Everything is like “QUEER history” and “List of QUEER young adult books” or “Top 10 QUEER movies” and queer this and queer that and for the love of god please just say LGBT.
Transitions between the Wheel (For the four seasons)
This is from my personal practice with observing the wheel of the year and my focus on each transition between the sabbats. I honor the current seasons in between. Each transition has it’s importance to self care and managing the home and garden. I will probably add to this later cause some paragraphs I wrote I feel like are a bit vague. Some of these transitions are not meant to be 100% literal and static but I feel like they are good areas to focus on for that moment in the year.
Yule->Imbolc Resting
During the thick of winter when it’s too cold to do anything and always dark, it’s the perfect moment in the year to rest. The focus is on relaxing, taking extra time to sleep and care for the body especially to not get sick. Winter is also ‘spa’ season because the air is so dry and harsh it’s a good time to soak in hot baths and scrub away dead skin and moisturize with protective lotion. Do not try to make new plans, yet sit home, rest and reflect.
Imbolc -> Ostara Cleansing
When winter thaws it’s a great time to clean the home and prepare for spring. Personally, I also like to do a body cleanse since I tend to eat a lot of processed (yet delicious ;-;) foods all year round. This also makes up for all the heavy foods I’ve been eating since Summer (all the BBQs) to Winter comfort foods. As I clean the home and get rid of stuff that has accumulated over the year, I clean the body. Also the focus is on cleaning the home as well. Breathing in the same air, especially if its full of dust, is really unhealthy and it’s good as the days are getting a little warmer to open up the windows for a few minutes to allow in fresh air to circulate. This is also the time of year I throw out old furniture, accumulated things and rearrange furniture in the room as well.
Ostara -> Beltane Sowing
Spring is a great time to germinate sprouts along with other seeds and clean the backyard or garden to grow plants. If you like to compost it’s a time to start mixing in the vegetable/fruit/plant scraps with the soil. Spring is also a great time to sow bigger changes in life as well. Something about the warm new season brings an air of flirtatiousness and ‘socialness’ that makes it perfect for making new friends or finding a partner. (Probably because people can finally come out of hibernation). It’s also a fantastic time to work on your image and portfolio and apply for long term jobs that begin in the summer or fall. Spring is the season for new beginnings and putting long term plans into action.
Beltane -> Litha Growing
A tradition I like to do on Beltane is repotting of plants and gardening. Repotting plants is a tradition I try to focus on every year because it’s very easy for house plants to die due to dead soil. Plus it makes the inside of the house super vibrant and lively to have fresh new soil in pots. From this point to summer solstice is the point of growth. Growth in the garden but also growth of personal goals. May and June feel like hectic months where there are so many events and opportunities to advance your work or change your social scene, that if I am not personally progressing, I focus all of my attention on my growth.
Litha -> Lughnasadh Thriving
Its the heat of summer! It’s time to get out and feel the intense hot energy and use its power to focus on goals and networking! Where I am there’s usually an exciting event every week where it’s an opportunity to make more connections and meet more friends but also since its warm and nature is so vibrant it’s time to take some days to relax and get away to enjoy the heat and life of nature. Go to the beach, go hiking, swim in a lake, sleep under the stars. Be active since the efforts will pay off.
Lughnasadh -> Mabon Reaping
This is the time you earn what you’ve sowed both literally and metaphorically. If you have a garden its the time it will start giving back. If you are an active goer of a farmers market you will notice how beautifully abundant the stands are. If in Spring you’ve sent out tons of job applications, and in Summer got the job you’ve wanted and worked hard, then by now you should start seeing some results. If there are no results being seen it’s a time for reflection and re-strategizing. There is a second chance in this time to start again before the cold and the holiday season bulldozes through.
Mabon -> Samhain Harvesting/Gathering
This is the time to gather and harvest. Usually family tends to gather now since it’s the holiday season. There’s not much other than gathering to be done since family and holidays are bombarding you from all sides. Also there is an abundance of food. This is great to store for the next transition which is
Samhain -> Yule Preparation
This is the moment to prepare for winter. My warddrobe completely changes here, I take up knitting projects that were abandoned last Imbolc, and I store food and herbs for the winter to use. Also making preserves from things in the garden or hand knitting clothes make great presents for the winter holidays. This is also a time to prepare the garden for hibernation. Take in potted plants, harvest the last of the herbs and food (that are not potted). Make sure plants you do not want to die have a place to chill in the house.
The Homeric Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/HomericHymns1.html
The premier translations by Apostolos N. Athanassakis are also available to read online for free: https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00home and https://archive.org/details/homerichymns00atha
The Orphic Hymns: http://www.theoi.com/Text/OrphicHymns1.html
The Delphic Maxims: https://www.scribd.com/document/186693295/Delphic-Maxims
Many other primary sources from ancient Greece can be found in English translations at theoi.com, which is a fantastic resource for information about the Theoi.
Modern prayers to the Theoi:
Hearthstone https://greekpagan.com and https://greekpagan.tumblr.com/ Note: downloads of Hearthstone’s two books of Hellenic prayers can be purchased at https://www.etsy.com/shop/HearthfireHandworks
winebrightruby https://winebrightruby.tumblr.com/devotional
Some of the best and most essential books to start with - and for continuous reference, in my opinion:
Handbook To Life In Ancient Greece by Lesley Adkins & Roy A. Adkins https://archive.org/details/handbooktolifein00adki
Greek Religion by Walter Burkert https://archive.org/details/greekreligionarchaicandclassical
The Ancient Mysteries: A Sourcebook: Sacred Texts of the Mystery Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean World by Mavin Meyer https://archive.org/details/ancientmysteries0000unse_p7i2
The Homeric Gods by Walter Otto https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.4448/page/n5/mode/2up
The free student guide to Classical Mythology by Mark Morford, Robert J. Lenardon, and Michael Sham: https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199997329/
So about Sans narrating Night Vale,,, I’d listen to that
(VOTE FOR SANS if u want him to dudududu in your ears)
ive just been born into the world what are some good games for beginners
it’d be so cool to just… make it rain… for dramatic effect. So now I’m gonna learn weather magick and make some kind of spell that requires only words, and I’m gonna whisper it before falling to my knees and sobbing loudly
some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.
Oh Billy, you look so small right there…
Studying sounds nice and productive but where do i get motivation?
Literally one of the best things you can do for yourself as a beginning witch, occultist, or whatever, is to stop worrying about what other practitioners are saying and doing and go educate yourself on the history of magic and the occult. If you don't know where to start, I have a list of resources over here.
Ok so like I have this beautiful idea for a costume. I can’t draw though. I want to design and wear it. Where do I design it and how do I make it? It has a mask inspired by spider man’s mask’s mechanical eyes, so I’ll need to learn some engineering but I wanna make it a reality!