The Crafts: Wixes, Spells, and the Weaponized Placebo Effect

I'm awfully tempted but I ALREADY have two reading projects to work on, and a fuckton of writing to do...

 

Did asksecularwitch/consecsuallyreading already review that book?

Also, I should get a Conway book, because the dragon magic I know and use is the much more eclectic French variant (whose practitioners tend to hate Conway -and M.A. Ricard, who pretty much did the same "High magic with extra scales" thing-) and this could get interesting.

 

Conway is *horrible*. You can get some idea of her approach from my liveblog of her tarot deck companion book here. I'm gonna skip straight to the spread and ~tarot magic~ sections when I get back to it, really should do that sometime, etc.

 

Fellow wizardy people, I want some suggestions!

SO. Yesterday I graduated college! And when that happens not only do you get a diploma, you also get a symbolic tube thingy that looks kind of like a magic wand. This dates back to the time when after the ceremony they still had to officialize your paperwork, so they needed to have something pretty to hand you even though your actual diploma would take weeks. Now that everything's done digitally and a LOT faster, the tube is just a matter of tradition.

ANYWAYS. Point is. I have this thing. It's gold and purple and super pretty and meaninful and that means it's magic. I want suggestions of how to incorporate it into magic rituals!

 

Definitely good for anything that involves schooling, I think.

 

Well if anyone wants that book, it's theirs. To be fair, there actually is some interesting stuff mixed in with the gender essentialist nonsense

 

Wait, is there already an MST3K/shredding review of Dancing With Dragons? Or are we discussing a somebody making one? Because I am enthusiastically in support of either, but if it's the former, I'd love a link.

Dancing with Dragons was, I think, the very first occult book that made me go ooooooh shiny at a bookstore after I finished digesting the copy of Complete Idiot's Guide to Wicca and Witchcraft that was, somehow miraculously, located in the Nonfiction, Religions, section of my high school library. In Idaho. I'm not actually sure I'd be objective/mean enough to really give a review like that justice.

 

We are discussing making one! I've done a part of her tarot book but if someone wanted to send me more material to make myself known as the Witch Who Sporks This Particular Bullshit I wouldn't object.

 

I heartily endorse this event or product.

 

Uh, hey guys. I've been considering dipping a toe into this side of spirituality for a while now, and now when I'm going through a lot of big life changes seems like an appropriate time. Meanwhile, this thread seems like the friendliest, least bullshitty place to figure things out that I've found.

What I need to do is mostly... easing anxiety, promoting physical endurance (standing up all day for work = hellish) and if I could have a bit more luck with finding friends, that would be nice.

I'm starting a small herb garden, largely for food but I'd like to try more metaphysical things with them, too. I've also always been really into rocks, but for a variety of reasons I don't really have any good ones at the moment. :(

 

@OnnaStik Ooo, sounds awesome. I can't speak much to the witchy side of herbs, but ... general advice:

I've found that most herbs are less drought-tolerant than your average houseplant; you'll want to keep them well-watered, and pinch back the tips regularly so they stay bushy and healthy. I know that basil, oregano, mint, lavender, and rosemary all do well indoors - basil and mint are particularly tolerant, and will often bounce back even if they look dead. Chili and bell peppers can also do really well in a pot, as long as they're in a sunny window.

(My personal wix tendencies are very locality-specific, so I have Feels about the symbolism of columbine and jewelweed, but not so much about European-derived household herbs. >>; Mint's nice in tea though.)

 

If you do mint, for the love of all the stars and little fishes put it in a pot!

My homegrown herbs have been pared down to sage and mint. Not much else can stand our hot soggy weather. And of course they all got fried by the weird-ass winter we had. Alternately drowned, frozen and boiled >:(

 

Ack, yeah. If you're growing outside, mint will spread like a hellbeast. I'm talking square yards of waist-high hellplants, with all the spread of creeping charley and the deep roots of dandelions. THE WORST.

 

I'm fairly lucky where herbs are concerned- my mom has a garden of her own, so I have some knowledge of how this stuff works and also can propagate from hers for free. And then do it again if I manage to kill them.

 

Make sure to use lavender to curse people. I hear that works GREAT. :P

 

In seriousness, I hear lavender is actually good for easing anxiety

 

For physical endurance I might turn to something citrusy (maybe lemongrass?), but you should definitely take what I say with a spoonful of salt because I kill every plant I touch. I am not an herb witch.

 

I saw some talk about wood a few pages back in here- I'm wondering if there might be something I could do with live oak? There's a lot of them around where I grew up, and since they hang onto their leaves over winter till they're ready to bring in the new ones it seems to me like a lasting, doing-things-in-your-own-time kind of thing? idk.

 

MAKE OGHAM STAVES. Or other fancy tools. It is the highest of trees, after all.

Or fear the tree if it gives you weird feels and proceed to do all you can to ensure no one fucks with it.

 

The fearing being because it may well be the home of the Fair Folk. If it is then leaving them little gifts would be a nice thing to do. Things like pouring out water for them, or maybe burying bits of food or knickknacks. It's a sort of neighborly hospitality thing. You showing that you're a good person who is cool with them, and they will extend the favor.