i'm doing things so yeah...

[Alt Title Text: A Slightly Deeper Ask Game for Practitioners of Folk Magic, Traditional Magic, and Spirit Work]

A @hagstoneandtoadsbone ask game for those who practice centers on folk magic, traditional magic/traditional witchcraft, folklore, cunning practice, and spirit work. Reblog to participate and invite your followers to send you a keyword to ask you questions. Don't forget to send and ask to the person you're reblogging from to keep it going.

Nettle: What are your plant allies, and how did you form your relationship with them?

Lantern: What was a spirit encounter that profoundly impacted your practice or worldview?

Fur: What forms/shapes do your familiars take, and how do they make themselves known to you?

Grove: Where is your favorite place to work with the land and why?

Formula: What would the “recipe” for your practice look like? (Tradition, intuition, land work, ancestor work, scholarship, etc.)

Fog: What relationship do you keep with the spirits of the dead and how do you maintain it?

Hearth: What folklore, regional practice, or historical tradition most shaped your craft?

Iron: What is a magical no-no you personally refuse to break?

Vessel: What physical object in your toolset feels truly inhabited by spirit?

Cobweb: What is something about witchcraft/magic that you had to unlearn the hard way?

Salt: What is your most-used ingredient, tool, or materia, and why?

Owl: What is an omen you received that turned out to be insanely accurate?

Ember: What is a spell, rite, or working you wish you could go back and relive?

Tallow: What offering has gotten the strongest response from spirits?

Heirloom: What part of your practice feels inherited, even if nobody taught it to you directly?

Black Cat: What are some boundaries that exist between you and your familiars or spirits?

Thread: What do you see as the thread that ties all the pieces of your your practice together philosophically or spiritually?

Offering: What aspect of your practice demands the most sacrifice from you?

Stone: What landscape feels the most spiritually charged to you? Forests, rivers, graveyards, crossroads, deserts, coastlines?

Ballad: What is a text, myth, ballad, or folktale feels spiritually “true” to you?

Ward: What protections do you maintain even when you aren’t actively practicing?

Foundation: What core foundations does your practice stand on? (Animism, reciprocity, devotion, rebellion, healing, sorcery, etc.)

Hearthkeeping: What mundane chore or act secretly feels magical to you?

Serpent: What spirit, deity, saint, or force do you approach with the most caution?

Storm: What natural phenomenon feels most spiritually significant to you? Fog, thunder, tides, drought, wildfire, etc.?

Petition: What role does prayer, petition, or devotion play in your work?

Crossroads: Does your practice belong to a specific place, or has it adapted wherever you go?

Transformation: What part of your practice has changed the most over time?

Mask: What misconceptions about traditional witchcraft or folk magic frustrate you the most?

Broom: What does your hearth mean to your practice?

Blood: What price do you believe magic demands, if any?

Hush: What is a ritual or practice you only do in secrecy?

Erik Olson

Tigers in the Night, 2011

oil on canvas,

Disclaimer: In this example, I have decided to use a v4 Tamagotchi and its features, as it allows me to give it a name. However, I will do my best to make the instructions flexible so it can be used for other (physical) virtual pets. Non-physical virtual pets (such as neopets, mobile phone games, etc) will be covered at a later date. I do not claim for this to be the only method to creating a virtual pet servitor, or just a servitor in general - If you feel that another method would suit you, I encourage you to explore that. For this to be most effective, you will need to know what a servitor is, as I will not be going to lengths to explain the ins-and-outs of what a servitor is, and what it can do.

What You Will Need:

A physical virtual pet device.

A suitable battery or batteries.

A pen and a small piece of paper.

An idea for what you want your servitor to accomplish, as well as an idea for a name.

Time and energy.

What You Need to Do:

Write your task as a sigil on a small piece of paper and charge it in a way that suits you (if you are burning it, collect the ashes).

Place your sigil down, and get the battery for your virtual pet. Place the battery over the sigil, and charge the battery with its energy. If you have any stones, herbs, prayers or chants, now is the time to infuse its energy with the battery (if you are using ashes, circle the ashes around the battery and charge it).

Once you're happy with the battery, make sure it is clean and place it in the virtual pet.

Set the date/time (if this servitor is going to be doing a task for the future, set its date/time for the day you want it to begin working).

Tell it your name (some virtual pets allow you to write a name in the game, this works too).

Give your virtual pet a name, which will work for when you need to call upon the servitor (some virtual pets allow you to write a name in the game, this is preferable, but is not required), and usher to it what you need it to help you with.

Tah-dah! All done! Now the hard part is keeping it alive or from running away. Take care of it as you would any other virtual pet; this will keep your servitor strong and healthy. Meals, snacks, games, toys, outfits, medicine and cleaning - they're all offerings that help feed the servitor. Try to keep it somewhere where you'll remember to give it attention.

However, remember that all virtual pets eventually disappear. Once your virtual pet dies or runs away (or the battery runs out), it is up to you to decide what to do next. If you would like to create another servitor, repeat the above. If you feel satisfied with the servitor's work, you may put it to rest until you need another.