606

song lyrics for a specific mood

spotify codes for favourite songs

receipts from a trip

envelope for gifts from any small children you know

pages to press flowers in

ticket stubs

fortune cookie readings

daily three-card tarot pulls

watercolour paper for art

page cutouts

watercolours just in general

pressed flowers

other dried herbs

sketches (taped or glued in)

morning/evening routines

colour in the leftover paper backing from stickers and glue/tape it in

friendship bracelets that may have broken or come off

grocery lists or other shopping lists (glue in if written on other paper)

book quotes

block poetry (you'll have to take a page out of a book for this)

mental health goals

halloween: candy wrappers

fabric scraps

family recipes

different textured papers

stamps

This is written in mind for people writing fic in MCYT/QSMP/DSMP/Life series/etc kind of fandoms. But if anyone finds it useful for anything else, well then, hell yeah.

Character voice is big in all, uh, fiction, and mimicking it in any fanwork is big. But I think it’s especially big in these fandoms where the voices are so distinct – it’s usually how a Real Person Somewhere (the streamer) talks, versus something very scripted that you’d see in a TV show or novel. And it can be a big difference in your character sounding generic versus really feeling true to the original.

Listen to a bunch of your subject talking. If you want to write a character well, watch vods from their point of view, or episodes where they show up a bunch. Take note of what they say and how.

2. If you don’t know how to start doing that: try literally writing down what they say. Transcribe an actual exchange in fic-format. You probably won’t want to publish a literal exchange from canon, but it will give you a sense of how to physically write what they say.

3. If you do this (or just pay attention to how they talk), you will get a lot of: Stumbling, pauses, repeating words, filler words, weird sentence constructions, fragments, etc. I love em! Here’s something that comes through in improv much more than in novels or movies: Most people, even very charismatic people, are not very eloquent when they speak. Writing out conversations or sentences will give you a sense of the unique and delightful way in which your subject is not eloquent. vvvvv way more under cut vvvvv

1. You are responsible for your own media experience. 

2. There is such a thing as a healthy level of avoidance towards topics that make you feel unwell or even (in a real-life clinical definition of the term) trigger you - but you are the one to actively take care of what you view.

3. Avoiding does not mean policing others.

4. You have no right to tell artists to censor themselves - you may criticize what others do, you may dislike it, that’s fine - but actively asking for censorship when you could easily unfollow or block a person just makes you look incompetent in your use of the internet.

neurodivergent person,

not reblog a frog?

Let's be honest, religion and consistent practice can be HARD, especially when you're chronically ill, disabled, mentally ill or neurodivergent. This is a list of lower energy practices you can do to connect with your Gods when you're having a rough day.

Pray. You don't have to say the prayer. You don't have to do the full cleansing and offering. Just think about the prayer. It could be as simple as "'Deity Name', thank you. I'm thinking of you and appreciate you."

Dedicate any self care you do to the Gods. You've got to take meds? awesome. it's now a devotional activity.

If you can, light a tea light candle. You can think about who you're dedicating it to as you're lighting it.

Tell them about your day. Have a simple conversation with them (again, this can be in your head if needed).

Offer some water! Water is a great offering if you don’t have the energy to cook, collect or buy something.

Incense is also a great offering because you can light it then forget about it and your house won’t burn down (if you follow regular safety measures). 

Resting. Your deities want you to be okay. Dedicating your rest to your deities is especially great if you feel guilty for allowing yourself time to heal.

Turn on a video of someone reading mythos! 

Put on a deity playlist. There are plenty of pre-made ones on Spotify. 

Veil or bind your hair! Whenever I’m low energy I’ll throw my hair in a ponytail and bind it that way. It doesn’t have to be extravagant. 

Make a Pinterest board for them!

Post on a digital altar! There are plenty of discord servers that have digital altars and temples. You could also make a devotional Tumblr blog. 

Change your phone lock/home screen to something that reminds you of your Deity.

this post includes hades, persephone, artemis, apollo, aphrodite, hermes, and hekate

keep in mind that typical offerings to any god includes meat, wine, honey, and incense (myrrh and frankincense would be period appropriate), but i'm listing some specific offerings that can be given if you'd like

colors can be used for candles, banners, decor, whatever you want

HADES

Colors: black, red, and white for association with death. purple and metallics for association with riches/wealth

Offerings: mint, asphodel, white poplar, pomegranate, coffee, cinnamon, elm, money, chocolate

Crystals: gemstones, black crystals (obsidian, black tourmaline, smokey quartz, etc.), pyrite, hematite, labradorite

Animals: black ram, owl, serpent, Cerberus

PERSEPHONE

Colors: purple, pink, yellow, green for association with springtime. black and metallics for association with Hades. white for purity.

Offerings: pomegranate, flowers, grains, asphodel, lavender, rosemary

Crystals: amethyst, gemstones, moss/tree agate, milk quartz, jade, lepidolite

Animals: deer, ram, bat, talking birds (including parrots)

APHRODITE

Colors: red and pink for love/sexuality. white and blue for association with the ocean. gold for association with, well, gold.

Offerings: roses, chocolate, shells, myrrh, gold

Crystals: rose quartz, pearl, emerald, opal, aquamarine, rhodonite, rhodochrosite, ocean jasper, morganite

Animals: swan, dove, hare

ARTEMIS

Colors: white, blue, black, and grey for association with the heavens. brown and green for association with nature/the hunt.

Offerings: moon shaped foods, frankincense, cypress, mugwort, amaranth

Crystals: morganite, moonstone, aventurine, selenite, celestite, moss/tree agate, amethyst, quartz (specific dendritic), labradorite

Animals: deer, wolf, wild boar

APOLLO

Colors: yellow, white, and blue for association with the heavens. red, orange, and pink for healing. purple and green for the Oracle

Offerings: sun shaped foods, bay leaves, laurel, cypress

Crystals: sunstone, amber, calcite (specifically honey and yellow), quartz (specifically rutilated or clear), rose quartz

Animals: cow, snake, hawk, crow/raven, cicada, swan

HERMES

Colors: green and gold for money/luck. white and brown for travels.

Offerings: money, crocus/saffron, strawberries

Crystals: jade, malachite, fluorite, pyrite, lapis lazuli, citrine, alexandrite

Animals: tortoise, ram

HEKATE

Colors: purple, blue, and green for magic. red and black for association with underworld

Offerings: garlic, saffron, crossroad dirt, black salt, ashes, sage, cedar, yew

Crystals: labradorite, obsidian, hematite, black tourmaline, amethyst, bloodstone, serpentine, lepidolite

Indeed I do, my friend! I have three lovely cookbooks in my collection which I highly recommend on the subject:

Celtic Folklore Cooking (Joanne Asala)

Witch in the Kitchen (Cait Johnson)

The Food and Cooking of Ireland (Biddy White Lennon & Georgina Campbell)

Celtic Folklore Cooking includes an entire section in the index on dishes for Yule. The Food and Cooking of Ireland has a number of feast-worthy recipes, and a very informative foreword which describes the holiday traditions celebrated in Ireland today. Witch in the Kitchen has a lot of tasty vegetarian options for any occasion year-round.

Dishes for Yule include:

Apple Fritters

Baked Apples

Chestnut Soup

Chranachan

Christmas Plum Pudding

Eggnog

Faerie Cakes

Hot Buttered Rum

Irish Stew

Marmalade Loaf

Mulled Cider

Pan Haggerty

Roast Goose with Stuffing

Savory Yuletide Pie

Shortbread

Stuffed Acorn Squash

Stuffed Braised Beef

Tea Brack (aka Barm Brack)

Wassail

In the case of the recipes I’ve collected for my seasonal posts, the sources are usually cookbooks from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England, and, to a certain degree, from the States, where immigrants from those countries created their own unique regional cuisines based on budget and availability of ingredients. (And of course, I’ve included some personal and family recipes from my own files as well, mostly for the autumn list.)

So yes, these dishes will be a good deal more modern than one might expect, if one goes in with the assumption that “Celtic” must needs mean “pre-Christian.” These recipes are from colonial times to modern ones, largely because those are going to be the easiest for the average home cook to reproduce for their holiday feast. I could dig back into Renaissance or Medieval dishes, but I don’t think they’d go over as well.

Abronoê ‘Gracious-minded’, ‘Providing Grace’, ‘Gracious’ Arêgos ‘Helper’ Atala ‘Tender’, ‘Delicate’ Boôpis ‘Cow-eyed’ Deichteira ‘Teacher’, ‘Revealer’ Ekdotis ‘Bestower’ Epaine ‘Awe-Inspiring’, ‘Glorious’, ‘Sublime’ Eranne ‘Lovely’ Erannos ‘Lovely’ Êrigeneia ‘Daughter of morning’, ‘Early-born’ Erôtotokeia / Erototokos ‘Bearer of love’, ‘Producing Love’, ‘Who Bore Love’ Eukoline ‘Good Tempered’ Indalimos ‘Beautiful’ Kalligeneia ‘Bearing Beautiful Offspring’ Kalliste ‘Fairest’ Kore ‘Maiden’ Kydimos ‘Glorious’ Maera ‘Shining’ Makairapos ‘Blessed-one’ Megiste ‘Greatest’ Melinoe ‘Soothing One’ Ourania ‘Celestial’, ‘Heavenly’ Paggennêteira ‘Mother of All’ Paiônios ‘Healer’ Pammêtôr ‘Mother of All’ Pandôteira ‘All-giver’, ‘One who gives everything’, ‘Bestower of Everything’, Bounteous’ Pantrephô / Pantrophos ‘All-nurturing’, ‘All-sustaining’, ‘who feeds all’ Phaennô ‘Brilliant’ Phaesimbrotos ‘Bringer of light to mortals’ Phaethô ‘Radiant’ Phoebe ‘Bright’ Polyboteira ‘Generous Giver of Nourishment’ Rhododaktylos ‘Rosy-Fingered’ Terpsimbrotos ‘Delighting men’, ‘One who delights mortals’, ‘Gladdens the hearts of men’ Tlêtê / Tletos ‘Patient’ Zootrophos ‘Nourisher of Life’

There is a lot of information coming from a whooooole lot of sources on the internet.

I know that you really want to get into doing everything just right, and you want to do it all right now.

You've taken on a dizzying job. This forum says not to worship Hades and Demeter on the same altar. That forum says you should focus your worship mostly on deities that relate to your profession.

It seems so many of the people you see either align themselves to 'myth literalism' or they disregard the myths, altogether.

To you, everyone looks like they only deal in extremes. Maybe you feel like a new student in a classroom where you can clearly see that the established clique divisions are very, very important.

They're not.

Take a deep breath and slow down. You haven't already messed up before you've even begun.

The reason you see these dichotomies everywhere you look is, at least in part, because of the way you're looking for your information.

Many people, when starting, will ask the Great Google Void™️ questions like, "Can I have only one patron deity?" "Does my altar have to be big?" "Does X deity hate Y deity?" These questions are targeted, and they have a tendency to draw answers from people with very strong opinions. (A fact that isn't wholly bad, but is fucking scary when you're new) You will also find opinions from people who have practiced a long time and will give you good, well written advice. Still, you can't quite find it in yourself to overlook the contributer who says something like, "I wouldn't dare disrespect Demeter by putting her on an altar with Hades." The wording seems so final and ominous. Disrespect. The idea of risking it makes you want to take down the altar, because... What if she's already mad at you for even thinking of it?

You're holding yourself to an impossible standard, newbie. We all started somewhere, and many of us arrived at different conclusions.

My advice to you, and I cannot recommend this highly enough: Look for resources, not answers.

Stop punishing yourself for things you don't know. Network with other poytheists. Ask for resources. Google resources. Read as many of the myth sources as you can, but make sure you double check and research who translated them first. That's right, the translations. Different translations of the very same texts have led to discrepancies in beliefs in the community. Decide for yourself where myth belongs in your practice. Decide for yourself if you are reconstructing ancient practice or modifying it. Decide for yourself who will be on your altar, if you can/ want to have one. Allow yourself to enjoy the research. Do it in digestible bites.

Research how other people do it, but stop asking the question, especially to the internet, "Which way is the correct way?"

You will get so hung up on the extreme answers that you will burn out.

This is a masterlist of the “Greek Gods 101” series. This series aims to provide basic information and worship ideas for both major and minor deities. This masterlist also involves heroes, deified mortals, spirits, and other figures of Greek mythology.

Aceso

Acheron

Acratos

Aedos

Aegle

Aeolus

Aglaea

Ampelus

Amphitrite

Ananke

Anemoi

Angelia

Anteros

Antheia

Aphrodite

Apollon

Aporia

Ares

Arete

Ariadne

Aristaeus

Artemis

Asklepios

Asteria

Astraeus

Astrape

Athena

Atlas

Bia

Britomartis

Calliope

Carpi

Ceraon

Cerberus

Ceto

Chaos

Charon

Chione

Chiron

Chloris

Chrysos

Circe

Clio

Clymene

Comus

Cratus

Cronos

Daphne

Deimus

Deipneus

Demeter

Dicaeosyne

Dike

Dionysus

Dysnomia

Ececheria

Eileithyia

Eirene

Electryone

Eleus

Elpis

Endymion

Enyo

Eos

Epiales

Epione

Epiphron

Erato

Erebus

Eris

Eros

Ersa

Eucleia

Eudaemonia

Eunomia

Eupheme

Euphrosyne

Euporia

Eupraxia

Eurybia

Eusebia

Euterpe

Euthenia

Eutychia

Fates

Furies

Gaea

Ganymedes

Gelus

Hades

Harmonia

Harpocrates

Hebe

Hecate

Hedone

Hedylogus

Helius

Hemera

Hephaestus

Hera

Heracles

Hermaphroditus

Hermes

Hestia

Hesychia

Himeros

Homonoia

Horae (Seasons)

Horae (Time)

Hormes

Hybris

Hydros

Hygeia

Hymenaeus

Hypnus

Iaso

Iris

Lelantus

Leto

Macaria

Matton

Medusa

Melinoe

Melpomene

Methe

Mnemosyne

Morpheus

Nemesis

Nike

Nyx

Oizys

Orthannes

Ossa

Ourania

Ouranos

Ourea

Paeon

Paidia

Palaemon

Pallas

Pan

Panacea

Pandaisia

Pandora

Pannychis

Panopia

Paregoros

Pasithea

Pegasus

Peitho

Penia

Penthus

Persephone

Perses

Perseus

Phales

Phanes

Phaunus

Pheme

Philophrosyne

Philotes

Phobus

Phoebe

Phorcys

Phthonus

Phusis

Pistis

Plutus

Poena

Polemus

Polymnia

Pompe

Pontus

Ponus

Porus

Poseidon

Pothus

Priapus

Prometheus

Pronoea

Prophesis

Psamathe

Pseudologoi

Psyche

Ptocheia

Rhea

Selene

Silenos

Sophrosyne

Soter

Soteria

Styx

Tartarus

Telesphorus

Terpsichore

Tethys

Thalassa

Thalia

Thalia

Thallo

Thanatus

Thaumas

Thea

Themis

Theseus

Thesis

Thrasus

Thyone

Tithonus

Triptolemus

Triton

Tritopatores

Tyche

Tychon

Urania

Uranus

Zelus

Zeus

Feel free to request or suggest deities! This list will be done in order but you can ask for me to complete one that’s further down the list.

Universal offerings are offerings that can be given to any deity, spirit, etc. While they aren’t the same in all cultures and religions, they usually include the following:

Wine

Clean water

Bread

Incense

Candles/Other Flames

Some universal devotional acts include:

Research

Reading Their Myths

Cleaning

Taking Care of Yourself

Connecting to Nature

Any Hobbies You May Have (You Can Devote Anything to Anyone)

Deity letters are, in my opinion anyways, a wonderful alternative to traditional prayer if praying is something you struggle with for whatever reason! Sometimes praying can be uncomfortable for me-for personal reasons, and also formality kind of squiks me out-but writing is something I’m very confident about! And it tends to come much easier to me than praying. I started writing letters about 3 years ago on a whim because I was just frustrated with praying not always working for me. And it’s worked wonderfully ever since! It’s a great way for me to be able to get whatever thoughts or feelings I’m having off my chest! It’s really no different than say if you were writing to a pen pal, or a friend, or whatever. It follows the same format and generally includes the same content (with some differences of course).

When it comes to formatting I keep it to, like I said, like a traditional letter. I start it with ‘Lord/Lady [insert deity name here]’ sometimes I’ll precede that with ‘dear’ but that’s totally up to you! (Which is another amazing thing about this, you can tailor it to your and your relationship with the deity you’re writing too!).

Then I follow it with a quick ‘introduction’ paragraph, I just say hello, tell Them how I’m doing, tell Them that I hope They’re doing well, little things like that. And again- you can tailor this to you and your deity! You can completely omit this section or add to it. Whatever you want.

I don’t always write to Them when I need something from Them but if you do I usually include it in the second paragraph. If I don’t I usually just tell Them what I’m up to, or that I saw something that made me think of Them, etc.

In the last paragraph I thank Them for well…anything really. Maybe for being in my life, or like with Zeus I may thank Him for any rain we’ve had, etc. to me this is the most important part as it kind of builds this certain…reciprocity (idk if that’s the right word but it’s the best way I can describe it) and also it’s just kind to do! I may also ask if There’s anything in particular they want from me or anything like that. But again- you can omit or include this as you please. It’s not a must.

I don’t always do a like…’sincerely Mars’ part but if you wanted to you totally could! Sometimes I’ll just do a little doodle or maybe a funny joke that I think They’d like, or a book quote that made me think of Them, etc. whatever you want really!

Now I know a major concern is ‘do They receive these?’ And my response is a resounding yes, at least in my experience. If you talk while you write you could totally treat it as a prayer! But I usually don’t and just like…’hear’ the words in my head as I write which is good enough! I usually just call whichever deity it id I’m writing to beforehand in the same way you would before praying or giving an offering! I usually just say ‘Hear [insert deity name] as I write this letter to you’ then go for it! And of course, you can alter this to whatever works best for you. I also may light (or turn on, I use electric candles) their candle and bring it over to wherever I’m writing or listen to Their deity playlist. Just whatever I need to do to ‘get in the zone’.

This is something that is historically true: we see very different depictions of Him in writing, sculptures, mosaics, ceramics, and other mediums of Ancient art. In those pieces of art He takes a large number of forms: young and old, bearded and beardless, fat and slim, without visible muscle and with prominent musculature, tall and short, naked and dressed, with and without an ivy wreath, with soft features and with sharp features, long-haired and short-haired, and so on and so forth.

In writing, He is referred to as androgynous and spoken of as possessing multiple feminine qualities, be it of looks or character. Euripides has Him referred to as "girl-faced" (The Bacchae, lines 400-799) while inscriptions from Beroea dated 248-264 AD give Him the title Ψευδάνωρ ("effeminate man", lit. "false man"). Some researchers add that He is the only Deity whose domain doesn't correlate with His gender in the Greek language: the only word related to Dionysus that is masculine in grammar is ο κισσός, which means "ivy"; all of the other words related to Him are feminine.

I will attach some of His depictions to show just how Diverse Ancient perception of Him was. Dionysus is a God that is constantly changing His appearance, which is why whatever way He chooses to present Himself to you is valid.

Regardless of what gender presentation, body type, facial features, height, weight, or skin color you see Him as; none of these are wrong because He's choosing to appear to you a personal way.

*pulls out draft from over a year ago* ENJOY

Hi! this is a list of witchy self-care things you can do. Most of these are pretty basic on account that i wrote this ages ago but they definitely still work. Anyways, I hope these help :)

Do the dishes and dedicate it to your house spirit (if you have one) or a deity (if you're religious)

sweep/mop your floor in the shape of sigils

add rosemary (or rosemary water/essential oils) to the water you mop with to set an intention of cleansing

taking ritual a bath/shower

cleansing your energy. it's so basic but I forget more than i'd like to admit

dedicating time to yourself. it's just as important as dedicating time to your deities/other spirits

light shadow work or going to therapy. bettering your mental health also betters your spiritual.

go outside and ground yourself

take a nap (less witchy, more, I love naps. rest is important)

work out/stretch and dedicate it to an entity

do some gratitude

take 5 minutes to just sit and turn off your devices. you can use this time for anything, just take a second to get off screens and connect with the world around you

meditate. if you can't sit still long enough to meditate, just focus on taking 3 deep breathes

when you wash your face, draw sigils on your face with the cleanser and moisturiser

^do the same as above but with your body wash and when you wash your hair

say some affirmations/manifestations while brushing your teeth

just check in with yourself and see how you're feeling spiritually, psychically and emotionally. sometimes we don't actually know how we're feeling until we sit down and actually ask ourselves.