#newbie witch

[felynewytch-moved]

Sorry not sorry but I wish more newbies were willing to put in the work to actually learn about witchcraft rather than asking everyone to spoon feed them every little tidbit of information.

Do you think your spell work and Craft will be successful if you aren’t even willing to put in the work to learn about witchcraft/magic? Because I really don’t think you’ll find much success or joy in the Craft if you aren’t willing to put in the work. I’ve seen it happen first hand, too.

If you need help learning how to research, that’s one thing! I know that a lot of people aren’t taught how to research things. But please, you need to stop asking more experienced witches to spoon feed you every drop of information out there! There’s so much to witchcraft and more is developing all the time, it’s impossible to really be like “start here!”. It depends on what you want to be involved in, how you want to go about developing your own Craft, forming your own beliefs and opinions.

Some of us have topics we do consider starting points or the foundation that should make up anyone’s Craft, but that’s all just opinion. We all got different ones. There really aren’t solid ways to go about practicing witchcraft. If you need assistance in learning how to research; ask!

[gaumrivale]

✨Seven Pegs to Hang Your Hat From✨

An Aid for the Fledgeling Witch at the Crossroads of Praxis

This is an aid I made, primarily to help myself - a chaos witch - in figuring out what my craft entails in the absence of any guiding tradition.

I do not hold that it is perfect or final, it is simply a framework that I myself found useful, and that I hope might aid others as they figure out their own path. Change it if you want, ignore or elaborate. Whatever floats your magical boat.

First, a place to begin:

Hopefully, these few introductory questions might spur some thought that might help you later on. I do not expect this to be clear for most at the beginning, it wasn’t for me, but having considered the whole of it before you move on to the details might bring some perspective on how and what you choose to weigh and answer.

WHAT BRINGS YOU TO THE CRAFT?

Why is it important to you?

What interests you about it?

What do you want from it?

Secondly, the particular pegs:

I have not numbered these, nor do I think they need to be approached in any particular order. In fact, I think answering what you can and then going to reconsider what you were struggling with in light of these answers is probably only beneficial.

HERITAGE: What do you build your craft from?

Do you follow or aspire to a tradition?

Do you have any idols or aspirations?

What resources are available to you, or where can you find them?

TENETS: What principles or perspectives guide your praxis?

Do you have any maxims, laws or taboos?

What outlook do you have on the world and on magic in general?

What ideologies influence your craft?

What are the qualities and risks of witchcraft in your mind?

BONDS: What connections inform your craft?

Do you interact or wish to, with supernatural beings?

Are you part of a community - a society, coven, family or do you have a familiar? How does this inform your craft?

What does the world look like to you? How far does it extend in your mind, and what qualities does it have?

How do you understand yourself in relation to other beings?

SHRINES: What places are important in your craft?

Are there particular places of significance to you? A temple or a holy place?

Are there general places of significance to you - locations with inherent qualities of transcendence, knowledge, power, etc?

HOLIDAYS: What events are important in your craft?

Do you have fixed days or times of particular significance to you?

Are you obliged to to initiate particular events of significance in your craft?

Are there events beyond your control that hold particular significance for you?

FETISHES: What objects are important in your craft?

What are your tools?

Are there objects to be made or found that have inherent qualities important to your craft?

Do objects become magical through your craft?

RITUALS: How do you perform your praxis?

What actions do you or do you want to perform that are witchcraft in your mind?

What qualities do these actions have that make them witchcraft?

Why do you perform these actions?

I hope this list of prompts might be helpful to some of you,

Regards ✨

[paaxindigenouswitchcraft]

[life-in-the-garden]

It's been a while since I've done any magic. Truth be told I've felt obstructed in my craft since the beginning; I struggle with self-doubt a great deal, and a recent OCD diagnosis has only made me even more skeptical of my own thoughts.

I want to get into spirit work. I've wanted to do so for a while, but have always felt intimidated by it; I don't feel drawn to ancestor veneration, and I've heard that sometimes household spirits can turn nasty if left alone for too long (which is a real risk with me, because my cleaning attempts are... sporadic at best, shall we say).

I felt connected to Uriel, an angel from Christian mythology, but our relationship is primarily that of mentor & student and my academic life as a university student (which is what Uriel is interested in regarding me) is... not going well at the moment. Our relationship is stalling and he doesn't feel like someone I can go to for the kind of guidance and companionship I'm looking for.

I want to connect to the ghost of Laika, a dog who unfairly perished in space in the 1960s for the sake of human technological progress. I get fairly emotional about her on a regular basis, and I think it's time that I got off my butt and found out why I feel so drawn to her.

I dithered over how to do this.

I went as far as shopping around for a new tarot/oracle deck to reserve solely for spirit work, but nothing felt right and I ultimately decided against spending the money. (Looking back, I can see that searching for a new deck was probably a form of procrastination). I struggle with seeing myself as worthy of not just love but even basic tolerance when I can't offer anything substantial in return. I can offer Laika companionship, but not much more, and I have to just hope that that's enough to interest her.

...

I did my reading (a simple three-card spread) with Tillie Walden's Cosmic Slumber tarot:

Cards from left to right: the nine of torches (reversed), the Fool (reversed), the Queen of torches (reversed).

To summarize, the Fool's dog attempting to hold him back from the cliff's edge is Laika. She's willing to work with me, but I won't be the easiest of companions for her. I got a bit of a talking-to regarding my bad habits of skipping classes, which I know I need to rectify, but she's not as cold and distant as Uriel is with me right now.

I'm feeling a lot less alone than I was before! I actually feel a little bit hopeful, even.

[waddleonmywaywardducks]

Testing testing!! Hello?? Is this thing on??

Hello!!! I'm chaos and this is my first official post!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am a trans crust punk, who's also a Buddhist (not fully converted yet. Still learning and practicing) I've been practicing and learning for about two months now!! I am also a spiritual practitioner, I've been in the craft for about ten months now as well :)

some of my favorite things are: the promised neverland, history, writing, learning, meditating, and making my own clothes

Feel free to interact if you are a punk, or practitioner as well :) I really hope to make some friends who have the same interests as me !!

[allthingsblessedbe]

Court Case Spell

[fly-corpse-grimoir]

I made a little protection bottle charm and turned it into a keychain!

[bundleofherbsandhope]

Intro

I'm Cara, a newbie witch.

I am interested in:

tarot

other forms of divination

astrology

herbalism

household/kitchen magic

I am chronically ill and am approaching my craft from the perspective of a disabled person: looking for things to ease pain and mental/physical strain.

I also love making things (knitting, crochet, embroidery), and would love to learn some ways to incorporate my craft into my crafts!

I don't identify as religious but am interested in exploring spirituality. I would love some recommendations for non-Wiccan/religious texts and practices.

I'm always down to chat, and am very eager to learn as much as possible about all of the above, so pop me a message if you have any tips :)

[mywitchbitcharuna]

I made a space in my closet for my witchy things :)

[l-crimson-l]

I wanna say it’s such an absolute treat to see all the new gundam fans chime in every new episode of g witch. I’ve loved this series since I was a kid so I’m extra happy to see so many new people dive into the franchise.

I hope some of you will also take a look into other shows like 00 or even build fighters! Im happy ya’ll are here :3

Here’s a nifty little chart to help you navigate the series :)

[felynewytch-moved]

Witch Tip: 🛑 Stop Performing Love Spells On Abusive People! 🛑

Seriously, please, I’m begging you. Do not perform love spells on your partner who is abusive to you. Perform a cord cutting and get the hell out of there!

It WILL NOT have whatever desired effect you’re trying to go for. It WILL NOT make them treat you right. It WILL NOT make them stop abusing you.

PLEASE protect yourselves. PLEASE leave abusive people. Performing love spells on these people will make your life WORSE. Please.

[paaxindigenouswitchcraft]

[the-lost-kemetic]

I HATE correspondences

They suck.

The way everyone acts like there can only be ONE correspondence, how if you use a correspondence that isn't popular you're WRONG.

This isn't just racist to say, it's also extremely gatekeepy and ahistorical. I've talked about this before, but not every culture has the same correspondences for each plant!

Genuinely what is up with some of you? Stop trying to police other peoples' correspondences. It isn't your place, because you're not the ultimate authority on what correspondences are real or not.

And on that note, stop using masculine/feminine correspondences k thanks.

[cj-ghostemoji-destielpie]

Questions about working with Loki:

So I've been reading a book and a couple different blogs and posts about working with Loki. A book I've been reading (Loki: Trickster and Transformer by Dagulf Loptson), mentioned staves and activating staves. I was wondering what anyone else's opinions or experiences are with using staves or if they do something different and if so; what do you do?

Anything pertaining to Loki or even Sygin is welcome too. Whether it be spells to do with them, offerings, chants, incantations, sigils, runes, associations, art, or book and website recommendations.

Peace, y'all

~CJ

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #46: FRANCHISE

July, 1989

Great Lakes Avengers Assemble?!

I have been waiting for this.

I've read this issue before, in a collected edition of Dan Slott's Great Lakes Avengers miniseries. But now I have all the context leading up to this and I'll get to see what else this wacky group did in their early appearances.

And, hell. Out of everything in the Byrne run so far, this is his first shake up that's not deeply annoying!

Byrne is the one who pulls the trigger on the idea of a third Avengers team teased when Vision was trying to expand the Avengers. But not quite as he enVisioned it.

Hah.

Last times on West Coast Avengers: Between issues, Tigra, Hank Pym, and the Wasp joined the West Coast Avengers. Then Vision got kidnapped by every government in the world and disassembled into a pile of parts. Hank Pym puts everyone's favorite synthezoid back together but he's all white now and he doesn't have emotions and only has Avengers case files for memories.

The American government also forced the West Coast Avengers to take on US Agent or else reprisals. Hawkeye quit in a huff after US Agent tosses him after Hawkeye tried to punch him.

We learned in the big Avengers meeting over in Avengers that Hawkeye has a new group so let's get into it.

Geez, Mr Immortal, you're a bit manic there.

A bank robbery is happening at the Milwaukee Farmers and Merchants Trust. And we know this is Milwaukee because one of the robbers very considerately wears a Milwaukee jacket.

A dude we'll later learn is called Mr Immortal drops down from the ceiling, quips a bit, dodges some gunfire, hits a couple dudes, and then... doesn't dodge some other gunfire.

That looks like it hurts.

The robbers gather around the dead, deceased hero to make sure he's really dead.

And he's gotta be, right? Half of his chest is bulleted to hell.

And then things go to hell. For the robbers.

Flatman swipes the hostages with his stretchy definitely not a spoof of Mr Fantastic body. Big Bertha OH YEAHs through the wall. Dinah Soar flies through a Doorman shaped portal in another wall.

The Great Lakes Avengers are usually treated comically. They're a ridiculous team, operating in a ridiculous area, with ridiculous powers and the big joke about them in the Dan Slott series was how they were constantly overshadowed by the official Avengers and how none of the other heroes wanted to interact with them.

Except Squirrel Girl, who they hired by sorta lying that they were the real Avengers.

Ridiculous group with ridiculous powers they may be but in this action sequence, they're coordinated. They had a good plan to distract the robbers so the hostages could be pulled out of harms way. And then their ridiculous powers took down the gunmen no problem.

Yeah, these guys aren't going to be fighting Doctor Doom without hefty authorial fiat (but isn't that the way all comics work anyway?) but they're not bumbling amateurs.

And I appreciate that.

Last robber standing backs away in shock horror... right into the arms of Mr Immortal.

Who is not, in fact, dead. Or at least, he didn't stay dead.

Immortal, y'know?

Robber: "They're poppin' outta th' woodwork! Who are these geeks? Milwaukee don't have no super heroes!" Mr Immortal: "Guess again! Y'all are gonna be seein' a lot of us from now on! Y'all are gonna be seein' us in your nightmares!" Robber: "Wha...? No!! You're dead!!!" Mr Immortal: "Wrong-o, creep! I'm just as right as rain! But you aren't gonna be! By the time I get done with you... You'll prob'ly never be anything like right. Not never again!!"

Mr Immortal apparently goes a bit berserk after resurrecting.

He punches the robber down and then starts stomping him.

Flatman has to pull him off the guy. And Mr Immortal won't settle down until Dinah Soar talks to him in an empty text bubble.

Dinah Soar is the only one who CAN get him to calm down.

Flatman guesses its some kind of hypersonic. In the later Dan Slott series, its revealed that its actually True Love what does it. Yes, for serious. It was sweet, actually.

Last member of the team comes into the bank and tells the rest that there's a bunch of police and reporters who want to know what the devil is going on.

Mr Immortal goes out to address the crowd and press. When reporter Peggy Allen asks him who this group of do-gooders is, he dubs the team...

THE GREAT LAKES AVENGERS!

Hawkeye hears the news report in the random motel he's staying in after rage-quitting the Avengers.

His first instinct is to call the team and let them know about randos infringing the brand but then decides 'fuck 'em' because he's still mad about the government meddling in the team.

There's a knok knok knoking on Clint's door and making his bad mood worse, its Mockingbird.

He is very sarcastic about his day being ruined but she says she's here to save their marriage.

News to him. He thought they were dead set on getting a divorce.

But time off-panel and with a different writer has cooled Mockingbird's head. And since they're both going through some trying times now, maybe they should rethink things.

Hawkeye: "You mean now that I've been kicked off the team I founded I'm all of a sudden a pitiful soul so you've gone all maternal and decided to come back to the roost and take care of me! Well, thanks but no thanks, Bobbi!" Mockingbird: "You're not being fair, Clint. Although I guess that's nothing new, is it?" Hawkeye: "And just what is that supposed to mean?" Mockingbird: "It means you have all the sensitivity of a brick. I got mixed up with the Phantom Rider because he drugged me, used me, and when you found out, did you react like a husband whose wife has been assaulted? NO!! You went off on some stupid macho kick! And I was hurt enough to pay you back with your own coin. When I needed you -- maybe more than I ever have before -- you were too busy stroking your wounded male ego to notice. Something that could have bound us even closer together drove us apart. Well... that damage is done. Now I'm here to see if it can be undone. Because, heaven help me, in spite of everything, I still love you!"

I can't believe Byrne of all people is cutting through the bullshit and having Mockingbird say 'hey all that stuff we were yelling about wasn't the crux of the issue and you were being a major asshole, Clint.'

He's re-litigating a lot of Englehart's stuff. Redoing the Tigra plot. Revising Englehart's origin for Vision. Shoving people that had quit back onto the team.

I didn't expect him to use this power for good.

Because the Hawkeye/Mockingbird falling out was bad. Maybe in character for the two stubborn jerks. But it needed another look and here we are, taking another look.

Mockingbird doesn't even entertain the notion that its really a philosophical disagreement about cowboy manslaughter.

I'll have to see where it goes. Because it could go poorly in its own unique way.

Back over at the West Coast Avengers Compound, US Agent has made a good impression on one person and only one person.

The new cook, Mrs. Heyges, who is pleased to see someone that actually enjoys a big breakfast.

Most of the West Coast Avengers only have a slice of toast and some orange juice.

US Agent: "A man has to keep his strength up, Mrs. Heyges. And, of course, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Besides... You're almost as good a cook as my mother!" Mrs. Heyges: "Well, gracias, sir! I know that must be quite a compliment."

Based on her comments that she doesn't get to really cook for the others, US Agent muses that he should introduce a proper meal schedule.

Then, Tigra happens.

Looking for a proper meal of her own.

A.k.a. chasing a mouse.

She's seemingly gone full feral, although she doesn't have that same alien cat look she did last time.

Either Byrne thought better of it or it comes and goes for some damn reason.

She chases a mouse in, hisses and growls when US Agent grabs her, and sullenly creeps away when he slaps her for trying to bite him.

The cat instincts have taken over.

(I don't love that we're doing this again but it is better than her trying to hump everyone? I mean. Slightly better. The main reason I'm annoyed is that we're just doing this plot again. In a vacuum it wouldn't be so bad.)

(Also also, last time she jumped through a window to chase a bird. I can only assume she's destroyed the local bird population. Folks, Tigras are inside Avengers. Keep them inside for their own health and for the good of the ecosystem.)

Mrs. Heyges says that Tigra has been hunting the mice that get into the pantry. And she's new here and didn't really want to tell an Avenger what to do so she just sorta figured. Hunting mice was part of Tigra's job??

US Agent declares this very gross and decides something has to be done!

I mean. Something does need to be done. It speaks ill of everyone that nobody has noticed Tigra's issues until now. And the only dude that sorta knew she was going through something was Hawkeye and he stormed off in a huff.

I guess Wanda is going through some stuff. And Wonder Man is being kind of a creep about Wanda's stuff. And Vision is very neutral on everything these days. But fucks sake, Wasp or Hank Pym. You two are the adults here!

Over in the A-plot, Mockingbird has convinced Hawkeye to go to Milwaukee to check out the group calling themselves Avengers. Because it beats him sitting around feeling sorry for himself for rage-quitting the West Coast Avengers.

Although, he's rewritten history so that he was unjustly fired.

But since he had the impulse to go check out the Great Lakes Avengers, why not ride that impulse into something productive?

So over in Milwaukee, the Great Lakes Avengers check out mysterious lights over the Germania Building.

Mr Immortal sends Dinah Soar to check out the roof of the building and has Doorman make a portal (with his BODY) so Flatman can get inside the building and look for a way to let everyone else in.

Flatman thinks to himself how weird it is that when he goes through Doorman, he feels like he's briefly in another place entirely. Like, not even on Earth anymore.

Apparently, a subtle nod to Doorman's powers working through the Darkforce Dimension.

Up on the roof, Dinah Soar gets ambushed and captured by some manner of bola arrow.

At the mercy of this mystery assailant, Dinah Soar takes out a little whistle and sadly tweets on it.

Mr Immortal and Big Bertha hear the sad tooting and realize Dinah Soar is in trouble!

So Big Bertha gets Mr Immortal to hang onto her back and high jumps to the roof to get him there in a hurry.

To the mystery assailant's bafflement.

Mr Immortal: "You get clear now while I take care of this clown." Mystery Assailant who is definitely not Hawkeye: "'Clown?' Takes spunk to wear a suit like that and call somebody else a clown, pal!"

Glass houses, mystery assailant.

Big Bertha falls back to ground level, laughing all the way.

I am not sure why she does this. In other stuff, she's usually one of the more serious members of the Great Lakes Avengers.

Anyway, some more Great Lakes Avengers thoughts. Presumably Big Bertha could have pulled herself up onto the roof. She's got super strength. But mystery assailant has already captured Dinah Soar so Mr Immortal is going in alone to feel the guy out.

He doesn't die when he's killed. He's the best for gauging threat level.

He's also a clown, whether or not you think his costume is sillier than anyone else's. Lets say Hawkeye, for the sake of an example.

He acrobats around mystery assailant and proclaims "Okay, wiseguy... I don't know what your game is... but you're way out of your league... now that the Avengers are here!"

Leading mystery assailant to reveal himself to be... AN IMPOSTER DRESSED LIKE HAWKEYE??

Hawkeye: "'Dressed as Hawkeye...??' I am Hawkeye, an' I'm here to find out what you so-called 'Avengers' think you're up to! In case you don't know it, buster, the Avengers' name isn't up for grabs by any ol' Tom, Dick, an' Harriet!"

So Mr Immortal kicks him in the face for impersonating an Avenger. That's rude, y'know. Probably not a felony BUT MAYBE IT SHOULD BE.

Mr Immortal: "You think you can defeat the Avengers by pretending to be Hawkeye? The real Hawkeye would have blocked my attack easily!"

Mockingbird shows up and repays the favor by kicking Mr Immortal in the face for kicking Hawkeye in the face.

She explains that Hawkeye sucks ass at close quarters combat. I don't think that's entirely true but I like to think Mockingbird isn't above being a little petty.

Mr Immortal is alarmed that there's a woman impersonating Mockingbird now!

It turns out that Mr Immortal is almost current with superhero gossip.

He knows that Mockingbird and Hawkeye have split up, he knows that Mockingbird quit the Avengers. He doesn't know that Hawkeye recently also quit the Avengers.

So you can see where the confusion comes from.

You might not see why Mr Immortal decides his next move is to backflip off the roof.

Maybe he wanted to see how the "imposters" would react to it.

Well, not personally. He'd have to rely on someone else telling him how they reacted to it. He's temporarily dead from hitting the ground really hard.

But Flatman saw the whole thing and realized that Mockingbird sounds sincerely distraught that a dude just died.

Hawkeye: "Flatman?? I don't believe it! You got a partner called 'Ribbon?'"

Its funny that DC comics is apparently fictional within Marvel because the Avengers have also met the Justice League.

Silly comics.

Mockingbird berates Hawkeye's joke for being inappropriate. A man just died!

Flatman awkwardly explains that Mr Immortal doesn't really die.

So at Mockingbird's request, they all convene at Great Lakes Avengers' HQ... er... Big Bertha's place.

It's a fancy place.

Hawkeye asks how she can afford such nice digs but it turns out that when Big Bertha isn't superheroing, she's supermodel Ashely Crawford, darling of many Vogue covers. One of the highest paid models in the biz.

So Hawkeye asks what a successful model is doing "playing super hero."

And again, at this point the West Coast Avengers are silly. They're comical. They're not a joke.

Big Bertha: "I don't think of it as... playing, Hawkeye. None of us do. We're all just as serious about this as you are."

Yeah, Hawkeye!

Mockingbird asks how the group got together... and why "Great Lakes Avengers"?

We don't get the whole story now but it's implied that Mr Immortal go them together and stated that the name was his idea. He wanted to maintain the coastal theme but there's no north coast so...

But the real question that Mockingbird is getting at is who do the Great Lakes Avengers think they are, using the Avengers brand without permission? The Avengers are pretty fussy about who gets called Avenger! Says the lady who is not currently an Avenger!

I don't think she actually cares. But she assumes Hawkeye cares and she's here to get his mind on anything but fuming about US Agent or her.

Annnnnd Hawkeye has changed his mind!

Hawkeye: "I'm startin' to think maybe this Midwest team isn't such a bad idea. Your powers are kinda funky, and your code names stink... But with the proper management... my management... This could be a heckuva team!"

Ah, dammit, Hawkeye! You ragequit one team so you're going to force your way onto this one, huh?

I don't know how it will be handled immediately in this book but after the fact, in the later Dan Slott series, the Great Lakes Avengers view the whole thing pretty cheerfully.

The big league came down to coach their team. It gives them credibility and helps them be better at superheroing, which they're all pretty serious about.

I'll have to see how it unfolds as it goes though.

Current team lead Mr Immortal is still regrowing his brains and hasn't expressed an opinion on Hawkeye's pending takeover.

It is so funny though! Hawkeye gets forced out of the West Coast Avengers slash quits so his rebound is to just take over someone else's team!

He does the same thing when he accidentally screws himself out of a spot on Busiek's Avengers! Tracks down the Thunderbolts and goes 'my team now.'

It may be his real superpower.

Anyway, the other B-plot.

Wanda seems to be doing better after the whole husband robot thing and dropping a cliff on Wonder Man. Maybe. Hard to say. She's had a good swim, at least.

And then Roberto Carlos of the Avengers Compound Support Staff brings Wanda a letter from the Absolon College of Robotics.

Remember Absolon College had that big list of mutants to do Something With and Wanda is the one they settled on?

The letter claims that their research into artificial intelligence may be able to restore Vision back to his good ol' self.

Is... is it public knowledge that Vision was taken apart by the government and had his brain FUBAR'd??

Because if not, that's a red flag!

The other red flag is that the letter is from Jeremiah Random, which sounds like a made-up name!

This is going to end badly! And I'm not just saying that because the next time box says THIS ANCIENT EVIL!

Follow @essential-avengers because woo! Great Lakes Avengers! Love those guys! Like, comment, reblog maybe?

[xuanareyara]

When wands were still in fashion :P