#technowitch

There's a post of a tweet saying that every 31st of the month should be a Halloween, and you know what? I'm a Halloween Witch. I'm an Idolater. I'm an urban techno witch who lives an air conditioned life, can't stand nature bigger than a park or local landscaping, and hates leaving the city except to drive to another damn city.

I have been struggling to connect to the Wheel of the Year or the Solstices/Equinoxes for freaking years.

But a cycle of Halloweens?

That.

That I can fucking do.

So, without further ado, I present the shit I will be actually celebrating. Ya don't have to join me, but I will be posting about it for those that wanna follow along, with options and cutouts for those who don't want to or can't do the more party elements.

With luck, I'll pick up on August 31st and go from there, if not, I'll start with actual Halloween.

Halloween

October 31st

It's muthafucking Halloween. I have ideas and will post about them more as we get closer, but you know what this one is.

New Year's Eve

December 31st

This one actually also exists, but I have plans for tying it to the January 31st one to bookend the year. The primary purpose of this Eve is gratitude and sharing the good things from the year before, casting off the trappings of the old year, and to bring the new one in with luck and prosperity.

Candle's Eve

January 31st

One month from the casting out of the old year, it's time to set things for the new. Cleansing and cleaning, setting intentions (not resolutions) for the year to come, making the Mask of the Year to call on who I aspire to be, burning the intentions set last year with last years candle, and blessing a candle to burn this years intentions next year are all features. Food and drink suggestions available when I actually post this up.

Hallow Ides

March 31st

Couple of these have fun names, and this is one of them. It's a party holiday, involving a picnic and a special cake/cupcakes/muffins.

The costume element is that I'll swap clothes or looks with someone I'm celebrating with (or dress up as someone else if celebrating solo).

There's a drinking element (non-alcoholic is fine) that results in a stack o' good luck charms.

And for my trick, I can and will sing the filthiest songs, tell the dirtiest jokes, read a romance novel or erotica, just go ham on the bawdy shit.

Alternatives for ace and non-sexing folk will be forthcoming in the relevant post, but it's my damn Wheel and I'm doing bawdy shit for myself.

Blessed Eve

May 31st

Not a bonfire person, but I'm definitely gonna have a cookout and grill up some burgers! Also a neat drink and cookies that both double as offerings!

Flower masks and crowns are involved to hide from the spring spirits that might fux me upa.

There's a Blessing Bouquet that goes up early, is used to exorcise and re-bless my property/house, and then is ceremonially burned.

An ash blessing to seal the prosperity into my house ties the whole thing off.

Fortune's Eve

July 31st

This one pretty heavily revolves around a ritual game of betting and chance that I came up with based on a cool concept tied into the holiday I'm aiming at. Game generates lucky candy and a good luck charm.

Hella apples involved including a ceremonial apple and cider. Veils worn for the blindness of luck, and a strong theme of having a game day.

Neewollah

August 31st

I'm actually pretty stoked for this one, and will do a more expansive post on it later this week. I really hope I can pull this together in time this year.

Idea is a bit Opposite Day, a bit of LiarWeen vibe.

Trick the cosmos into taking away the bad shit and giving me good shit through a ritual lying ceremony, wearing a mask of duality to further confuse the issue. Ritual ash anointing to lock things down and ensure I get the stuff I want and ward off the shit I got rid of.

Candy (obvs) but I (and anyone celebrating with me) has to ask, and the person giving it has to make a point of saying no...while forking over.

And of course, games like Never Have I Ever or Two Truths & A Lie, drinking optional. (I will...probably...drink. Just saying.)

Where's the Eighth One?

Wheel has eight Sabbats, yeah?

In the grand tradition of the Satanist/Luciferian practices I stuck with for so long, Number 8 is my Birthday.

Or yours, if you decide to try this.

I'll decide what I wanna do about Birthday when I get there. You do you, tho.

And That's The Wheel of Halloween!

So yes, some of those are closer to recognizable Sabbats. Some of them are so far off that they're not in the same neighborhood. Spoiler: the ones you don't recognize are based (very, very loosely) on Roman festivals that occur in the corresponding month.

Why Roman?

Cause they had a religious festival for everything, there's records I can squint at, and they had a strong mystery tradition that plays well with my schtick.

I am not a dedicated Rome fanby, to be clear, the empire is just very much gone, very well attested, and I can most likely swipe the shape of their shit without worrying about stepping on anyone.

And even then, I'm mixing time periods, even up to hijacking Medieval Xtian shit where and when I see fit. Cause I was baptized Catholic, and that shit is my culture to use.

Neewollah Posting Hopefully Soon! Stay Tuned!

Just wanted to share these pages.

Apps I use

Planetaro - planetary hours and days as well as advising a quick primary point of what each hours is good for spell-wise.

It’s just a phase - advising what zodiac the moon is on and what that means as well as it can effect you

Time nomad - it’s a combination of the two above with way more information. It seems like an astrologer’s dream app. You can also base it on a specific person and their location to see how it is effecting them as well as get their natal chart.

Moon Phase - exactly as it sounds: it tells me the phase the moon is in on any day and time as well as moon rise and set. There is a bit more information but those are the main parts I use.

Full moon Emoji Spell for Wishes come true

Like to charge, reblog to activate

Some people happily identify with that moniker; others would bristle at the thought...and most of us are somewhere in the middle.

So what IS a TechnoWitch, anyway? (These are my own definitions, for what they're worth.)

A TechnoWitch is someone who utilizes whatever technology is around them, in addition to whatever other magical tools they have nearby to accomplish their magical ends - but it definitely includes a tech component.

Technomagic is when modern technology currently available is used in unexpected ways to perform magic. Some of these 'unexpected ways' to use tech may be quite different than their original intended uses.

Technomancy (also my own definition, for right or wrong) is magic that uses technology to its limit, is more...arcane in nature, and is purposefully seeking the limits of where the pairing can go, falling directly into the realm of chaos magic.

In my mind, if you were to compare them directly, I'd see technomagic as "convenience-driven,” while technomancy would be planned and ‘experimental.’

So... After reading the definitions, I ask again:

Are YOU a TechnoWitch?

Of the witchy people I've spoken with, many would answer that question 'no,'...until they start thinking of all the apps on their phone, or that their witchy businesses are conducted mostly online, and many of their books are on apps... I could keep going, but you get the picture. Once they take stock of things - really stop and look - they realize they are more of a technowitch than they originally would've believed. Or...if they aren't quite willing to claim the title 'technowitch' - they find themselves in the position of admitting they're using technology and magic, and didn't realize they did, which in a way, is worse. That's the scenario we routinely caution newbie witches about. When you use magic without understanding what you do, the results can backfire. You either get nothing, or something you didn't intend for (at best), or it spectacularly backfires and you end up with a worse situation than whatever you were magicking for (at worst).

As technology around us continues to grow and expand, and so does the number of youthful witches who are unafraid of technology who have no qualms about combining the two, we need to ask ourselves some really hard, honest questions:

Where is this magic, and magic in general going?

How far can you take the combination of magic and tech?

What are the good points?

Are there any drawbacks?

How is technomagic being used?

Is it apps?

Is it my computer, or browser?

Is it my KitchenAid mixer? My smart appliances?

Is it Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and every other social media platform?

Is it all of it?

Where is the line drawn before something goes from being mundane to magical?

Is it being used against us, without our knowledge or explicit consent?

Do you recognize the various types of techno-spells when you come across them?

Ultimately, if you aren't aware that something IS magical, when you see it and don't recognize it for what is is...it can be used against you. Don't let yourself be caught unawares.

Don't let others co-opt your power.

I started researching the topic of TechnoMagic when I began to write a story for my next book in the "Magic Abounds" series. It's about a woman with Aspbergers' Syndrome, who spends most of her time in Second Life. She starts doing magic in-world, not realizing that it can effect the real world...and drama ensues.

As I began to research, I realized some things: first, that I was more of a technowitch than I thought, and I began to see that technomagic surrounds us as witches use the objects around them in magical ways - sometimes intentionally, and other times, without realizing they are. I also realized that social media is rife with magic - in good ways, and in bad ways, and some of the bad ways are insidious, and dare I say it - borderline evil. I don't normally define things (particularly magic) as black and white or good and evil, but... How else would you term a magic where someone is trying to do magic intentionally, while flying under the radar unnoticed, and attempting to get you to use YOUR power to power THEIR magic? Go ahead. Try to find a different way to define that other than evil. I couldn't find another way. Be aware of what you like and share.

Interested?

TechnoWitch will be released this month (Sept 2021)! Whether you love or hate the combination of technology and magic, join the conversation. We're at an amazing time and place in history. We get to decide where magic goes from here.