#banjee rambles

✨Here is a fun little survey for anyone who wants to participate. You do not have to be tagged or receive any asks to join. You do not have to be a @pathandpractice tag member to participate. It is not an ask game; just a good, old fashion myspace-style survey. Just copy this post questions, post your answers, and (if you feel like it) tag a few blogs. Please keep this description and credit to @pathandpractice when reposting. ✨

1. If your magic had a soundtrack, what would be its theme song?

If I'm in a good mood: "I Say a Little Prayer" // Aretha Franklin; if I'm depressed: "Arsonist's Lullaby" // Hozier

2. What’s the weirdest substitute component you’ve ever used?

Idk, maybe spit instead of holy water

3. What’s a superstition you don’t believe in?

That black cats crossing your path means bad luck is coming

4. What’s your most chaotic spell outcome? How off-target did it go?

Hmmm, probably when I did a paper to receive messages from Spirit in my dreams and started getting nightmares

5. What’s something "completely mundane" that feels magical to you anyway?

Being out in the sun with the wind blowing make my soul go brrrrrrrrr

6. If your intuition had a voice, who would it sound like?

Ideally, Samuel L. Jackson; realistically, probably just a voiceless whisper

7. What kind of magic do you think you are/you would be bad at, and why?

Spirit work since I can't see / hear / feel / dream of them

8. What’s a sign or omen you completely misread at first?

Probably all of them; I don't ever notice many, if any, 'signs'

9. If your altar could judge you, what would it say you’ve been neglecting?

"Dust me, ho"

10. What fictional universe would your magic thrive in?

the Twitches universe (nah but fr probably the Motherland: Fort Salem world, except I would 1000% be draft-dodging)

11. What is a witchcraft-related hill you will die on?

If your book / show involving witchcraft only mentions Hoodoo practices as an example of baneful magic to protect yourself from, then you should kys

12. What’s a habit you have that accidentally turned into a ritual?

Singing in the shower -> Siren's song spell

13. If you could take the shape of an animal for a day, which one would you choose?

Toss-up between a bird (flying) and a panther (prowling the forest)

14. What’s something you’ve outgrown spiritually, but still feel nostalgic about?

Setting up nightly wards; I've since moved to a monthly home protection ritual

15. If your magic had a moral alignment (chaotic, lawful, neutral), how accurate would it be?

Haven't taken / thought about that test since like high school; but, iirc, I was either Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral, which I reckon would still hold true

16. What’s a belief you held early in your practice that makes you laugh now?

You need to use All The Correspondences Possible in a spell

17. If you could bottle and save one feeling for spellwork, what would it be?

That feeling of bliss when you're savoring the last bite of a warm chocolate chip cookie—makes my heart soar fr

18. What’s your “this shouldn’t work, but it does” method?

Random gestures coupled with an urgent, whispered plea

19. What’s the most aesthetic over practical thing you’ve done in your practice?

Other than taking the time to write / draw a paper neatly, I don't think I've ever seriously considered aesthetics in my craft because everything remains unseen anyways

20. If your practice had a warning label, what would it say?

"WARNING: May cause an undying, yet ultimately futile, search for truth"

21. What was the first magical/witchcraft book you ever read?

Technically an article, not a book, but it was "Hoodoo in America" by Zora Neale Hurston. As for books proper, according to my order history around the time I started reading witchcraft-related material, it was either:

Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica by Zora Neale Hurston

i didn't get everything i wanted to done today but still feel it was plenty productive. plus i did a working last night and have another to do tonight.

Hi, idk who needs to hear this but do not send me shit like this. I know this is more likely than not just a spammy/scammy message, but just thought I'd clarify that I don't accept messages like this. Especially if I know zero about you, like...???

((apologies in advance for the load of text; it's been a while since my last entry))

Workings:

daily home and self-blessings

nightly wards

small rites for the full and new moons

lotsssss of healing work [particularly on my knees since I've started running again regularly and the temps have been colder. And I'm not doing too shabby at all, if I do say so myself, since they're feeling better than they have in yearsss]

little bits and bobs that I come up with on the fly (e.g., heat-proofing my fingertips so I can quickly grab foods from the oven tray without having to let 'em cool first)

Readings:

Hex and Spellwork: The Magical Practices of the Pennsylvania Dutch by Karl Herr

A really good read. Very refreshing because it has some spells and tips in it, but it mostly deals with the author's personal and familial experience as a healer. I wish more books were like that, talking about the practitioner's life and Works without being just another spellbook.

Weather Magic: Witchery, Science, Lore by Debra L. Burris

Yes, I'm still reading this lmao. It does a good job of explaining the science behind meteorological phenomena. I've always done weather magic, but boning up on the science of it all is definitely helpful. It also includes some exercises and jumping-off points for including the weather in your Craft, but so far I'm not really a fan of those (save for the Atmosphere Climb Visualization that is almost bar-for-bar what I've done for most weather Work since I first started practicing lmaooo)

Reflections:

This past month has been both dreadfully boring and emotionally exhausting. Despite the mundane issues, though, I've been feeling much more grounded in my practice lately. Anxieties about doing too much for no reason (or about not doing enough in general) have abated, and I've felt pretty good about my Works and consistency in tending to my Craft.

I've been able to set aside times for prayer and meditation every day, which I feel has been helpful in dealing with both my mental health and magic. Also, I've kept up with my nightly chat with the ancestors, though I doubt I have any ability as a medium or veritable Spirit Worker. However, I've found that the few spells I've done in the past that specifically petition spirits have done well enough. For the time being, I'll just stick to our nightly chats and leave the occasional offering.

It might sound like a little thing, but accepting this has been a bit of a struggle for me since the folk magical frameworks I prefer to practice within can be somewhat spirit-heavy. All this to say that, though I've always wanted to be one of those witches that's like this 🤞 with Spirit, I am now feeling more secure in my primary use of the Energy Model instead.

As for what lies ahead, Lord only knows. I'm going to do my best to keep up with my practice, as well as the maintenance it entails, and see where it takes me from there.

So, yeah. That's what I did and what I'm going to do

Haven't done much the past couple of weeks beyond my morning blessings and nightly prayers. Been trying to focus on some everyday stuff (to varying levels of success) instead.

But last night when I was meditating and talking to the ancestors, I had the urge to do a tarot reading. I wanted to know what I needed to do to ameliorate my circumstances, though I was 99% sure of what the answer would be.

So, I shuffled the deck and asked "what is the first thing I need to focus on in order to achieve X goal?" I wanted a relatively straightforward answer, so I just did a one-card draw, and the response was unmistakable. It was the answer I knew was coming and was dreading.

I literally was lmao when I pulled the card because it felt like my ancestors were saying "You really thought you could avoid it? Nah, grow up, brokey."

Anyways, there's no real point to this story and nothing too exciting about the witchery of the week, but it was just something funny that happened and I felt like sharing <3

No real goals at the moment, apart from the mundane. So, yeah. That's what I did and what I'm gonna do

🃏

Meant to do this yesterday but got caught up with work. Anywho, this past week's witchenings were few but good:

Thursday:

remade a $u¢¢e$$ paper because I felt like my old one had run out of juice and I just felt like remaking it entirely

Friday:

did a honeypot spell and, now that I'm thinking about it, I think that was the first jar spell I've ever done so that's cool

As for last week's goals, I did about half but still haven't picked reading back up yet and didn't make the mojo I was gonna. But I'm not too worried about it, honestly.

Some things I feel compelled to do because, in addition to enjoying my Craft, I just feel like I should be doing something—whether it's necessary or not. So, I'm gonna work more on discerning between doing something for The Love of the Game™ versus doing something because I have some sort of existential witchy anxiety to do it.

I need to do better at accepting where I'm at (both mundanely and magically) and making conscious, targeted efforts instead of always throwing shit at the walls to see if it sticks. In the same vein, I think my goals for the near future are more mundane in nature, so I'm gonna try to lock in (read: procrastinate and maybe cry before sucking it up and realizing it wasn't so bad to begin with).

So, yeah. That's what I did and what I'm gonna do

Been a while since my last one but the move, and life in general, drained just about everything from me. However, this past week I've been getting back into my groove and it's felt great 🥰

So, apart from my usual prayers, blessings and meditation, this week's Workings were as follows:

Wednesday

did a healing charm for arthritis while rubbing ointment on my knees because I went for a run for the first time this year lmao (last run was NYE '24 because my knee was swollen and generally debilitating for a couple weeks afterwards so I was scared to run again) and everything's been fine since so I'll keep taking it slow as I get back into it

Thursday

did my Full Moon rite

Wednesday – Friday

a ritual Working I created to ensorcell my witching place (read: bedroom) that was done over three nights—the night before, the night of and the night after the Full Moon

Saturday

did a 3-card reading to see how successful my ritual was (not something I usually do but did it mainly to test out my new deck)

Throughout the week

now that I have an actual altar, I've been lighting my candle and incense just about every morning while praying, or just while talking to my ancestors and spirits. It's been nice :)

For the upcoming week, I have a few things I'd like to do, including redoing my $u¢¢e$$ paper and making a mojo or two. Also, I really need to read some more—I read the first chapter of Weather Magic like a month ago and haven't gotten back to it even though I actually enjoy it 😭

So, yeah. That's what I did and what I'm gonna do