity going into this one. There's something you need to sate. In what I saw, there was a man in the fog, running from something that was letting out a terrible scream.

It feels to me like there's a roadblock in the way of whatever path you're currently on. Before you can continue, that screaming needs to be stopped. It's hungry. The sun will only appear and light your way once you've fed this thing. Could be a spirit. Could be something within you. There's something ravenous that's wailing and trying to eat you . So feed it before it can consume.

Good luck Jbird!

[jessssrrodriguez]

I miss doing these

Favorite smell- Gardenias, wood burning on a campfire, fresh rain on cement. • Last cry- This Is Us, seeing Jack’s death :’( • Favorite pizza- Pepperoni • Favorite Flowers– Peonies  • Favorite dog breed- Maltese/Poodle mix (my pup), Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Golden Retrievers • Favorite foot wear- My rainbow sandals and I rotate between my Nikes, Vans and Converse. • Favorite ice cream- Bubble gum, pistachio and a special merlot chocolate flavor exclusive to Doc Burnstein’s Ice Cream Lab. • Pet Peeve- Slow drivers, slow walkers, the way my brothers leave the bathroom. • Shorts or jeans- Leggings • What are you listening to right now- My dad is playing some playlist throughout the house stereo system but currently it’s Banana Pancakes • Color of your vehicle- Grey • Color of your eyes– Brown • Favorite Holiday– Christmas • Night owl or day person- Night owl • Favorite day of the week- No particular favorite • Nickname– Jess, Jessie, Jezz, Jezza, Jecca, JRod, Jelly, Jellybean, Jbird, Jessicarena-- No idea, don’t ask ugh • Favorite type of music– Everything. Literally everything lol but right now, Demi Lovato, Lorde and Kahlid • Tattoos– None • Do you like to cook– No, I like to bake though. • Beer or wine– Beer gal • Can you drive a manual shift– No • Do you wear perfume- Yes, sometimes • Favorite color– Turquoise, pink, olive green, gold • Do you like vegetables– Yessss I’ll eat anything probably  • Do you work out- Not as much as I should lol • Do you wear glasses– No • Favorite season– I love em all but there’s something particularly lovely about fall and the start of spring. • Ever broken a bone- No • # of Children- Riley, my puppy child. • Favorite place in the world- That’s hard but it’s between Big Sur, Savannah, GA; SLO or Zion National Park

[sunnydayaoe]

your artstyle is verryyy pretty and I think ur really cool :0)

thank youu. color for your troulbes :-]