Buriedpentacles - Tumblr Posts

Hot take but you can’t learn about paganism without also learning about white supremacy and how it uses pagan religions to push hate group agendas all over the world today. If you don’t learn about the connections between the two and how it operates, your ignorance enables white supremacists to keep on doing it and using it to recruit others. People in our community who do nothing and stay silent are literally a part of the problem, there is no opting out whatsoever. Divorcing the two makes the issue repeat itself over and over and over again.

It’s not hard to include this in your research and stay aware. It’s the bare minimum.

11, 7

7) Is practicing, or wanting to practice witchcraft selfish? Is it necessarily wrong for it to be a selfish pursuit?

Selfishness is not a bad thing - everything we do is, in a way, selfish. Even kind acts can be argued as selfish: 'you helped that person despite it being inconvenient because you feel good doing kind things'.

Witchcraft can be selfish, and it should be at times. You should want your practice to be your own and benefit yourself above all others - otherwise it is martyrdom. I think that if it suits you, your practice can also be selfless; providing for and benefitting others at your own energetic cost but it does not have to be.

11) Are paradoxes or opposing opposites important to you? I.e. Fire and Water.

I'd say so. I work with and worship nature, and nature is full of opposites and paradoxes. I cannot revere the light of the sun, if I do not recognise how it also shines on the moon. I cannot worship the beauty of new sprouts, birth and life without also worshipping rot and destruction and death. We must appreciate both sides of the coin.

9) Do you find sensory engagement or deprivation more helpful in your magic?

I find that each has its place!

For example, if I want to meditate and focus on my inner eye and visualise, I will wear headphones and shut my eyes/wear a blind fold to help my focus.

However, sometimes I like to focus on all my senses, especially when I'm connecting to nature! What can I see, smell, hear, touch, taste?

Each have their uses and benefits!

10) Is breath or voice of particular importance?

I think breath is important for a number of reasons!

It is our connection to the element of air. It is our life force and a very real symbol of life and death (first and last breaths have poetic importance and are a clear reminder of our mortality). Our breath connects us to every part of our body and can help reset our nervous systems when in a distressed state.

Focusing on my breath is an important part of my spiritual practice, and also my generally wellbeing - I use breathing exercises for my mental health and magic.

Voice is also important to me. I think words carry a lot of power and we need to acknowledge that. No matter your intention, you can never take back the words you say or the impact they have on others.

I enjoy speaking my prayers and spells out loud, I enjoy singing and writing too, but speaking out loud has a different, special feeling to me.

Fire safety is so so important!!! Please when using candles:

- NEVER leave them unattended, *especially* if they're dressed

- Dress candles with minimal oil and herbs: a small taper candle can be fully anointed with just a couple drops of oil

- Please secure them on a fire safe dish, on a solid and flat surface, away from anything flammable

- Research fire safety and know what to do if the candle does catch something on fire

Witches will be like "my spell candle did something weird!!! Is this a sign????" And they'll show you the before and after pics for reference and.

By god in the first picture, the candle is loaded with plastic glitter and too many herbs all around the wick and a thick sheen of vegetable oil and essential oils. And the second picture is a shattered glass plate and wax absolutely everywhere and scorch marks on the table and.

Babes that isn't "weird" and the only "sign" here is that you have no concept of candle safety!!!!

Got a long train ride home tomorrow so

Ask me questions about Mother Nature!!!

Our relationship, her personality and appearances, working with her, anything!

this might be a bit of a depressing question so i totally understand if you don't wanna answer but does the damage done to the environment and climate change come up in your practice and devotion to Earth? i have lots of environmental anxiety and i think it blocks me from connecting to Earth more because i get reminded about it all and worry about the future but i don't want that to hinder my connection either so i'm a bit stuck with figuring out how to manage this :(

As a Zoology student, I am well aware of the absolute tragedy the Earth is facing right now and I too struggle with environmental anxiety - it's been really difficult at times for me to continue with my studies and devotion because of the overwhelming feelings of doom.

Climate change and it's impacts are definitely a part of my relationship with Mother Nature. It is in her name that I continue my studies and make changes in my life to be more sustainable, it is in her name that I sign petitions, join in protests and do whatever I can to help push the powers of the world to actually *do something* about climate change.

I can understand your anxiety, and I can definitely understand why it might make it difficult to connect to the Earth but right now is exactly the time that you need to connect.

Notice and connect to the world around you, take care of it and show it kindness. Recognise that the world is changing, heating up, and what effects it's having on the planet and people. We need to connect to Mother Nature now more than ever, it is only by understanding and respecting nature and the world around us that we can learn to live within it more sustainably.

hi! since i've really leaned into witchcraft and spirituality, i became much more appreciative of the earth and i've been talking to her lots but i want to also become more sustainable in my daily life to help the environment even in small ways. do you have any ideas for simple things to do or habits to change to be more sustainable?

I do indeed!!

I think some the best things you can do for sustainable living is develop sustainable skills:

Learning to sew allows you to:

- fix holes in clothes

- adjust the height/seams/etc of clothes

- crop or add to items of clothing

Which means that clothes have a longer lifespan in general!

Learning to garden (even if its windowsill gardening!) helps you:

- spend less on certain herbs or plants (an easy way to start is regrowing spring onions in water)

- grow more native plants in your area

- encourage more insects into your garden

Learning to cook and bake can actually be super helpful because:

- you don't rely on takeaways or ready meals as often

- you can have more control over where your food is sourced and what you're eating

- you can meal plan and prep which saves time and money

- you can learn how to make your own jams, pickles, syrups etc! And you can get pretty creative with it!

Learning simple diy skills is super beneficial as you can:

- make things unqiue and suited to yourself (I.e. perfect sized shelves or a cabinet that fits perfectly in that gap between your bed and wall)

- restore thrifted furniture (staining to a preferred colour, cutting off legs to shorten it, fix the wobbly door etc)

- recycle old furniture, cabinets or similiar unused items into something else (I've turned a old cabinet into a small outdoor storage unit) rather than throwing them away

Learning basic maintenance for things you own is a money saver and:

- means you can fix your bike chain or replace your car's oil and filter without needing to call anyone or spend extra money

- can keep you safe and at a lower risk of motor accident (knowing how to do basic maintenance checks can help you see warning signs for damage)

- means that simpler things like clogged drains, non-flushing toilets, leaky taps etc no longer require calling and paying for a plumber

Of course you don't need to be an expert in any of these, I'm certainly not! But I can cook myself a decent meal, sew some new buttons on an old shirt or fix a hole in my jeans and restore an old wardrobe into something usable.

I love Pete Seeger's quote:

"If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled or composted, then it should be restricted, redesigned or removed from production."

Basically it's so important to be aware of your consumption - avoid overconsumption, buy quality over quantity, thrift and reuse things, trade with people. Throwing things away should be a last resort or a necessity, rather than a "I don't know what else to do with it".

And, while recycling isn't quite the saviour people think it is, it is so important to get into the habit of sorting your rubbish correctly!!

Other important sustainable habits include:

Changing your eating habits. If it's feasible for you, try:

- reduce meat and dairy consumption (including fish, as they're massively overharvested)

- prioritise locally and ethically sourced animal produce (local butchers can be a great place to start for this)

- eat more seasonally (its not really feasible to only eat seasonal foods, but try to learn about them and incorporate them more)

- reduce food waste with composting, food donations, meal planning/prepping and learn to love leftovers

- invest in a tap filter and reusable water bottle (drinking tap water is not always safe depending on where you live so research first!!!)

- use public transport (or walk) where possible!

- connect with other people near you who also care about sustainable living: trade services and items and knowledge!

- learn about your local area and ecology!! I sound like a broken record saying this, but the BEST way to start living with nature, is to understand it. You can't help your local wildlife if you don't know it, you can't take steps to protect your environment if you don't know the threats.

All of these are just a few tips and ideas, they may not be feasible for everyone for numerous reasons but it's important to remember that it's not about being perfect, it's about *trying* and doing what you can.

There's so much more I could get into here, from foraging to activism to how and what to thrift vs when to splurge on new items but I think this post is long enough! Let me know if there's anything you want expanding or going into more depth on!!!

how do you communicate with Mother Earth? do you use any tools like tarot? just anything you can share about your dynamic with her would be interesting to hear 😊

So I kind of answers this here - in that post I also talk about the numerous ways I view Mother Nature. Here's the part where I talk about communication:

"I speak with Mother through my tarot cards a lot - I am good at interpreting them, it is familiar and easier for me, she has her own devoted deck. I often use oracle cards in tandem as well. However, Mother Nature is pushing me to communicate with her in more ways. I use charm casting and bone throwing with her, grateful for my new set built from the sheep (?) teeth she gifted me. She also speaks to me in much less obvious ways - I find her messages in the world around me, written on cobwebs and in the needles of thistles, her whispers echo in the rustle of leaves and the crash of waves. I feel her more than I hear or see her, images and visions flashed in my waking and sleeping mind, feelings that aren't mine, conclusions I would not reach, understanding that was previously out of my grasp."

As for our dynamic, we have quite the teacher/mentor-student relationship, as well as a mother-daughter relationship.

She is the world around me, she is my teacher and provider, but she is also something far beyond me. Typically, a teacher hopes that one day their student will outshine them, that the student will grow beyond the teacher's knowledge. Mother Nature is not like this, she knows that I can never understand as much as I hope and that my life is finite. So instead, she teaches me everything that she can, everything that I need, and she helps me find myself in the world around me and gifts me her love.

I am her devotee. Her Worshipper, her Student, her Messenger, her Daughter. And she is my divinity.

2) Is there something you found particularly shocking or surprising once you took up magic?

I think the feelings it brought with it were surprising. I wasn't expecting to feel so at home and *right* when practicing magic. I'm a bit of skeptic, but it's hard to deny the incredible feelings that my practice has brought me.

Moving back into Uni accommodation this weekend and I think I might set up a small altar for Mother.

I've previously spoken about why I don't have one, and previously it's never felt *right* or suited to our relationship. But that's changed now, our relationship has had a rapid evolution this past month (very exciting) and I think it requires a more dedicated place of worship in my immediate living space.

I'll have to think on it.

When you say Mother Earth - in your bio - do you mean Gaia!

I do not! Mother Nature/Mother Earth is simply a name that I use for the deity I worship. The deity I worship *is* Nature and the Earth, not a personification of it (though she may appear to me in that way for my sake).

Gaia is a hellenic deity, who is similiar to the deity I worship but they're not the same! I've never actually met someone who worships Mother Nature in the same way I do yet.

If you're curious, here is a post about my relationship to Mother Nature, as well as my beliefs more generally. But please feel free to ask any more questions about Mother Nature, how she's different from Gaia (and other Earth Goddesses) or anything else about my craft!!

Made myself glamour water yesterday just using like 3 random ingredients I had in my kitchen cupboards, then used it to wash my hair and face this morning.

Results:

- Someone saying they adore my outfit and how I wear them

- Someone saying that they would follow me and rebuke democracy if I became a dictator (? Interesting compliment ?)

- Someone telling me that they 'want to be me' and love my entire vibe

- Being asked to do a 360 by a girl who loved my outfit

Simple spells work ;)

Questions from @ku-o-munu : "did she call for you, or did your initiate ur relationship ? do you see or hear her ? if u can see her, what does she look like or is she just energy//color ? do you 'feel her presence' sometimes or is it constant ?"

So, I've mentioned a few times but I actually reached out to her. I made the conscious decision to initiate that relationship and start worshipping Nature because it made sense to me and my practice and who I am and want to be. I decided to worship Nature, rather than other deities (which I have worked with in the past) because it felt more 'me'.

When I say I worship Nature, I do mean the physical concept of Nature as well as it's personification, which I tend to refer to as Mother Nature on here. So yes, I do see nature everywhere - trees, birds, rivers, etc!

I do "see" and "hear" her in the more deity aspect in my mind's eye sometimes; I am working on deciphering her voice from my own thoughts and intuition, that's something I struggle and have doubt with.

Mother Nature's deity aspect changes form constantly. She has so many facets and faces!! Primarily, she appears to me as a Mother - this doesn't have a set appearance, but the maternal energy is very prominent given our relationship. She has also come to me as a man, child, dog, cat, stag, river, tree, spider etc.

I feel her everywhere; in every wind and stream, in the call of crows and jays, I see her in roots and clouds and the glow of a cat's eyes.

Ask me questions about Mother Nature, Animal/Nature spirits, or other aspects of my craft!

I wanna talk to people about things!!!

Regarding your post where you said we can ask about mother nature and animal spirits...

Can i work with the collective animal spirit of cats, for example?? If you know what i mean!

🐢 anon!

Absolutely you can!!!

You can work with pretty much any animal, plant or land spirit. I personally recommend that it be ones local to your area (I.e I personally wouldn't work with the spirit of Toucan while living in the UK) because it's easier to build a strong connection and you can actually help and interact with them them and their population physically.

Cat spirit, in my experiences and perspective, is a very mystical, otherworldly spirit. They have numerous facets to them, but there's something so magical about cats that I am so drawn to them (and so are so many others).

So yeah, go for it! Please update me if you do initiate that relationship and how it goes, and drop another ask if you want any advice or just want to bounce ideas off someone.

I saw your ask on animal guides! I recently decided to reach out if I had any who would like to work with me, and I entered this kind of partnership with the collective spirit of Owl. I had a feeling they were around, I always felt weirdly drawn to owls out of seemingly nowhere. So far I'm kinda just working on getting to know them and asking for occassional help. Do you have any ideas on how I can further connect when I live in a city and owl sightings are extremely rare (Never see one before but google confirmed they're around)?

That is amazing, I'm so happy you've found and connected to this relationship and I'm sure Owl has so much they can teach you!!

I have plenty of ideas on how you can further connect to them!

Owls are difficult to spot generally, but if you're determined to try - find and join birdwatching groups (there's almost definitely at least one local group on facebook) and ask for advice, locations etc!

Research owls! Everything from the different species (local to your area and outside), to how and what they hunt, to their breeding habits, familial groups etc! There is so much information you can learn!

If you visit a forested area with owls, look for owl pellets! These can help you see what they've eaten recently and are just super cool generally (or I think they're cool)!

Paint, draw, write poetry about owls! Be creative and express your appreciation and devotion through art!

Read folklore about owls - there's a lot of different interpretations of owls in different cultures from being wise, magical birds to harbingers of death.

Just speak to the Owl spirit - a simple goodnight, offering of water or basic conversation is all it takes. Just speak to them without expecting a response all the time.

These are the main few ideas I can think of!! I wish you luck with your relationship. PLEASE keep me updated, I would love to hear more about your relationship and don't hesitate to dm me or leave another ask if you want more advice or just a conversation!

Hello, good person!

Happy to see you. I hope you are well.

I came with question about two particular Archetypes.

I saw you putting whole thing into words, what I am really grateful for, you may know my religious sideblog, on which I talk about it sometimes. Throughout my path there were 5 Archetypes I was worshipping/working with, now it came to two, which feels most closely to me. With others I still have good relationship, it's now just honouring and appreciation, rather than working.

Two Archetypes I want to ask about are: The Snake, which is pretty popular, but I want to know your opinion, because you are cool, and, the one I have most absence of information, The Deepsea Anglerfish.

Both are very dear to me, and, while, with Snake it's pretty easy find symbolism and role, with Anglerfish it's just nothing.

What would you say? What ways to connect and honour/worship/work with you would recommend?

Thank you very much for answer. I wish you very good day.

Hello!!

Thank you for calling me cool <3 I'm definitely not but I appreciate the compliment nonetheless ;)

Lets talk about these archetypes!

Starting with Snake because, as you said, they're super popular in myth and folklore and are just very well known spiritually. Snakes are associated with cycles, rebirth, poison, medicine and death (to name a few). This symbolism can vary between species (i.e. King Cobras obviously have a more royal association and venomous snakes are more likely to represent death than say a corn snake).

Snake, as an archetype, is really about transformation and transmutation - shedding skin, cycles, venom -> medicine, life -> death (and vice versa) etc. This is the basis of Snake as an archetype (in my experience).

This symbolism comes from the physical properties of snakes. They're one of the most common phobias in the world (there's interesting theories on why this is, relating to our primate instincts) making them symbols of death and fear, they can be venomous but that venom has been transformed into medicine. They grow and change and shed their skin, literally leaving their past behind.

An animal's archetype, their symbolism and their power is directly linked to their physical forms. With that in mind, let's look at the Deep Sea Anglerfish:

Most well known for their luminescent lure, Anglerfish have a illicium, or modified fin, that is alight with symbiotic bacteria. This lure draws in their prey in the darkness of the abyss. These guys have a lot of diversity but generally show quite high levels of sexual dimorphism with the most notable example being in species with "parasite males" - males are significantly smaller than females and attach to them like a sperm-producing parasite when they encounter one another, and males often die if they don't find a female.

When we look at these characteristics in the species, we can start to piece together the symbolism and archetype of the animal. These amazing fish are simultaneously representative of a light in darkness, unseen truth etc and also tricksters and manipulation. They're a sign of obsession and death, as well as survival against all odds.

If I, personally, were to work with Anglerfish, I would look to them for knowledge on finding hidden truths but also on finding what I need and getting by in difficult times. I would work with them perhaps as a trickster-hunter, as a spirit that knows darkness so well they would be blinded by any light that is not their own.

I've already rambled way too much so I'll wrap up!!! I'd say that for working with either of these Archetypes, the ways of connection are not too different from any other Archetype:

Create: draw, paint, write poetry etc that explores and celebrates these archetypes and their complexities

Read, watch documentaries etc, learn as much about them as you can! Understand their tangible forms and you will understand them better spiritually

Protect their physical, individual forms if you can! Look at how to protect native snakes, sign petitions to stop deep sea trawling etc

Include them in your life and practice as often as is sustainable for you!

Sorry this has got so long but please drop another ask or dm or whatever for other questions or futher discussion because I LOVE this topic!!!

Hot take. But just because something is an open practice or religion, it doesn't mean you shouldn't look into the history and context of worship and respect the culture and rituals. Yes, even if you are an eclectic pagan.

Example, even if you just want to worship/work with Ra or Osiris, you should absolutely respect the 42 Laws of Maat. And if you are a greek polytheist, you should absolutely look into miasma and respect the customs when it comes to it as much as you can in modern day society. If you are a roman polytheist, you should cover your head during rituals (correct me if i am wrong on that one!).

Gods will also appreciate your effort to worship them accordingly in this society that looks down on pagan religions and waters them down to "mythology".

Of course, you don't have to do everything 100% the way it was done in ancient times, but it's the thought and effort that counts.It's NOT a great mindset that you can do whatever you want with open religions!