witchynyx

[witchynyx]

“A Boar and some Boarlings out for a stroll”

(via)

[witchynyx]

Wassail

A lil past Winter Solstice, but I finally made some wassail!

(No, it's not an aesthetic photo, I made it with things I had to hand out could get nearby)

I've been reading Ronald Hutton's Stations of the Sun, and it left me wanting to make some wassail for the winter solstice!

But wtf is in it/how do I actually make it? There's a lot of info about wassailing songs and customs, but not so much about what it actually is.

Google "Traditional wassail recipe": "Ingredients: Cranberry juice cocktail drink"....?

Luckily Project Gutenberg came through with a few older recipes, that I could compare to some of the more traditional 'traditional' recipes!

Wassail Recipe

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

750 ml apple cider

150 ml sherry

1 tsp cinnamon chips / 1 cinnamon stick

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp ginger

Optional:

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 orange, sliced / 2 Tbsp orange juice

1/4 lemon, sliced / 1 Tbsp lemon juice

How to make it:

Pop all the ingredients in a saucepan/pot. If you don't want to deal with 'bits', you can pop the spices into a muslin bag, tea infuser, or similar.

Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20min.

Taste. Add any additional sugar or spices if desired.

Serve.

Image by Racheal Parkinson from Pixabay

Notes:

Wassail was originally made with ale, rather than cider! I'm a cider gal, but if you try this recipe with ale, I'd love to hear how it goes.

Wassail was traditionally served with baked apples. This recipe is a little too small to add them to, but they could be added if you increased the portion size. Alternatively, you could get a similar vibe by adding sliced apples at the beginning (I haven't tested this)

Non boozy version? Swap for non-alcoholic cider and omit the sherry.

[witchynyx]

If you see someone with a really bad fandom take, I’m begging you to open your emails and write a strongly worded missive to your local government official about something bad happening in your community or country.

If you’re in Canada you could email a rep about concerns about Elon musk interfering in our next federal election.

If you’re in the US the list is endless.

If you’re in the UK you could email about trans health care.

If you’re in Australia, what about dental care in Medicare?

If you’re in Europe, look into some EU initiatives of particular concern. Perhaps something to do with nature and biodiversity? Idk

Just today I emailed my local mla about coal mining in the Rocky Mountains and tomorrow I’m going to pick something else and do it again

[witchynyx]

you have to stay alive. you're going to be such a beautiful middle aged freak. young freaks will see you in the street and know that things can be okay.

[witchynyx]

Hey, fellow fantasy nerds, I invite you to vibe along to this lesser known early 2000s fantasy banger 

[witchynyx]

req'd by @spookysplatt

ROT ROT ROT

text: Decay this, bitch!

[witchynyx]

Reminder for my fellow witches with long hair: tie your hair back every time you work with any open flame of any kind. 🔥

[witchynyx]

why bother caring about the environment when 1. It’s so obviously a lost cause and 2. There’s definitely going to be a nuclear war?

And what are you doing about it Anon? Learn about ecological restoration or get out of my way.

[witchynyx]

hi! do you or your followers have any recommendations or suggestions on ways to get more politically organised when you're very chronically ill and mainly bedbound / housebound?

im truly at a loss of what to do now because i cannot do the usual protest attending, mutual aid fundraiser event hosting, even making food for friends that are struggling. i sign petitions and try to keep friends updated with news but its not enough

Hi anon! Super important question. I have a few thoughts on possible ways to get more involved in organizing while you're bedbound/housebound. A lot of my suggestions are shaped by the context of me mostly doing organizing in largeish US cities, and I also know that a lot of what's possible depends on your own personal access needs/energy levels/etc. feel free to let me know if nothing i suggest is accessible for your situation and I can try to brainstorm some other ways of getting involved!

Joining an organization like Crips for Esims for Gaza that works to directly support Palestinians and needs help with online logistics work like handling donations, buying Esims, and connecting people. Their email is listed in the article to get in contact.

Prisoner solidarity support! This could look like writing cards or letters for incarcerated people, or helping out with a books to prisoners program. Survived and Punished has a guide on how to write letters, Black and Pink has an LGBTQ prison penpal program, and if you search "prisoner penpal program" in your area you can probably find something local to you. The Prison Library Support Network is a great online based organization that works as a reference library for incarcerated people, and has people do research (sometimes just by searching on Google!) to answer information questions sent by incarcerated people. They have regular online trainings about how to participate as a volunteer, the next one is on July 13th.

Listening in on police scanners when there are protests happening in your area, and giving live updates to protesters, either in a Signal message thread or just by posting live updates on twitter/bluesky. This can be super helpful so that people on the ground can get information about what the cops are doing and can try to avoid getting kettled/arrested/etc.

Adding alt text and video captions to social media content about protests, news, protest safety infographics, etc to ensure that this kind of content is accessible to everyone.

If you have access to a printer and ink, printing out things like know your rights cards, radical zines, flyers, etc. a lot of orgs i've been part of haven't had easy access to a printer and would have been SO thrilled if someone reached out to us and said "Hi I can't participate in other ways but I have a printer and I'm happy to print stuff for you when you need!"

Creating plain language translations of news, political concepts, etc. Autism against Fascism is a group that makes plain language articles about fascism and antifascism, and I think there are so many topics surrounding protests, oppression, organizing, etc for which it would be incredibly helpful to have plain language resources.

Online fundraising for a particular cause by making social media posts. You could spotlight a campaign from a family in Gaza and commit to making posts and boosting their campaign. If you have a hobby that you already spend energy on, you could do something like raffling off your art, or doing a video game stream to raise money.

Researching resources in your area and making a mutual aid reference document to help people connect to resources. For example, @tigerrsmn has an amazing trans resource directory that they spent a lot of work researching and continually update. This can be a super helpful community resource to create and share if there isn't something like it for your area yet.

The next few suggestions are ones that require more energy or might require leaving the house so I know they might not be at all relevant for you, but I also got another ask about ways to participate when you're a disabled person who can't risk getting arrested at protests and I wanted to combine the asks in one post.

In person jail support. This usually happens right after a protest where people have gotten arrested and can go into the night or the next day. People show up outside the jail with food, cigs, water, subway cards or cash, and wait for people to get released from jail. This might be more accessible to some people because it's low risk, stays in one spot, and you can sit down the whole time if needed.

Kit making for a harm reduction group. A lot of harm reduction groups in my city have monthly kit making nights where we meet up at a local bookstore and put safer use supplies in individual kits for people to give out at outreach.

Cooking for a mutual aid group, either at a community kitchen or at your own kitchen to create meals for people to hand out at outreach. I highly recommend Food not Bombs if there's a local FNB group in your area.

Creating "Don't get Kettled" maps for your city so that protestors can plan better routes where they can avoid police kettles. This can be done through a combination of looking for google street view and showing up to places in person to look for streets with easy pedestrian exits, accessible exits with no stairs, curb cuts, avoiding dead ends, tunnels, etc.

Cop Watch, Court Watch, ICE Watch. Joining networks of people who keep an eye out in your neighborhood and share information to rapid response networks about when cops and ICE are spotted. Participate in Court Watch by going to in person or virtual court hearings to observe, document, and address injustice in local courts. DC has a really robust CourtWatch program that you could learn from to set up something in your area if a courtwatch program doesn't already exist in your region.

This is definitely not a complete list so followers please feel free to add on with suggestions, and definitely feel free to reach out again with more info/questions and I can try to keep brainstorming!

[witchynyx]

it seems like the key theme of fungus is that they eat everything including things otherwise impossible to eat, they get everywhere with their tiny spores, and they grow and be happy wherever it is wet by eating the surroundings. So if get inside your body (wet) they eat you. so your two main options for being a multicellular organism are developing an immune system (most animals) or hiring other fungus to beat the shit out of the fungus that gets inside your body (most plants)

[witchynyx]

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.

[witchynyx]

Remember "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" ? I feel like there's been a distancing from the "reduce" and "reuse" part and a favoritism towards "recycle" by corporate American.

Capitalism can still thrive with recycling in the mix. You buy Plastic Thing 1, throw it away after one use, and they take that and recycle it into Plastic Thing 2 and sell it back to you. All while continuing to harm the environment.

Reusing puts a damper on things. They can't sell you Plastic Thing 2 when you're still using Plastic Thing 1. Plastic forks, for example- there is literally no reason why you can't reuse plastic forks more than once (aside from maybe microplastics, but it's too late for that)

Reducing is the one everyone wants to ignore. Just don't buy Plastic Thing 1. You don't need Plastic Thing 1. Pick up a set of metal forks and use those for years. Convenience is killing the planet

[witchynyx]

norse pagan prideposting

[witchynyx]

One of the funniest things to me is when some gringo witch called out for cultural appropriation tries defending themself by claiming that whatever they're appropriating is also practiced/used in whatever European country they claim to descend from, only for actual folk practitioners from said country to be like "We've literally never heard of this in our lives"

[witchynyx]

Good morning who has a side quest for me today?

[witchynyx]

✨💙 Happy Winter Solstice 💙✨

to all my Southern Hemisphere pals!

As a gift, here is my favourite neighbourhood mossy rock - we've finally had enough rain for all the moss to rehydrate 🪴

I'm literally moving house atm, so all I'll be doing is a little ritual on my balcony later, but I'd love to hear what other folks get up to!

Have you gone for an adventure? Are you cooking/baking/crafting something?