When I Say "connect With Nature" I Don't Just Mean The Aesthetic Forests With Deer And Beautiful Flowers.

eight years into my spirituality and I finally know what they mean when people talk about raising energy.

To raise energy you must get completely out of your mind. You must get into your body, into the present moment, forget time exists. It's about getting to a place and a mindset where you're simply just doing, being, not thinking.

And it cannot be forced. For years I've tried sitting, meditating, willing energy into objects or worse, into the world in general, and found it doesn't work.

Whether you get there by dancing in the shower, by meditating, by allowing yourself to feel an emotion viscerally, it doesn't matter. It just matters that you're not thinking.

And you can literally feel it. To me it feels like a blood rush to the head, my arms will usually raise above my head on instinct, and my face smiles. It feels like a shot of b12. It tingles.

Then the energy just moves with nothing more than a thought, an impulse, a desire. It just becomes. It just is.

For the witches and pagans who need to hear it, connecting with nature is supposed to be about like, actually observing nature over long periods of time, not doing stuff like hoarding endangered bird feathers and beach sand, or just meditating out in aesthetically-pleasing locations. Can you tell me exactly when your wildflowers and weeds start blooming? When do your bugs come out of hibernation? When do migratory birds come and go? How does the air feel during different times of year? If you can't do stuff like that, you aren't connecting with nature.

STRENGTH

8 trans women of color have been killed in 2017. This card pays homage to their strength, and to that of others that continue to strive to live their lives as their authentic selves.

Alphonza Watson Jaquarrius Holland Chyna Gibson Ciara McElveen Mesha Caldwell Jamie Lee Wounded Arrow Keke Collier Jojo Striker

#DeltaEnduringTarot

How to Dehydrate Herbs

This is my first post on my newly-minted digital grimoire, so I thought I'd start out with info I already know. Here's a short little guide on how to dehydrate herbs and other materials at home in your oven (if you have one). I usually dehydrate fresh materials instead of hanging them as firstly: I have a cat who will find a way to reach anything I hang up to dry, and secondly: there are some materials I don't feel comfortable leaving out in open air as they will likely rot. Also, it just saves on drying time.

Steps:

1. Grab whatever you want to dehydrate whether it be fruits, peels, herbs, veg, or (my favourite) eggshells.

Important Note: DO NOT EVER put plants which are known to be toxic or whose origins are unclear in your oven. It's never worth it.

2. Place your items on a sheet pan with parchment paper underneath (there may be lingering oils on the pan, but if you are okay with that feel free to skip the parchment).

3. If your oven is fancy and you have a dehydration setting, great! Use the recommended temperature. If not, set your oven between 160-190*. I usually set it lower, but if you're short on time it will work higher.

4. This is the most crucial step: keep your oven door slightly ajar in order to let moisture escape. However, very importantly DO NOT EVER LEAVE YOUR OPEN OVEN UNATTENDED (or your closed one, for that matter), especially if you have an older oven. Basic fire safety applies here.

5. The process usually takes around 2 hours if you are dehydrating thinner plants, but may take up to 3-4 if you are dehydrating something thicker like citrus peels or fruit slices. Either way, be prepared to wait a bit. You will know they are done when you can easily crush them if plants or they are breakably-solid if peels. With eggshells they will be brittle anyways, but it's nice to dehydrate them to more easily grind into a powder and also to kill any lingering bacteria.

6. Store herbs as you usually would in a container away from sunlight. Enjoy!

Sources:

Printer's Ornament (Chiswick Press, 192)

Witchtember 29. Bones

Something I feel like people getting into folk magic need to understand, for many people of many backgrounds, is folk magic started as a means of survival. It was struggle magic, and it is still struggle magic.

Where I'm living now and where I'm from, people planted by the signs to ensure their crops wouldn't go bad before harvesting. People used ocean water to soothe joint and muscle pains when they got old. People studied the native plants for medicine and were mindful to only take what was needed. People did little rituals and minded their grannies' words to keep their good luck. If they didn't know how to do something (or couldn't), they went to people who did.

Learning folk magic to reconnect with ancestral traditions from before your time is valid. Learning folk magic to connect with and work with the land is valid. There are many valid reasons to take up folk magic. Still, understand that folk magic is survival, and folk magic is community.

You are not, in fact, the granddaughter of the witches they couldn’t burn – Going Medieval

Going Medieval

You are not, in fact, the granddaughter of the witches they couldn’t burn

Say you are me (sorry about that) and you are minding your own business online, just trying to survive in a world of unrelenting horror when

Internet witches please learn your stuff before you recommend consuming or putting onto skin things that can potentially kill somebody, difficulty level very much impossible, apparently.

Whoa there, pardner! What have you done to make sure that belief or practice actually originates in ancient times and didn't come from the imagination of a repressed Victorian romantic?