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[wandererswayhome]

Gay/Queer Witchy Patches from swinku

x / x

[wandererswayhome]

Hello, witches! Since I’m always harping on about learning your history and checking your sources, I thought I’d help folks get a head start by compiling some source material.

To that end, I’ve started a Dropbox folder with a stash of historical texts on witchcraft, magic, and related topics. Nearly everything I’ve managed to find so far is public domain (thank you Project Gutenberg), with the exception of a very thorough herbal grimoire I found online some years ago and a book of witchcraft from the 1970s that appears to be out of print.

I will be continuing in this vein with future texts that I find. Everything will be public domain or cited to the source that it came from, in PDF format. I will NOT be including PDFs of any book currently in circulation with a copyright linked to a living author or estate. The point of this folder is that everything in it should be free for sharing and open use as research materials.

Below is the initial list of titles. I tried to include as many as I could find, with a focus on some oft-cited classics. I will be adding new texts as I find them.

A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second Sight, by David Webster (1820)

A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718, by Wallace Notestein (1909)

British Goblins, Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions, by Wirt Sikes (1880)

Curiosities of Superstition, by W. H. Davenport Adams (1882)

Daemonologie, by King James I/VI (1597)

Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, Edited and Selected by W. B. Yeats (1888)

Irish Witchcraft and Demonology, by St. John Drelincourt Seymour (1913)

La Sorcière, or The Witch of the Middle Ages, by Jules Michelet (1863)

Lives of the Necromancers, by William Godwin (1834)

Magic and Fetishism, by Alfred C. Haddon (1906)

Magic and Witchcraft, by Anonymous (1852)

Modern Magic, by M. Schele de Vere (1873)

Plant Lore, Legends, and Lyrics, by Richard Folkard (1884)

Practical Psychomancy and Crystal Gazing, by William Walker Atkinson (1908)

The Devil in Britain and America, by John Ashton (1896)

The Discoverie of Witchcraft, by Reginald Scot (1594, 1886 reprint)

The Extremely Large Herbal Grimoire (date unknown, internet publication)

The Golden Bough : A Study of Magic and Religion, by Sir James George Frazer (1890)

The Illustrated Key to the Tarot, by L.W. de Laurence (1918)

The Magic of the Horse-shoe, by Robert Means Lawrence (1898)

The Mysteries of All Nations, by James Grant (1880)

The Mystery and Romance of Alchemy and Pharmacy, by Charles John Samuel Thompson (1897)

The Superstitions of Witchcraft, by Howard Williams (1865)

The Witchcraft Delusion in Colonial Connecticut by John M. Taylor (1908)

The Wonders of the Invisible World, by Cotton Mather and A Farther Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches, by Increase Mather (1693, 1862 reprint)

Witch Stories, by E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton (1861)

Witch, Warlock, And Magician, by W. H. Davenport Adams (1889)

Witchcraft & Second Sight in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland, by John Gregorson Campbell (1902)

Witches’ Potions & Spells, ed. by Kathryn Paulsen (1971)

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that these texts are (with few exceptions) more than a century old, and may contain depictions, references, or language that are outdated and inappropriate. The point of including these documents is to provide access to historical texts for research and reference. Inclusion in the collection does not equal unconditional agreement with or wholesale approval of the contents.

Take everything with a grain of salt and remember to do your due diligence!

Happy Witching!   -Bree

[wandererswayhome]

Hey I saw your response to a different anon about tarot and I just wanted to say that many many many Romani who actually grew up with the traditions agree that white people shouldn't be using tarot. The history of tarot was indeed started as playing cards but Roma are the only ones who divined from it. There is still much descrimination today for doing traditional practices and seeing white girls living their dream doing tarot is extremely disrespectful. Seeing you call it racist for someone to call out CA was absolutely revolting. Please do not spread the hateful misinformation you are. Please listen to real Roma

Alright, I'm breaking character for this one because it involves me personally.

Again, as far as I know, saying tarot is endemic to romani culture is akin to saying moneylending is endemic to jewish culture.

As far as I am aware, the roma are not the only people to divine with tarot cards, and they did not invent the practice.

And again, the author of this blog is ethnically Romani. Although I am fairly isolated from the culture, I have access to people who aren’t. When I asked my culturally romani family members about this, they said they had never heard of this concept.

Now, that doesn’t inherently mean I am correct. I am completely open to the fact that I may be wrong about this. However, it does mean that I am going to have to ask for proof beyond “I saw some people say this somewhere“ because as far as I know, the earliest citation for romani people using tarot for divination people is from Elphias Levi’s Key of Mysteries (1861), and the earliest citation for divinatory tarot as we know it was from by Jean-Baptiste Alliette in approximately 1780, when he and Antoine Court published a guide for performing cartomancy with the Tarot of Marseilles.

Additionally, philosopher and tarot historian Michael Dummett noted, in his book The Game of Tarot. "it was only in the 1780s, when the practice of fortune-telling with regular playing cards had been well established for at least two decades, that anyone began to use the tarot pack for cartomancy.”

So, If you have a primary source on tarot being used for divination by romani people prior to 1780, I’ll have to reconsider.

[wandererswayhome]

Beginner Witch Tips

Fight a God. Just go for it, dude. Why not. If you fail, just keep trying until you either win or the god gives up and moves on.

Learn to cast some protective wards. That god has friends, and they're going to come for you. You best be ready.

Curse your enemies. Do it. Destroy them all. Make them pay. Everyone's like all "Don't start out by cursing people! Boo!" and I'm like, those people should get cursed too.

Try to befriend a Crow. You'll probably fail, but crows are neat.n Why not give it a try?

Pace Yourself. Like sometimes take a break, read a book, and maybe have some tea. You can't just sprint your whole way -- you gotta rest too.

Curse your enemies again. They are your enemies and they deserve it.

Buy a neat hat. Seriously, no one tells you to get a neat hat -- but you should. Neat hats are neat.

[wandererswayhome]

Kitchen Witchery: Cookies

I absolutely love both making and eating cookies. They’re a rather versatile dessert and snack, and since the main flavor profile for most cookies comes from one or two ingredients, they’re full of potential for adding in some magic. I’ve made up a list of some cookies and their possible correspondences, but the magical potential of cookies are definitely not limited to those I’ve listed. 

Gingersnaps for success 

Snickerdoodles for luck 

Lemon Cookies for friendship

Chocolate chip cookies for love and vitality

Sugar cookies to sweeten a relationship or situation

Lavender Shortbread cookies for peace

Peanut Butter cookies for energy

I’ve only listed one or two correspondences for the cookies I’ve named, but they certainly have more than that going for them. A quick search can tell you what correspondences or associations apply to your ingredients. And it should be noted that cookies like shortbread and sugar cookies have some added potential because you can add different flavors to them (peppermint, orange, rose, etc.) to make use of whatever correspondence your situation needs. 

One final note, I’ve been talking about making the cookies, but making the cookies yourself is not required for tapping into some cookie magic. You can put a little power and intention into a box of store-bought cookies before they’re opened, and then really savor the flavor of whatever correspondence you’re tapping into to add some mindfulness to the enjoyment of eating the cookie. 

[wandererswayhome]

When an old house razed,

And red brick remains,

Take it and crush it

In Our Old God's names,

Then lay it or cast it,

Or blow it about,

Shining tongue speak,

And rust flow about,

Above or below, within or without

On Tuesday, my shadow told me to go next door to the abandoned property and view the place closely. There, guided by his influence, my eyes went straight to the ground, where I located remains of red bricks once used for the house. The housritself having been razed to the foundation, this felt like an interesting opportunity. "On Tuesday, no less," I mutter to myself.

Reaching down, I grab as many pieces of brick as my hands can carry, and walk home. Once at my altar space, I begin grinding down the brick. As I do, memories of uncertainty and unsafe fill my head. I feel my heart beat pickup when thinking if my step-dad pinning down my mother on the couch. I feel my breathing increase when I recall being chased out of the house by my father. My mind pulls up the memories of being beaten by a babhsitter, told I will eat whatever I throw up.

And as I grind, I give these feelings to the powder. I pour them into the red brick, which pours it's own knowledge out to me:

As the house is spared from wind, so as the walls hold up the roof and the roof protects from rain, so too shall I protect and defend they who hold me on their person. I shall stand strong against strong enemies, and crush with martial force those who seek to overstep or harm. I shall, by my creation and then destruction, imbue any working with these same gifts. Use me in your witch powder, and I shall further grant it power and strength, the fortitude to do all you need and more. I break skulls that bash themselves into me in attempts to gain entry. I crush under my weight the curse and the jinx. I eat what remains into my rusty body, and keep it, transmitting it into force and form, until my form is released.

And so I grind it down well, knowing it will be a common material for my practice, informed of the uses directly from the spirit itself rather than by appropriating meanings from others.

[wandererswayhome]

Tumblr is the worst platform for selling things but who cares I made these and I’m proud of them! 

I love them. My little beans. Imagine useing these to add a touch of magic to a suit or something? Or just on some overalls- damn. The possibilities. This is me hyping up my own stuff because under capitalism I must. Anyway of you like them the packs are 10$! You can get them at Terrarium Treasures on etsy :)

[wandererswayhome]

Divination Drinks: Teas to Aid in Divining

Divination in all of its forms (tarot reading, tasseomancy; palmistry; pendulums, etc,.), can be quite exhausting and require large amounts of energy. These teas and tea blends will aid you in divining by enhancing your psychic power, and/or boosting your energy.

Tea Blends:

Psychic Tea (Scott Cunningham)

3 parts Rose Petals

1 part Cinnamon

2 parts Yarrow

Brew the tea, strain it and drink a cup before performing any form of divination as this tea enhances psychic awareness.

Tea for Divination (Moura)

1 tbsp China black tea

2 tbsp Lemon Balm

1 tbsp Rose Hips

1 tbsp Mugwort*

Brew the tea, strain it and drink either before divination or sip during/throughout.

Teas:

Jasmine Tea

Jasmine is said to induce prophetic dreams, which can aid in the growth of psychic power and psychic awareness making this tea a good choice of drink to be had before divining. 

Drink 1 cup of this naturally sweet and fragrant tea before sleeping the night before you wish to divine.

Vanilla Tea

You can brew your own or buy ready-made Vanilla tea/tea bags. Vanilla enhances psychic ability and allows the benefits of this enhancement to be better felt and absorbed. 

Drink Vanilla tea before and during any divination work to open yourself up and be more receptive.

Peppermint Tea

Peppermint tea heightens your psychic sensitivity, as well as working to clear the mind and sharpen focus. It can also be used to cleanse the mind and body of any negative energies beforehand.

This tea should be consumed before any psychic or divination based activities. 

Some Other Things to Consider:

Some herbal tea blends may not be to your taste but this can be remedied by adding honey to taste. 

Other herbs, such as Cinnamon, are used to add oomph to magick and can be added to tea blends and teas to do just that. If you don’t want to add pre-ground and grainy Cinnamon to your drinks, you can use a Cinnamon stick to stir instead. This will add the oomph you’re after without altering the taste too much.

If you want to make your brew even more potent, stir clockwise. This adds positive energy to your tea.

[* = This herb is harmful to pregnant or nursing women!]

[wandererswayhome]

Ways you can celebrate Yule that aren’t just Christmas.

Celebrate on the correct days!: Yule is a solstice sabbat, which means it’s on the day before, of, and after the winter solstice*. It’s NOT December 25th.

Hang all kinds of evergreens everywhere: Do you know why? Because while snow is very pretty at first after a while the never ending blinding white and brown and black starts to drive you slowly insane. Holly and Mistletoe are the two brightest green plants you could get your hands on during winter so of course they were everywhere!

Light a massive bonfire**: It’s dark and cold and everyone is miserable. Burn some shit! If you aren’t a heathen then Yule is about the rebirth of the sun god(dess?). Welcome that guy back with the best sun imitation you could get!

Leave feed out for Odin’s Horse: Kids would leave out hay or treats for Odin’s Horse(Sleipnir) to eat while he road in the wild hunt. A gift given means a gift must be returned and so Odin(also known as the parents) would leave treats for the kids. Yes this is where Santa came from.

Make winter clothes: Winter was the time when all the housework was done because, well, you can’t plant when the field is under five feet of snow. Clothes were often made during this time and given to the family.

Welcome guests into your home: If there was one thing the Germanic people valued it was hospitality. Friend who has no were to go? Come on over! Your kid’s friend who comes from a tricky home? Why don’t they stay a night or two. Everyone is invited!

Anything that still has Yule in the name probably comes from the original:  Yule log, Yule boar, Yule goat. These are all from the original feast day. 

Yule is a feast to celebrate the wild hunt: So make a feast!

And finally, throw one hell of a party***: Yule is a Norse holiday guys. There was no such thing as a low-key party in that culture. The majority of their myths can be summed up thusly; partying, beating up someone who ruined the partying, partying because they beat someone up. Have fun!

*These are the days I do it because celebrating for 12 days - 2 months is impractical.

**Don’t be dumb with fire.

***Don’t do anything illegal.

I’m not a heathen, and also observe Yule very low-key because I still live in my parents house. If there is anything I missed or got wrong please add onto this!

[wandererswayhome]

My first little electroformed piece! It’s not a lot but for my first piece I love it ☺️ i still need to polish it and seal it but I am so proud of myself and can’t wait to play around some more and make some cool things!

[wandererswayhome]

Green Salt

Green Salt can be used in spells for abundance, prosperity, healing and luck.

It can also:

Used with Black Salt, it can help bring good luck faster.

Carried in a sachet when looking for a job,

Use on Gardening tools to help bless them for a good season. (Do not put directly on plants) 

How to make

In a Mortar and Pestle, blend natural salt (sea, rock Himalayan) and green flowers or herbs such as mint, dill or basil. You could add green food coloring for a more intense green if you choose. Blend ingredients together, while focusing on your intent and desire

Source (x)

[wandererswayhome]

So after searching my whole bed last night I changed the sheets and you’ll never guess what I found IN the sheets when I got in bed last night? 🙃😂

Apparently my moldavite has done it’s job and disappeared lol I know the last place I put it was in my pillow case when I changed it cause I sleep with it and I went to pull it out and it’s gone. I checked all the pillows, all the bedding, under the mattress, under the bed, on all my altars and I can’t find it anywhere 😂 oh well it’ll show it’s self again when it’s needed.

[wandererswayhome]

Apparently my moldavite has done it’s job and disappeared lol I know the last place I put it was in my pillow case when I changed it cause I sleep with it and I went to pull it out and it’s gone. I checked all the pillows, all the bedding, under the mattress, under the bed, on all my altars and I can’t find it anywhere 😂 oh well it’ll show it’s self again when it’s needed.

[wandererswayhome]

Early Morning Candle Blessing Spell

This is a spell I created for those who wake up early in the morning and want to cast a positive energy over their day! I work in the morning and always light a candle when I do so, so I started saying this spell and it really improved my morning hours. I hope this can be helpful to you!

You will need:

A candle of your choice 

Matches 

Good intentions!

Steps:

 Charge the candle by holding it into your hands and focusing your positive intentions for the day. You can imagine success during the day, a feeling of peace or comfort, etc. When you feel you’ve thought of all you could, get your match.

You can use your match as a ‘petition paper’ substitute for those who do not want to burn paper or for people who live in a dorm room (like me!). Using a pen or marker to write a word on a match that summarizes the energy you want to bring into your day today. I usually write ‘happiness’ or ‘love’. 

Strike your match and light your candle, visualizing your intent. Say the following spell aloud as you light the candle:

I bless this day ahead  With this fiery candlelight With this flame, my intentions living With this match, they ignite From the moment I wake To the second I sleep May happiness be mine to keep 

 Burn the candle as you normally would and enjoy your day!

[wandererswayhome]

A Crash Course on Channeling

What is Channeling?

Channeling is allowing a nonphysical entity to use your physical body, in order to accomplish something. If that sounds, vague, it’s because it is. Channeling takes many different forms and intensity levels! Depending on how it’s done, it can be a medium-difficulty task or one of the most advanced things a spirit worker can do. 

Types of Channeling

I once heard channeling described as a car ride, and in my experience that’s very accurate. The car is your body, and you’re in it with an entity. Sometimes you’re in the driver’s seat, and the entity is in the back seat giving directions. Sometimes you or the entity is in the passenger’s seat: not calling most of the shots, but able to reach over and grab the wheel if needed. Sometimes you’re in the backseat watching the entity drive, and sometimes you’re in the trunk. In practice, this can take a number of forms.

Speaking on Behalf. This is the kind of channeling people do most often. The entity isn’t controlling you, just feeding you lines which you can then relay to a third party. You’re translating their messages to something other people can comprehend. If you’ve ever answered a question for a spirit in their words, you’ve done this. 

Isolated Channeling. The entity takes control of just a part of the body, usually the hands or fingers. This is mostly used for things like automatic writing.

Assuming Form. Also known as consensual possession. The entity is in the driver’s seat, speaking and acting for themselves without your help. Some people will call this “horsing.”

Possession. While the word “possession” could technically cover all of this, within the spirit work community it’s usually reserved for channeling where the human did not consent beforehand. This doesn’t necessarily mean in a violating way- I once had a friend who got possessed just long enough for an entity to yank them out of danger; once I was taken for just a moment to convey a quick (but very direct) message to a devotee, and snapped out of it right after. 

Reasons to Channel

Everyone will have a different reason to channel but most of them fall under a few categories:

Helping Someone Else. You’re channeling on behalf of someone who can’t [easily] reach the entity themselves, in order to ease communication between the two parties. This is often seen with mediums contacting spirit guides and Ancestors.

Aid in Other Works. The entity is better suited to accomplish a certain task than you, so you let them take the lead. This is often seen with a familiar or spirit companion, someone the practitioner works with closely enough to know their strengths and trust them. 

Easier Communication Overall. Channeling is a way to get really familiar with an entity’s energy. Again, we often see this with spirit companions and is more to bond than to achieve another goal.  This would include automatic writing or letting a spirit experience things “through” you. 

Ritual Invitation. In some traditions, it’s common to invite deities to ritual events. Often, some type of channeling/possession is expected and is usually reached through ecstatic experiences. It’s taken as a sign the deity has arrived at the party, either a sign the offerings have been received or a time for the deity to convey important messages. 

Before-You-Begin Essentials

Know How To Protect Yourself. This is non-negotiable. Is your discernment tuned enough to spot an impostor or malevolent entity? Do you know how to end a session early? Do you know how to banish a spirit in an emergency? If the answer is no, then study up and return to channeling when you’re ready. 

Know Your Entity. Channeling, by nature, puts the practitioner in an intimate and vulnerable place, so you don’t want to give that access to an entity who may misuse it. If it’s your first time channeling, make sure you trust this entity with your life. 

Don’t Channel Alone. When you channel, you’re in an altered state of consciousness. Having someone grounded near you helps keep the session on track and keep you out of trouble should you need it. (Either by forcing an entity out if needed or just keeping you from climbing that tree.) 

Other Notes

It’ll Probably Take a Lot Out of You. Have something ready to ground and rehydrate yourself after a session, and make sure you don’t have anything high-demand planned after. 

Start Small. No need to jump head-first into the most advancecd and high-intensity types of channeling! Start with automatic writing or painting and get used to the feeling and work your way up.

Don’t Make It Weird. Basic etiquette still matters. Channeling is not a pass to give unsolicited messages to other practitioners, speak on behalf of their deities to them (unless they’ve specifically asked), or say hurtful things cushioned by: “What? It wasn’t me who said it.”

Messages Are Rarely “Pure.” This means everything is still filtered through you, the practitioner. Your values, morals, biases, and beliefs can inform what messages get through and how they are conveyed. Nobody wants to send out a message they disagree with, after all. This becomes less of an influencing factor with experience as one learns to hone their skill and let go more, but it’s important to always keep in mind. (If a channeling friend says a deity doesn’t accept your gender identity or something, that’s a good sign that really your “friend” doesn’t accept it.) 

[wandererswayhome]

With code “BLACKFRIDAY20” you can get 20% off of everything you purchase, starting at Midnight tonight and ending midnight on Friday!!!

[wandererswayhome]

I finally received the last few things I needed to electroform in the mail today so now I really get to experiment and make some really cool things!

Here’s a sneak peak of something I put together, it’s apophylite with a garnet accent