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Xuebing Du
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@thevirginwitch
A collection of writings on esotericism, occultism, witchcraft, and magic in the modern age. Click to read The Virgin Witch, by Virgo Speaks
I'm moving platforms over to Substack, so be sure to check it out if you want to stay up-to-date on what I'm doing!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
There are different types of literacy and skillsets within the scope of literacy. And the ability to learn witchcraft/magical practice from books and text sources relies on a whole network of those skills. Basic literacy (the ability to read and write words) is not the same as the literacy that is required to analyze metaphor, understand recurring figures in folklore, look for external influence in myth, etc. The non-fiction literacy that it takes to read a, instructive text is not the same as as the type of literacy it takes to understand the underlying meaning of folkloric tales and patterns.
That being said, as helpful as multiple types of literacy are to learning from text, magical practice and skills can be learned without text. One can develop a familiarity with and understanding of folklore without text. Books make these things accessible to people who don't have as much direct communal access; but oral tradition makes them more accessible to people who don't have as much literacy skill. Literacy is helpful, but a lack of literacy is an entirely neutral thing and has nothing to do with a person's value. It also has nothing to do with a person's ability to practice magic. All it determines is what tools and levels of access a person will need to learn in the ways that work for them.
new item: crocheted leaf bandanas!
I had some of my gorgeous friends model some of my leaf bandanas this afternoon, and now they're available over on my Etsy!
Get yours here! <3
Added some new colors to the shop today: lollipop 🍭, dark ocean 🌊 and ocean jasper 💎! Hopefully going to be adding a few more tomorrow. Check it out! ❤️
added some new colors in the shop today!
“Figurine of a Seated Goddess - Baked Clay - Catalhöyük - 1 st half of 6th millennium BC.”
The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations
This is for new foragers, like my coworker:
'Medicinal' does NOT mean 'good for you and safe to eat all the time'. A plant being 'medicinal' does NOT mean that eating it, without any idea of WHY and HOW it's considered medicinal, is a good idea. It is UNWISE to consume a plant that has a long history of use in a way that DOES NOT have a long history of use.
In addition to learning that a plant is edible, you need to learn how it is eaten, what part is eaten, when it's harvested, and how to harvest it sustainably and in a way that supports its continued existence (unless it's invasive). If people only eat the ripe berries as food, then don't eat unripe berries. Don't. Eat. Unripe. Berries. UNLESS! There's! precedent! For that plant!
I know there's this idea going around that Americans only eat sweet or salty things, and that we've eliminated bitter things from our diet, and we should thus be eating more bitter things. But! Bitter things are bitter for a reason, and sometimes that reason is poison! Some of them are medicinally useful at the correct dose, but! You need to know what that is! You need to be doing it on purpose! DO NOT! Assume that bitter means that it's good for you!
Yes! Foxgloves can be medicinal in the right dose but they're also really poisonous if you just eat them randomly. Willow bark has the compound that can be refined into aspirin but if you eat it it's really easy to give yourself ulcers. Also, you must get a foraging book that is specific to your local environment, poisonous lookalikes vary by region
Eliminated bitter things from our diets? Nonsense, what about coffee?
Anyways, yes. Medicinal plants are medicines. They have drug interactions and side effects. You can overdose. Modern pharmaceuticals are a good thing because you know exactly how much of the active ingredient you are consuming, and there is a lot of information on the safety.
Also, like any food, you can randomly have a sensitivity or an allergy to a plant you haven't eaten before, so maybe only eat a little the first time you eat it.
Also sometimes a plant HAS been used for medicine but no longer IS because it was tested and we found out something akin to "....oh no, it gives you cancer/liver failure/other fun stuff longterm". Even NON-MEDICINAL foragables can have that happen. There is a mushroom that people ate, until we tested it and found out that it has this weird compount that just kinda. chills there, except for when your body suddenly Notices it and attacks its own blood in an allergic response and kills you after x-th time you eat the mushroom. (real one, had to change the edibility rating in my second hand bought mushroom guide. check things periodically!!) (Paxillus involutus for those concerned. again, you can eat it many times with maybe only a slight stomach upset, then DIE the next time)
You might ask "how did we not know that!?!" Well, how would the folk knowledge connect "ate this thing for years/decades with no ill effect, suddenly died" with One plant/ mushroom that was a culprit? You can't, really.. Some medicinal plants also really are better avoided Now that you can get The Same Compound in a stadardised dose in a pill! No, natural is not better in this case, really. The concentration of the medicinal (often also poisonous) compound can vary greatly from plant to plant, depending on the enviroment, time of year, plant's age, and a bajillion other things. Don't risk it if there's literally the Same Thing, in very pecise same dose in each pill. Using the plant might have been better that nothing when these were the only options. We can remember the history without risking our health for no good reason when we have safer alternatives now
Yeah, that.
I honestly feel that the uses of medicinal plants are pretty narrow in a world where pharmaceutical drugs can be manufactured, because of all of these reasons
There is no hard boundary between "natural" and "unnatural," like, lots of medicines are the exact same compounds found in medicinal plants, except when it's manufactured you know exactly how much of the active ingredient you're ingesting.
And lots of those compounds are REALLY toxic above a certain dose because. well. They Are Drugs.
Also, at least in my country (USA) supplements are regulated really poorly and sometimes don't even contain the thing they are supposed to be. I wouldn't fuck with any medicinal plants that I didn't grow or harvest myself or get directly from a person I trusted
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
do it grieving
do it while the ground falls out from under you; do it while everything you loved goes up in smoke; do it while the dream of your future is still burning embers around you; build anew on the hot ashes of everything you worked for; keep going, keep loving, keep living, even as all you want is to turn back (there is no turning back; it is gone already); do it through grief, which feels like fear in the body
do it grieving
The tag I have seen most often on this post is "I needed to hear this," and I am so, so grateful to have said something that was needed. These words came out of the depths of my own grief, and I am so grateful to have made this small connection with others in the midst of it. Grief is isolating and indescribable, but none of us are alone.
That said, these tags were what I needed to hear:
we're all gonna make it
it's okay if you can't see how yet. you don't have to believe in better. for now it is enough to just keep going, and eventually the path will emerge. you are not alone. you are not lost in the woods forever. keep going. I love you.
rest is part of the process, not a prize you get when you’ve finished everything. you don’t have to earn it first
Hydra Brooch, by Lalique
Today I’m thinking about Black families whose ancestors built this country. Indigenous communities who were here before it. Immigrants who crossed oceans and borders believing in its promise. And everyone still waiting to feel safe, seen, and free.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
If you like zines, magic, modern witchcraft, and practice environmentalism: here’s your friendly reminder that I sell tons of different handmade zines over on my Etsy!
Use code 10ZINES for 10% off any zine order from my shop!
Weather Magic Zine!
In preparation for a spiritual market I'm participating in October, I decided it was about time to release a new zine: this one, on Weather Magic!
This zine features correspondences to certain weather events, protections for bad weather, how to call rain and wind, and more! This is a great quick-reference pocketbook to keep on your altar or bookshelf, or take with you while traveling when you need to craft a spell!
You can get it over on my Etsy!
(My shop is still 50% off til August 23rd, so take advantage now!)
Baneful Magic 101 Zine
Another zine is up for sale on my Etsy, fresh off the printer! This one was super fun to make and is basically a condensed version of a presentation on baneful magic I threw together for my coven a few weeks ago.
You can get yours here!
Notion Grimoire Template (available in dark & light mode!)
I spent the better part of a year perfecting and finalizing my own personal Notion Grimoire, and thought it would be a great resource for new & experienced witches alike!
This template is chock-full of databases and templates to put in your own information - and I have also added a few pages that are already filled out!
You can purchase this template from my Etsy in light or dark mode, and you can use the code "IGOTCHU" for 20% off!
new item: crocheted leaf bandanas!
I had some of my gorgeous friends model some of my leaf bandanas this afternoon, and now they're available over on my Etsy!
Get yours here! <3
Added some new colors to the shop today: lollipop 🍭, dark ocean 🌊 and ocean jasper 💎! Hopefully going to be adding a few more tomorrow. Check it out! ❤️
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Digital Notion Grimiore/Book of Shadows Template
A digital grimoire/book of shadows is a must-have for modern witches - and Notion is the PERFECT platform to organize it. My Notion Grimoire/Book of Shadows Template features tons of pages, sub-pages, linked properties, and TONS more to keep you organized and help you in your witchcraft journey. <3
Available in both light mode and dark mode!
hey friends!
I lost my job on Thursday and it's going to be at least a week until I can find anything else. if you have the means to do so, it would mean the world to me if you could support me over on Substack or buy some items from my Etsy shop. I'm also open to custom crochet orders - just shoot me a DM!
