hashems #1 jewish folk witch

We are a new server (18+, sfw) focused on creating a space for folk practitioners. We haven’t opened up the public yet and are looking for mods that align with these values

✧₊⁺ We are anti-capitalist, anti-fascist and anti-oppression

✧₊⁺ We stand against cultural appropriation and harmful spiritual beliefs/practices. This extends to practices like wicca, thelma and new age

✧₊⁺ We are a safe space for bipoc people, queer people, jewish people, disabled/neurodivergent, atlerhumans, and systems

✧₊⁺ We value community and healthy communication 

We do expect people to use discretion in a community space, your role as a mod would be to watch over things, participate in the server itself, and give warnings to people if they need it. If you are interested in a position in this type of witchcraft server just put in your application through the google forum linked at the bottom 

Altars are considered a key element of witchcraft for deity worship, elemental, planetary or ancestral connections, or spell work. However, they can be costly, you may not have the space for it, or you may be in the broom closet. But you don't need a physical altar, you don't even need physical tools. Digital altars are a great way to worship deities in the case you’re unable to set up a physical altar. There are heaps of alternatives if you’d like to get creative with it.

Some people doubt the integrity of digital altars, however I believe they gain metaphysical energy as they’re created, which can be used for witchcraft. Think about emoji spells for example!

Digital altars are different to digital shrines, which are similar in concept, but different in purpose. Shrines are more of a permanent honouring of a being, and they don't necessarily have to be used actively. Meanwhile altars are for active worshiping, when you’re actually giving an offering or trying to contact that deity. However, digital altars can also function as a shrine, depending on use!

Below are 19 different options for digital altars (but I'd suggest using multiple!)

Image/Collage Altars

Picrew Altar Sketch (by Camade)

This game was designed specifically for creating altars suitable for sacred spaces to perform deity worship, to connect with ancestors, and to be a witch’s working table. After saving it you can edit the picture frames to add pictures of your deity, your family or any other being. It has a lot of variability so it’s great for creating multiple altars very quickly in a consistent aesthetic.

Here’s a link to one I made the other day, using colours and imagery to suit my purpose. This is probably the easiest of the options, while also being the most versatile. However, there are limitations as you can't really make it specific to your chosen deity unless you edit the image later.

As an example, say I want a color for protection. First I'll reduce it to protec. P is the sixteenth letter, and so I further reduce it by adding 1 and 6 to get 7. I do the same for all of the letters through T. So P = 7, R = 9, O = 6, and T = 2. Since E and C can both be used in hex codes, I leave them as letters. The result is #7962ec, which is this color:

Which is a nice enough color, but say I think it's not quite right for the protection spell I had in mind. So instead of using protec, I'll instead use Castle, and using a similar method to what I've described above, I get #ca123e, which looks like this:

Now that's a nice bold color, and since it's a red, I can use it as a way to say KEEP OUT. Or something.

The beauty of it is that while there are a finite number of potential colors/shades, for my puny human brain it's effectively infinite, and there's a significantly large number of different combinations I can try to get just the right shade for my intention.

In my opinion this would be best applied to digital witchcraft, but using a platform like Canva I can still design wards, sigils, etc. online and then print them out for real-world use.

A collection of podcast episodes fact-checking, debunking, or just providing some clarity on modern myths, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that are frequent flyers in witchcraft and pagan spaces, both theories mistakenly touted by community members and some of the utter drivel spouted by non-witches that still affects us today. Check out these shows on your favorite podcast app!

(Updates to be made whenever I find new content. There will be some crossover with my Witches In History Podcast Recs post and some of the content will be heavy. Blanket trigger warning for violence, abuse, bigotry, sexism, antisemitism, and mistreatment of women, queer people, and children.)

[Last Updated: July 09, 2024]

This post is broken into three basic sections:

Historical Misinformation

Modern Myths and the People Who Create Them

Conspiracy Theories and Moral Panics

List of Cited Podcasts, in alphabetical order

American Hysteria

BS-Free Witchcraft

Dig: A History Podcast

Hex Positive

Historical Blindness

History Uncovered

Occultae Veritatis

Our Curious Past

Our Fake History

Ridiculous History

Stuff You Missed In History Class

The History of Witchcraft

Unobscured

You’re Wrong About…

Historical Misinformation

General History of Witchcraft

Historical Blindness - A Rediscovery of Witches, Pt 1 & 2 Oct 13, 2020 & Oct. 27, 2020 A discussion of the early modern witch craze and the myths, misconceptions, and theories about witches spread by academics. Topics of discussion include the works of Margaret Murray and Charles Leland, the founding of Wicca, the emergence of the midwife-witch myth, and folk healers as targets of witchcraft accusations. Sarah Handley-Cousins of “Dig: A History Podcast” supplies guest material for both episodes.

Hex Positive, Ep. 36 - Margaret Effing Murray with Trae Dorn July 1, 2023 Margaret Murray was a celebrated author, historian, folklorist, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, first-wave feminist, and the first woman to be appointed to the position of lecturer in archaeology in the UK. So why so we get so annoyed whenever her name is mentioned in conversations about witchcraft? Well, it all has to do with a book Margaret wrote back in 1921...which just so happened to go on to have a profound influence on the roots of the modern witchcraft movement.

Nerd & Tie senpai and host of BS-Free Witchcraft Trae Dorn joins Bree NicGarran in the virtual studio to discuss the thoroughly-discredited witch-cult hypothesis, Murray's various writings and accomplishments, and why modern paganism might not have caught on so strongly without her.

BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep 03: The History of Wicca October 06, 2018 On this episode, Trae digs deep into the history of Wicca, and tries to give the most accurate history of the religion as they can. I mean, yeah, we know this is a general Witchcraft podcast, but Wicca is the most widely practiced form of Witchcraft in the US, UK, Canada and Australia… so how it got started is kind of important for the modern Witchcraft movement. (And trust me, there aren’t any pulled punches here.)

BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 28: The Burning Times May 30, 2020 On this installment of the podcast, we tackle probably one of the more controversial topics in the modern witchcraft movement: The Burning Times. What were the actual “Burning Times,” where do we get that phrase from, and what really happened? Also, how has this phrase been used in modern witchcraft? It’s a heavy one, folks.

Dig: A History Podcast - Both Man and Witch: Uncovering the Invisible History of Male Witches Sept 13, 2020 Since at least the 1970s, academic histories of witches and witchcraft have enjoyed a rare level of visibility in popular culture. Feminist, literary, and historical scholarship about witches has shaped popular culture to such a degree that the discipline has become more about unlearning everything we thought we knew about witches. Though historians have continued to investigate and re-interpret witch history, the general public remains fixated on the compelling, feminist narrative of the vulnerable women hanged and burned at the stake for upsetting the patriarchy. While this part of the story can be true, especially in certain contexts, it’s only part of the story, and frankly, not even the most interesting part. Today, we tackle male witches in early modern Eurasia and North America!

Dig: A History Podcast - Doctor, Healer, Midwife, Witch: How the the Women’s Health Movement Created the Myth of the Midwife-Witch Sept 6, 2020 In 1973, two professors active in the women’s health movement wrote a pamphlet for women to read in the consciousness-raising reading groups. The pamphlet, inspired by Our Bodies, Ourselves, looked to history to explain how women had been marginalized in their own healthcare. Women used to be an important part of the medical profession as midwives, they argued — but the midwives were forced out of practice because they were so often considered witches and persecuted by the patriarchy in the form of the Catholic Church. The idea that midwives were regularly accused of witchcraft seemed so obvious that it quickly became taken as fact. There was only one problem: it wasn’t true. In this episode, we follow the convoluted origin story of the myth of the midwife-witch.

Dig: A History Podcast - Cheesecloth, Spiritualism, and State Secrets: Helen Duncan’s Famous Witchcraft Trial July 3, 2022 Helen Duncan was charged under the 1735 Witchcraft Act, but her case was no eighteenth-century sensation: she was arrested, charged, and ultimately imprisoned in 1944. Of course, in 1944, Britain was at war, fighting fascism by day on the continent and hiding in air raid shelters by night at home. The spectacle of a Spiritualist medium on trial for witchcraft seemed out of place. What possessed the Home Secretary to allow this trial to make headlines all across the UK in 1944? That’s what we’re here to find out.

The Conspirators, Ep. 63 - The Last Witch Trial Nov. 26, 2017 England’s official laws regarding the prosecution of witches dates back to the 1600s. Those very same laws would also remain on the books until well into the 20th century. In 1944, a psychic medium named Helen Duncan would gain notoriety by becoming the last woman to be tried under England’s witchcraft laws.

The History of Witchcraft Podcast, hosted by Samuel Hume Witches didn’t exist, and yet thousands of people were executed for the crime of witchcraft. Why? The belief in magic and witchcraft has existed in every recorded human culture; this podcast looks at how people explained the inexplicable, turned random acts of nature into conscious acts of mortal or supernatural beings, and how desperate communities took revenge against the suspected perpetrators.

Unobscured, Season One - The Salem Witch Trials Welcome to Salem, Massachusetts. It’s 1692. And all hell is about to break loose.

Unobscured is a deep-dive history podcast from the labs of How Stuff Works, featuring the writing and narrative talents of Aaron Mahnke, horror novelist and the mind behind Lore and Cabinet of Curiosities.

As with his other series, Mahnke approaches the events in Salem armed with a mountain of research. Interviews with prominent historians add depth and documentation to each episode. And it’s not just the trials you’ll learn about; it’s the stories of the people, places, attitudes, and conflicts that led to the deaths of more than twenty innocent people.

Each week, a new aspect of the story is explored, gradually weaving events and personalities together in chronological order to create a perspective of the trials that is both expansive and intimate. From Bridget Bishop to Cotton Mather, from Andover to Salem Town, Mahkne digs deep to uncover the truth behind the most notorious witch trials in American history.

Think you know the story of Salem? Think again.

I would truly love to think it’s at the top of our to do lists to be good people. I would love to think that and also see it put into place. We can pray to our gods for others, we can (consensually) do a kind spell or sigil for them too, and it’s all well and good. But what can we do for the environment? I got you covered, let’s take a look at my many ideas on how you can be a conscious witch for nature’s sake!

But, Ariel, don’t you usually use a million links in your posts? This is true, but I’m writing this based on everything my amazing teacher taught me back in my Environmental Science class in college. Except without all the big science words because I didn’t do great at that part, however, I did great at solutions and human theory, which is exactly what we want here. So, I encourage you so much to be inspired by this and look for more sources online! Never stop reading on what you can do to help the environment!

And without further ado, this is a quick stop of A-level Environmental Science by someone who cannot for the life of them remember terminology, woo!

Devote An Activity

Whether this be an organised beach clean up, picking up trash on a footpath, helping a charity store or a petition sign up, or any other environmental activity, devote it to your deity/ies! Just some examples would be going to a beach clean up and praying or just speaking in your mind to, say, Poseidon about how you honour him with this action.

Side note, it’s also a good meditative practice as you clean something up or fulfil a list/sheet.

Pick Organic

You guys thought this was just about shopping, didn’t you? Well, it isn’t, but I do want to say that if you can buy organic you should consider it because it means no artificial chemicals and fertilisers have touched the food. Farmers have to leave previously chemically-touched land to rinse itself and be scientifically declared ‘natural’ again before using it for organics, so when you buy organic, it’s a sign to farmers that it’s worth their time and money!

But no, this is about how you can make sure your plants are organic. Put down the chemical pest control and pick up your phone to research! Something as simple as a two foot board can keep out carrot flies, or planting marigolds and keeping coin or egg shell barriers can stop slugs. There’s alternatives and they’re usually fun to learn about, interesting to undertake, cheaper for your wallet, and better on your little plants and environmental microcosm you have going on there.

Plant Cloning

So plant cloning can be easy or difficult depending on the species at hand, but for the most part all you do is take a cutting, snip it diagonally, and put it in water until it sprouts roots and can be planted. This is called micropropagation, but it’s also some pretty awesome green witchery if you ask me!

You can do this for your herbs so you don’t have to buy more, which is good for your purse, but I also thought that if you consider yourself a good gardener with abundant native wildflowers nearby, or some in your garden, why not try your hand at cloning one? Native wildflowers are the absolute best thing for your native pollinators (did you know some wasp and fly species are also pollinators? It’s not just bees!) Not only that but also native plants are a really good thing to encourage right now because in our current era we’re seeing the negative effects of invasive species. Rhodendrons are a famous invasive plant around the world because it just grows… All year… All the time… Swallowing anything in its path. It also happens with fauna species: Harlequin ladybirds, cane toads, west african giant killer snails (which I’m sure wasn’t the actual name, or was it?), european rabbits, and so on and so forth. Now, we can’t fix the fauna part, but we can do our own little bit for the flora part. Also, if you manage to grow wildflowers, you’ve beat my environmental science professor because he could never get them to survive in his garden, so props to you!

Create Habitats

This is a really great one you probably see people do all the time but never considered to be witchy. Buy birdboxes (or make some!), set up bee-friendly hives (have you see the nests you can get? Google!), but also consider actually leaving dead wood around. I can see the confusion you have right now, but here’s the thing: a fallen tree is an ecosystem for all manners of insects. It creates another level of ecosystem within the bigger environment. For instance, if you go to a nature reserve, ever notice they don’t cut the trees down at the same times? Forgive me, Richard (my enviro teacher), for I have sinned and forgotten the name of the method, but it’s done because it creates different types of environment. Where the trees are pollarded and light hits the floor, flowers may grow and that encourages certain types of fauna. Where the trees create a canopy overhead and the ground is left to be darker and cooler, it again attracts different species. In this same way, a fallen tree is great for certain species. Give it a little research and see what you could attract by leaving that log out a little longer!

Act Consciously

I’m not even kidding with you: trampling is actually a really serious issue with environmental protection and reserves. It straight up makes it onto the Legal Quantative Sheet Thing that people have to fill out when trying to assess if the plans for the land are going to be a gain or loss. It’s why you see designated footpaths and raised walkboards in SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest) and various other areas of designated protection. It’s really important we think more about how our visit reflects the visit of many. To throw some Kantian Ethics in here, using one of the three maxims, we should think universally. This means we should assume when we do an action, it permits everyone else in the world to do it and they have also done it. When you walk off the boards which are clearly labelled not to, so does everyone else. When you litter, so does everyone else. Honestly Kant’s maxims are a really good way to encourage yourself to be a more ethical person. Just don’t read too much into his whole ethical theory. It’ll hurt your brain. Anyway! Here’s things to try to be more conscious of actively doing:

Pick up litter

Stay on designated paths

Use walkboards when provided

Step around flora where possible

If it says keep your dog on a lead it’ll be because of the wildlife there - usually for safety both ways - so do so until you get to the lead-free zone

Visit the visitors centre to learn more about helping the site or what native plants they have

Don’t practice activities banned in the area, as in fires or driving, because it’s probably because the environment can’t take it

Just don’t invade nature’s space, friendsssss

Donate A Little

Sometimes, nature runs low on funds. If you’ve got £2 for the charity bin to help your local reserve build a visitors centre, why not chip in? Visitors centres allow for education of the public and also visiting school groups. It’s places like that that teach you information like this.

Pray

Simple one here, folks. In between the prayers to deities and thanks and wants or whatever you happen to pray for, pray for the environment. Yours or globally. Also pray for general world atrocities, but that’s another post.

Compost

Literally everything made of some natural material is compostable somehow if you do your research on what conditions and so on, but at the very least all your vegetable peels and fruit slices can be left to one side to decompose into dead organic matter. Dead organic matter is like gold to plants because its natural nutrients which seep back into the soil which originated from the earth anyway! You get to decrease what you send to landfill whilst also giving a little home brewed offering to your plant babies.

Reuse and Recycle

Collect your candle wax to fashion into new candles, collect the ash when you burn things to put into your soil, when you’re done working with magic water, pour it into your plants, turn an old shirt into a braided witches ladder, and so on and so on. There is magic in putting time into fashioning a disused item into something entirely new, or in giving away what you no longer need. I’m going to start calling this The Phoenix Rule and it’s going to be my new witch code as of now (15th June 2019, you read it here first, folks). This is about doing what you can to grow from your own ashes or plant something good out of something old.

Paper? Leaves

Do you find yourself using a silly amount of brand new paper for sigils or intent in spells? Start collecting leaves (or old newspapers and things!) and use these instead of brand new paper. In fact, you could match the folklore of the plant to your spell and sigil. Bay leaves for accomplishing dreams, oak leaves for wisdom and knowledge, there is endless possibilities. Start picking up those fallen leaves! They’re free and they’re not using lots of water and chemicals to make them. Okay water, but water from the sky and ground that isn’t excessively farmed and pumped from nature for the paper bleaching industry.

And I think that’s where I’ll stop for now, but this is definitely not the end of all the things you could do to incorporate environmentalism into your witchcraft. And also, since it wouldn’t be written by me without them, I found some articles to get you started on researching this all further if (hopefully) the eco flame burns on in you~

None of them are witchy because when you Google ‘Environmental Witchcraft’ it’s all some very angry blog posts about who even knows what. Zealots in one. Such strange people. Anyway:

Organic Gardening Tips

82 Tips for Sustainable Gardening

10 Organic Gardening Tips

10 Reasons People Buy Organic

23 Ways to Reuse Plastic Bottles

51 Ways to Reuse your Waste

Why Is It Important to Preserve Nature

Composting Tips

How to Reuse your Candle Wax

How to Reuse your Candle Jars and Wax

Creating a Wildlife Friendly Garden

Creating Habitats in your Garden

How to Grow a Wildflower Garden

(Written in response to an Anon whom I think is probably involved in spirit conjure community, which is where conjurers put spirits inside of a vessel for you and ship them to you. Anon requested to know tips on how to transfer a spirit to a new vessel)

✨big heckin UPG ALERT ahead for the ENTIRE POST✨

In this post, a spirit vessel is any object, including a container filled with objects, which serves as a spirit's physical foothold into our present reality.

Three Varieties of Spirit Vessels: Telephone, Body, House

Please note the particular absence of trap or prison: there is no need for any practitioner to trap or seal a spirit inside of a vessel. This is what we do to unwanted spirits to relocate them to a second location, and it's not how we treat our friends.

My categorization of spirit vessels relates to how the spirit is intended to engage with the vessel.

Telephone Vessel: This is the kind I've most commonly seen and heard of in the conjure community. The spirit lives/exists Elsewhere, but the practitioner has given them a link of communication to this physical object.

The practitioner then works over the object to "call" the spirit and ask it to arrive in their location, or visit it Elsewhere, or just talk while they are in separate locations.

In my opinion, the "telephone" vessel is the least impactful type for the purposes of allowing spirits into our lives, but it's great at what it does: serving as a telephone line. However, as I hope this post will go on to show, it's also the easiest to make because the vessel requires the least amount of preparation and care.

Body Vessel: This is when the spirit vessel is meant to be the body of the spirit as it dwells on Earth. When a vessel is consecrated and dedicated to a spirit, it's understood to be the spirit itself. The form that the vessel takes influences the spirit's ability to work in our reality.

Body vessels may end up looking like little figurine versions of the spirit in question, but they can also be containers specially prepared with decorations and objects heavily linked to the spirit's essence.

Direct examples in witchcraft and folk magic include house and kitchen dollies that are meant to help lighten the load of chores or stop food from burning. Such dolls may be equipped with little brooms, multiple hands, and so forth, to assist with chores.

Another example of a body vessel is the Decaying River God. To create this vessel, I made a deal with the river and then embodied a spirit into this intuitively crafted form. Now, that physical object has become the sacred body of a spirit.

Just as the kitchen doll may be given a broom to assist with sweeping, a spirit's body may be equipped with tools to grant them additional influence and abilities in our world. A related example in witchcraft is to put the feet of small, scurrying Earthen animals (such as a rat or mole) into charm bags, so that the spell can scamper to its destination.

Just because the spirit has a body vessel does not mean they are permanently bound inside of that vessel. Accidentally breaking or losing the vessel isn't like harming the spirit (although obviously it's to be avoided).

Spirits which were born Elsewhere are perhaps more likely to come and go from body vessels, but even beings born with the creation of their body may still leave that physical space and return to it as desired.

House Vessel: This is the same thing as a spirit house or shrine, just a step to the left. We might equip the body vessel with objects that grant the spirit additional powers and capabilities, but in the house vessel, I tend to organize things to be a pleasant and enjoyable respite for the spirit, almost like a custom bedroom.

There may be no object or representation that's intended to be the body of the spirit at all. Nonetheless, the space is still one where the spirit may be fully invited and present, and gives them a strong foothold in our world.

The only real difference I draw between a house vessel and a shrine or spirit house is the intent. A shrine may be to venerate, and a spirit house may be a kind act of providing shelter. But the house vessel's intent is to create a space that makes it easier for a spirit to fully Show Up to our present reality.

Which Variety is Best?

This depends on your needs. For the purposes of witchcraft, spirits are often best given bodies that reflect their nature and empower them to carry out your purpose. I also hold this to be true for spells and any other variety of guy.

Spirits whom we're getting to know, but aren't quite sure of yet, may be best limited to "telephone" status.

House vessels - I haven't got a lot to say, except bringing up the point of them.

You can have multiple telephone lines and house vessels, yet intuition advises that really only one Body should do for the average spirit.

Vessels Themselves Can Suck So It's Worthwhile to Put Some Thought Into It

I believe that the more a spirit vessel is the embodiment of the spirit themselves, the easier it is for the spirit to use that vessel to interact with us and our present reality.

An extreme example can help demonstrate this point.

Imagine you've gotten to know a water spirit. A mermaid, let's say, from an ocean world of pure, opalescent waters, where coral reefs are cities and pet jellyfish are decorated with pearls.

Imagine that the vessel for this mermaid is a jar painted red and decorated with symbols of fire, then further charged with fiery energy. Within the jar is rusty nails, polluted water from the side of the highway, and a heaping spoonful of chili flakes.

I would hazard a guess that you couldn't even agree to get that mermaid to use such a vessel as a telephone line, much less use it as their physical body.

It's not that the spirit is snooty - it's that you're asking him to come into contact with things that irritate and burn him. Not only would it require a huge amount of energy to overcome these differences, but the vessel would nonetheless cause him discomfort.

Intuition may even advise that a simple bowl of water would create a vastly improved "house" vessel for this spirit.

But if it's true that a vessel can be incompatible with a spirit, then it's reasonable to assume that a vessel can be made more and more compatible with a spirit, until it is highly compatible and therefore very easy for the spirit to link to it and use it.

To really improve our mermaid vessel, we might embroider the outside of a bag with a representation of a coral reef, place jellyfish charms and imitation pearls inside of it, and often soak the entire bag in cool, pure water.

This may be the perfect vessel for our mermaid, but totally unsuitable to the pollution monster, who wants to live inside of the rusty nails jar.

This is the primary reason why I find simple unmodified single-object vessels to be not that great. (Examples of this would be, a crystal ring or antique object purchased and used without modifying it to the tastes of the spirit)

While a spirit may select such an object from a lineup and request it's use as a vessel, that doesn't mean that it's going to be an effective vessel.

Especially combined with beliefs in witchcraft about the magical impact of modifying vessels to encapsulate the power of a spell or spirit,

I believe that an unmodified object for use as a spirit vessel is like casting a candle spell with a plain candle to which no herbs or energies are added, and all you do is imprint your raw intent and light the candle.

It'll maybe work, but not nearly as well as it could.

Therefore I believe the form of the vessel matters beyond whether or not the spirit personally likes it, and extends into the realm of sorcerous technique - spirit manifestation is affected depending on if the spirit vessel is made well or made poorly, and especially how much it is physically personalized to the spirit.

Creation of a Useful Vessel

In all cases: Modify the object(s) of the vessel as much as possible to reflect the nature and known qualities of the spirit. As much as possible, work with the spirit to choose modifications, or, work with known lore or with the assistance of spirit workers or diviners.

In the case where a single object (such as a stone) must be used:

Tie the object up in a net where each knot represents a foothold for the spirit to cling on to, or, where each knot ties up a bundle of energy of the sort of thing the spirit likes. (Can be then worn as necklace)

Paint or carve the object, even in a hidden area.

Add additional decorations and embellishments to reflect either the nature of the spirit, or to represent useful tools that the spirit can use to access the object.

Carve out the middle and add bits of paper (with name and permissions written on), and stuff with relevant herbs.

Sight-unseen, I wouldn't recommend single object vessels if you can't heavily/permanently modify them.

In the case where a container vessel (such as a bag, box, or bottle) may be used:

Decorate the exterior, and if space permits the interior, of the container to best reflect an environment enjoyable to the spirit. Consider various techniques: painting, embroidery, carving, burning, and so forth.

Selectively include objects which reflect the spirit's nature, including dried plants, stones, feathers, seeds, bones, and various objects from nature; also charms, trinkets, and tokens (factory-made is fine); also prayers or poems, or drawings or artwork, all of these things symbolic of the spirit and attempting to demonstrate its nature and totality

Include a written sigil or signature of the spirit, and it's name or known names, and epithets. Often best done in fancy magical ink if any is on hand. (I use Sharpies; no need to over-think it)

Charms, amulets, plants, prepared powders or oils, or otherwise, for the purpose of facilitating spirit manifestation and ease of travel between worlds; examples may include specially prepared threads to symbolize links and roads, special spirit-calling powder, magnets to "draw towards," symbols of the Crossroads or of safe and easy travel, and so forth.

In the case where the spirit is likened to an earthly animal, bones or preserved body parts are a very good addition.

In the case where the vessel is itself in the form of a body, such as a figurine or doll:

Hand-craft or heavily modify the creation to represent the vibes as much as possible

Dress, accessorize, ornament, and decorate the figure to represent the spirit or it's known attributes and purposes.

As handicrafters known more about their trade than I do, I don't want to over-comment. Make them a little body. Yes.

Inviting the Spirit to Utilize the Vessel

Unfortunately I will decline to try and provide a specific step-by-step ritual, mostly because I work more intuitively and don't actually have one written up.

But I'll do my best to explain how you can go about it, and some things to consider.

Basically, you'll want to conceptualize four steps:

Final magical preparations

Consecration

Dedication

Invitation

I'll try to explain the reasoning behind including these things, and of course, you'll want to modify or change all of them according to your preferences and needs.

In all cases: Use your magic to make the vessel lovely and filled with spiritual virtues that resonate deeply with the nature of the spirit. This is necessarily vague; a troubleshooting primer for energy work is beyond the scope of this post.

The timing of this work is very well done on special days where the spirit-roads are open, on full moons, or on Mondays.

In cases where the spirit already has a vessel and you want to give them a new one, there is no difference in operation. Make profane and reclaim the old vessel afterwords according to your desires.

Fill the vessel with two types of energy: The first being dense caloric energies from foods, especially oil, nuts, seeds, eggs, and fatty meat. This can be done by placing a food offering next to the vessel and dedicating the food to the spirit.

The second being ethereal and subtle energies, such as produced from blessed incense or energy work. This can be done by blessing and offering incense as you normally do, or channeling your personal energy into the vessel.

Consecrate the vessel: Perform any charm or ritual in your practice which delineates an object as being sacred and separate from the everyday, and turns the object into a Spirit Vessel. (Add'l details below)

Dedicate the vessel: Perform any charm or ritual in your practice which functions to formally gift-give an object to a god or a spirit.

Sometimes, a consecration and a dedication are done in the same ritual, especially when a god is concerned. E.g., "Witchfather, by your name this wand is made holy (consecration). I give this wand to you; it is yours, and when I use it, your hand guides it (dedication)."

The most simplest format of this is something like, "by [the powers I believe allow me to make thing sacred], I make this object sacred [and perhaps I sprinkle some saltwater or whatever formula I believe is necessary to help me make things sacred]. This object is now the vessel for a spirit. Now, it is a Spirit Vessel."

The above being the idea of a consecration; the dedication then being something like,

"[Spirit Name], I invite you into my world and my life. I give you Permission to dwell in this Spirit Vessel and make it your body and your home. I give you Permission to walk in this world through the conduit of this Spirit Vessel. It belongs to you, it is you."

(The above dedication perhaps also revealing something about why "telephone lines" may be a safer bet, the dedication for those being something like, "[Spirit Name], I invite you to observe this vessel and place your fingerprint upon it, so that when I work over it I call out to you, and you can hear me easily no matter how far apart we are.")

Anyway, put some real thought into exactly how much you want this spirit to manifest in your life, because spirit experiences - even when desired and invited - can be very intense and scary, especially if up to that point your experiences with spirits has been limited.

Invite the spirit into the vessel: If not included in your dedication, also formally invite the spirit.

"[Spirit Name], I've prepared this special Vessel for you, and given it to you. I have prepared the way with earthly and aethereal energies, so you may be well-fed and have the power to move within our world. [That's the offering bit innit]. Come now at this time and here in this place, and claim this Vessel as your own."

Etc., something like that.

At this time, the ritual is over with and you can commune with the spirit as desired or close the ritual down in your normal techniques.

My hypothesis for this post is that most forms of cartomancy heavily rely on the context of the question or situation being read on.

As context shifts, so do the specific interpretations that readers pluck out of a pool of general meaning.

By leaning into the idea of context and building extremely contextual meaning sets, readers can elevate their skills and more reliably produce very specific readings within contexts they have studied and prepared for.

This is going to be a long one, so I'm making sections for readability.

1. Cartomancy Relies On Context

Most "little white books" that come with tarot and oracle decks, and cartomancy websites and published resources, divide card meanings into the general and contextual.

E.g., a tarot card's general meaning usually includes key words such as heartbreak, betrayal, and backstabbing. Then, contextual meanings might be provided:

Interpersonal relationships: Is a relationship about to end?

Business: Make sure any new business deals won't screw you over.

Spiritual: How can you use your spirituality to help with heartbreak?

While these contextual meanings stem from the base source of the card, they aren't interchangeable. Imagine if a querent asks you about their small business, and you reply, "well, have you tried using your spirituality to deal with interpersonal heartbreak?"

Therefore, a major role of the reader is defining the appropriate context of a question.

In order to practice their skills, many diviners offer to do "blind" readings for others. This means that the reader doesn't want any background information about the question at all - but even so, a reader may still ask for the context of a question.

E.g., a reader may say, "don't even tell me your actual question, but just tell me what kind of question it is - if it's about employment, a relationship, etc. Otherwise I won't know how to frame the answer."

[I don't mean to say that all readers always require context in this manner. Many readers do not, especially very practiced ones. But I don't think that means that context is irrelevant, even to very experienced readers who can obtain context on their own.]

2. Developing Meanings for a Specific Context Results in More Specific Readings

The Complete Lenormand Oracle Handbook by Caitlín Matthews begins by introducing the typical meanings of Lenormand cards. Later, she provides a custom set of meanings she personally developed related to her years spent in live theater.

Because of her time spent performing readings for theater workers, and about theater, she had developed a complex and unique system of meaning for Lenormand which, for the purposes of reading about live theater, was immensely more accurate and specific than the general Lenormand system.

While the general meanings of Lenormand informed her custom system, the custom system was not interchangeable with general meanings and was only applicable to a specific context and its related themes.

I discovered the same phenomenon by accident years ago, when I was frustrated with how general and nonspecific my readings had become.

I wanted to be able to use tarot to read accurately for everyday situations. So, over the course of several months, I worked with my primary divinatory ally to develop my own set of notes for the tarot, specifically for reading everyday, mundane situations.

The meanings given for the cards don't work very well at all for mystical, spiritual, or meditative self-exploratory readings. The meanings are things like, "you're the only one putting energy into this relationship," or, "don't go to the party if you didn't receive an invitation."

I use this set of meanings when I want very plain and straightforward readings on everyday situations, which it's very good at. I got what I wanted: accurate and specific readings on day-to-day questions with the tarot.

The meaning set fails at every other kind of question.

Recently, in my ongoing experiments with a custom oracle mashup of playing cards and tarot, I decided I wanted a meaning set that was useful for troubleshooting creative writing projects.

This deck has general meanings like, air/movement/exchange, water/observation/stagnant, and earth/categories/planning.

I developed contextual meanings like, "the dialogue in this scene is doing what it needs to do," "the character's motivations aren't clearly explained," and "the external goals of the character don't match what's already been explained about them."

By focusing on a specific context, readers can get very good at reading certain types of questions.

3. Exploring Specific Contexts Improves Overall Reading Ability in Any Context

By taking the general meanings of a card and developing them in new, unique ways that are still true to that card's roots, you create a huge learning opportunity to connect more deeply with that card.

Not only can you explore the unique evolutions of each card as it intersects with your interests and life, but your understanding of the deck as a whole can evolve.

When I was working with my original set of "everyday" meanings for the tarot, I discovered that many times I developed card meanings that really overlapped each other, making some cards redundant. When I decided to sort this out, my understanding of - and relationship to - tarot rapidly changed. I'm at a new level of understanding that I hadn't been able to achieve just by using general meanings for the 15 or so years of reading I had been doing before that.

The elements are currently a major part in my practice of witchcraft. As silly or abstract as it may seem, exploring how an oracle card that generally means water/observation/stagnant could apply to a specific type of fiction writing deepened my relationship not only with that experimental deck, but also to my craft as a whole.

As I've explored custom meaning sets in general, my ability to rapidly link abstract symbols has improved. Even if a specific meaning set doesn't apply, just having explored that makes my readings stronger.

For example, if I draw a card and I don't know how to apply it to a certain situation, having different sets of meaning floating around in my head is a little like having three or four helpful aunties shouting suggestions. None of them may be completely accurate, but it's a far better starting place than having no aunties at all.

By investing in very specific sets of meaning that only apply to certain contexts, readers can gain insight and skills that assist them in all types of readings throughout all contexts.

4. Sundry Suggestions for Those Convinced

Here are a handful of tips and tricks I've collected throughout the years. Take or leave them as you desire.

Choose very specific contexts. The more specific, the better!

Well, I'm sure this one is more down to personal preference, but don't be afraid to choose extremely specific contexts.

In my examples above about the creative fiction meaning set, the context wasn't "literary analysis" or "creative writing." The context was, "troubleshooting commercial fiction manuscripts and outlines to be more in line with modern commercial standards."

That isn't great at brainstorming, coming up with story ideas, dealing with literary fiction, grappling with major artistic themes, etc. It does one thing great: helping you workshop a commercial manuscript that you'd like to send to a publisher.

Put thought into what deck(s) you're using.

Even when using general meanings, many readers identify that certain decks are just better at certain kinds of readings. If you have multiple decks, try swapping them out as you experiment and see which ones work best.

Develop not only individual cards, but the deck as a whole.

Depending on your preferences, you may find value in not only developing individual cards, but also groupings of cards.

By taking entire sections of cards (say, all of the wands cards) and linking them to an important concept within your context (say, the behaviors of all the dogs you train), you can make large leaps of progress.

The same could be done for all the kings cards (your mentors in the dog training world), all the #3 cards (they're all going to relate to, say, small change or progress), and you can end up quickly mashing up new meaning sets:

Today's dog training business reading suggests that a Youtuber who's information you rely on is going to release a video about the importance of small behavioral changes.

Assigning broad meanings to different sections of cards is a good way to start exploring specific contexts.

Let card meanings evolve as you explore.

As you take notes, there's no need to settle one one meaning for the card as it is and then avoid changing it.

If your original idea for a card is "stubborn dogs who are not motivated by treats," and you perform multiple readings on it where the card only really makes sense if it means, "this dog will show up super tired and just want to nap," then it's fine to modify notes as you go.

I find that over time, modifications actually end up being multiple possible interpretations, once again deepening my understanding of the card as a whole (this card refers to difficulty inspiring action and engagement).

Often, card meanings come to me very vaguely and are practically stand-ins until I can figure something out for them.

Be mindful of spreads.

I can apply some meaning sets to literally any spread and it'll come out just fine.

Other meaning sets I have don't play great with tons of spreads, and may only work well with small spreads, using signifiers, and so forth.

There's no need to avoid highly contradictory meanings.

If you've got two ideas for a card (the dog is well-adjusted and friendly, or, he's very reactive and dangerous) and you aren't sure which fits, keep both meanings and use a combination of readings and real-world verification to experiment.

Your unique context sets don't need to be congruent with each other.

While I believe it's a good idea to seek fidelity to the original/general meanings of a card, this doesn't imply that the unique contexts you develop have to coincide with each other.

Maybe you have a meaning set specifically for energy work, and a separate one for religious spirit work.

In your energy working set, the wands cards could always relate to fire energy and only ever refer to a spirit if drawn in conjunction with a court card.

But, in your religious spirit work set, the 4/wands might always refer to the spirit of a home, regardless of elemental alignment.

The meanings you develop for one context don't need to adhere to the rules you create for other contexts.

Playing card decks can really simplify the process.

Tarot cards, with their intrusive little pictures, can often impose their own meanings on a context whether you like it or not. Even if horrendous betrayal makes zero sense for your context, sometimes it's impossible to get those ideas of the 3/Swords out of our heads.

If you're finding tarot to be too confining, try experimenting with playing card decks. They're smaller, draw less attention, and most importantly, do away with the art that can anchor our minds to the wrong concepts.

(Split the difference by working with a tarot deck that just uses suit symbols for the pips, but has full art for the major arcana.)

5. Hey! Thanks for reading.

Shofars:

Germany, 18th century. Inscribed in Hebrew on both sides: “When Abraham looked up, his eye fell upon a ram, caught in the thicket by its horns. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering in place of his son” [Gen  22:13]

India, 20th century

I found this MAGNIFICENT circular depiction of the Jewish calendar by Claymil on Redbubble (link is in their ig bio) and bought it immediately. I love that it’s sandwiched between celestial elements and includes the agricultural cycle.

I’m going to put 6 sawtooth hangers around the frame so the current season is always oriented up-ish. It would be even cooler if I could attach it to something that mounts to the wall and spins but I haven’t seen anything that fits the bill yet.

Blackberries are a symbol of Autumn in Ireland and have quite the folklore surrounding them! -When people see the first blackberry of the season, they express a wish - “ Go mbéimid beó ar an am seo arís” which translates to “May we live for this time again“ - A large supply of Blackberries predicts that the coming winter will be severe! - Some farmers do not like any blackberries to grow on their land as they believe the fairies live beneath the branches, and may steal children that reside in the home. (Source: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4427960/4361020/4465508?HighlightText=blackberry&Route=stories&SearchLanguage=ga) -Blackberries should not be eaten after October 31st (Samhain, Beginning of winter) as the Púca (or the Devil) spits on them and makes them go bad. (Source: https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4605952/4605430?HighlightText=blackberries+puca&Route=stories&SearchLanguage=ga) https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/5260406/5247489/5276864?HighlightText=blackberries&Route=stories&SearchLanguage=ga -Boiled blackberries (Blackberry tea) was consumed to cure a bad cough -Alternatively, The juice of blackberries mixed with brown sugar and taken morning and night cures the cough

(https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4701759/4700069?HighlightText=blackberries&Route=stories&SearchLanguage=ga) https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4798682/4789939/4923304?HighlightText=blackberries&Route=stories&SearchLanguage=ga -Blackberries were commonly used to make jam and wine! (https://www.duchas.ie/en/cbes/4921616/4885357/5149606?HighlightText=blackberries&Route=stories&SearchLanguage=ga)

by autumn sierra

Please feel free to use these pages as a guide in your own practices or as inspiration for your own BOS or Grimoire :) All I ask is that if you wish to recreate my design or wording, please credit in the description of your post!! Thank you 💕

✨Pages in my Grimoire on Tarot ✨

These pages begin my Tarot study on the symbols associated with the Major Arcana, the 4 Suites and associated zodiacs/meanings, the court cards and what they represent in meanings, numerology and their associated majors, and lastly color symbolism. this is basically all I need to do intuitive readings with the tarot!!

The next chunk of this will be meanings for each of the major arcana, based off of my own practices and what i’ve learned about their symbols.

like really, but not on normal paper with inks and stuff, that’s yucky. allow me to explain some German folk stuff  

Okay so have yall heard of Schluckbildchen and Esszettel? Well, they were a very popular type of folk medicine in Germany through the 1800’s and some into the last century. Schluckbildchen is German meaning “swallowable pictures” and then Esszettel in Hungarian means “meal slip”. These would be small pieces  of paper that would be eaten in order to cure illnesses and fevers, general healing. But, Schluckbildchen is a bit different from Esszettle. These would be smaller squares and usually have Mary imagery(you’ll see a lot of OL of Altötting or the Virgin Mary) or saints. Here’s some examples! 

These wouldn’t really have words other than names of saints if there’s a saint on one, the name of the pilgrimage spot these were gotten, or a word/acronym associated with the devotional imagery. 

An Esszettel paper would be bigger and have prayers, Bible verses, or folk adeges/sayings and would have no imagery. These were more of a sigil to stick in your food and eat it! Sometimes people would use these to cure rabies in animals, similar to using sator squares to ward off rabies. Generally, an Esszettel is more specific while a schluckbildchen is about the healing properties associated with the devotional images. 

Now back to “eat your spells”, I was inspired by this to share ideas I have on doing this but making it more personal and pagan or including a different spirit

Instead of paper

Bread (bread is important in German folk magic!)

Buttered toast

crackers

cookies

wafer paper

Instead of ink

honey

scratch out the words on the buttered toast with a knife or needle!

icing

milk + food coloring

tea

Coffee

What you write/draw is up to you!

Write a prayer for one of your deities or a litany with their healing and protective titles!

Make a sigil as simple or as intricate as you would like or make your own devotional doodles

Implement some color magic

different edible writing mediums based on their magical properties(honey for sweetening or tea with specified herbs) Personalize and make it fit for you!

What are Dybbukim? How can we interpret our tradition surrounding them during this fraught moment, as Jewish communities cling to and cleave from tradition, spirituality, and ḥesed (loving-kindness)?

What are our dybbukim?

How does the tradition of Dybbukim engage with our values of Hereness?

As we seek international solidarity while remaining rooted in Jewishness; transformational and yet, demanding of us to be present and connected to the past, never without our roots & the conditions that we re-imagine this ancestral wisdom in.

The stunning images were created by @mygolem_is_here and photographers Aaron Farley and Magda Chudzik.

As a reminder, this is one interpretation and experience of Jewish folkore and folklife. This post focuses on the experience of Ashkenazim in Poland. Jewishness is diverse & vast: this post serves as representation of one facet of it.