#stitch magic

The masterpost of my posts on my personal practice regarding religion and witchcraft. I link a lot of resources that are not my own.

P A G A N I S M

Personal Holiday Calendar

Noumenia

Morpheiea

Anthesphoria

Notiea

Koris Katagogi

Boreiea

M O R P H E U S

Morpheus Masterpost

Morpheiea

Morpheus and Dreamcatchers

Evening Ritual in Honor of Morpheus

W I T C H C R A F T

Monday Minerals (series)

Selenite

Herbsday (series)

Rosemary

Paper Magic

Origami and a Japanese Legend

Regarding Credit: Many of my posts include links to resources including Theoi.com, Wikipedia.com, many outside websites and blogs, and many Tumblr blogs. When sourcing Tumblr I used to linked directly to the original post, but due to blogs that have deleted and lost posts, I now reblog to my Tumblr, use that link in the post, and credit the original creater (tagged when possible). If your content has been linked in a post and you would prefer to not have it there, please send me an ask and I would be happy to remove it for you.

It’s no coincidence that the goddesses most often associated with spinning and weaving were also the ones most likely to hold the fate of humankind in their hands. In colder climates especially, a woman’s ability to spin and weave and create cloth was often the difference between her family making it through the winter or freezing to death.

The separation of the fibre arts from witchcraft coincides quite neatly with the advent of the industrial revolution, and the outsourcing of skills that were once far more widespread. It’s true they were laborious practices, and the freeing of women from the responsibility of clothing their families paved the way for suffrage and other forms of emancipation, but we still within a few generations lost touch with skills that have existed and been developing from the very earliest days of civilisation.

I don’t believe in over-romanticising the past, and I love how technology has evolved from arrowheads and bone needles to silicon computer chips and automated jacquard looms, but I do think it has created a disconnection in us. We no longer understand how we are a part of the natural world, and how our dense urban jungles are an extension of it not a replacement. We don’t know where our food comes from, how our clothes are made, how the great machinery that powers our everyday lives work and what they cost the earth we rely on.

Enter witchcraft.

Modern witchcraft practices differ from historical practices because the cultural context is completely different. No longer are we necessarily the wise women, the ones with knowledge of the  herbal remedies that our villages turned to when they were ill or unlucky, the ones who understood the profound connection between the spirits and the land and the sky. Yes we might do those things too, but nowadays the purpose of the modern witch is to be a beacon and a reminder of our place in the natural world, our spiritual connection not to a concept but to each other and the deepest reaches of our own psyches. Witches, beyond anything else, are the ultimate expression of freedom from the restraining influence of mass culture.

Just as a witch who practices in the countryside and a witch who practices in the inner city have just as much value and relevance, so too is a witch who chooses needle and thread to etch their intent into the skin of the world just as relevant as one who chants over crystals and burns incense to their deities.

Thread witch, stitch witch, fibrecraft witch, your wand can be a crochet hook, your boline can be your embroidery scissors, your altar can be a loom etched with the runes for binding and protection, and your spells can be the knitted scarves you make for your friends and family in the winter. Choose the colour of your yarn as carefully as you choose the colour of your candles, start a working on the new moon, and sew your sigils into the lining of your clothes.

If you’re a follower of Norse deities, learn nahlbinding and how to make lucet cord. 

If you have a love of Egyptian deities, learn the historical importance of linen and how it’s made, maybe make yourself a ritual robe out of it embroidered with a heavy collar of beads. 

If you’re a kitchen witch, crochet trivets and weave your own tea towels.

If you’re a green witch, dye your own thread with natural plant-based dyes you grew in your garden, and embroider plants and herbs on things to invoke their properties. 

If you’re an urban witch, make sigils and symbols into handmade patches for your tote bags and jackets, or to give to your girl gang. 

If you’re a sea witch, crochet yourself a beach bag to take with you when you visit the ocean.

If you’re a tech witch, find an old digital knitting machine and program your own patterns.

If you love history and handicrafts, learn to spin your own yarn on a drop spindle, and other traditional methods of creating beautiful things.

There is no kind of witch who can’t find something in the fibrecraft arts related to their practise if it genuinely interests them, even if it’s as simple as sewing an altar cloth or a cute pouch for their tarot cards. Even witches dealing with health issues, of which I am certainly one, can often find the energy to do small spells, or work slowly on larger ones, when they don’t have the energy to leave bed or do big rituals. The act of simple, repetitive tasks can also be very meditative to many, and can be a great way to practice mindfulness.

As the needle goes in and out of the fabric imagine the fabric being infused with a strong metallic glow. Chant: