Via Darkwoodenpath

my favorite poison

With a stretch and groan, Draven looked at the clock next to the bed, it was five o'clock in the morning. He could hear his wife singing in Italian in the kitchen. Oh, how he loved the sound of that. His parents hated that he had married Giana but Draven had fallen in love with her the moment he laid eyes on her. Pushing himself up from the bed he made his way into the kitchen where she was cooking breakfast. His arm snaked around her waist from behind as he moved the hair from her neck with his free hand. Nuzzling his face against the flesh there as he breathed her in, "Dame un Bacio." He whispered into her ear as he turned her in his arms. Gia wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as she placed kisses all over his face before landing on his lips. "Dammene nulla." Her smile lit up the room, he loved when she spoke to him in Italian. It was one of the only reasons his parents had even agreed to their wedding in the first place. She was an Italian girl, even spoke the language. "You are my favorite poison." He grinned at her as he kissed her once more pulling her closer against him. "I've missed you so much." His words began to echo in his own ears as the vision of his late wife began to fade. Her body vanishing in his arms, sending him to bolt upright in his own bed covered in sweat. "GIA!" He screamed out to the empty house, the only sounds were the sounds of the city that could be heard just outside the windows of his home in Queens. The small apartment they shared in Manhattan long gone, traded in for the spacious home here in Queens. He had thought he had left her memory in Manhattan as well. The sting of tears could be felt in his eyes as he laid back against the pillows on his bed, those dreams were always the worst. He could feel her in his arms, taste her lips against his own, and smell her perfume in the air. The smell of her perfume hung in his nose. Looking over at the clock on the bedside table, his eyes blurry with tears. Five o'clock in the morning, it was the same time that she had always woken him up when she was alive. Draven picked up his phone looking at it as he realized what day it was. Five years ago to the day he had lost the love of his life. Five years ago today he had almost lost everything. He knew what he needed to do today. Today he would need to go visit her grave, she was after all still his wife. Pushing himself up from the bed he saw Hades watching him intently. "Come on big guy we are heading to the graveyard today."

Why Witchcraft Might Not Be Working For You

There’s so many different reasons a spell or ritual might not be working for you. So I thought I’d share some common reasons why some new witches might be struggling with witchcraft.

✨ You’re not connecting to the ingredients, tools or supplies needed for the spell

What works for me, might not work for you, and that’s okay. This doesn’t mean the spell you’re using is a dud or that you’re not doing it right. It just means that you haven’t formed those connections with the ingredients or tools yet, or your connection with them is different. 

A great example is blueberries lol. In witchcraft blueberries are most commonly associated with protection BUT for me I associate them with creativity and astral travel. There’s a personal reason for this and through out my many many years practicing and studying witchcraft I’ve come to build this relationship with blueberries.

✨ You’re energy is too low

I know the feeling of just really really wanting to get into the magick of it all. But witchcraft is energy draining. If you’re low on energy (edited) then you’re gonna be putting out low energy and that can affect the effectiveness of your spells.

Give yourself time and practice low energy magick like smoke cleansing your space, charging your crystals under the full moon or rearranging your altar (or creating an altar).  

✨ You have been given a false idea of what witchcraft is and how it should feel or how it should work

Real witchcraft isn’t measurable nor is it able to be defined in one true way. Witchcraft is different for every single witch. Even witches in covens have given different descriptions of the feelings they’ve had while performing the same spell or ritual. That’s because we all experience magick a different way.

Don’t be too hard on yourself because you didn’t feel a hot light burning inside of you, like one witch may describe. And don’t feel bad if you don’t literally see colors radiating from your spell jar like another witch described. Personally I’ve never experienced either of those things but that doesn’t mean that what I was doing wasn’t working, it just worked differently and felt differently for me. I may not have had those exact same experiences but I had my own, and they were/are just as special. 

Next time you do a spell or ritual, write how it made you feel in your journal. Don’t just write the spell down but write all the things you felt, saw, smelled, heard and even tasted. This way you can get a better understand of how magick works and feels for you.

✨ Your space, body, mind or spirit needs to be cleansed

The biggest reason I’ve found for my spells just completely flopping is I didn’t bother cleansing before doing it. Negative energy is like white cat hair stuck to your favorite black leggings, it ain’t going nowhere until you clean it lol.

The great thing about cleansing is it can be done with just your hands! Yeah, bet a witch has never told you that before LOL. Sound is a great way to cleanse a space. Snapping, clapping and rubbing our hands together makes sounds. You can tab on a table, or use EFT (usually done as a meditative practice but could be utilized in cleansing the mind, body and spirit as well).

You can cleanse with incense, candles, oils, and water too.

✨ Your spells have too many ingredients

I find the more stuff you use for a spell the more unpredictable the outcome is, this is because each ingredient can have multiple properties. Even if you have personal correspondences with them they still usually have multiple uses. Like the blueberry example I gave, for me I associate blueberries more with astral travel and creativity but I also associate it with platonic relationships, happiness and protection. Even though I still associate it with protection it wouldn’t be necessary for me to use it in a protection spell if I’m already using something else that I more strongly associate with protection.

In witchcraft, often times, less really is more. I’ve created the 5 elements “rule” for myself and it’s worked out really well for me. I use 1 ingredient to represent each of the 5 different elements (earth, air, fire, water and spirit) in most of my spells and rituals. If it’s a spell jar, pouch, tea. elixr (or something like that) I like to try and keep my ingredients to a 3 - 5 limit. It prevents me from using up my stash so quickly and prevents my ingredients from completely canceling each other out.

✨ You’re scared

This is sooooooooo normal, don’t even think you’re weird or something because  you’ve got some fears or concerns about practicing witchcraft. It’s common for someone from a religious (especially an abrahamic one) background to hold onto the teachings of their religion and to be fearful of the unknown. Especially if it’s been drilled into your head that it’s evil and you’ll burn in an eternity of fire for burning a sage bundle lol.

If this is you, ease into witchcraft. Learn more about the different traditions and take your time studying. This isn’t a race. Witchcraft ain’t going nowhere lol. You’re not obligated to just dive in head first. It’s okay to take your time and really get comfortable.

✨ Lastly, you’re taking on too much at once

You ever see those witch blogs that seem to pop up out of nowhere and they’re just blasted into popularity, only for the witch to later denounce their practice in the craft claiming that it wasn’t really working for them or that it all turned out to be bs? This is usually because they watched 1 or 2 youtube videos about witchcraft and decided to buy a $300 witch starter kit, 10 books about witchcraft and 3 tarot decks all before even doing any research into witchcraft at all.

They took on too much, too fast. They’ve also taken on things they lack an understanding of and because of this lack of understanding (and a natural desire to want to be good at something instantly), when it doesn’t work for them they claim it’s bullshit and fake.

You need to be patient. Just like any skill or talent, it takes time to master and to see the results we want. So if you’re someone whose invested a lot of money upfront into your craft and now it just doesn’t seem to be working for you, take your time. You’re not going to learn everything about witchcraft overnight (chances are you’ll never learn everything about witchcraft lol). The amount of money you spend won’t make you a better witch or make you better at witchcraft. So don’t fall for those beginner witch starter kits that start at $100.

You don’t need to do everything at once.

I hope this is helpful. If you have anything to add to this list please do so. And remember, witchcraft is a craft. Crafts take time, patiences and skill. These are not things that you just develop overnight. Take your time, cleanse your space, grow relationships with your ingredients, tools and supplies, and allow yourself to experience your magick and don’t try to replicate someone else’s. 

Winter Solstice Cookies

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

4 large egg yolks

Icing Ingredients

1 1/4 cups powdered sugar

2 tablespoons (or more) fresh lemon juice

Sanding sugar (optional)

Star or snow sprinkles (optional)

Instructions

Whisk together flour and salt in a medium-sized bowl.

Whip butter in an electric mixer on medium speed, gradually add in sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes.

Beat in lemon zest and vanilla. Add egg yolks and just mix until blended.

Turn mixer to low and gradually blend in flour mixture.

Divide dough in two halves, roll each into a 10” long log about 1 3/4? in diameter.

Wrap securely with plastic wrap. Logs can be shaped again once wrapped and starting to chill to ensure they keep their round log shape. Chill until firm, about 1 hour but this can be done up to 2 days in advance, but keep chilled.

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper or silpat liners. Remove the plastic wrap and, using a sharp knife, slice each log into 1/4” thick rounds. Place on cookie sheets about 1” apart.

Bake until cookies are firm but only slightly browned on the edges, about 14-16 minutes. Transfer to wire racks after cooling for 1 minute or so. Allow to cool completely. Repeat with remaining dough log, using cooled sheets and fresh parchment paper each time.

Icing Directions

Whisk together icing sugar and fresh lemon juice until smooth, adding more lemon juice if too thick to drizzle. Drizzle over cookies as desired. Immediately sprinkle decorative sprinkles if using. Allow icing to set for about 10 minutes before storing in airtight container.

The moon is full that means the weirdos are out. - Halloweentown

Roe deer/rådjur.

Dear Diary,

Of all the coffee shops in all of New York City he had to walk into mine. It has been 8 years since I've seen him. 8 years and then he just strolls into my café with his beautiful eyes, strong jaw and charisma. And just like the last time he walked into my life I was just as taken and mesmerized by him. That was why I sent divorce papers and refused to see him after I left him. Then fate brings him right back into my life. Even if only for a moment. Now I need to read my cards and see what they have to say about all this. Consult the Goddess and see whh she would bring him back into my life.

Em

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been 8 years since she had seen that face, nothing had changed. Maybe there were a few a few wrinkles around his piercing deep brown eyes. Other than that, Logan seemed untouched by the hands of time. Ember peeked out at him from the kitchen of her café. He had only just walked in, she had known it was him by the sound of his voice. She herself had been baking in the back when he approached the counter to order. Not daring to show herself to him as he stood at the counter, she quickly messaged Piper at the counter that his food was on the house.

Now there she stood hair a mess, staring at the man she had fallen so deeply in love with ages ago. It felt like a lifetime had passed and yet as she stood there it felt as if she'd never left their apartment in LA. Straightening her hair a bit she tossed the apron she had been wearing to Piper. Making her way to the little nook he was tucked in. He was already on his third refill as she brought him a fourth and one for herself. Sitting it down on the table in front of him before she slipped into the across. Opening her mouth to speak she couldn't form the words, he was even more handsome than she remembered. Taking a sip of her coffee she waited for her courage to kick in.

why do so many “icarus and the sun” artworks and stories portray the sun as a woman? do y’all know who controlled the sun? apollo. icarus is gay as fuck, y’all.

Vassar College girls practicing Greek dance c. 1923

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