Lately, I've been trying to get to the bottom of a funny habit I picked up in the last few years: treating my anxiety with horoscope columns. Every few months, when work gets overwhelming or I spend too much time thinking about the future or develop a poorly-timed crush, I start to compulsively read my horoscope, and the horoscopes of my loved ones. I find this practice incredibly soothing, in someone else's predictions, I'm finally able to calm the storm in my brain and look within myself for a solution.
Read MoreHow Orgasms & Depression Are Linked
Good sex for me is when I can forget myself. That moment when all I am is the pleasure that I am feeling. All my energy coalesces into one point of focus and explodes. I think this is what the Big Bang must have felt like on a monumental scale. Energy exploding. Infinite potential. The sense of multiplying expansion that will never end. But it always ends. The universe cannot keep being born and I cannot remain in a state of perpetual orgasmic ecstasy.
Read MoreMy PTSD Doesn't Mean I'm 'Crazy'
When I was nineteen, a therapist told me she thought I had post-traumatic stress disorder.
"Like a soldier?" I asked, halfway laughing.
She pointed out that I was extremely anxious in our meetings, that I couldn’t sit still, but bit my nails to the quick and glanced around the room and at the closed door. I couldn’t sit with my back to an open window, and I talked as if I had to get the words out quickly, quietly, before someone else heard. That I often looked as if my heart was beating too fast. (It often was.) Hypervigilance, she said.
Read MoreRemoving the Mask of Bitterness: How the Yase-otoko Pushed Me to Change
But if the physical appearance of the Yase-otoko arrested me, the reasons for the ghost’s suffering shocked me: "punished either for having killed human beings or animals or for being obsessed with being treated unfairly during his life." The first part of the reasoning made sound sense but the second confounded me. How could one’s obsession with being treated unfairly during one’s life be equated with the suffering brought on by killing human beings and animals? I stared at the description for several minutes hoping I had read it wrong. I wrestled with this question on my walk home, and for several hours afterward.
Read MoreHow To Collect Your Own Magical Sea Salt
Salt is one of the most powerful magical elements on earth. It has the ability to absorb negative energies, removing them from your own mind and spirit. Sea salt is particularly potent, especially when harnessed the right way.
Read More3 Books That Will Make You Bleed
What's a good book if your body is writhing around on the inside? Seriously. Think about that for a second. These four books cut me to the core.
Read More9 Nature-Centric Summer Solstice Rituals
BY LISA MARIE BASILE
[Via IngenueX.com]
Midsummer(during the summer solstice), is here, you lovelies. This is such a glorious time of year for everyone here in the Northwestern Hemisphere – everything we worked through during the long winter and Spring is now behind us, and we can use the rejuvenating days of summer to prepare, build on or resurrect something – whether that is a material or tangible thing or an idea, mindset or self-healing path.
This year's strawberry moon (or rose moon, as I prefer calling it) makes Midsummer even more glorious, and even more potent. There are so many things we can do to commemorate this time of year – to tap into nature and yourself.
Read the 9 rituals here.
Moon Traditions My Family Kept That Are Steeped in Magic
Some of my favorite childhood memories can be accredited to glancing up at the moon and taking a deep breath. My grandmother taught me that was our families equivalent to stopping to smell the roses. The deep night air was thought to clear the mind and the moon was a constant companion, far more reliable then the rich perfume of a flower.
Read MoreWeekend Provocateur: Join Me As I Get Ready for Dances of Vice This Saturday
BY LISA MARIE BASILE
This weekend, I'll be watching the lovely sensualists at Dances of Vice for their Dark Venus Fetish Ball. I am always looking for something potent, heavy, and changing – something that lets me tap into the darkness and vibrancy I ignore during the work-week.
Dances of Vice events – I've been to several – are usually transformative in some way. They're beautiful, strange, and erotically-charged; every time, I'm lost in a sea of bodies so nuanced, so deliberate, so alive. Shien Lee is the creator – please take a moment to find and follow her. We as a city are indebted to her aesthetic magic and coup on boredom.
Tomorrow night, Saturday, join me on Luna Luna's Instagram and my personal dark Instagram and Snapchat (Lisa Marie Basile) as I get ready for the show. I'll also be sending pics from the event when/if I can. Next week, my diary from the event will be posted here and at Ingenue X.
Here are some images from previous Dances of Vice shows I've been to. I tend to take this quite seriously.
Have you ever been to one of their events?
Summer Gothique: Beach Season Goodies for Witches
BY LISA MARIE BASILE
Here's everything you need for a) using a ouija board on the beach, b) casting spells on a summer night or c) being the fashionable house party witch.
Weed Witchcraft: A Ritual with the High Priestess of Smoke
BY MOXIE MCMURDER
Joint in one hand, black magic in the other. I am a weed witch, The High Priestess of Smoke. Guardian of the unconscious, practitioner of the unexpected.
Be still and know that I am free.
Born of the earth and sky, conjuring magick from the smoke.
I welcome you my sisters and brothers to a new way to enjoy your sins:
Weed Magick, a blend of witchcraft and marijuana.
How you choose to use this magick is up to you but be warned, what you put out into the universe will come back to you. Smoking the holy herb is a spiritual act, one that puts you in touch with the four elements and when practised correctly can lift the veil reveal and nature's secrets.
Collect your necessities
Weed
Tobacco (optional)
Candle
Matches
Oil (optional)
Small bowl of water
Small bowl of salt
Before starting
It’s important for a witch to be in the right state of body and mind before performing a spell. Make sure you won’t be distracted. Turn off your phone/TV etc although some music can actually help you get into the frame of mind for casting.
Start the circle. You need space to work in, so we create a circle. There is no need to have a physical circle to work within, however it is worthwhile to have a dedicated place where you can practice your craft. Creating your own altar is a simple and effective way to create a space for you to work in.
If you wish, you may call on the divine or or certain energies to watch over and bless your rite. These are usually connected to the elements earth, air, water and fire. A circle contains the energy of your spell until you are ready to release it. Energy can be released through burning papers or herbs, visualization, or gestures. With intention and power, send the energy toward your goal.
The first step is to grind your weed with intention. If you don’t have a grinder, get one! You may want to bless your weed before you start. Here is an old blessing that you can use.
“From earth to air, and here to there
I grind you fine, with love and care
Through pestle to essence, here I sow
From whole to powder, on mortar you go
Round and round, may your power grow
Continue to let your energy flow”
Imagine you are grinding away any negativity, bad thoughts leaving your positive and ready to work your magick.
You may want to write something with a pencil on your rolling papers. A name, a destination or even just words like positivity, strength etc
As you crumble the herb into your paper repeat a mantra as you focus your energy.
You can create your own incantation, which usually works better than using another witch's words but you can adapt or use the one provided below:
I smoke of my sisters and brothers in the light of the high. The ancient and the new. I light from the flame with pure intention, self love and power.
You must always light a joint from a candle. (The colour of which should correspond to the spell you are casting.)
Here is a quick list of colours and what they represent:
Black: Used in rituals to induce a deep meditational state, to protect and/or to ward off negativity. Can be used to banish evil or negativity.
Blue: The primary spiritual color It’s used to obtain wisdom, harmony, inner light, or peace; truth and guidance. Other uses include healing, sleep, creativity, perception, calming wisdom, truth, loyalty, dreams, and the examination of emotions.
Green: Promotes prosperity, fertility, and success. Stimulates good luck, harmony, and rejuvenation. Also represents Healing, health, and growth.
Purple: Is used to obtain desires, power and success. Stimulates enthusiasm, desire and power. Some attempt to use it for power over others.
Red: Represents physical pleasures. It can stimulate lust, courage, or strength against enemies. Can confer passion, love, and/or respect. Stimulates energy, health, fertility and will power.
White: Protectection, purify, and heal. Represents truth, unity, protection, peace, purification, happiness, and spirituality. Some say it can be used to replace any color candle in rituals. Used for concentration rituals and meditation work.
The best time to cast a spell
You can cast a weed spell any time you like but spells are more powerful when they are cast during certain moon phases.
If you can, smoking outside under the moon is the best way to let the lunar energy add a bit of strength to your magick.
You can, of course, perform weed magick during the day, being outdoors is best but if you are indoors make sure your curtains are pulled back and open. Let the sun's energy lend itself to your craft.
As you smoke focus your mind on what you want to achieve with this magick. Enjoy the sensation of the smoke filling your body, allow it to make you feel at peace, powerful and in touch with the elements.
Ending the ritual
One your joint is down to the end it’s time to close the circle. Add the bowl of salt to the bowl of water and repeat “The circle is open, but never broken. By the powers above, and the powers below, I close this circle” then drop your roach into the salt water mix. Your weed ritual is over.
Sky above, earth below, smoke within.
Moxie McMurder is a film critic for Welwyn Garden City and keeps a blog here.
The Magic That is The Self: On the Solitude of Practicing Witchcraft
Magick comes from the power within, but to access that power you must open yourself to nature, to intimate connection, to vulnerability.
BY EMILY NEIE
I was drawn to magick because I believed in myself. The idea that I needed to rely on an ethereal, probably-not-real deity to guide me and plan out my destiny seemed absolutely absurd. I had a good head on my shoulders, I did well in school, I had a clear vision for my life, and I was perfectly capable of making my own decisions.
At church, I felt the most spiritual when I was soul-searching and building my own self-confidence. It's a feeling that a lot of other people interpret as God, or the spirit, or whatever else you'd like to call it, but it's hard for me to see it that way—I believe in me, my humanity, my own consciousness. My vision and drive comes from within, not from a desire to end up in heaven or paradise. I am perfectly happy and motivated to make the most of my life and to put good energy out into the universe before my world fades to black simply because I feel that is the right thing to do, not because there will be a reward in the afterlife.
I often laugh at myself for seeking out magick and witchcraft, because my independence is what most often prevents me from connecting deeply to my magick. Magick is full of paradoxes, and this is probably the biggest one: your magick comes from the power within, but to access that power you must open yourself to nature, to intimate connection, to vulnerability.
Even if you believe your magick comes from a connection to a deity like the Goddess, you have to break down emotional barriers around your soul in order for that power to inhabit you. Those of us who sought out magick because it meant we didn't have to rely on a God or a church find ourselves in an especially sticky predicament: once you strip away the walls of the Church, you're left with the walls inside yourself.
Being a witch is an essentially solitary thing. Even in a coven, you spend a lot of time practicing on your own. You cast spells alone, perform rituals alone, create glamours alone, hunt for treasures and supplies alone. So much of magick demands our undivided attention and separates us from more socially accepted religious circles. At my old youth group, setting a visual example for others was huge. We were constantly in groups, watching how we prayed.
"This girl has her eyes closed and her hands raised in the air...she must be feeling this more than I am" is an ACTUAL thought that crossed my mind. More than once. I can't help but look back and feel that we were acting for each other, trying to use our bodies and words to be the most-holy, aka holier than the rest of you.
It felt good to pray together, in groups, because I'm naturally drawn to community, but my actions and beliefs felt forced. Many religions create community, but magick cuts deeper than the superficial emotional fluff that singing songs around a retreat campfire creates. Witches don't often get the emotional fluff. Witches spend most of our time digging into our own neuroses, our inhibitions, our insecurities, to find substance and fodder for our magick.
I build walls. I am convinced that in a former life I lived somewhere out in the woods, and didn't talk to anything but rabbits for 30 years. I am quite social and happy to be around people, but I often feel like I am simply performing emotions because it's what will best suit the situation and person I am talking to. I get feedback all the time that I come across as perfectly poised, prepared to take on any challenge, and relatively knowledgeable and capable of handling anything that comes my way.
While those traits are excellent for business and career building, they completely stunt my journey to magick. Magick is performed, but not performative. Magick can see through your bullshit, see when you don't really connect with a spell you're casting, see when you're just setting up your altar or reading tarot cards for the aesthetic qualities. I love Instagram. I live for aesthetic. I constantly battle these sides of myself in my journey to know myself and strengthen my practice.
Magick isn't supposed to look a certain way. It doesn't have picture-perfect moments that need to be captured in order to be validated. I am an anxious perfectionist who dreads the moment when people catch my mistakes or shortcomings, and magick bombards me with these things all the time. It is a necessary struggle, and the breaking down of my pretension is what will build me into a truly magickal witch one day.
A couple weeks ago a friend called me "magickal" in a completely serious way, and I cried. It meant so much that I was finally able to inhabit my magick in a way that outwardly presented itself as part of my being. I'll probably always have the right words for most situations, and people may always view me as the responsible, collected Capricorn that I've always been.
My hope is that one day I start hearing people call me "genuine," too. And that I will always access that strength – the strength of the genuine – in my craft.
Emily Neie is a secular witch living and practicing magick in Austin, TX. She survives the demands of corporate professionalism by walking her dog, picking up rocks and feathers, and blogging at her magick blog, The Literateur.
Wonder What Kind of Wool He’s Made Of
After a party, wander into his room and roll around in his bed until he takes your clothes off. He doesn’t understand why you won’t kiss him. Maybe you still want him to want something.
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Many people in meditation and other practices focus on their chakras. Your chakras are points all over your subtle body that serve different purposes, but the most widely used are the three main ones along the spine.
Read MoreOn Accepting That I Will Never 'Recover,' But Can Cope with My Mental Illnesses
The pills will keep me safe, it's implied. They don't stop the lights from dancing off the coffee at 10 pm and shining into my eyes as I get a little help to keep the sleep away. It's not what they were prescribed for anyway: No one thought I wasn't just a depressed person.
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