A Bog Witch

Until death, all defeat is psychological.

Hello witches and pagans alike, I'm very curious to know yalls opinions.

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I've seen so many posts about how blowing out a candle ruins your spell by blowing away the intention.

Personally, I don't agree with this for my practice, but I'm curious to hear the views of others.

I absolutely hate how AI content has infiltrated and taken over so many vulnerable magical and spiritual spaces. Seeing people slide into communities for minority practitioners, many of whom are seeking reconnection with and celebration of their roots, with AI-generated images of "rituals" and "workings" to sell "courses" and "initiations"... It's disgusting. It's predatory. And to see it be so prevalent in communities that already have to deal with appropriation and theft, with constant misrepresentation? That, honestly, makes it even worse. Taking advantage of minority communities and minority practitioners, trying to turn someone else's reconnection and practice into their profit? It makes my skin crawl.

On the topic of changes I've been around to see in both online and offline witchcraft spaces--and something that I personally think is a really positive change--is that communities no longer just hand people authority because they've been practicing a long time. (No one believes me when I tell them this used to happen a lot.) There is a lot more encouragement for practitioners of all levels to have autonomy, to defer to their own judgement, to take responsibility for their own craft, and so on.

I have seen this be a source of some confusion and (usually mild) upset from other people I know who have been around a couple of decades and also people who have been around much longer who might have been hand authority on that basis in the past. But I think that's a massively positive change. We think less now about how long someone has been practicing and more about whether they're a grounded practitioner, whether they've worked to decolonize their practice, whether they're a good teacher. People who have been around 10 or 20 years don't get to just assume a position of authority over new practitioners; and, instead of seeing people with more "tenure" bowling over newcomers the way I used to, I see people recommending books and resources to genuinely help someone do their own research and find their own way. And that did not used to be the case, but I'm so glad it is now.

a gentle reminder that your gods love you.

they understand when you need breaks from your practice.

they understand when you’re depressed or struggling with making offerings.

they understand if you’re in a household where it’s unsafe to practice openly.

they understand that you are human, that you’ll make mistakes and that your flawed.

and they love you regardless.

｡⋆｡˚ ʚïɞ ˚｡⋆｡

Underrated Witchy Tools: Music Boxes 🎶

I love music boxes. Since I was little they’ve always felt so magical to me. Recently I’ve taken my old music boxes and I’ve begun to incorporate them into my practice. My favourite has been my first ever music box gifted to me as a little girl by my late great-grandmother. It’s a unicorn lying in a field of flowers in front of a rainbow, and when you crank the dial on the bottom it plays the sweetest rendition of “somewhere over the rainbow” you’ve ever heard. I know the sound of this music box by heart now.

But back to the magical properties of music boxes. Music boxes aren’t widely recognized as a tool for witchcraft (at least from what I’ve seen), and I think that is such a shame. Having an enchanted music box at my altar has been such a game changer. I’ve enchanted my favourite music box for protection while asleep, but the possibilities really are endless when it comes to enchanting music boxes. You can enchant them for cleansing (and y’all know I love sound cleansing), protection, for blessings, to assist in meditations, your imagination’s the limit! Music boxes can also be used as offerings for music-related deities. Or any deities really.

The great thing about music boxes is that they’re fairly simple to find in thrift and antique stores or at estate/garage sales and are fairly cheap for the most part. And if you already have a music box lying around somewhere, even better! Most music boxes are also on the smaller side and are able to fit comfortably even on smaller altars/workspaces.

Have you used music boxes in your practice, or is this your first time hearing about it? Let me know!

Bounty acquired ✨️🫐

I am constantly amazed by the preservation abilities of a peat bog. It's miraculous!

There was one bog body discovered that they initially thought was a recent murder victim, he was so well preserved. He was actually over 1500 years old, that's amazing! Letting us literally look at the face of someone who lived so long ago, that's a beautiful thing. Never ceases to amaze me!

i absolutely agree! the anoxic environment that is a peat bog is just straight up crazy. there's so much preserved in there! it's why they're called environmental archives. you can reconstruct so much of what the surrounding area looked like and what climate there might've been thousands of years ago just from a sample of peat!

I am constantly amazed by the preservation abilities of a peat bog. It's miraculous!

There was one bog body discovered that they initially thought was a recent murder victim, he was so well preserved. He was actually over 1500 years old, that's amazing! Letting us literally look at the face of someone who lived so long ago, that's a beautiful thing. Never ceases to amaze me!