The Antartic Green Witch

Witches! Please do me a favor and fill out this survey for my Senior Seminar class.

I'm currently an anthropology student at Cleveland State University doing a survey on witchcraft trends over the past twenty years. If you have been practicing witchcraft (close to) 5 years or more, I would really appreciate it if you would please fill out this survey!

Please help out a fellow Witch!

I've been practicing witchcraft on and off since 2005. I first started with a single book and then later learned a lot of the basics from a mentor, a Wiccan 2nd Degree Priestess. I moved on from Wicca into general Eclectic Witchcraft, and over the years have gone through many changes in my practice and beliefs. I'm looking to see how other people's practices have changed as well.

I know a lot of mutuals and witches I used to follow are gone, but I'll tag a few: @aerieherbal @grayladyofthewell @graycloak @stsathyre @windvexer

A spell could have:

Resolved blockages or entanglements behind the scenes

Paved the way to make accomplishing your goal more likely

Patched over energetic "leaks" in adjacent areas that had to be fixed before this manifestation would work

Prevented the situation from worsening

It is possible for an effective spell to not appear to have done much at all.

This could also hypothetically mean that you really do have to cast the same spell three or four times before enough underlying issues are resolved to get you what you want.

I do not think all magic necessarily works like this.

January

🌕 03 - Full Buck Moon (Cancer)

💫 03-04 - Quadrantids shower

🌟 10 - Jupiter at Opposition

🌑 19- New Moon (Capricorn)

February

🌕 01 - Full Sturgeon Moon (Leo)

🌾 01 - Lughnasadh (traditional)

🌗 17 - annular solar eclipse

🌑 17 - New Moon (Aquarius)

🌟 19 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation

✨ 26 - Mercury Retrograde Begins

March

🌕 03 - Full Harvest Moon (Virgo)

🌑 19 - New Moon (Pisces)

✨ 20 - Mercury Retrograde Ends

🍁 20-21 - Mabon / Autumn Equinox (traditional)

April

🌕 01 - Full Hunter Moon (Libra)

🌟 03 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation

🌑 17 - New Moon (Aries)

💫 22-23 - Lyrids Meteor Shower

May

🎃 01 - Samhain (traditional)

🌕 01 - Full Beaver Moon (Scorpio)

🌟 06-07 - Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower

🌑 16 - New Moon (Taurus)

🌕 31 - Full Blue Moon (Sagittarius)

June

🌑 15 - New Moon (Gemini)

🌟 15 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation

❄️ 21 - Yule / Winter Solstice (traditional)

🌕 29 - Full Cold Moon (Capricorn)

✨ 29 - Mercury Retrograde Begins

July

🌑 14 - New Moon (Cancer)

✨ 23 - Mercury Retrograde Ends

💫 28-29 - Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower

🌕 29 - Full Wolf Moon (Aquarius)

August

🕯️ 01 - Imbolc (traditional)

🌟 02 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation

🌑 12 - New Moon (Leo)

🌓 12 - Total Solar Eclipse

💫 12-13 - Perseids Meteor Shower

🌟 15 - Venus at Greatest Eastern Elongation

🌕 27-28 - Partial Full Snow Lunar Eclipse (Pisces)

September

🌑 10 - New Moon (Virgo)

🌸 21-22 - Ostara/Vernal/Spring Equinox (traditional)

🌕 26 - Full Worm Moon (Aries)

October

🌟 04 - Saturn at Opposition

💫 07 - Draconids Meteor Shower

🌑 10 - New Moon (Libra)

🌟 12 - Mercury at Greatest Eastern Elongation

💫 21-22 - Orionids Meteor Shower

✨ 24 - Mercury Retrograde Begins

🌕 26 - Full Pink Moon (Taurus)

🔥 31 - Beltane (traditional)

November

💫 04-5 - Taurids Meteor Shower

🌑 09 - New Moon (Scorpio)

✨ 13 - Mercury Retrograde Ends

💫 17-18 - Leonids Meteor Shower

🌟 20 - Mercury at Greatest Western Elongation

🌕 24 - Full Super Flower Moon (Gemini)

🌟 25 - Uranus at Opposition

December

🌑 08 - New Moon (Sagittarius)

💫 13-14 - Geminids Meteor Shower

☀️ 21 - Litha / Summer Solstice (traditional)

💫 21-22 - Ursids Meteor Shower

I think about something similar a bunch actually. I often struggle posting what I’m doing because everything I’ve learned says magic is supposed to be hidden, to be occulted. There’s this weird over sharing phenomenon following social media/The Internet. Everyone seems to be under this impression, because all kinds of information is so easily accessible, that if it isnt posted somewhere it probably doesn’t matter or didn’t happen. When actually the opposite is true for magic. I think if you’re posting every detail of your work then there’s something fishy happening. Magic is supposed to be this divine experience, something so indescribable only symbols can express its nature. Blogs here are just people talking about that experience and maybe some cute pictures too. Just people’s vision boards and thoughts. I don’t know why so much emphasis seems to be placed on sharing an entire practice online. I constantly float between wanting to post more so people know what cool stuff I’m doing and also knowing that it’s ok I don’t, it’s for me. The internet isn’t real life I think a bunch of people have forgotten that.

I do make a lot of posts, but like @torque-witch they tend to be accessible and generalized. Not everything is an integral part of my practice, it’s meant to give others an idea of where to start and how to shape the craft to their needs (especially when facing certain restrictions due to health).

I do encourage others to share the parts of their practices they feel called to! Share that creative solution, that thrifty find, that moment of clarity. I’m always learning from the experiences of others!

Share what you feel comfortable with, just check in with yourself first. Are you sharing it because you’re proud of it or want to help/inspire others? Are you sharing it because you think it will add to the image you’ve created for yourself on this platform? Are you sharing it because you want to, or you feel like you must?

Remember that you have control of your blog. There are no requirements. If what you’re currently doing on it doesn’t feel nourishing anymore, change it or start over! This can be on the same blog or with a new one. Your blog is for you, if it feels like you’re catering to an audience and doing what they expect of you, you probably aren’t sharing content that’s true to you.

But is fine, I'm not here to be famous. My blog will stay there, a source to when is needed, as I do my craft in privated.

a quick guide on which planets to utilize for spellwork based on intent.

banishing: sun, moon, saturn, pluto

beauty: moon, venus, neptune

business: sun, mercury

binding: saturn, pluto

career matters: sun, jupiter, saturn

cleansing: sun, moon

communication: mercury, jupiter

confidence: mars, jupiter

courage: sun, mars, jupiter

creativity/imagination: moon, venus, neptune

cursing: saturn, neptune, pluto

divination: moon, uranus, neptune

dreams: moon, neptune

empathy: moon, venus, neptune

energy: sun, mars

fertility: moon, venus

happiness: sun, jupiter

healing: sun, moon, venus

illusion: moon, neptune

independence: mars, uranus

invisibility: moon, neptune, pluto

legal matters: sun, jupiter, saturn

love/lust: venus, mars

luck: mercury, jupiter

manifestation/power: sun, moon, mars, pluto

meditation: moon, neptune

mental clarity & power: sun, mercury, uranus, neptune

peace: moon, venus, neptune

prosperity/wealth: sun, mercury, jupiter

protection: mars, saturn

psychic abilities: moon, uranus, neptune

relaxation/calming: moon, neptune

sexual relations: venus, mars, pluto

spell-breaking: saturn, pluto

strength: sun, mars

success: mercury, mars, jupiter, saturn

technology: mercury, uranus

transformation: neptune, pluto

travel: moon, mercury

wisdom: mercury, uranus, neptune, pluto

wishes: sun, jupiter

I don’t believe the whole “the veil gets thin around Halloween” thing. I’m a “If it’s a ‘veil’ it’s always thin by definition” person. A life time of experience has taught me that there isn’t really anything separating the Otherworlds and this world, so I hesitate to say there is “veil” at all… If there is a division it’s more like Saran Wrap, something see through that I can poke my finger through with just the tiniest bit of pressure.

I wish I wasn't so shit at tagging because I remember there being a Tumblr post about this including a Google N-gram of when the term emerged and persisted and now I don't remember what the theory was.

Christmas snowy decorations in full summer sweaty. Halloween autumn colors with a full ass spring flowers everywhere. The moon that's in the opposite side. Stars that here don't even exists. Constellations that I see here, not named anywhere. Zodiac signs that are alligned to who knows what. Folklore that we don't see not even close. Plants that belong to a different continents. Wind currents from the wrong side. Whirlpools that spin to the other side.

If I respect my land, I literally can't celebrate anything of that. Colonized and capitalized. I rather celebrate the Day of the Death in the longest night of the year (June) and the seasons that fit here.

here's a hypothetical I'd love to see folks' responses to:

you are dead. your descendants (whether by blood or by spirit) are making an altar to honor you, their beloved ancestor that they did not know in life.

I place fire in the east, earth in the south, water in the west, and air in the north.

It doesn't matter what path you take to find these elemental heartlands, because they are fairy roads.

Elemental Earth is not in any direction. You can't access it by traveling physically east. Yet it is true that it can be accessed if you search for it in any one direction for long enough. The key is finding how to get there for yourself.

The fairy road to Elemental Earth does not lead to a destination that is south of anyone. Or west, or north, or east of anyone.

It is a road that may begin no matter where you are standing, and no matter which direction you travel in, you may arrive at Elemental Earth.

The trick of it is that you are the one who has got to traverse it, and learn to open it up, and to call things up and down it. You are the cartographer exploring the roads. They are not *unique* to you, you do not make them up, they are not dependent on your whims: but it will be true nonetheless that if you are unable to discover Elemental Earth by traveling West, then you may arrive at your desired destination by traveling East.

If a group or tradition have already explored and documented these roads, do as they advise: if you are on your own, follow your heart.

The pacific ocean is to the west of me. That made a lot of sense. The sun rises in the east. I went from there. I was nice to every old woman I met and I saved ants nests from stones and rescued fish from reeds, and then one day no matter where I was standing a road started at my feet, and no matter where Elemental Earth was I found it by going South.

Now I'm so good at finding Elemental Earth to the south that I think if I tried to find it by going North, I'd learn a lot of new lessons and the spirits and powers and lessons would change. So it's not whims, it's not dependent on you, they are outside of you:

But they're fairy roads. So they can go in any direction and lead to the same destination.

What makes the most sense for you (have you got a huge lake or an ocean right in one direction? etc)

What you're vibing with

More or less what's convenient

Pretty much whatever

And then:

Call the elements in whatever direction you put them in

The sea is to the east of me. Therefore, East is water.

The weather blows in from the west. Therefore, West is wind.

The temperature rises as I travel south. Therefore, South is fire.

The mountains of my home state are to my north. Therefore, North is earth.

For me, the nearest big mass of water is the Atlantic Ocean at 1km on the East. So East is Water.

The mountains and big lands of earth is at the West. So West is Earth.

From the South we have the most strong cold winds. So South is Air.

From the North comes the hot summer air. So North is Fire.

I'm a pagan witch. Nature worship is a huge part of my spiritual practice. I also have poor heat tolerance because of my chronic illness and live in one of the hottest regions in the USA. Being outdoors for more than 15 minutes is a nightmare for me right now. And that's okay.

It's also okay if you have SAD or don't handle cold well or can't spend time outdoors in the winter for any reason. Or if your pollen allergies keep you indoors during the spring. Or if you have any other condition that makes certain seasons less fun for you. It's even okay if outdoor activities kind of suck for you yearround.

I'm by no means an expert in anything magical or an expert witch, this is mostly just advice/tips that I wish I had had when I was first starting my practice OR advice that I think a lot of beginners could benefit from. Resources will also be linked at the end.

This is a rather long post so everything else is under the cut, but I've divided everything into general advice, spiritual practice advice, and community-oriented advice. Links to applicable sources are under Miscellanea.