#patch-workcrow

[thepatchworkcrow]

What the Heck IS Magic, Anyway?

I’m going to do my writing for the #2019GrimoireChallenge just directly on my blog for the time being (I didn’t want to stick these in the middle of my OBOD course work). But anyway! The first research/journal prompt for Week 2 was Magic: what it is and how it works.

The answer to this will literally differ vastly depending upon who you talk to. So for sake of not ruffling feathers, etc. etc. this is my gnosis of the above topic. 

Magic is, to put it most simply, the act of changing, attuning or manifesting something within one’s self, the world, or the web of fate and circumstance. 

Now, I know that doesn’t really seem very simple at all, but stick with me for a few more paragraphs. Magic, for me, can be sort of split up as thus: the magic of life/being/awe, the magic of working change within one’s self-which can be accomplished in a number of ways, and the magic of working change in the web of fate/circumstance/etc. 

The first is those moments that are magic- looking up and being taken aback by an inky sky full of stars, the way a cold wind hits you as it rips over the bay dragging a storm behind it, the way a song can make the hair on your arms or neck stand on end, or the gentle peace and awareness of wind whispering through the trees. This also applies to the magic of creating, of giving life to inspiration as it strikes us. Creating art, music, poetry, prose, gardens, literal LIFE, all of those things are magic, and they aren’t thought out spells or carefully constructed rituals, they are just the parts of life that make our lives feel, well, lively. 

The second, working magic within one’s self is identifying parts of the self that need improvement, love, healing, expression, whatever, and giving them what they need in order to become more full, healthy, and grounded people. You can accomplish this with spells and rituals- by all means, those things are powerful psychological tools that help us to mentally make the shifts we need in order to actually make the changes we need in our life. This can be brought about through meditation and visualization, or through the very very mundane act of sitting down, goal setting, and getting your shit together. It’s self-alchemy, and in many ways I think it’s more important than the third type of magic.

Working magic to affect the world about me, change the web of fate, etc. is what most people usually think about when they think about spells and rituals. We raise energy and focus in order to will positive (or negative perhaps) outcomes into being. Spells work by utilizing tools: herbs, crystals, candles, etc. which energetically align with our desires, and help us to focus our intentions. 

Magic in the second and third instance operates on the idea that like attracts like, if we are positive and put out our intention, the Universe will provide us with just that. If we focus on becoming a better, healthier person, and put energy into taking the steps to accomplish that, we become better, healthier people. It’s a matter of creating the changes first on a small level- in our minds, and then sending the energy out into the universe, like a ripple in a pond which (hopefully) affects the change we want to occur.

[starvedofsong]

Photo by Michal Lomza on Unsplash

Inspired by my favorite Labyrinth fan, @patch-workcrow

[tea-rabbits]

@2019grimoirecchallenge

I’m not the most professional at this video-thing... but this practice of drawing a “Body Map” is becoming an important and helpful part of my emotional and spiritual wellness.  So, I thought I would share.

I was inspired by @patch-workcrow ‘s post a couple months ago (this is the post.)

[madamehearthwitch]

21 Questions

Tagged by  @patch-workcrow ; Thanks for tagging me to play along!

Rules: answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

Nickname: Red, Bitch, Z, Little One, Kitten

Zodiac: pisces

Height: i think I’m under 5′ now...

Last movie I saw: Sense and Sensibility

Last thing I googled: my tumblr blog, cuz i was looking for something

Favourite musician: i feel like i should refuse to answer this question on the grounds that it’s offensive to imply i might have only one. for real though, i don’t think i have a fav.

Song stuck in my head: RA RA RASPUTIN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkW2m3qsTZQ

Other blogs: i’m one of the mums behind @witchmums

Do I get asks: Not as often as I’d like!

Following: 183 (i really need to follow more people!)

Amount of sleep: Like 5 hrs, what is sleep?

Lucky number: I don’t have one!

What I’m wearing: Ravenclaw shirt and Quidditch Captain pants

Dream job: Professional Witch

Dream trip: Europe, all of it.

Favourite food: Ooo probably pasta! Or sushi. It depends on my mood.

Play any instruments: A few, not anymore though, mostly my hands are too messed up to be any good :(

Languages: English, French, some Spanish, and I’m teaching my ASL

Favourite songs: RA RA RASPUTIN.  Leaving Earth - Clint Marshall Immigrants (We Get the Job Done) - K’NAAN, et all St Trinian’s Theme - Studio Allstars Light Em Up - Fallout Boy

Random fact: I used to compete as an opera singer

Tag people: @estfortis @pantheris @lastxleviathan @kamikaze-kumquat @spacetrash-witch @higgledy-pig @asinglemagpie @theescapadeofwitchcraft @apatheticwitch @travelouswench @water-witchling Any anyone else who wants to do it!

[ques-book]

2019 Grimoire Challenge-Wk 4

Happy Sunday! Hope the weather is nice wherever you are. It’s brutal here in Ontario. Extreme cold to above freezing to ice! Tomorrow/Tuesday we’re due for about 15cm of snow!! Guess who might not be going to class on those days...

Week four of the @2019grimoirecchallenge was a great one! It focused all about energy!

Monday’s focus was the five basic elements, so I did a basic printout and coloured it in to match the elements. I plan on using the space for the cross elements eventually.

I realized I had forgotten Huracan in my Deities folder, which I feel bad about. The dream in which Huracan reached out to me is still so vivid and powerful, so now He’s been added. I added energy tags to each document as well. Here’s Persephone’s as an example:

Thursday was right up my ally, as a celestial Pagan. I have some handy cheat sheets for cosmic energy:

Friday I journaled about other energies. I have worked with spirits before, and one of my vivid Pagan memories was seeing a Groot-like spirit (before Guardians of the Galaxy came out) lurch across my room. The main theory about what it was was a sick tree spirit.

A former friend of mine believed that her headmates-soulbonds-were magical as well, but I never really got behind this very much. If my headmates want to be involved, that’s awesome and I welcome it, but if they don’t want to, I don’t push it on them either. My group has a wide variety of paths from the vanilla Christian and Jewish, to the Gods of Westeros, and the Witches of Dathomir. So I don’t really feel like I include them in this “other energies” post, but I do believe they are made up of energy. Does that make sense?

Wednesday. Man, Wednesday was HARD. I only just did it before sitting down to write this post. Wednesday’s focus was personal energy, and I’ve never been good at reading my own energy. I saw some awesome ideas for how to map it ,like @patch-workcrow​‘s awesome chakra energy self portrait, but I opted for a guided meditation. It was a good meditation by The Honest Guys but I’m just...not skilled at it. The only sense of my own energy that I get is that I’m erratic, and my energy tends to be very low. I’m a laying in bed kind of Pagan.

Anyway, hope you’ve all had a good week. I’ll be posting a supplemental 2019 grimoire challenge post, probably on Wednesday, with all my February calendar stuff, like my monthly tarot! Til next week!

-Quetzal

[musingsofthefox]

A little about me!

This is my late Mabon post for you all! I know it’s been a bit, but I just didn’t have the time or motivation to talk about my witchcraft. I’m not sure that I do even now...

Also, I’d like to point out the fantastic workings of @patch-workcrow who made these three figurines for me. On the left is Cerridwen, masterful mother and wise-woman. On the right is Rhiannon, my patron goddess, queen of the faeries, goddess of horses and epitome of patience. In the middle is me, stirring my kitchen witch pot and trying to figure out how to be the best Witch I can be.

I also have my herb jars and totem animals, the cunning fox and the strong horse.

I’m excited for Samhain and all the baked goodies I’ll be posting!

Blessed evening - have good dreams!

[thepatchworkcrow]

Tuesday’s prompt for Week 2 was “Witch, what does it mean to you? What type of witch are you?... Are there certain things you plan to learn as a witch? Certain goals you have?”

A witch, to me, is someone who practices witchcraft in some way: this can be spells and rituals, crystal healing, divination, artwork, devotional poetry, yoga, astrology, essentially the crafts of “The Craft”. A witch doesn’t follow a specific religious or spiritual path- they can be atheists, Christian, Wiccan, polytheists of any sort, whatever. Witches and witchcraft, for my definition of the term aren’t bound necessarily by any specific religious or spiritual paradigm, but rather in the practice of those arts.

I personally identify first as a Druid and Bard. My reasons for this are: 

1. “Witch” is often conflated with “Wiccan” and as my religious beliefs and practices are NOT Wiccan, I find it easier to start at Druidry. Druidry is a nature-based spiritual philosophy which may be applied to a number of different sects of Celtic (and Indo-European if you’re a member of the ADF) polytheism as well as other more mainstream religious movements. Druidry is focused upon connection, care and respect for the natural world, and expression of creativity- usually with an emphasis on song and poetry I’ve found. It’s usually very much entwined with Celtic cultural values of hospitality, the sacred landscape, good humor and wit, etc. and as a spiritual philosophy is not as necessarily concerned with the “craft” part of my witchcraft definition.

2. My personal practice is, usually a lot less “witchcraft-y” and more spiritual. I spend a great deal more time wandering the woods, contemplating the universe and meditating than I do crafting spells and reading cards. Therefore to call myself solely a witch feels a bit.. fake.

If I were to define the type of witch I was, I would probably call myself a Druid-Witch, or a Witch of the Wild Hunt. Longtime followers of my blog will have noticed (scattered through here and probably difficult to find because when the hell do I ever actually post personal / original content?) that I work specifically with a version of the Wild Hunt and their horned god leader. For me, this path is first and foremost concerned with nature (particularly storms and the forest), connecting with it, knowing my local environment and its cycles and patterns, etc. On another level, I feel very much called to be a bard for said hunter deity. A lot of my path is made up of composing devotional poetry and artwork, recording the tales I uncover as well as my own adventures and growth. This path includes studying patterns of the stars- not just astrology but the actual dance of the constellations across my own sky. It includes keeping my home, and my altar, as hearth for my familiar spirits to rest and to speak with me. It includes journeying through trancework and meditation with those spirits and gods. But it very very rarely includes ritual, spell work, etc. I do those things, but they aren’t the bulk of what makes up my practice.

Right now, my “witchy” goals include finishing up the OBOD Bardic Grade course, learning palmistry, and taking up Welsh and harp playing as devotional work for my gods. There’s a long way to go, but I’m eager to get started.

[thepatchworkcrow]

I'm Back! A Little Update Vlog. I wanted to get back into making videos, so here’s a little update as to what I’ve been up to since I last posted a video.

[thepatchworkcrow]

YT Pagan Challenge 24: Which Deity Should I Work With?

My video for #24 of the YouTube Pagan Challenge, all about patron deities and knowing which one is the right one to work with.

[thepatchworkcrow]

The Sacred Hearth: The Importance of Fire in my Path

The Sacred Hearth: The Importance of Fire in my Path

I’ve been on a bit of a creative streak the past few days. In addition to a new YouTube video, and a number of Tumblr posts, I’ve been working on a personal digitization of my thirteen years’ worth of study. I’m unfortunately not able to share that particular project because of the number of things not properly sourced in it, but I can share some of the ideas that come from it, and the original…

[thepatchworkcrow]

Wednesday’s prompt for the 2019 Grimoire Challenge is: “Through your craft, how do you perceive the world, life, death, the afterlife? What is the order of the cosmos in which you work? What is your concept of life and death? Where do you go when you die?...” I’ve covered this in longer Wordpress posts, mainly this one, but I’ll do my best to make it a little more concise here.

My basis of cosmology comes mainly from two sources: modern Druid teachings from the OBOD course and John Michael Greer’s The Druidry Handbook, and from an essay by Frank Mills dealing with The Oran Mor (I just realized the copy of this story I would have linked you all to is no longer accessible without being logged in to the New Order of Druid’s site; I’ll need to find another version of it). These are combined with my own personal gnosis and experiences to sort of formulate what I believe:

Now, following Celtic-inspired spiritual paths, I really didn’t find a sort of creation myth to work with, and growing up without any sort of religious teaching meant I was kind of working primarily with a Big Bang / scientific world view for a long time (and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that!). A few years ago, I discovered the Oran Mor, and found it was a means of reconciling my spiritual leanings with scientific fact. The essential premise of the Oran Mor, or The Great Song, was that in the void before anything existed, the divine causative force behind the Universe spoke/sung its name, and the tune, slowly building, until it reached a great crescendo formed all matter and all life. This song continues still, bring forth life from the material world, and growing, changing, and evolving forever more. It is the creative energy of the Universe- you might call it Nwyfre, or compare it to The Force in Star Wars. It’s essentially a sort of poetic way of looking at the same scientific truths: there was the vacuum of space, a big bang, and a spiraling of matter that created the stars, planets, etc. and eventually all life.

Paired with this understanding, which works well enough on its own, I have the Three Circles of Manifestation:

Essentially, the premise of this is that all life comes from Annwn, in this case meaning the mineral realm- the material stuff that people and plants are made out of, and into Abred. Abred contains all various forms of life: from the smallest single-celled organisms to the the largest mammals and human life. A soul is reincarnated through various stages of life, learning and experiencing all things until is ready to progress to the next circle of being: Gwynfydd, where they rise forever in peace, wisdom, and love. Ceugant is the causative force of the Universe- the force behind the Oran Mor, which calls life from the depths to rejoin it someday.

For me, there is another element though before this whole cosmology is complete: The Wylde Hunt. In my personal gnosis, the Wylde Hunt operates as a sort of natural force of destruction and chaos- completely necessary in its existence. Life cannot grow and grow unchecked. Like overpopulation is a problem, like cancer allowed to spread leads to death and unwellness, like too many voices or instruments playing at once creates a chaotic wall of sound. All that lives must also die, and the Wylde Hunt, in my cosmology, are the bringers of that necessary death and destruction that allows for new things to be made manifest. 

They are not evil; such energy is completely necessary to maintain balance. They act as psychopomp: they ferry souls from one point of being to the next, be that a new phase of life, a new life altogether, or from one circle of manifestation to the next. To work with them is to work with that liminality. It is knowing that death will come, that it is natural, and that they will guide you to the next place of being. 

I have personally gotten the impression through my devotional work with my gods and guides, that my progression through the Circles of Manifestation ends with this lifetime. It is my belief that I will join with my hunters come this lifetime’s end, and so become a part of that force.

[thepatchworkcrow]

In which I ramble on about sacred spaces and holy sites and a little on circle casting! There was no way to film outside, so to see the places I’m talking about, please check out my blog post I made to accompany it: https://patchworkcrow.wordpress.com/2017/02/03/yt-pagan-challenge-sacred-spaces-holy-sites-and-circle-casting/

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWA_deDIex4)

[thepatchworkcrow]

YouTube Pagan Challenge 5: Witchy / Psychic Talents

In which I ramble a bit about some things that I’m good at.

[thepatchworkcrow]

Rambles! Updates! Witchy Haul!

[starvedofsong]

Pirate Ambiance

For when you’re writing that pirate story: @patch-workcrow

https://mynoise.net/NoiseMachines/squeakingSailboatSoundscapeGenerator.php

[witches--crows]

Oh! Thank you for tagging me @lithyena !

Rules: tag 10 followers you want to get to know better.

@elvensoul  @kimmy-hpt @p-ikaboo @medieval-woman @forestsanctum @patch-workcrow @dehanginggarden @dwellsincastles @f-aeriequeen @mike-svalin and I could add much more!

Name: Sandy

Gender: female

Star sign: virgo 

Height: 168cm

What’s your middle name.

Rachel (but nobody uses it, I even sometimes forget I have one!)

Put your iTunes on shuffle. What are the first 6 songs that popped up?

Misfits - Descending Angels

Wardruna - Urur

Marilyn Manson - Kill4me

Celtic Woman - Dùlamàn

Nightwish - Over the Hills 

Beltaine - Dance Around

Ever had a song or a poem written about you?

Yes ahah! I very beautiful short poem written by a very sweet internet friend-poet.

When was the last time you played air guitar?

Can’t remember...

Who is your celebrity crush?

Ben Robson (Vikings - Animal Kingdom)

What’s a sound you hate? Love?

I hate the sound of the door hitting the door frame because of the Wind especially at night.  I love the weird sounds my dog makes!

Do you believe in ghosts? Aliens?

I believe in ghosts but I’m a little bit less convinced about aliens...

Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

Yes and yes but nothing important thank the gods.

What was the last time book you read?

Outlander The fiery cross by Diana Gabaldon.

Do you like the smell of gasoline?

Eew no.

What was the last movie you saw?

Crimson Peak by Guillermo Del Toro.

What’s the worst injury you ever had?

Nothing bad luckily. I cut a very small piece of my little finger once while peeling fruits...

Do you have any obsessions right now?

Finding animal bones especially deer horns (woods?) (since a few months already)

Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

Yes quite a bit...

In a relationship.

No.

Have fun!