PALMISTRY THROUGH IMAGES BECAuse If You’re Like Me You Learn Better By Looking At It Than Reading.

I thought I’d grow out of vampires but here I am grown loving every anemic goth bat bitch I see

“what time is it” you ask, i pull out my 2.7 metric ton granite sundial and immediately crush both of your feet, I loudly announce “it is cloudy”

One Skillet Cheesy Homemade Hamburger Helper

Follow for recipes

Is this how you roll?

“Don’t worry”

Virgo ears: “Your problems are insignificant and I don’t see why anybody needs to care”

I would love to make a movement where witches say they are celebrating Oíche Shamhna instead of Samhain but I know that it won't happen because people would rather stick with what they have known for years than the true name for Halloween in Irish but I might as well make a case here;

Oíche Shamhna in Irish/as Gaeilge is November's Eve, Halloween, October 31st. Even in Scottish Gael it is Oidhche Shamhna.

Samhain is the month of November in both Irish and Scottish Gael. Samhain itself is said to come from the term for Summer (Samhradh) and people suggest that in old Irish it may have been combined with the word for end to create Samh-ain.

According to mythology, Samhain was when a feast would be held as the governing bodies of Ireland decided on new laws and taxes. There was writings of sacrifices happening in honour of Fomorians, the enemies of the Tuatha dé Danann - a group of supernatural deities which include The Morrígan, Lugh, Brigid, and the Aos Sí which are the fair folk (bean sídhe, cú sídhe, fear darrig, leprechaun, púca, and selkie as examples). November 1st as well as a record of a High King giving worship to Crom Cruach on this day but being slain while doing so, Crom Cruach being a deity of sacrifice. Many other High Kings have been recorded as dying on or around Samhain.

HOWEVER IT IS BEST TO REMEMBER THAT MOST IRISH MYTHOLOGY WAS ONLY WRITTEN DOWN BY ROMAN VISITORS OR CATHOLIC MONKS, LENDING TO THE AGREED UPON BELIEF THAT MOST CURRENT MYTHOLOGY HAS BEEN MODIFIED HEAVILY TO SUIT OTHERING OR CHRISTIAN IDEALS.

This can be seen at the end of the tales of The Children of Lir where the children land on the grass in front of St Patrick's church where he baptises them as Catholic, they die, and he then gives them a Christian burial. Even the story of Tír na nÓg where Oisín, the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill, falls in love with Niamh, the daughter of a sídhe of the sea includes this similar end. The end of this story includes Oisín aging increasingly upon touching Irish soil, being visited by St Patrick who either Baptises him as a Catholic, Oisín then dies and is given a Christian burial OR fights with the aged old man for months and ends up burying him in Antrim without death rites.

...

TL;DR - Samhain is November, Oíche Shamhna is October 31st. There is no recorded God/Deity that are worshipped but there are mentions of feasts and sacrifices, however these can be questionable as they were written about by outsiders who may have been attempting to other the Irish rituals as barbaric.

Litha Questions for Divination

Litha is the celebration of the summer solstice (June 21st), the longest day and shortest night of the year. The day is to celebrate Sun/Light/Fire deities and their power; it is a day of joy and growth as the crops/harvest comes to be. Of course, to celebrate, one might look towards divination. The day, being associated with fertility, love, power, and the bringing in of the harvest, is great for questions relating to one’s own growth and labor. 

🐰 How can I improve myself so that can I reach the height of my potential?

🐰 What are some things that I should look out for/ be aware of?

🐰 What is coming into my life–how can I best prepare for this?

🐰 What should I start bringing into my life for my growth?

🐰 What are some things that I should let go of?

🐰 What can I do to increase the rewards from my labor?

🐰 How can I ensure what I want comes to me

🐰 What can I do to help me and my partner have a good relationship?

🐰 How should I approach my love life?

Take note; if you’re going to ask a diviner these questions-make sure to be specific. 

You can worship a deity without being devoted to that deity. You can make offerings without making oaths. It is okay. Please do not stress yourselves out because you want to make a thank-you offering but don’t want to make a lifelong commitment. Why would you need to swear oaths to say thank you? It is totally okay to just make conversation without involving vows and stuff.

How to show emotions

Part III

How to show disappointment

swallowing hard

low, monotone voice

clucking their tongue

rubbing their face

shaking head

clenching hands

sighing

frowning

pursing of the lips

slumped shoulders

looking away

scowling

How to show relief

exhaling deeply

tension in their face going away

closing eyes for a moment

tentative smile

eyes brightening up

small giddy laughter

putting hand on their breast

joyfully tearing up

looking up

How to show desire

gaze dropping down to the other's lips

opening mouth slightly

small smile around the eyes

eyes widening

pupils dilating

biting lips

following them with their eyes

inhaling deeply

licking lips

How to show tiredness

closing eyes

slowly opening them again

long sighs

yawning

no eye contact

head lolling to the side

closed mouth, neither smile nor scowl

not moving a lot

doing everything slower

staring off into the near distance

How to show confidence

prolonged eye contact

nodding to show they are listening

putting their shoulders back

holding head high

leaning forward

standing tall

smiling openly

Part I | Part II

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Of Poppy Flowers

Black Poppy, Flower of Ease, Opium Poppy, Papaver somniferum

This flower of the night-ways only blooms for a short while before turning into a bulbous ovary upon a stem full of bitter, white blood, characterizing its Lunar properties. This blood can be cultivated for its vision inducing properties. She is the Maiden in the Field, the Severed Head of St John, the Queen of Nightly Visions. 

Black poppy (the picture shown is a variety of black poppy from my own garden) was in pagan Greece and Rome associated with more Chthonic deities, such as Hekate, Hypnos, Nix, Thanatos, and Somnus (from which we get the word somniferum). The drug which is extracted from Poppy, Opium (as well as other narcotics, such as morphine and codeine) has a narcotic, stupefying effect akin to a dreaming sleep. Opium became a very popular drug prior to the first World War. A tea made from the dried flowers was used to suppress coughs, and the pods were sometimes made into a tea as a mild alternative to smoking the opium tears. 

We know that humans have been using Opium for its medicinal effects for a very long time, evinced of the fact that the Greeks would make it into a potent wine, Vinum opii, as well as as a suppository and fumigant, but there is evidence that it was cultivated as far back as the Neolithic era. The Ebers Papyrus (1550 BCE) lists its use as “Remedy to prevent the excessive crying of children”. It was also used to ease the pangs of childbirth, a very early anesthetic. It was also used, naturally, for its more recreational uses. Opium is a powerful (and highly addictive) psychoactive, and has been used as a visionary plant for both ritual and mundane use for ages. There is evidence that the juice of the plant was used in recipes for flying ointment along with hemlock, belladonna, and the feared mandrake. 

A Tuscan Divination

Place poppy leaves on hot coals and read the flames. 

Scatter poppy seeds on burning coals, and listen for the voice of prophecy. 

As a Lunar plant, the plant is sacred to Our Lady of the Night Ways, such as Hekate, Lilith, Black Anna, and Diana. Cakes sprinkled with the toasted seeds of Poppy may be offered unto Her and Her host of night flying beings. The seeds can also be ground up into an incense and combined with other herbs such as myrrh, mullein, red sandalwood as an offering to the Witchmother. The plant can also be used in dream work. Harold Roth gives an excellent use of the dried pods to make into little “charm bags”. The pods dry naturally on the Poppy’s long stalks, and can then be plucked therefrom (the seeds may be saved, and toasted for cooking, or scattered about for the next crop, or saved for magical work; Schulke lists that the seeds can be scattered upon the enemy’s property to cause confusion) and anointed with various oils and filled with fragrant herbs according to the spell made. If one were making a dreaming bag, one may use Chamomile, Clary Sage, Mugwort, and Hops. The flowers might also be steeped in wine, along with Cinnamon and Cloves, and taken as a tincture (a few drops only).

A Poppy Spell

This Italian spell can be adapted to any type of prophetic dream, not merely one concerned with matters of love. 

Make a hole in a poppy pod and empty out the seeds. Now fold up a small piece of paper with the question you want answered written on it, insert it in the pod, and place it under your pillow last thing at night, saying these words:

‘In nome del cielo, delle stelle, della luna! Fate mi face il sogno secondo…’

‘In the name of heaven, the stars, and the moon May I dream, and that full soon,  If this I see [name your wish].’

If you dream of your wish, it’s sure to come true.  ~(Mastering Witchcraft, Huson)

As Poppy has these chthonic connections with gods of the dead, such as Thanatos, and Hekate, the flowers can also be used to honor the dead. We see this today in Canada where a Red Poppy Flower is the symbol of Memorial Day. We get this tradition from the poem “In Flanders Fields” by John McCrae

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

The flowers and seeds may be burned, or offered in some other way to the spirits of the dead. Harold Roth in his book  The Witching Herbs gives a recipe for Chthonic Cakes for the dead which are not to be consumed by the living, but rather burned on coals like an incense. 

Papaver Chthonios Cakes for the Dead

4 oz ground myrrh A few tablespoons of dark red wine ¼ cup dark honey 1 oz black poppy seeds

Dampen the myrrh with some red wine and let sit in a closed jar overnight. Boil the honey to remove the water. The honey will foam, so don’t let it overboil, it’s terrible to clean up. Add the poppy seeds. Cook the honey and seeds for a bit, then pour over the myrrh and mix well. Before the mixture cools too much, form the mix into little crescent moons. Dry on a low heat, but not in the sun. Burn them on a charcoal tab as an offering to the dead. 

Care need be taken with the Poppy plant. She is the Maiden in the Field. You will sleep under Her; sleep too long and you will surely die. Many men have fallen under Her influence, never to wake from their glorious dreams. She caresses our throats, and whispers into our ears; we do not even notice that She is slowly choking us, so entranced are we by the stories She tells us. Be wary of this Lunar flower. She is as deadly and gentle as the goddess who rules Her. 

*dry food crunches* Ridiculously small kitten: “Myam myam myam. Njam njam njam njam njam njam njam! Myam myam myam nyam nyam myam. Mmmam. Mrrrrram. Meep!”