I Basically Had Introduced Some Basic "rules" To Shifter Communities. I Don't Expect It To Be Used Too

it's all fun and games (being a common nonhuman species) (for me its something wolf/canine adjacent) until you realize you've searched near and far for information on the other half of yourself to only come up with little to nothing (i am still heartbroken to find barely anything on horned bird kintypes or anything in mythology) (like.. are you guys out there?)

also i know ive made similar posts to this in the past but im trying to find ANYONE to relate to 😭

When I say "connect with nature" I don't just mean the aesthetic forests with deer and beautiful flowers.

I mean the weeds growing through concrete, the fungus that grows on the rotten shed, the nettles that always seem to return and the scary, spindly cellar spider in the corner of the bathroom.

Nature is not always pretty or magical - the pigeons and seagulls you swat at are nature too, the wasps and flies that hover by your meals are animals too, store-bought strawberries and the leaves that fall from your neighbour's tree are not all that different from the Giant Sequoias and it's seeds.

If you want to connect and understand nature, I mean *really* connect to it, in it's entirety, you have to seek out and learn about the ugly, scary and mundane things as well. You don't have to like it, just don't forget that it's there.

Basic Incense and Their Uses

Types of Incense:

• Sandalwood: Protection, healing, purification, pleasing the spirits, consecration

• Cherry: Attracts and stimulates love, new beginnings

• Vanilla: Luck, love, happiness, stimulates memory

• Jasmine: Luck; especially in love, peace, intuition, moon magick

• Coconut: Purification and protection, fertility, love and chastity

• Frankincense: Spirituality, protection, love, prosperity, growth, confidence, an offering to the gods

• Cinnamon: Wealth/money, prosperity, success, focus, amplifies any ritual or spell, third eye

• Myrrh: Protection, exorcism, consecration, purification, peace, meditation, spirituality, offering to the gods

• Patchouli: Money, abundance, attraction, passion, romance, lust

• Rose: Love, self love, safety, calm, healing, purification, connection to maternal ancestors

• Strawberry: Passion, love, luck, friendship, romance, opens/connects root and sacral chakras, goddess offering

• Dragon's Blood: Increases personal power, manifestation, attraction, sensuality, love, favored by many entities as an offering

• Sage: Cleansing, banishing, protection, clearing the air, nullifying negativity, promoting a more peaceful environment, longevity

• Lavender: Psychic abilities, divination, dream magick, protection, purification, beauty, intuition, peace, calming

• Nag Champa: Amplifies a ritual, great for meditation

• Clove: Protection (especially for children), love, money, purification, exorcism, shielding/warding

• Juniper: Exorcism, protection, healing, love

• Allspice: Attracts luck and money, provides extra physical energy

• Copal: Protection, cleansing, purification, connection, spirituality, ideal for cleansing crystals and stones

• Bay: Good luck, manifestation, success, purification, protection, healing, sharpens psychic abilities

• Rosemary: Protection, exorcism, purification, promotes sleep, restores and/or mantains youth, draws love, increases intellect

• Thyme: Health, vitality, healing, cleansing

• Pine: Money, strength, patience, shielding, purification, offer to nature spirits/deities

• Fern: Burn indoors to drive out malevolent spirits, burn outdoors to bring rain

• Benzoin: Purification, prosperity, amplifies mental abilities

• Arabic Gum: Purification and protection of the home

• Blueberry: Keeps unwanted influences away

• Passionflower: Peace, anxiety soothing, promotes sleep, friendship, joy, openness

• Mullein: Courage, protection, health, divination, offering to the dead

• Rowan: Psychic ability, self reflection, healing, protection, power, spirits more likely to obey demands/requests

• Star Anise: Psychic power, manifestation, luck

• Mugwort: Strength, psychic power, spirit communication, protection, astral travel, dream work, visions/premonitions

• Rue: Healing, mental health, comfort, exorcism, love, bonding

• Saffron: Health, wealth, happiness, success, wind raising, manifestation, lust, strength, third eye

• Palo Santo: Clears stagnant/negative energy

• Eucalyptus: Healing, cleansing, physical health, clears tense energy, invigorating, empowerment

• Wormwood: Magick, astral travel, spirit work, dream work, divination, third eye, protection from magick, curses and unwelcome energies, spiritual love, opens spiritual doorways, return to sender

• Lotus: Inner peace and outer harmony, third eye, meditation ascension, recovery, offering to Lilith

• Chamomile: Love, peace, comfort, stress reduction, luck in gambling

• Amber: Manifestation, good luck, success, love, romance, patience, protection, balance, sensuality, pain relief

• Damiana: Sensuality, sexuality, astral travel, love/sex magick, baneful witchcraft, attraction, drawing spells, shadow work, healing trauma, speaking your truth

• Skull Cap: Balance, calm, recovery, anchor to bring consciousness back to the body after astral projection

• Albizzia: Opens you up to oneness, attunes the heart, brings happiness

• Lemongrass: Calming, balance, love, depression relief

• Ginger: Strength, power, prosperity, relationship success

• Oregano: Joy, travel, creativity, love, hand fasting

• Cardamom: Love, lust, charm, mental clarity

• Sweet Grass: Removes malevolent energies, draws prosperity

• Marshmallow: Spirit pulling, protection, cleansing, stimulates psychic power, self-understanding, nurturing, healing, fertility, love, sexuality

• Orris: Love, protection, divination, spirit work, intuition

• Storax: Courage, healing, moon magick, meditation, divination, encourages restful sleep, offering to Hekate

Incense Smoke Divination:

Smoke direction- Up/down:

• Up: Positive spiritual journey

• Down: Challenges, deviation from the path

Smoke direction- Right/left:

• Right: Desires will be fulfilled

• Left: Blocks and turbulent energy

Smoke direction- Towards/away:

• Towards: Reciprocal affection

• Away: Neglect or indifference

Smoke forms a circle:

• Clear circle: Strong vibes, manifestation is near

• Hazey circle: Weak vibes, uncertain manifestation

Smoke forms a Ladder:

• Multiple steps: Elevated spiritual path

• One step: Need to enhance spirituality

Spiral shape:

• Clear spiral: Big, new change

• No distinct shape: Chaos, uncertainty

Smoke splits in two:

• Important life decisions

• Trust your instincts

Many broken corners:

• Confusion, need clarity

Infinity symbol:

• Very auspicious omen

Thick and dense smoke:

• Negative energy

• Change is needed

Abrupt lighting and smoke:

• Smooth/even flame: Clear path

• Choppy flame: Hurdles on path

is there anything that tends to trigger your shifts to happen or are they random? and what does it feel like for you when you physically shift?

(feel free to not answer if these questions are too personal, I'm just curious to hear what your experiences are like 🩵)

Aaaa yay my first ask on this account!!

It seems like my shifts (if you mean my p-shifts) are mostly random! My first time shifting was actually when I was sitting at my desk on my laptop, and I felt the sensation. I don't remember exactly what I was doing, but it definitely was absolutely out of nowhere.

My shifts feel like a very squelchy feeling. Imagine the sensation of worms in your hand, now imagine that internally all in your torso. It felt like my organs were rearranging. There was no external sensation. All I knew was that I was definitely shifting, and right afterward, I felt solidly like a red ruffed lemur. Funnily enough, before this shift, I was feeling very spacy and dazed, like I wasn't exactly completely there, but after the shift happened, things seemed to "solidify". It was very uncomfortable during this shift.

The second shift I had very recently a couple of days ago with the wolf, I'm unsure what to categorize that as, but it felt very much like a physical shift. I could feel my eyes and spine/tail especially. My lower back, near my tailbone, seemed to make way for what felt to be a tail. I was in the dark, so I couldn't see anything, but I could feel it. I was trying to sleep, but no position was comfortable.

The feeling lasted until the next day! I looked in the mirror to see if I had any physical changes, but I'm unsure if I saw anything unusual. I'm not sure what my body looked like beforehand, but I could genuinely feel this tail, and I could feel a change in my spine. It's gone away since then, but the shift wasn't as uncomfortable as the first one. I'm not exactly sure what triggered this, but right before lying down, I happened to look at the moon (which was not full by any means) and after a couple minutes, I started to feel my insides churn similarly to the first instance of me shifting, and then I felt my spine and tail rearrange. Nothing painful, only a little pain, but it was mostly uncomfortable.

Outside of these two instances, I don't p-shift very much! I usually experience phantom shifts, including full-body ones, mental shifts, aura shifts, among some others. Usually these are simply triggered by thinking of some of my -types, or just being in a situation where suddenly I feel like I have larger paws, have a long tail, or sharper teeth.

Thanks for the ask!! <333

Fine. Here you have it. The one true rule of witchcraft:

Stop bitching about other people's practices and focus on your own

from magickmemez on insta

bit of a rant

TW: mentions of cults/toxic behavior

the biggest thing that I see when folks bring up physical shifters/nonhumans/mythicals are cults or toxic people/behavior. yes, there will be the few that are shitty individuals or people that hurt/traumatize others. but I think that people fail to see that in or outside of this community, those shitty people exist anyways. in fandoms, clubs, groups, out on the street, etc. the demonization of individuals who are physically nonhuman is extremely harmful and unnecessary. the real problem is the individuals who actively hurt others, not the community as a whole. you take multiple bad experiences and cast it over the entire community, how is that acceptable or fair? why do you fail to see the bigger picture, the entirety of us? isn't it easier to be open minded, to realize that there will be horrible people all over in the world and not just within pshifter spaces? and yet you decide to focus and target us.

you don't have to like us, you don't have to understand us, but we were standing beside what we now know as modern therians and otherkin years ago (those who don't believe in being physically nonhuman). we were a part of therian and otherkin groups regularly. we were a part of your spaces, and I'll never let you forget it. you don't have to like us, but that doesn't give you the right to demonize or erase us.

this is why learning about history is important, this is why being able to archive things is important, this is a part of why I've made it my own personal job to make a timeline and collect information geared towards physical nonhumanity; so that we may never be erased. your hatred will never erase us, and you'll never silence our voices as long as we live.

Ritual

Divination

What is divination? 

Divination usually (but does not always) involves using tools as a way to communicate with deities, guides, spirits etc (any being that resides on the astral plane). Here are some common divination methods people use. 

Pendulums (sometimes used alongside spirit boards)

Tarot cards

Oracle cards

Cartomancy 

Shufflemancy (using music to do divination) 

Osteomancy (bone throwing) 

Dice 

Coins

There are many many different forms of divination that you can research and utilize, however these are some of the common forms of divination that I see people using. I’ll also be covering some information about channeling and automatic writing later on in this post. 

Questions about Tarot, Oracle, Cartomancy (divination using any type of cards)

Can I buy my own decks/divination tools? 

Yes, you can absolutely buy your own decks or other divination tools. I know there is a lot of misinformation about this out there, some communities say that you aren’t allowed to buy your own decks (especially with tarot) but this is not true, you can and honestly should buy your own tools. You can always accept gifts as well, however in my experience with some of my friends getting me decks, I ended up getting rid of them because I didn’t vibe with their energies. When I buy my own decks, it's a lot easier for me to figure out if I’m going to like the energy of that deck and if we’ll get along. This goes for any divination tool as well! 

A huge reason this question comes up a lot when it comes to divination is because hundreds of years ago, people were judged and scrutinized for practicing witchcraft (and divination is considered witchcraft). Divination and other forms of witchcraft had to be done in secret, so going out and buying a tarot deck was not something someone could openly do. Nowadays, of course, most of the world does not have these same views. 

How do I shuffle my cards? How do I pick cards? 

There are many different ways to shuffle your cards; this can also depend on how big or small your cards are. I definitely recommend looking up various ways to shuffle online (most of the tips online will show you different methods to shuffle a regular playing deck). 

In regards to picking cards for a reading, there are also various ways to do this too. Some people will let the cards fall out and whatever cards fall out are meant for the reading. Some people shuffle until their intuition tells them to stop, and then they pull cards until their intuition tells them to stop (this is a method I use sometimes). Some people fan their cards out and pick the cards they are drawn to select. For me personally, I generally do the first method, but I only select cards that fall out with the card face up. 

Do I need to use reversals? What is the use of reversals?

You do not have to use reversals if you do not want to, however they do come in handy. Especially when it comes to tarot, not all the upright versions of the cards are positive, for example the Four of Cups Upright actually has a more negative meaning than the reversal. My perspective is coming from someone who has always used reversals, however I understand especially for someone just starting out, it can be very hard to use both upright and reversals. 

Can I still do tarot even if I can’t remember all the card meanings?

YES! I have been practicing tarot for over 15 years now, I’m a professional tarot reader, and I STILL don’t have all the card meanings memorized. I always use either this website or guidebooks that come with the decks to interpret, alongside my intuition and occasionally channeling as well to do my readings. You should not feel pressured or intimidated just because you don’t remember all the card meanings. I’ve honestly found (and others agree) that not always having the cards memorized and having to look up the meaning can help greatly with the interpretation; a lot of times reading what the guidebook says will give me intuition hits and allow my readings to be much more detailed. 

Do I need to use spreads? 

No, you do not need to use spreads if you don’t want to; I rarely ever use spreads in my practice, I just let the cards fall out and interpret it that way. 

How do I interpret multiple cards for one question? 

Generally, what I do when I am doing a reading is combine the meanings of each card together. I am actually going to use a real reading for myself to give an example of how to do this. 

Question: How can I make this a good week? 

Three of Cups Reversed- this card can often be about not being able to socialize or go out with friends. This shows that this week, there may be a lot going on in my life that will make me very busy; but that connecting back with my friends and family will be important. I know that I am a very social person, so having interactions with my friends and family will definitely help it to be a better week. 

Five of Pentacles Reversed- this card is actually one of the ones where the reversal is more positive than the upright version. This card shows that right now there may be some changes within my life this week. This may be a slow progression toward the changes I’ve been wanting, but I will see progress toward those changes. 

The Fool- this card is about new beginnings, there is always a sense of excitement that I get when I pull this card. This card shows that the changes the previous card talked about will be positive, new and exciting. 

Overall, this is generally the way I interpret the cards. The message here tells me that this week is going to be a very busy week for me; I need to focus on my friends and family, the people I care about, and make sure that I make time during this business to connect with them. This reading also shows that in general, this week will already be a good week for me. I'll see progress being made on some of the changes and goals I’ve been trying to implement, and overall this should be a fairly exciting week for me in general. 

Can I use tarot for yes/no questions? How? 

Yes, tarot can be used for yes/no questions, there are a few ways to do this. Most of these will involve the use of reversals. An easy method to do this with is to take the card's meaning, determine if it's more ‘positive’ or ‘negative’ and interpret that way. So you’d ask a question, draw a card, and if the card is more positive, that means yes, if the card is more negative, that means no. I also see people use upright vs reversals for this; assigning all upright cards as ‘yes’ answers and all reversed cards as ‘no’ answers. I’ve also seen people do something similar to this with three cards. They will shuffle, draw three cards, and interpret any uprights as ‘yes’ and reversals as ‘no’. If they get two or three upright cards, that means yes, and vice versa. My personal favorite method for doing yes/no questions with tarot is to assign certain cards with ‘yes’ and ‘no’. For me, The Magician is my ‘yes’ card and The Fool is my ‘no’ card. I take my deck, shuffle it, and start drawing cards. Whichever card comes up first, that's my answer! I am sure there are more ways to do yes/no questions that I haven’t covered here, however these are the ones that I either use myself or have seen others using. 

How do I cleanse my decks/divination tools? 

Going back to my post on cleansing, there are various ways to cleanse a deck or other tools. Again, referring back to the post, especially with anything that is made of crystals or metal, make sure that they are safe to be put in salt or water if that is the method you chose. Smoke and sound cleansing are also very good options. 

What is the Rider-Waite? Does it have to be my first deck? 

The Rider-Waite is a very popular tarot deck that is widely used. There are many different versions of this deck as well. This does not have to be your first deck, you can pick whichever deck you want to use as your first deck!

Do I need to learn about all the symbolism, astrology, etc surrounding tarot? 

While the symbolism, astrology and correspondences that tarot often have are important and can add more depth to your readings, this is definitely not a requirement. I am not very knowledgeable on astrology at all, and while I know some of the symbolism represented within tarot, again it is not something I am heavily knowledgeable on. When I read tarot, I use the symbology from the card art itself, my intuition and of course the card interpretations to help me interpret the message. 

General Divination Questions

Do I need divination tools for each individual deity/entity/spirit I work with? 

The short answer to this is no, you definitely do not need to buy each individual that you work with separate divination tools. You can absolutely do this if you want, but I know for me, with how many deities I work with, it would be crazy to try to get each and everyone one of them individual divination tools. 

Do AI/digital divination apps work? 

This question can be a bit complicated, and I do have my own opinions on it. At the end of the day, if this is what works for YOU, that's great, and you can definitely utilize it! Its definitely a method that can be useful if you are in the broom closet. For me personally though, I’ve always found that any forms of digital divination I try tend to be pretty inaccurate. Anything digital or programmed with AI is going to work off some type of algorithm, it may not be 100% authentic. 

How do I know who is answering when I’m using divination? 

This depends a lot on the individual practitioner; some people practice divination outside of any religious/spiritual lens. This post is generally more targeted toward people who are practicing divination within the scope of occult/witchcraft practices, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on. 

You can ask the universe/Source to answer any questions you have, your general spirit team/spirit guides, or an individual deity, entity or spirit. 

I also want to point out with this question that certain deities/entities/spirits may have a preference on divination tools; I’ve had encounters where the deity I’m trying to get a message from will refuse to use certain tools I have and will only give a message using specific methods. It's important to verify that the deity is ok using the method of communication you’ve chosen. Of course, if you have very limited options, the deity will absolutely accommodate you even if they have to use a tool they do not prefer. 

Other Forms of Divination

How do I use dice/coins? 

This (for dice at least) can depend on what type of dice you have. I know with regular numbered dice, I mainly use them for yes/no questions. I take one of my dice (I see other people use multiple dice for this method as well) and I assign even numbers to be ‘yes’ and odd numbers to be ‘no’. Then I roll three times. If I get two or three evens and one odd, that means yes and vice versa. With using multiple dice, you may only need to roll once as well, although I’ve also seen people roll multiple times as well. Some people also assign meanings to each individual number of dice; for instance, 1 means hard yes, 2 means yes, 3 means maybe, 4 means rephrase, 5 means no, and 6 means hard no.

For coin divination, the methods are similar. Generally for coin divination, you will not really be able to get ‘maybe’ answers, so keep that in mind. Most times, when people are using coins, they will use heads as ‘yes’ and tails as ‘no’ (you can do the opposite if you feel drawn to). They use one or more coins, and take the majority as the answer. 

How do I use a pendulum? 

Generally, I recommend bracing your arm against something (like a desk, or your knee even) to make sure that you are not accidentally moving while trying to ask questions. From there, you can either ask the pendulum to show you what means yes, no and maybe, or tell the pendulum how you want it to swing to indicate yes, no and maybe. From there, you would start asking questions and allow the pendulum to swing freely to get the answers! 

You can also assign a certain movement to a deity; asking them to show you that they are there by moving the pendulum in a different way than the regular yes/no/maybe. 

You can also make your own pendulum as well, even just using a necklace or anything with a weight on the end can be used as a pendulum, just make sure to cleanse it first! 

What is channeling? 

Channeling generally refers to the ability to allow deities, entities or spirits to enter your body and take some level of control in order to communicate. Channeling is an advanced practice, I don’t recommend trying to start channeling until you are very comfortable with doing the basics (cleansing, protections, banishing, vetting) and you have a deity, entity or spirit you are comfortable practicing with. Channeling takes a lot of trust and the willingness to give up control of your mind and body to someone else. There are different levels of channeling, sometimes the entity will only take over partially in order to communicate. Other times, they will be fully present and will essentially push the person to the ‘backseat’ of their body while the entity has full control. 

What is automatic writing? 

Automatic writing is a type of channeling although it is less of an advanced practice than actual channeling. With automatic writing, you are essentially entering a trance state and allowing either your subconscious or the deities, entities and spirits around you to write for you and give you messages. While it may not be as intense as channeling, it can still be difficult to do and difficult to get into the proper mindset to do. 

Is the keyboard method a valid form of divination? 

The answer to this may be a little controversial; I think the answer to this can be ‘sometimes’. This is a form of automatic writing which involves technology. However, as with automatic writing, you may need to be in a bit of a trance state for this method to really work. Using other divination tools alongside this method (to double check that you are getting an actual message and not just gibberish) is also something I would recommend. 

There are other forms of communicating with deities, entities and spirits that have not been covered in this post, such as communicating with clairsenses or through meditation. I will be covering these in a later post. 

I would again like to credit my friend @astralscraft for helping me with this post!

If you have additional questions that were not answered in this post, feel free to message or inbox me!

Here is the main website I use for tarot interpretation! Link

Wolf shifter here 🐾.

Do you have any tips to getting motivation to start shifting again??

hi!

I think something that might help with motivation is going back to the beginning of your journey and why you want to shift in the first place. what are your goals and dreams and what do you want to achieve by shapeshifting? I feel like surrounding yourself with feelings of empowerment and inspiration could help jumpstart motivation and help you get back on track.

also, triggering m-shifts or surrounding yourself with themes or feelings relating to your instincts/species etc could help too. for me, having m-shifts or phantom shifts inspires me to want to p-shift.

if you have stuff like masks, tails, ears, or other things that can make you more wolf-like, it might help to dress in the colors of your wolf side or put things on that makes you look like a wolf. for me when I put on ears or tails I always wish they were physical and when I wear brown clothes (bc my fur is brown) I tend to wish it was my fur, so putting things together to make yourself look like your wolf self might help with motivation to shapeshift so that you CAN have your ears/tail/paws/fangs/fur again.

if anyone else has any other tips, feel free to add on!