Thirst And Nerd Posts

Isn't that exactly what Richie did?? Are you saying Richie is a witch??

This zine is a practical guide to self-teaching herbalism freely and for free. Download from itch.io or email [email protected] to request a hardcopy.

Seiðr is not the umbrella term for sorcery or witchcraft in Norse culture.

Seiðr comes from an Old High German and Old English roots that means ‘cord,’ ‘snare,’ or ‘string.‘  Seiðr is not just any magic or spell or casting: seiðr is binding magic that metaphysically binds objects, people, animals, or spirits to the caster as if they were attached by a string or thread.

This is why a distaff is so important in portrayals of völvas or witches.  The physical act of threading wool or sewing a tapestry channeled the seiðr to manifest.  A strong example of this is a scene from Laxdaela saga when Gudrun, the instigator of most of the saga’s bloodshed, turns to Bolli upon his return from his errand of slaying Kjartan: 

A poor match they make, our morning’s work—I have spun twelve ells of yarn while you have slain Kjartan (Laxdaela saga 116)

“Of all the verdant gifts of nature, unto the artes and Wort Cunning of the West Country 'Green Doctor' and 'Old Mother Green-Cap,’ the Ash tree is perhaps the most magically potent and reputable in West Country tradition; it is of great use for matters of protection, love, and the removal of diverse ills. Such is the power of the Ash, it is believed by employment of various methods to absorb or exorcise ailments and bewitchment.

An Ash Tree Rite against Toothache

To cure toothache, instruct the patient to visit an Ash tree; taking with them a good sharp knife. There they shall wrap their arms about the trunk of the tree, and make a slit within the bark within the point at which their hands meet. With the knife, the patient should cut some hair from the back of their head and secrete this beneath the bark of the tree via the slit made with the knife.

The Rite of the Cleft Ash

The mother of an ailing son must take him, with two virgin girls to assist the operation, to a young Ash tree. There the tree must be split part way down its middle and the child placed by its mother into the cleft; there held for a moment before being taken by a virgin girl. The tree is then to be circled thrice against the sun. The virgin girl will then place the child to be held again in the cleft for a moment before the mother takes it and the circumambulations are again made about the tree. These actions are repeated nine times without any words being spoken throughout the operation, after which the split in the tree must be carefully closed together and bound to be revisited and inspected later. If the cleft grows together again, the child will grow strong and is healed.

For the healing of a girl child, the operation must be performed in the same manner by her father and two virgin boys.

A Fortunate Ash Charm

The leaves of the Ash may be plucked, and formed into a pleasing bunch. The gathered ends are to be bound tightly together in red, to form a foliate charm to be carried or hung in the home to attract love, good fortune, and health.

Protections by Ash

A stick of Ash has long been carried by walkers in the West Country to provide a protection against the adder or ‘viper.’ Kept in the home, by the door, the Ash stick performs the function of a protective charm to keep these venomous reptiles from entering.

A circle drawn with the Ash stick of a charmer about an adder will imprison the creature who will be unable to cross its boundary. An Ash tree growing in the garden will also provide like protection and keep adders away. In the absence of an Ash stick, the walker might carry leaves of the Ash within the pocket for a charm against the adder.

The influence of the protective virtues of the Ash in West Country tradition of course extend beyond serpents to ward against the ill-wish. In Somerset, leafy Ash branches would be gathered and formed into a wreath to be hung from the tree growing nearest to the house. This wreath-charm would impart a protection upon the place from the influences of Black Witchcraft.”

—

The Black Toad:

West Country Witchcraft and Magic

Part 3 - Old mother Green Cap: Plant Charms and Curse

chemists will be like this is a molecule

and another one is like ”wait so you’re saying humans don’t have stripes.”

”actually they do, but the stripes are invisible. There’s genetic code that’d give them stripes but they’re just the same colour as the rest of the skin. So the visible stripes are not real stripes and the real stripes are invisible.”

I WENT THROUGH THE SAME THOUGHT PROCESS

BECAUSE WE DO APPARENTLY

SO ITS ACTUALLY A VERY DISTRESSED "MY CAT THINKS I KNOW I HAVE STRIPES?!?!?!"