Welp, That's Life

people have been building the hype for the past 8 years

At 10:48pm, I called everyone into my room. There had been a murder, and everybody was a suspect. Next to the body was a gun, and the party goers were quick to find the red fingerprints on it 

They found red fingerprints on a balloon and popped it to find a receipt for gum inside. Someone had been passing out gum all night, however they claimed someone else gave them the gum first.

the argument was going nowhere so we contacted the victims spirit. she led us to the REAL murder weapon: a 100% very real bottle of poison. my roommate claimed he saw someone earlier with that bottle, but before he could tell us…

the power went out! and when it came back on…

my roommate had been murdered! following the clues, we tracked down the true culprit to the bathroom, where he was trying to escape through the window

Research:

• Do you want to follow paganism, a Wiccan path, or create your own? If you do want to follow Wicca or paganism, start with the history and traditions. Learn about the proper altar set up, the sabbats in the wheel of the year, their beliefs, gods, goddesses, deities, etc.

• if you want to create your own path, think about why you wanted to practice in the first place; are you intrigued by the lunar phases? Does astrology fascinate you? Start there! If you’re interested in using candles or crystals, learn about their correspondences and metaphysical properties

• take a lot of notes! Not only will you thank yourself later, but it will also help you find out where to go from here and what you’re truly drawn to

• practice, but only once you’re comfortable: always take safety precautions and always thoroughly look into herbs, especially if consuming or using topically; keep water near by if you’re using candles and never let them burn unattended

• I’d also suggest doing a spell for protection, cleansing or self love as your first ritual when you’re ready and feel confident enough

A few other notes:

Remember that you can do things your own way!! I seriously can’t stress that enough, like I’m not Wiccan or Pagan but I still enjoy celebrating the sabbats. I am also a completely independent witch and have never worked with a coven, I prefer it this way tbh. Plus I don’t work with spirits, deities, gods or goddesses either. It’s all about what’s best for you

Lunar phases:

The moon cycle is very important in my path, I follow it closely and celebrate every full moon. I also do most spells in accordance with it, plan my cleansings with the dark moon, etc.

Water witches should also look into tides

Herbs, oils, and teas:

Herbs need to be treated with respect and caution. Some are poisonous. Some can not be ingested or applied to skin, some shouldn’t be used in large doses, while breastfeeding or pregnant, etc. this is why research is so important!!!

Oils can be infused with herbs or you can use essential oils, which “represent large quantities of plant material and are therefore very powerful plant derivatives that should be used sparingly and carefully” and are commonly mixed with a carrier oil

There’s also tinctures and salves made from herbs and even herbal teas can be used metaphysically or medicinally (but thoroughly research either way make sure you’re not allergic, and be cautious)

Meditation and visualization:

I personally think this is a huge part of witchcraft! It’s become one of my favourite areas to research and is always connecting to other aspects of my life, bringing me new opportunities, wonderful experiences as well as endless success in my craft

Crystals and elixirs:

“A crystal elixir is the unique vibratory energy pattern of a crystal imprinted into the auric and biophysical energy matrix of water.”

Always check that the gemstone will not dissolve (like selenite), rust (like pyrite), or release any toxins (like malachite).

There are also several ways for the water to absorb the crystals energy without being submerged like this example

Divination: tarot or oracle cards, pendulums, scrying mirrors or bowls, tea leaf readings, runes, etc. There’s a variety of methods, each with their own process. I personally enjoy using seashells, but that’ll require a post of its own to properly explain

Altars:

there’s a specific set up for Wiccan altars, certain colours and symbols for sabbats, etc. but an altar is any sacred space. For example, it could be your nightstand with just a photo of your dog, some candles and a crystal ─ as long as it brings you comfort! It also doesn’t have to be your workspace. I have one with an empty spot for preforming rituals but the other ones I don’t usually touch much or at all

Offerings:

usually left to gods, goddesses, fae, deities, etc. I like to leave them for small animals or just for nature in general ─ also remember that you can remove litter as an offering too and make sure that you do not ever leave anything which could harm the environment it was left in!!!

or tracing a sigil on yourself,

or wearing something matching with colour magick

or drinking more water than you normally would

or cleansing yourself by brushing your hair

and thats ok

doing ‘less’ witchcraft does not make you less of a witch

no matter how little or how much you practice it, magick runs through you

“I painted somebody’s mom”

“Took a while and not perfect, but i painted the guy who painted the other guy’s mom”

“I painted the girl who painted the guy who painted the other guy’s mom who painted an egret”

I work for a corsetier at a Renaissance Faire. We sell corsets. Not flimsy bullshit costume corsets; like real, durable, waist-training corsets. Today a woman came in with her boyfriend, so I helped her pick out a corset and try it on. While her boyfriend—who was decidedly enthused about the whole corset thing—sat watching me lace her in, he told me, grinning, “Of all the good jobs at the Renaissance Faire, I think you have the best.”

I shrugged in agreement. “I touch butts and reach down cleavage all day; I mean…” Because we like to be a bit rakish at the Faire, and, y’know, it’s true. Tying people into corsets pretty much invariably requires getting handsy.

The couple laughed at that, and the boyfriend said, “That’s the job I would want!” But then he chuckled again and said, offhand, “Or maybe not; while we were looking at the racks, there were some pretty big sizes on there!”

Our sizes are all done in inches, and the biggest we make is a 46. And you’d better believe our large sizes sell. For a second I wasn’t sure what to say to the guy’s comment, but I answered him casually. “We get a lot of beautiful big ladies in here.” Because we do. “We make corsets for real women, not Barbie dolls,” I added. Wasn’t trying to be smart, just kind of tossed it out there because that’s the line we like to use when people ask about larger sizes, and because, again, we do.

The boyfriend went quiet at that; I didn’t think anything of it, I just kept on lacing. A moment later, he said, a little awkwardly (but sincerely enough), “Didn’t mean to be offensive.”

I quickly smiled and brushed it off, said he wasn’t, said I was just saying. (Don’t want to make the customers uncomfortable, you know?) And that was the end of it. His comment had rubbed me the wrong way, but it wasn’t a big deal. Now, I wear a 20-inch corset. I’m a few cup sizes short of being one of the Barbie dolls. Like his girlfriend, I’m one of the “hot chicks”; he doesn’t have to worry about offending me by implying that I wouldn’t be fun to poke and pull at.

Honestly though, of all the people I fit sexy technically-undergarments to in a day, fat girls are maybe my favorite people to lace up. Because they are just so damn happy that we have stuff that fits them. They are so damn happy that the corsets we make in their sizes are all the same pretty, shiny colors and cool flower/dragon/skull/etc. prints that the smaller corsets are, not ugly beige and boring “granny” colors. They are so goddamn happy that at least one (of several on the grounds) corset shop carries things that they can wear, that they actually want to wear, and that they look fucking awesome in. This is only my second season working, and we’ve fit 60+ inch waists and double-K busts. The only people we’ve ever had to tell sorry, we don’t have anything that fits them, are twelve-year-old kids.

It’s half-wonderful, half-heartbreaking how excited those women get. Women who say with sad smiles, when we ask if they want to get fitted, “Oh, no, you don’t have anything that fits me,” and then are stunned when we’re 300% confident that yes we do, and we have options. Women who can’t stop smiling and looking at themselves in the mirror after we’ve got them laced in.

I had a lady last week whose waist I measured (cinching the tape tight, as per procedure) at 41 inches—honestly not all that big. So she picked out a 41-inch corset to try on. I could tell halfway through getting her laced that it was going to be a bit big for her, so I mentioned it and said she might do better to try a smaller size. She started crying on the spot. She was so overwhelmed; she couldn’t believe someone had just told her that a 41 was too big. She told me about how hard clothes shopping was for her, how her mother would tell her she needed an XXXL instead of an XXL, how she had recently lost weight but still couldn’t wear certain colors because they didn’t fit or she wasn’t confident enough.

She did end up getting her corset, and after I checked her out she asked if she could give me a hug, so we ended up standing there hugging each other for a minute. While we did, I told her, “Do not ever let anyone tell you any bullshit. You are gorgeous.” She said, “I have a new boyfriend and he keeps telling me that.” I told her he was right, and to just keep telling herself she’s gorgeous; it was okay if she didn’t always believe it, but to keep telling herself anyway. (That’s how I talked myself through shit when I had bad anxiety.)

We all know fat-shaming is bad. The stupidity, fatphobia, and misogyny of it has pissed me off since I first became aware of it. But working with clothing, especially as figure-hugging and precise as corsets, has given me a new perspective on it—how much it affects people and just how shitty it is. Like, what does it say that I had a grown, only average-big woman crying into my shoulder because she was so overjoyed not to be the uppermost extremity of what a manufacturer can clothe?

My job rocks and it’s really rewarding, but sometimes it highlights some of the ugliest shit about society. I’m so glad I work at a shop that’s not bullshit about body types and operates with more people in mind than just scrawny white chicks like me. The fat women I work with are a ton of fun to lace up, and they’re so much more than their size—they’re cool, they’re smart, they’re funny, they’re sweet, they’re great to talk to, and yes, they’re hot. I’m so damn done with them getting short-changed and shamed by petty fucks who refuse to make them nice clothes, who refuse to even try to work for them, who refuse to consider them pretty. This whole rant was useless and won’t get read, but I had to vent because it’s been driving me nuts.

Please tell me there’s a sequel where that happens.

If we have to rename cglre

We will take a community-wide vote on name suggestions from the community.

Comment or reblog name suggestions for us to write down.

We will compile a poll for a community-wide vote. This is in case we don’t get cglre back as a tag.

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