#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!

[witches--crows]

21 Questions

Tagged by  @noramey thank you lovely!

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

Nickname: Sandy sun (thanks to my brother!)

Zodiac: Virgo

Height: 1m68

Last movie I saw: Pride and Prejudice (BEAUTYFUL)

Last thing I googled: Garlic sauce recipe (yeah well I’m a hungry fairy)

Favourite musician: There are a few but let’s just mention M Shadows of my all time fave band A7X!

Song stuck in my head: Wintersun - The Forest that weeps

Other blogs: None

Do I get asks:Rarely

Following: 421!

Amount of sleep: Oh how I would love to say 7-8 hours but no.. only 4-6h depending on nights..

Lucky number: I don't know

What I’m wearing: Leggins and sweater. Comfy!

Dream job:Painter

Dream trip: Norway or Scotland

Favourite food: Homemade lasagna

Play any instruments: Nope

Languages: French (+ regional language if it counts), German, English and a tiny bit of Swedish

Favourite songs: So many so I’ll just write one; The Shire theme song!

Random fact: My back and neck constantly hurts like those of a grandma

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: Flowers, lace, books, renaissance paintings, candles, a calm stream, oïl paint stains on skin, soft tea…

I tag: @witchyy-blue @lithyena @ancientbeing @malevolent-moon @patch-workcrow @lisaflowers @strawberryelfling @forest-elf @schneewittchens @daemonturtle @crannabeatha

[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!

[aquatic-raider]

Witchy About Me

Tagged by @patch-workcrow​! :)

Name: Fennis

Sun/Moon/Rising: Cancer Sun / Capricorn Moon / Capricorn Rising

Aura Color: Deep blue, orange, or golden yellow.

Deities: Bast, Yemaya

Witch Type: [Landlocked] Sea-Witch / Shapeshifter

Element: Earth/Water

Favorite tools: Rattle, Candles, Hex Scrolls

Familiar: a bird that changes depending on were I live. Also Sa DeHarris

Favorite flower: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Favorite herb: Sweetfern

Favorite crystal/stone: Serpentine, Petrified Wood

Describe your perfect candle: Unscented. Picked up from a thrift store, and stabbed into the mound of melted wax on my working altar.

Top 3 Favorited Witchy Emoji: Not on mobile; emojis are witchy?? Bitch a snake then

Daily witchy ritual: Devotional to Bast, tending the ancestor’s shrine. Working on a shapeshifting grimoire, cause those that are out there are literal shit [I’m looking at you Morphosepheram]

Divination method: Water scrying, card oracles

Favorite lunar phase: idfk, I always go to yoga on the new moon

Favorite Weather: Overcast, rain moving in. Pressure change causing your arm hairs to stand on end. Hearing loud thunder in the distance.

Favorite Sabbat (if you celebrate): Mabon / Samhain

Favorite magical beast: Merfolk, Lamia; anything that inspires a shapeshifting ritual

Favorite tea: White Peony

I tag all y’all bitches reading this

[thepatchworkcrow]

21 Questions

Tagged by  @witches--crows ; 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: Rach, Sunshine (thank you family), Pookie (only to my friend Morgan), ahh... Yeah, I don’t actually have too many of them

Zodiac: Cancer

Height: 5′6″

Last movie I saw: Bird Box (My friends made me watch it, and I actually sort of liked it?)

Last thing I googled: How to Parallel Park (I’m retaking my driving test in a little over a week. o__o)

Favourite musician: How DARE you make me pick??? Um, David Bowie trumps all, but Stevie Nicks, Damh the Bard, Florence and the Machine, and Frank Turner are some others I’ve been jiving to lately.

Song stuck in my head: “Recovery” and “I am Disappeared” both by Frank Turner

Other blogs: @theravenafterdark is my goth-aesthetic blog, and @stardustandcrowfeathers is sort of my fandom/ shit-posty blog. I also have a Patchwork Crow blog on Wordpress.

Do I get asks: Next to never. 

Following: 360

Amount of sleep: Well last night I stayed up entirely too late playing Fire Emblem, so it was like... four or five hours of sleep? Usually I get about 6 or 7 though.

Lucky number: 6 or 13, which sounds edgy and whatnot but they genuinely are lucky for me.

What I’m wearing: Oversized hoodie from my university and jeans

Dream job: Proffessional blogger/ tarot reader

Dream trip: Returning to the British Isles and making a pilgrimage to a bunch of sacred sites: The Long Man, Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Isle of Skye, Avebury, New Grange, Tintagel Castle, etc.

Favourite food: I honestly couldn’t say I have a favorite. I will never turn down chicken salad or pasta though, I guess.

Play any instruments: I used to play the saxophone, and I’ve been known to plink around on a piano from time to time, but I wouldn’t say I have a terrible amount of skill in either.

Languages: English, a smattering of remembered French from high school / college, and I’m teaching myself Welsh with Duolingo right now!

Favourite songs: “I am Disappeared” by Frank Turner, “Rock n’ Roll Suicide” by David Bowie, “Dead Man’s Bones” by the Muteflutes (which is my cousin’s band, and you should check them out!), and “Land, Sky, and Sea” by the Damh the Bard to name a few, I suppose.

Random fact: My cousin (the brother of the one who’s in a band) was on Naked and Afraid twice, which I think is pretty hardcore.

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: hand-painted mugs full of coffee, old-fashioned star charts and maps, warm tartan scarves, the peridot green of cottonwood leaves in the summer, perpetual smell of incense- somewhere between dragon’s blood and sandalwood but never really definable, black velvet and lace, ink-stained hands

I tag: @angelrunaway, @aquatic-raider, @musingsofthefox, @thebasildruid, @madamehearthwitch, @wildchildwitchery, and whoever else wants to play along!

[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.