thevirginwitch

[thevirginwitch]

I think I may never be sad ever again. There is a statue entitled "Farewell to Orpheus" on my college campus. It's been there since 1968, created by a Prof. Frederic Littman that use to work at the university. It sits in the middle of a fountain, and the fountain is often full of litter. I have taken it upon myself to clean the litter out when I see it (the skimmers only come by once a week at max). But because of my style of dress, this means that bystanders see a twenty-something on their hands and knees at the edge of the fountain, sleeves rolled up, trying not to splash dirty water on their slacks while their briefcase and suit coat sit nearby. This is fine, usually. But today was Saturday Market, which means the twenty or so people in the area suddenly became hundreds. So, obviously, somebody stopped to ask what I was doing. "This," I gestured at the statue, "is Eurydice. She was the wife of Orpheus, the greatest storyteller in Greece. And this litter is disrespectful." Then, on a whim, I squinted up at them. "Do you know the story of Orpheus and Eurydice?" "No," they replied, shifting slightly to sit.

"Would you like to?"

"Sure!"

So I told them. I told them the story as I know it- and I've had a bit of practice. Orpheus, child of a wishing star, favorite of the messenger god, who had a hard-working, wonderful wife, Eurydice; his harp that could lull beasts to passivity, coax song from nymphs, and move mountains before him; and the men who, while he dreamed and composed, came to steal Eurydice away. I told of how she ran, and the water splashed up on my clothes. But I didn't care. I told of how the adder in the field bit her heel, and she died. I told of the Underworld- how Orpheus charmed the riverman, pacified Cerberus with a lullaby, and melted the hearts of the wise judges. I laughed as I remarked how lucky he was that it was winter- for Persephone was moved by his song where Hades was not. She convinced Hades to let Orpheus prove he was worthy of taking Eurydice. I tugged my coat back on, and said how Orpheus had to play and sing all the way out of the Underworld, without ever looking back to see if his beloved wife followed. And I told how, when he stopped for breath, he thought he heard her stumble and fall, and turned to help her up- but it was too late. I told the story four times after that, to four different groups, each larger than the last. And I must have cast a glance at the statue, something that said "I'm sorry, I miss you--" because when I finished my second to last retelling, a young boy piped up, perhaps seven or eight, and asked me a question that has made my day, and potentially my life: "Are you Orpheus?" I told the tale of the grieving bard so well, so convincingly, that in the eyes of a child I was telling not a story, but a memory. And while I laughed in the moment, with everyone else, I wept with gratitude and joy when I came home. This is more than I deserve, and I think I may never be sad again.

Here is the aforementioned statue, by the way.

[thevirginwitch]

Altar Guardian (Making of)

Some time ago, I posted about the North German practice of the Bannkorb ((Spell)Binding Hive), a beehive adorned with a human face, which is supposed to keep evil spirits and honey thieves from a group of beehives.

While researching, I came across a publication by Aladin Borioli, who took some stunning photos of extant examples in German museum collections. I cut some of these out from a brochure of his publishing house (spector books), which I plan to frame and hang in my flat.

I’ve been thinking a lot about binding practices and how in different spiritual practices figurines and statues guard holy and sacred places. Since I felt such a resonance with these hive-figures, I wanted to create a miniature Spellbinding Hive for my Altar Space.

I collected a whole bunch of dandelion stems, that had already gone to seed and hung them up to dry. Once they were nice and crispy, I began braiding them into one long braid and startet sewing it to itself.

I’m currently in the process of forming the basket-structure. The next step will be to form the face/mask and attach it to the finished miniature hive.

[thevirginwitch]

Midsummer Spell to Have Conference With Spirits

From the 17th century Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet, presented by David Rankine “Take Pedra di dura fruit (the hard pit of a fruit, such as peach or cherry) on the day of St. John Baptist (traditionally June 24) Or in the vigil of St Peter or in the third day after and burn it and cast it into a secret place And after the third day come thither and you shall find as many Devils as by them And thou shalt see them and bind them saying as followeth. When our Lord descended down from Heaven to deliver the People In the name of the same Lord I Conjure you Spirits that you do whatsoever I command you And that you do no hurt to any creature And thereto I charge you + In the name of the Father+ And of the Son+ And of the Holy Ghost+ Amen+

Then ask or bid them do what thou wilt and they will perform”

[thevirginwitch]

Spirits are fluid, and move as such. The devil you met in the woods will not be the same as when you called him into your home, will not be the same as when he took your hand at the river banks. They are not wholly separate, just different.

[thevirginwitch]

celebrated the solstice with my coven today! I hope you all have a fantastic summer! 🌞🏵🔥

[thevirginwitch]

Set the fires. Bury your doubts. Rise like something ancient remembering its own hunger. Dance barefoot where the wild things grow. Crown yourself in petals and stems. Breathe in with the winds, throw a kiss to the storms, run like the rivers and creeks in your space

[thevirginwitch]

Friendly reminder to all my witchy and pagan friends and neighbors that Not Everyone Does Witchery The Same Way.

Not everyone will use components or methods or rituals in the same way. Not everyone subscribes to the same beliefs or traditions or even uses of common materials. Not everyone will do the same sorts of magic or consider the same things integral to their craft.

THIS IS NORMAL AND ACCEPTABLE.

No matter how long you've been studying or practicing or what your level of expertise is, you're going to have to accept that other practitioners will do things differently. It doesn't matter if it matches up with what you believe or what you've been taught. And rather than insisting on one's own infallibility or arguing over points of meaningless minutiae, a prudent witch will take the opportunity to learn something.

(Obviously, this does not apply in situations where one encounters bigotry or predatory behavior or misinformation/disinformation that could cause actual harm. But if you're going to argue with someone over whether the particulars of their craft work the way YOU think they should, you're wasting everyone's time.)

[thevirginwitch]

Choose your spell ingredients intentionally

It's all well and good to Google "spiritual protective herbs" and pick a couple random ones off the list, but do you understand why that herb is protective? Does it align with your intention?

I've always liked to use baking as an analogy for spellwork:

Let's say you want to bake a cake - yummy! You'll need flour for the basic structure, sugar to sweeten, eggs to bind the ingredients, a fat for texture and a leavening agent to make it rise.

So you pop to the shops and you grab bread flour, icing sugar, eggs, shortening and yeast.

Technically, these are all correct: bread flour is a flour, icing sugar is a sugar, yeast is a leavening agent etc. And they all work great for other baked goods! Yeast is great at making bread rise and icing sugar is super sweet on top of a cupcake.

But if you mix all of these together, the final result probably isn't going to be what you wanted. Why? Well because you haven't understood why each ingredient is needed or how a cake works!!

When crafting a spell it's important to understand what your intention is and how the spell is going to work - it can also help to think about how certain ingredients might interact within the spell.

The best way to start doing this is to experiment. Have a go at crafting your own spells and working with different ingredients. What does their folklore say? What does their energy feel like? How do they interact with the other ingredients! Keep a journal or notebook full of your notes as you build up your knowledge!

[thevirginwitch]

Sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone and read that book that's more than a decade or even century old to learn more about magic and witchery.

You have to interact with literature and media that isn't within your own echo chamber.

You need regular confrontations with opinions and ideas outside your own bubble otherwise you. will. not. grow.

You must be able to read things critically, knowing that picking up a book and reading it does not equal you believing every word.

Learn about how others view the world, learn how people's beliefs work, learn how to intake information without assuming that every bit of information is on a binary of "good" or "bad" information.

This is the witchy version of me telling you, lovingly, to go touch grass.

[thevirginwitch]

[thevirginwitch]

I do think it's a myth that you have to completely empty your mind and always do witchcraft with a clear head.

It's also very difficult, if not downright impossible, each and every time. With or without neurodivergence and executive dysfunction involved.

And it's unnecessary.

I've cast spells, divined, done spirit work, even meditated with a monkey brain, and I worked with it and made it work.

It's more important to do what works for you and work with what you have.

[thevirginwitch]

Wishing you a happy solstice (winter or summer, as the case may be). Unless you're a flat earther, in which case, Happy Inexplicable Phenomenon!

[thevirginwitch]

The wheel of the year continues on.

[thevirginwitch]

Solstice blessings, friends!

💛✨🌞🌻🦋

[thevirginwitch]

planetary aid tldr;

the moon will help you find balance and become in tune with your emotions. 

the sun will help you to be confident and aid in your success. 

mercury will help you when you are traveling or need to study. 

venus will help you become compassionate and form partnerships. 

mars will help to set your goals into action and give you a boost of energy. 

jupiter will help you to become prosperous and improve your luck. 

saturn will help you to be determined but also to serve justice. 

uranus will help you to improve your intuition and promote higher thinking. 

neptune will help to expand your mind and decipher your dreams.

pluto will help you when you need to change your ways and to reveal all that is hidden.

compiled from my personal grimoire & based on my own associations

© 2025 bunny-claws

[thevirginwitch]

Labyrinth \\\ via

[thevirginwitch]

When I was in my teens, I used to make an entire magic system with 360+ unique spells, ordered in magic schools and categories, and it boggles my mind that I basically reinvented DnD mechanics, even down to metamagic.

I wanted to make a wiki about it but I don't have time for it.

The point was to try to encompass every "superpower" I could think of into a magic system.

I even got lore related to it all, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna simply reuse it all for OC worldbuilding. Ngl the fun part was naming all the spells, symbols and coming up with the logic of it all.