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WITCHY PSA

DON’T YOU DARE PUT SALT IN THE GROUND.

DO NOT CAST SALT CIRCLE IN THE DIRT. DO NOT SALT THE GROUND TO CLEANSE IT. DO NOT BURY SACHETS THAT INCLUDE SALT.

STOP SALTING THE GROUND.

YOU WILL MESS UP THE SOIL AND HURT THE PLANT LIFE. USE SOMETHING ELSE.

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The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, New York, October 28, 1900

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A lazy witch’s guide to spells

Get a candle with the color that corresponds with that you want (ex: love-red, green-wealth,etc), light the candle, write what you want on a little piece of paper and fucking burn that shit. There you have it kids, mostly every spell I’ve ever done.

[what-the-hekate]

Appalachian Folklore, Wives Tales, and Superstitions

Brought to you mostly by my grandparents, but also by my family at large. These are all things I heard growing up in the northern region of Appalachia and wanted to share with y'all. The lore and sayings may vary based on location, family tradition, and other factors, but this is just what I’m sharing from my experiences!

• Give the first pinch of a freshly baked loaf of bread to the Good Men to keep them happy. • Deaths and births always come in threes. • Spin around in a circle three times before you walk in the front door to confuse any spirits that are following you. • Don’t throw your hair out! If a bird builds a nest with it, you’ll have migraines. • “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky at morning, sailor’s warning.” • If the leaves on trees are flipped over with their backsides showing, rain’s coming. • If you hear a dog howl at night, death is coming. • If you’re giving someone a wallet or purse as a present, put money in it to ensure they’ll never financially struggle. • Spirits can’t cross running water. • Cats and dogs won’t enter a room where spirits are present. • Carry an acorn in your pocket for good luck, a penny for prosperity, and a nail for protection. • If you’re having nightmares, put a Bible under your pillow. They’ll go away. • Take a spoonful of honey to keep your words sweet. • Keeping a pot of coffee on ensures a happy home. • It’s bad luck to walk over a grave. • A horseshoe hung above a door ensures good luck. • A horseshoe in the bedroom staves away nightmares. • If your right hand itches, you’ll soon be receiving money. If the left itches, you’ll be paying it. • Wishing on a star works. “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight.” • When you have a random shiver, someone just walked over your grave. • If smoke from a fire rises, expect clear skies. If it rolls along the ground, expect storms. • Rosemary near the door provides protection. Lavender provides peace. • “A ring around the sun or moon, rain or snow is coming soon.” • Wind chimes and bells keep spirits away. • Seeing a cardinal means unexpected company. • For that matter, so does dropping silverware. • Rubbing a bit of potato on a wart helps it to go away. • If the soles of your feet itch, you will soon walk on strange grounds. • Black eyed peas, greens, and/or pork and sauerkraut should be eaten on New Year’s Day to welcome good luck and good fortune. • Driving a nail into a bedframe or crib will drive away curses. • If your ears are burning, someone’s talking about you. • If you dream of fish, you are or will soon be pregnant. • Listen to the wisdom of children, they see and know more than we think. • To dream of death means birth, to dream of birth means death. • To cure a headache, crush some mint leaves in your hands, cup them over your mouth and nose, and breathe in a few times. It should help. • Placing a fern or ivy on the front porch protects against curses. • In a vegetable garden, never plant the same plants in the same spot two years in a row. Rotate where they are, and you’ll save your soil. (Note: this is a real thing called crop rotation, and is actually kind of important) • A black bird (Raven or crow, doesn’t matter) on the roof or a windowsill is an omen for death. To avoid it, you have to scare it away without using your voice before it caws. • Say a prayer when you pass a coal mine for the lost souls still in the mine. • Thank the land and the Lord with every successful hunt or harvest you have, for nothing is guaranteed.

These are a few of the folklores, wives’ tales, superstitions, and sayings that I’ve heard growing up (and still living in) in Appalachia! I encourage other Appalachian witches, cunning folk, and general inhabitants of the Appalachian region (and just the mountain range at large) to share whatever bits you’ve heard over the years! I just wanted to share a bit with y'all to give you an insight into some Appalachian lore, my own practice, and maybe give you some things to research and incorporate into your own practice! 🌿✨

[what-the-hekate]

A Friendly Reminder

to always check and double-check the side-effects of any herbs, essential oils and/or crystals you may be using, especially if you will be ingesting them, placing them in contact with your skin, or diffusing them into the air you breathe.

Please also check to see if they will be safe for your pets, because what’s nontoxic for us isn’t necessarily nontoxic for them.

And always remember:

Just because something is natural doesn’t mean it is safe. 🌿🌿🌿

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“Can I really call myself a witch?”

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FIGURES OF NORSE MYTHOLOGY: HEL

Hel is the daughter of Loki and the Jotun Angrboda. Half of her body resembles a living woman while the other resembles a corpse. Her expression is always gloomy and grim. The Aesir feared Hel and her brothers, so they were abducted by the gods and banished. Hel was made the ruler of the realm of the dead, which is also named Hel. The entrance is guarded by Garm, a monstrous hound. Hel’s hall is Eljudnir, home of the dead. Her servants are Ganglati and Ganglot, who move about so slowly it is difficult to tell if they are moving at all. Her plate is called Hunger, and her knife is Famine.

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Kiki Smith - Lilith, 1994 - Bronze, silicon, and glass.

“In medieval Jewish lore, Lilith was Adam’s first wife.  When she demanded to be Adam’s equal, she was evicted from the Garden of Eden.  Lilith flew away to the demon world, replaced by the more submissive Eve.  Smith catches us off guard with Lilith’s pose and placement.  Most sculptures receive our gaze passively, but Lilith stares back with piercing brown eyes, ready to pounce.”

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There is magic in the night When pumpkins glow by moonlight

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one thing you should know about southerners is that we’re scary as fuck. drive through the backroads in a town where people don’t know you and they’ll all stand in the middle of the road and stare you down as you go by. down the road a ways from my neighborhood is a big white and brown house with 5 sheds out back. the fuck do they need 5 sheds for? idk but i’m not trying to be the one to find out. i wouldn’t suggest you try either, because another thing you should know is that we’ve all got guns. my next door neighbor is 87 and still goes to the firing range. he also still washes his own truck once a week, mows his own lawn, and just got re-married a few months ago. his wife is 79 and she is beautiful, hardly a wrinkle on either of them. one more thing you should know about southerners is that we think we’re never gonna die. and when we do? we haunt. you don’t believe me? go inside that lighthouse at midnight. go inside that doctor’s office that used to be a military hospital back in the civil war. go inside that abandoned house that’s sagging down the middle and creaks every time the wind blows but still somehow smells like gun leather and freshly cooked bread. hell, drive around in the middle of nowhere at night. i’ve heard stories of friends and acquaintances who have, on one of the long, slick black paved roads that run through the miles and miles of orange groves and corn fields, come across a group of folks all dressed in white robes running barefoot down the road with cow skulls held up in front of their faces, or looked out the window while driving and seen red eyed death running beside them at 65 mph. but listen, that was probably all bullshit. go ahead and walk by yourself through the woods. you’ll be fine. there’s nothing watching you from within those thickets of palms and pines and moss that are all stitched together with spider webs and rotting into the earth. nothing hiding just beneath the surface of that murky brown lake. definitely nothing in those dark, dark shadows you can’t quite see into when you’re blinded by the sun, waiting for night to fall so it can come out. nahhhhh, definitely not. you want some tea?

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Autumn witch. Illustration for mini stickerpack dedicate to Halloween 

Helena Mischenko 2018

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To all witches, with love

Recently I came across a post about making a tarot deck out of pokemon cards. Sure, most of you will find it silly. But let people enjoy things. You might not use emoji spells, but let people do it. You can, obviously, disagree. But let people enjoy things. One of the first comments was something along “this can’t be real, it is so stupid”, the person later apologized saying they follow the old ways. Amazing. But just because you’re lactose intolerant you can’t judge people who drink milk. For the love of everything magical, please stop putting people down because they don’t fit into your standards of how things should be done. Let people enjoy things. You can always give constructive criticism. But “this is so stupid” adds no value to your point. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.

[what-the-hekate]

a reminder from your science witch sister that it’s flu season, and haunting graveyards at midnight or walking barefoot in dark forests becomes much less romantic when you are ill, so go and take your vaccines and do your part to ensure herd immunity for the sick, the elderly and the young.

[what-the-hekate]

Jar Substitutions

Before you do a jar spell, it’s a good idea to ask yourself where that jar will spend it’s life. Is it going to be buried immediately? Will it hang out in your closet for a few years? Will you keep it on your dresser to shake and re-energize every now and again?

Why is it important to think about? Eco-friendliness, my pals. Glass isn’t exactly what you’d call biodegradable. Many witches are replacing jars with more sustainable, eco-friendly options. 

Is the spell going to be buried, left outside, tossed in a river, left at a crossroads, etc.? Leaves, flowers, coffee filters, anything made from wool or cotton, tea bags, peat pots, egg shells, natural clay, long grass woven into baskets, and so many more biodegradable options are available to replace the standard glass or plastic jar. 

Can the spell eventually be disassembled? Cool, you have my permission to use glass or plastic, but consider using one from the thrift store or one you already have! Peanut butter jars, tomato sauce jars, etc. That way you’re not condemning another jar to its eventual landfill destination. When you’re done with it, take it apart and recycle the jar. 

The spell can’t be disassembled? Go to Michael’s(or equivalent craft store) and go to the wood aisle. There, you will find small jewelry boxes made of either wood or cardboard. Many will have metal closures, and you can seal them with wax if you need to. They will biodegrade significantly faster than glass or plastic. 

I know, glass jars are pretty, and contribute to the aesthetic of witchcraft. By all means, use glass jars to hold your herbs, to store your moon water, for anything that’s temporary. Because you can recycle those. But spells are a commitment, often we don’t want to take them apart once they’re put together. So it’s our job to consider how our practice effects our planet. 

[what-the-hekate]

Essay on November

There is at times a small fire In the brain, partita for violin, Brier, black stem, All burning in the quarter notes. And the hedgerow Beyond the barn Calls its starlings in. Then frost, sere leaves, A swollen half-moon Like a drowsy fingertip Above the apple trees.

—Stephen Kuusisto

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I’m trying to find some more information about the witches’ foot; anyone who has anything, feel free to share. All I’ve found so far (no sources, sadly):

The Witches Foot

The Power of the Witches Foot Symbol in Magick and Ritual

But I do like this symbol and think it could be a good one to use. It’s simple enough for anyone to draw, it doesn’t have any other strong associations or connotations that I can find, and it’s discreet.

WITCHES NEED A SECRET SYMBOL FOR SAFE PLACES

So a lot of us are out of the broom closet so to speak, but many of have to be careful of being public because of the views of the communities we live in. What I propose is a symbol we can put on flyers or in shop windows that means “You’re safe here.”

I don’t believe that a pentagram would work because it’s got so much stigma attached and it’s really easily identifiable. Ideally, we can find something that is not tradition specific. I don’t know. I just want us to be able to put feelers out into the community without painting a target on ourselves for intolerant jerk faces, and I want witchlings that are seeking guidance to be able to do so in a safe environment. I mean, how badass would it be to find a little symbol of solidarity in your favorite coffee shop or bookstore??

Reblog with suggestions!

[what-the-hekate]

Witchionary: UPG

I haven’t been involved much with the online pagan community, and starting a witch blog has made me realize how much discourse has been going on that I’ve been unaware of. One concept that I’d never heard of until recently is UPG, an acronym for unverified (or unsubstantiated) personal gnosis.

UPG seems to be particularly relevant to people doing deity work, which is not my cup of tea in general. But I have seen it referenced elsewhere in occult practice, so I figured I should try and determine whether it’s something I need to use in my writing.

Short answer? I’m not into it.

For the benefit of anyone who’s as unfamiliar with this term as I was—and to give you an idea what definition I’m working from—here are some of the ways I’ve seen UPG defined:

Unverified Personal Gnosis (UPG) or Unverifiable Personal Gnosis, refers to any spiritual beliefs, truths or revelations experienced or adhered to by an individual that is based on personal experience that differs from or does not exist in accepted lore. The term is used quite a bit in reconstructionist circles to distinguish those beliefs and practices that are held by an individual based on personal experience from those beliefs and practices that have a historical basis or that are drawn from myth, folklore or archaeological evidence.

—Witchipedia

it’s a solid personal headcanon that has little to no historical basis OR something of a revelation that changes your perspective of an entity

—thepaganstudygrouppage

It refers to understandings you have of the gods (as well as concepts and situations related to your religion) that aren’t backed up by the lore (that is, mythology and so forth).

—theinformedpagan.com

From a perspective of scholarship, I get the importance of distinguishing between “information from historical sources” and “unsourced modern claims”. From a standpoint of personal religious belief or practice, however, I’m less convinced of its usefulness.

The Informed Pagan says of UPG, “it should always be understood that this is your UPG, and not something anyone else is required to accept.” Which, to be honest, seems like something that should go without saying about all belief and practice. I mean, I have a generalized problem with authority that definitely extends to religion, so I may be the wrong person to ask; but I don’t think anyone has any business telling you what you have to accept into your personal belief system.

There’s also the question of how UPG is different from any other aspect of belief. It sort of reminds me of when people talk about “made-up words,” as though all other words weren’t made up at some point. Again, I’m not big on deities, so apologies if I come across as disrespectful; but at the end of the day, we don’t have any source of objective truth about deities or any other unverifiable parts of our belief systems. Even things that a lot of people have agreed on, like a god’s name and the symbols associated with him, started somewhere, with someone’s personal belief. The fact that it happened a long time ago or became a popular belief doesn’t make it any more real than a new, individual belief.

Some people use additional terms like shared personal gnosis (SPG) and verified personal gnosis (VPG) to expand on the idea, SPG being a UPG someone else shares with you, and VPG one that either a lot of people share or that turns out to be backed up by existing sources. But I don’t think these terms make any more sense of the concept. They still seem mostly useful for distinguishing between new and old beliefs—which, again, I see the point of if you’re a historian or theology scholar, but which I don’t see much use for in personal belief.

Honestly, it all just makes me think we’re too hung up on the idea of what we’re “supposed” to believe, what’s substantiated and what isn’t, and I just don’t see why that has any importance to personal belief systems. If you feel moved to make an offering of white lilies to Hecate, what difference should it make to you whether anyone else has done that before?

I’ve seen various people insist that you should preface anything you say with “this is UPG” if it’s not backed up by lore. By all means, do that if you feel like you should. But personally, I’m not swayed by this concept, and I’m not going to be using the term UPG on this blog. What I’m more likely to do is cite sources where I feel it’s appropriate, which will probably be informed by my academic background. That seems more sound as a system, anyway—assuming everything is personal opinion unless it’s backed up with sources, rather than assuming everything is canonical* unless it’s marked as UPG.

*I liked that UPG was compared to headcanons in one of the definitions above, because the whole thing does remind me a lot of the canon vs. headcanon conflict in fandom discourse. There does seem to be a lot of conflict that arises from people confusing “thing I believe about this character” for “thing that is objectively true, that you have to believe”. But it all kind of goes back to, why do we care so much what other people believe or think we should believe, unless they’re actually trying to make us conform to their belief? We definitely have a lot of work to do in respecting each others’ beliefs and practice, but I don’t think the solution is coming up with terminology that puts those beliefs into a hierarchy of legitimacy.