a witch's oneirataxia

Something I’ve seen a lot of lately is folks having very strong reactions to being told they’re wrong about an assertion they’ve made. They just cannot stand even the idea that they’re wrong and they’re quick to call those who try to give the correct information toxic, bullies, and even abusers. This is wildly out of line and it’s time we talked a really basic tenant witches need to hear.

You are wrong. Period.

Like that’s just the fact of the matter. I’m constantly having information I learned prior corrected by folks who know more or better source texts I read as I come across them. Right now, at this very moment, something I believe to be true is incorrect. I don’t have a lot of feelings about that, it’s just a part of life.

You too are wrong about something right now. That’s just the way it goes.

I know this is largely stating the obvious but I want to get this out of the way first because I’m running into a lot of situations where people just don’t consider the fact that they’re wrong in this moment and someone else making them aware of that in the future doesn’t change that. Or that being wrong is just a completely natural part of life.

So, let’s start digging into it at little

Stop judging folks for being wrong and start judging them for how they react.

How we think of and treat others is both a result and a foundation of how we treat ourselves. A big reason I’ve found why people cannot take criticism themselves is that they harshly judge others for being incorrect or feel an inflated sense of ego – I’m better than this person – when someone is wrong. Oftentimes they’re not even aware of it which makes it all the more difficult.

When you do this, you are ripe for then projecting those feelings onto people who tell you that you’re wrong. You then see them as feeling like they’re better than you. It’s unfair to project that on folks who take the time to educate. You do not know what is going on internally. You are not a mind reader and I think we’d all do well to remember that more often. It’s important to evaluate whether something said is harmful based in what’s actually being said, not in what you believe someone might think of you.

So how do you shift mindsets? I don’t actually recommend not judging. It’s not really reasonable for most folks. But I think there’s more room to shift what you judge. Start admiring folks who can be wrong comfortably. Judge folks who have no tolerance for being wrong. You’ll start to see how you handle being wrong shift toward a healthier way.

Witchcraft attracts traumatized folks and that trauma needs dealt with.

I want to be very clear here because this needs to be said more.

I do not blame anyone for being abused, traumatized, or neglected. What you went through was absolutely horrible and wrong.

Healing that trauma, though, is your responsibility. No one else is going to do it for you. You have to make sure you do not continue the cycle of abuse both in acute ways like with partners or families or in ambient ways like in a community.

I know some folks aren’t going to be ready to hear that but it’s pretty foundational to my point here which is witchcraft has a tendency to attract folks who’ve experienced a real loss of power. And I think that’s great honestly. However, some of what people are bringing with them really isn’t okay. Just because I might understand why folks do certain actions, doesn’t mean I think it’s okay.

Among these things that I see a lot of is fragility; fragility around differences of opinion, fragility around folks sharing their experiences, and – most importantly for this post – fragility around being given new information/being wrong. That fragility itself wouldn’t necessarily matter if it weren’t for how people act when they feel so viscerally threatened by these things. They lash out, play the victim, and shut down all conversation.

This is terrible for the witchcraft community.

It has folks who are overflowing with knowledge actively avoiding sharing it with the community because so much of witchblr has made it clear they value personal validation over accurate information. People are absolutely using witchblr to patch holes that therapy, shadow work, and social support need to be used for. Some of that is lack of access, but some of that is fear.

If folks would like a separate post on fragility through a shadow work lens, let me know. My aim isn’t to unpack it here. It’s just to say that unhealed trauma, and witchblr’s protectiveness of around it staying unhealed, keeps the whole community walking on glass which becomes this background radiation trauma that infuses so many witch spaces.

Conclusion

I know there are going to be folks who respond to this and say that I haven’t considered their exact situation – which is true. I’m also not speaking to anyone’s exact situation and what this will look like in practicality in your specific life will differ wildly.

All I’m asking folks is to be aware of how they handle being wrong, about their thoughts, feelings, and unhealed trauma they’re bringing to the table when they’re wrong.

On a community level, we need to get better at settling healthy boundaries. There are gonna be some of us out front trying to do this. And we’re gonna get tired and worn out. But I hope others will join in.

My boundary is this: Wrong answers exist. I will always try to find sources on my own when presented with contradictory information, but I will ask if I’m unable to find it. If I cannot find enough information to support your claim and I can point to information to support mine – then I will let you know you’re wrong. Your feelings around that will be yours to deal with. Some positions will not be interacted with given their toxicity and physical danger to me and the communities I’m a member of – TERFs this ones for you.

The center absolutely cannot hold in this community if people continue to put their personal validation over continued education.

Journal Prompts

Describe a time when you were wrong and how you handled it. What are your observations?

Where did you learn being wrong was shameful?

Self Love & Appreciation Spell Bottle

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

↟ Lavender ↟ to bring love, peace, protection, happiness, healing, & for cleansing ↟ Rosemary ↟ to bring love, peace, happiness, protection, healing, mental clarity, & banish negativity ↟ Sea salt ↟ for protection, cleansing & purification ↟ Himalayan pink sea salt ↟ for love, protection, healing, cleansing & purification ↟ Jasmine ↟ to bring love, calm, & appreciation for beauty ↟ Rose buds/petals ↟ for love, appreciation, beauty & healing ↟ Full moon rainwater ↟ for peace, healing, cleansing & purification ↟ Rose Quartz ↟ peace, love, healing, cleansing, calms emotions, banishes negativity & amplifies loving energy ↟ Amethyst ↟ peace, protection, calming, stabilizes physical, mental & emotional being, banishes negativity ↟ Aura quartz ↟ calming, healing, releases negativity, balances emotions, brings mental clarity & lifts spirit

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

I added glitter for extra magicalness and tied a pink ribbon around the neck of the bottle ♡ charged & sealed with a kiss

Roommate: Did you want to come to church with me, or do you have your own church you’re going to?

Mom: Well, I don’t really go to religious services, but if I did I would go to a synagogue, not a church, because I’m Jewish.

(Long silence. My mom opens one eye to see her roommate staring in shock.)

Roommate: You … you don’t look Jewish.

Mom: (Who looks VERY Jewish) What do you mean?

Roommate: Well, my pastor always told me that Jews have horns and a tail.

🎃Happy October, Witchblr/Occultblr!🎃

To celebrate, I’m going to continue the yearly tradition of Witchblr Trick or Treat!

🕸️How It Works

All you have to do is drop by my inbox and ask “Trick or Treat?” Then, I will randomly decide to either grant you a Treat or fool you with a Trick!

🕸️Possible Treats

Free 1-3 card tarot readings (common)

A custom sigil 

A random Witch Tip (common)

Free shufflemancy readings

Free stichomancy readings

Book recommendations

A custom spell or ritual (rare)

Channeled messages from Hades, Persephone, and Aphrodite (rare)

A custom playlist based off of a deity you worship

And other fun surprises!

🕸️Possible Tricks

A funny or silly gif

Links to funny or silly videos

A cheesy Halloween-themed joke

Witchcraft/Occult memes

There will be no screamers or scary content posted on my blog! No tricks will be mean-spirited!

🕸️Rules

You must be 18+ to participate

No anon Trick or Treaters. All anon requests to Trick or Treat will be deleted

You may Trick or Treat a maximum of *2 times* on my blog between now and October 31. This is to ensure that I don’t get overwhelmed with Trick or Treaters

You must be following me in order to participate

While this is a *free* event, tips are highly appreciated!

All posts relating to this event will be tagged “#WitchblrTrickOrTreat” in case you want to blacklist it

Please be patient while waiting for me to respond! I don’t want to spam my followers, so I will likely space out my replies. If I don’t answer your Trick or Treat request within 7 days, feel free to resend it!

If you enjoy my writing on Witchcraft and Spirituality, please consider supporting me at

patreon.com/nightshadeandroses or

I know I said I’d post about Nezha on Wednesday but I got busy, I’m sorry! Enjoy!

Nezha ( 哪吒) is one of the more popular deities and has been adopted into Western culture many times. Warframe, Smite, Rival Kingdoms, and even anime and cartoons have adopted Nezha’s aesthetic and abilities since they span from controlling scarves and flying on firey-wheels. I mean come on, those are some pretty hot rides am I right?

Nezha is often depicted with His nice Wind Fire Wheels (風火輪), the Universe Ring (乾坤圈), the Red Armillary Sash (浑天绫), and a Fire-tipped Spear (火尖槍). Sometimes He’s in His “three heads six arms” form (三頭六臂) which is kind of His “ultimate form” (which sometimes they say He can spit rainbows).

Okay but what is He the god of?

Good question. He is often seen as a “tutelary” god, meaning a god of protection and a guardian of sorts. Many people will see Him as a protector of taxi drivers and truck drivers and put small altars in cars or transportation vehicles dedicated to Him. 

Due to His mischievous and childish nature He is also seen as a patron to gamblers. So before you draw those lucky numbers offer a lil prayer to my boi Nezha and He’ll give you the lucky numbers. 

So what’s His story? (TW: Death mention, Suicide mention, Pregnancy mention)

Nezha’s mother, Yin Shi (殷氏), was impregnated with Nezha for three years and six month (which is a very long time to bear a child like shit). Once He was born, He was a ball of flesh and Nezha’s father, a military commander named Li Jing 李靖, thought it was a demon and attacked the ball, but Nezha sprung out, fully walking, talking, and dancing around. He was a boy rather than an infant, which obviously means something is special about Him (I mean it’s mythology, come on). Tianyi Shenren (太乙真人), the immortal being, then accepted him as a student. Nezha had two other siblings who He was close with as well. 

The people of the Chentang Pass begged the gods for rain since there was a drought, so the people sacrificed a lot of food to Ao Guang, which is essentially the Azure Dragon (青龍) which I’ll talk about later. Ao Guang essentially threw a tantrum and flipped His plate demanding to eat kids rather than food. He sent His servants to find a girl and a boy to eat, and the ones they chose happened to be Nezha’s friends. Nezha quickly beat them up and they went back and to cry. Ao Guang then sent His son to take kill of Nezha but Nezha quickly killed him. 

Ao Guang then threatened to flood the land (”Here’s your water you assholes!”). Nezha then committed suicide to protect His family and people, while Ao Guang then celebrated. 

Later Yin Shi had a dream where Nezha came to tell her to build a temple for Him which later flourished. The sick were cured and miracles were performed so many people visited. Then Li Jing, still feeling angry at Nezha for causing his family so much trouble, burned down the beautiful temple which pissed Nezha off very much. 

Tianyi Shenren resurrected Him and gave Him a Wind Fire Wheels (風火輪) and a Fire Tipped Spear (火尖槍) to fight Li Jing with. They then fought until there was essentially a stalemate. Li Jing tried to commit suicide but another god prevented it and Nezha was forced to submit to Li Jing. 

So that’s essentially the story of Nezha, one of the many deities I grew up learning about. If you have any questions about Him, please feel free to send an ask or PM!

a fun little game for the witchblr community, taking place OCT. 1st - NOV. 1st.

please tag all answers or related posts #trick or treat game so people can blacklist the tag if they want to avoid it

how it works:

reblog this to let people know you’re participating!

if someone sends you an ask saying “trick or treat”, reply with either a trick or a treat, suggestions for those below!

you can stop at any time though, and please don’t feel pressured to answer all of them if it becomes overwhelming.

when you receive an ask that says “trick or treat”, reply with either a “trick” or a “treat”, perhaps use a random generator to decide which.

TREATS: sigils, tarot reading, shufflemancies, drawings, simple spells or charms, witch tips, or whatever you like!

TRICKS: silly gifs, cat pictures, rickrolls, random pictures, memes or whatever. please don’t use gore, flashing, or sexual images!

;)