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

Oh, hey, apparently polecats (in Europe that refers to ferrets, not skunks) were sacred to Hecate. So technically I can have my ferret deity :)

 

So I'm memorizing the Táin. Starting with the poems first. There's some reason to this beyond just me being a fucking weirdo. You see learned men of religion were generally poets, though not at all poets were religious men. To be a poet you had to memorize hundreds and hundreds of poems before you could even start composing your own work for courts. Memorization was a highly valued skill and part of the reason we've lost so much of Irish religion pre-Christianity is because it was an oral tradition. I personally happen to have a knack for memorization. Especially of things like poems and prose. So why not use that to help revive a bit of the oral tradition. Even if only a small bit? It's also a devotional activity because Lugh is Cú Chulainn's father and the Morrígan (specifically Anand/Morrígu) was super into Cú Chulainn/attempted to murder him.

I am memorizing Thomas Kinsella's translation right now though I do intend to memorize the old Irish found in one of the two versions of the thing. Anyway here are the bits I've got down so far...This bit from the finding of the Táin.

If this your royal rock
were your own self mac Roich
halted here with sages
searching for a roof
Cuailnge we'd recover
plain and perfect Fergus

And this bit describing the wonders of Conchobar's armory
Ochain was there, Conchobar's shield - the Ear of Beauty - it had four gold borders around it
Cú Chulainn's black-shield Dubán
Lámthapad - swift to hand - belonging to Conall Cernach
Ochnech belonging to Flidais
Furbaide's red-gold Orderg
Cúscraid's triumphant sword Coscrach
death-dealing Echtach that belonged to Amargin
Condere's angry Ir
Nuadu's Cainnel - a bright torch
Fergus' hacking sword Leochain
the fearful Uathach that belonged to Dubthach
Errge's Lettach

I have six more shields to memorize in this list.

 

In the course of divination:

Tarot: Guess what, motherfucker? It's shadow work time. The topic is compassion.
Me: ... fuck. Yeah, I need to work on that.
Tarot: Step one is compassion for yourself.
Me: FUCK.

 

I would suggest loving-kindness meditation.

 

what, if any, witchy things do people take with them when they go places? like, the kind of stuff that's not for a special event or anything--just everyday stuff. i remember reading about portable shrines on here, but i don't remember the specifics.

right now i take some stones in a pouch that i feel represent certain concepts, but that's pretty much it. for a while i'd bring my sigil book/witchy book with me, but i've been wondering if i should continue to leave that one home and get a smaller one that i just have the basics in, or if i should just have some witchy pages included in the bullet journal i'm trying to start (like a sigil page, a page for what the rocks i carry mean--that sort of thing), and get a tiny sketchbook for doodling (that can also be used for sigil practice).

 

I have a portable shrine for Manannán that I carry absolutely everywhere with me. It has some coins, buttons, and poems in it. I also carved his name in ogham on the inside of the tin. I tend to carry divination tools around with me too. Usually a tarot deck or set of dice. Water and snacks like dried fruit or nuts double as "witchy" things for me too. Along with being food obviously. I suppose we can count my notebooks? I keep all my notes regardless of topic in them so inevitably it will have notes related to my religious practice in it.

 

I have an altiod tin that I think I posted in here at some point that travels around with me. It's got a mini tarot deck, a bag of runes, a journal, a vial of rose salt, a wand, a tea light and matches, and a piece of shell I've carried around since I was a kid.

It might be overkill a little, but it all fits in the tin so I get to pretend I'm not a pack rat (I am)

 

purely placebo, no mystical stuff involved, but I save the sugar pills from my birth control packs and pop one every time I'm getting anxious. I'm on a bit of calming medication already, so the act of taking a pill is inherently soothing, even though I know it's just a sugar pill.

 

I wear my bastet necklace everywhere. and like, even when I'm not wearing it it's in my purse.

 

oh! that reminds me. i have a hematite ring that i usually wear everywhere, though i haven't recently for no apparent reason--i think b/c i forgot where it is? i used to wear what is probably a hematite necklace around everywhere, but then the metal around it started to...rust maybe? i'm not sure what the right word is.

i really like hematite, though--and a lot of quartz! rose quartz, amethyst, and whatever clear quartz is called are probably my faves. :>

side note: finding bags for future tarot decks that are color-coordinated is Hard. but they Have to Match according to my brain.

 

My ruby-and-thorn "leave me the fuck alone" hairbottle.

 

My keyring is an amulet to ward of bad luck and ill will, so that is pretty much with me all the time. I consider any jewelry with stones a potential "witchy" thing, so that sometimes I've crammed four pendants on one chain if I feel I need support, regardless of the aesthetic effect.

I have like three citrines because the witch who does cleanses and brings amulets for us always passes one over as appropriate for my zodiac sign. Sometimes I wear a silver necklace with a Maya glyph, it was a gift from my PE teacher when I moved away, and he told me to wear it for good luck, so I wear it when I want luck or want to feel a bit more imposing and confident.

 

Has anyone used the golden thread tarot app? I've been poking around it and it looks pretty promising. The art is super cute and it looks like it doubles as a mood tracker.

 

I find the mood function really limited but otherwise I love the app. Golden Thread is a really straightforward, traditional-looking deck, so it's good for leaning on. Someday I will have a physical copy. Somedayyyyyyy.

 

About the Springhole tarot random generator I was asking for opinions about earlier: I've been thinking. Anything like that could be used for a spread if you wanted to and had no other good choices. Just get out a notebook and write the card names in the right positions and imagine them as whichever deck you want. On the other hand, if you do it that way, you can get the same card twice. To me, this seems like a good thing, but does anyone else have any thoughts on that?

I've also thought of an idea for a study. There are a lot of people who offer one-card draws for free or cheap, some of whom will do this in such a way that the results are public. If I collect a sample of predictions on questions I have and match them to a set of predictions that were not for me, then see if there's a statistically significant difference in how many falsifiable predictions made by either group are true or what percentage of the time taking advice meant for me works as compared to advice not meant for me, that would give some information. Does anyone here see anything wrong with this? If I do it, I will absolutely post the results here afterward, once I have a large enough sample size (does anyone have any idea how big a sample size I should aim for?) and have written up the results. This is a promise. That way, if the results aren't what I want, I'll have to post it anyway or you'll know I lied.

 

eclectic pagan; currently training with a diverse eclectic wicca trad with lineage to both gardnerian and feri. NEVER thought id be calling myself wiccan, but here we are. (Just to be clear: I am in a lineaged wicca tradition; I do not believe the identity of "wicca" or "witch" is limited to those in my similar position. And my trad doesn't either.)

it would not be inaccurate to also call me a heathen, a spirit worker, an animist, a polytheist, a pantheist, spirit taught, etc. I serve a few specific entities and work with a few specific deities.

I am active in local pagan community stuff in a diverse way. I believe my spiritual visions are real, but have inquired about reality testing with my psychiatrist.

I was spiritually abused growing up, and after I Got Out I was a happy happy skeptic atheist for years. A lot of that is still inherent to how I see the world and experience my spirituality. It gives me lots of critical thinking ability.

I am known to carry my piece of petrified wood around for grounding; it helps my anxiety. Wearing pentacles and various other pendants, like heathen ones I am collecting, are just fun fashion since I am oh so goth and all that.

 

More poem time. This one from one of my favorite stories, The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu.

Sweet in your sight the fiery stride
of raiding men returned to Emain.
More nobly strode the three proud sons of Uisliu
toward their home.

Noisiu bearing the best mead
I would wash him by the fire.
Ardán with a stag or a boar.
Anle shouldering his load.

The son of Nes, battleproud,
drinks, you say, the choicest mead.
Choicer still, a brimming sea,
I have taken frequently.

Modest Noisiu would prepare
a cooking pit in the forest floor.
Sweeter then than any meat
the son of Uisliu's, honeysweet.

Though your times are sweet
with pipers and with trumpeters
I swear today I can't forget
that I have known far sweeter airs.

Conchobar your king may take delight
in pipers and in trumpeters,
but I have known a sweeter thing,
the three sons triumphant song.

Noisiu's voice, a wave roar,
a sweet sound to hear forever.
Ardán's bright baritone.
Anle, the hunter's, high tenor.

Noisiu: his gravemound is made
and mournfully accompanied.
The highest hero - and I poured
the deadly drink when he died.

His cropped gold fleece I loved,
and his fine form, a tall tree.
Alas, I neednt watch today,
nor wait for the son of Uisliu.

I loved the modest, mighty warrior.
Loved his fitting, firm desire.
Loved him at daybreak as he dressed
by the margin of the forest.

Those blue eyes that melted women
and menaced enemies, I loved.
And, with our forest journey complete,
his chanting in the dark woods.

I don't sleep now,
nor redden my fingernails.
What need have I of welcomes?
The son of Indel will not come.

I can't sleep,
lying there half the night.
These crowds, I am driven out of my mind.
I can neither eat nor smile.

Of what use are welcomes
with all these nobles crowding Emain.
Comfortless, no peace nor joy
nor mansion nor pleasant ornament.

Again as translated by Thomas Kinsella. For some context this is chanted by Derdriu to Conchobar when he would come to visit her. Basically before she was born it was prophesized that she would end up tearing apart Ulster with her great beauty. Her father ordered her killed, however the baby was stolen away in the night and given to be raised by a small trusty band of warriors. This all went well for a number of years and she fell in love with one of Uisliu's sons, Noisiu. But they were eventually seen because of course they were and demands to see Derdriu's hotness were made. Fighting broke out. People died or were exiled. Derdriu herself was taken by Conchobar and held in a room. He would pester her from time to time but she would always rebuff him with this poem here and one other. Eventually she was sent to live for a bit with the man who was pivotal in the death of her lover. She was still not happy and when talking with Conchobar about this she threw herself down on the ground hard enough to split open her skull. In the context of the Táin the story sets up why Fergus mac Roich, an Ulsterman, is fighting for Cruachan as well as some of the bad blood towards Ulstermen. Because frankly their king's conduct in this affair was fucking horrid.

For more Conchobar failing to act kingly look at the story of why Emain Macha is even called Emain Macha!

 

re: portable shrines, i think it was me who brought it up, and i still havent posted pics of my hermes box! its v nice, i used a trader joe's ginger mints tin bc they dont have any raised bits on the metal, and i have a bunch of lil knickknacks in it. . . my phone is broken af rn but once i get that sorted i will post photos :>

 

Question: I've been using the random.org dice thrower for divination (yes/no questions, 1 for yes, 6 for no), and I've been getting lots of apparently accurate answers. The problem is, I've just realized it could just be telling me what I want to hear. Is there any way to spot the difference?

 

Gut instinct, thinking about things, looking for omens is what I do for that sort of thing? You'll always be working with the problem of discernment with divination. That's just how things are.

Well save sometimes when the gods just break through your wall like the kool-aid man and you drop the cards and are like...Oh.