Reblog This If Ben Is A Hoe

I'd very much like to punch a feminist.

I’d never, ever hurt a lady but I’d be happy to punch a feminist. It’d bring me great joy.

Hellenic Polytheism 101-Eusebia and Kharis

Eusebia and Kharis are important factors for building and maintaining a relationship with the theoi. A lot of us are practicing Eusebia and Kharis without necessarily being aware of those words and what they mean even. Eusebia and Kharis are two concepts that can be difficult to define and pin down. I’m sure other people have different takes on the two practices, but I’m goign to talk about how I define them, and what they mean for my practice. Hopefully this is useful to some folks :)

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Ten Mistakes New Herb Gardeners Make (and How to Avoid Them!)

Mistake 1: Growing from seed. When you first start out trying to grow fresh herbs, I recommend you begin by trying to grow from seedlings rather than planting your own seeds. These great little starter plants are widely available in grocery stores in the late spring. For the same price as a packet of fresh herbs from the produce section, you can buy your own little starter plant. Lots can go wrong in the seed to seedling transition (including not thinning out plants properly), so its probably best to begin by skipping that complicated task or you are in danger of washing out before you really begin.

Mistake 2: Starting with the wrong varieties. I recommend you start by trying to grow fresh basil. It is the perfect trainer herb. First, basil grows quickly, allowing you to observe the effects of your care more easily. Second, basil leaves wilt visibly when not watered enough, but recovers well if you water the wilted plant. This makes basil a great ‘canary in the mineshaft’ to help you figure out how much water is enough.

Mistake 3: Watering herbs like houseplants. Instead, water herbs a moderate amount every day. While some houseplants flourish with one solid watering per week, most delicate herbs require moderate and regular watering. This is particularly true during hot summer months. If you have good drainage at the bottom of your pot (at least a drainage hole, possibly rocks beneath the soil), it will be difficult to water herbs too much.

Mistake 4: Not cutting early and often. As a novice gardener, it may seem like your puny little plant just isn’t ready for a trip to the barber, but then you will find yourself sitting there wishing for leaves without much success. Again, basil is a great herb to practice pruning. As with all herbs, you want to cut the herb just above a set of growing leaves. With basil, when you cut the plant that way, the originally trimmed stem will no longer grow. However, two new stems will grow around the original cutting, creating a “V” shape (see the photo above, can you spot the Vs?). If you don’t trim basil aggressively, it will continue to grow straight up, and become too tall and top-heavy. Making your first trim approximately 3-4” above the soil produces a nice sturdy plant. Of course you want to be sure you are always leaving a few good sturdy leaves on the plant (see below). As it continues to grow, continue to prune it approximately every 3-4" for a nice solid plant. I like to let it grow for some time and then cut back to within 2-3 inches of the original cut. After only a few early trial cuts, this usually makes for a nice clipping with plenty of basil to use for a pizza.

Mistake 5: Taking the leaves from the wrong place. When you are just starting out it seems to make so much sense to pick off a few big leaves around the bottom of the plant, and let those tender little guys at the top keep growing. Wrong. Leave those large tough old guys at the bottom alone. They are the solar panels that power your herb’s growth. Once your plant is big enough to sustain a decent harvest, keep on taking from the top, as you have been when you were pruning. That way you get all those tender new herbs that are so tasty, and your plant gets to keep its well developed solar power system in place. Plus, if you pluck from the base and leave the top intact, you get a tall skinny plant that will flop over from its own weight (and yes, I know this from experience). When you pluck from the top, instead of clipping off just below a pair of leaves, you want to clip off just above a pair of leaves. It is a bit counter-intuitive as a novice, but trust me it works. The place where the leaf joins the stem is where new growth will occur when your plant sends off new stems in a V.

Mistake 6: Letting your plants get too randy. If you are pruning regularly, this may never become an issue, but unless you are growing something for its edible flowers, be sure to cut back herbs before they start growing flowers. My friend once brought me to her backyard garden and pointed, frustrated, at her wimpy, small basil plants. “I just keep tending them, but they don’t even produce enough leaves to put on a salad!” she lamented. I pointed to the glorious stalk of flowers at the top of each plant, “That’s your problem” I explained. Because herbs are kind of like college boys: if you give them half a chance, they will focus all their energy on procreation and neglect growth. If you want leaves, keep cutting off the little flower buds whenever you find them (see photo above), and it will encourage your plant to focus on growing more leaves.

Mistake 7: Using tired soil with no nutrients. Tired soil that has been sitting in your garden or lawn for ages often looks grey and a little depressing. Would you want to grow in that stuff? Give your plants a dose of the good stuff and they’ll thank you for it. I grow my herbs in a combination of potting soil, used coffee grounds (with a near-neutral PH, available for free at Starbucks), and organic compost. If I have some on hand, I also throw in crushed egg shells. Those without access to compost (and no deep commitment to organic growing) may find Miracle grow useful. My momma swears by it for tomatoes. A diluted solution of Miracle grow occasionally can help many herbs flourish.

Mistake 8: Getting in a rut. There is an element to passion about herb gardening. In order to be good at it, you need to feel rewarded. So don’t stick too long with one or two herbs just because they work. Branch out to a few other basic herbs that you will use regularly in your kitchen. There are few things more rewarding as an urban foodie than being able to pop out to the fire escape to clip fresh herbs to use in my cooking. Once you have become comfortable with basil, I recommend moving on to try growing oregano, mint, rosemary and thyme. All are regularly useful herbs in the kitchen, and all are relatively easy to grow. You will notice that rosemary cleaves after cutting in a somewhat similar way to basil, but grows much more slowly, so the effect is difficult to notice. Some plants also respond to clipping by throwing out more full leaves at their base. I have long wanted to grow cilantro but have not had much luck with it.

Mistake 9: You mean there’s more than one kind of mint?When choosing herbs, read the label carefully. For example, there are two main varieties of oregano: Mediterranean and Mexican. Mediterranean oregano is the more common variety, and what you likely own if you have conventional dried oregano in your cupboard. I have Mexican oregano growing on my back fire escape. I love Mexican oregano in spicy dishes, for making beans from scratch, and often use it in tomato dishes where I don’t want the flavor to seem too much like marinara. Similarly, there are many different kinds of mint. You don’t want to be thinking of the pungent spearmint plant and accidentally take home the much more subtle (and not mojito savvy) applemint by mistake.

Mistake 10: Feed me Seymour! If you are planting in soil instead of pots, take care that your cute little herb seedling doesn’t become a giant plant that takes over your garden. A word of warning for oregano and mint: both can be voracious growers. If you are planting outside in a garden, rather than in pots, you may want to consider potting these herbs and then burying the pots in the ground. This will add a measure of control to the root systems of these herbs, which can otherwise take over a garden and strangle nearby neighbors. When in doubt, check out wikipedia, they usually are careful to point out which herbs are in danger of overwhelming your garden.

Some really useful info here if you’re new to herb gardening.

Broken Spell Jar

My travel spell jar broke at last. That thing had been sittiing in my car all summer! Honestly I had expected the wax seal to soften before now but hey! What an opportunity, right?

There can be many reasons why a spell jar has broken or become unsealed, and it’s all dependent on what the jar’s intent was. For me, it was protection and reducing inner road-rage when travelling. So perhaps this particular jar has done it’s job and there’s nothing left of it to give. Figure out why this has happened to your jar and then go from there.

So what do you do when the spell jar breaks? Well, again it’s dependent on your situation, but here I’ll show you what I’ve done for this particular spell jar which can be utilized for other spell jars. Feel free to use this method for yourselves and to adjust it according to your needs!

First, empty its content and separate what is salvagable and what is not. Everything to be discarded you can- burn, flush down, throw away, bury, throw outside- whatever is appropriate for the materials you’re getting rid of.

Take what you salvaged and use whatever cleansing method you see fit for your own items. I’ve also salvaged the jar, because I am ALL ABOUT reusing stuff.

So now what? You can take your kept items and use them for other spells or rituals. Charge them, bless them, charm them, whatever! But deep in my heart guts, I feel like these items should immediately be reused for the exact same spell you previously had it in. But that’s just what my heart guts are telling me. If you wanna put them all back in the same jar for the same spell, go ahead! you do you.

Another method would be to just discard the entire spell jar, but I feel like this is such a waste of potential for the spell’s contents. Again, do what you feel is right. And if you have other suggestions on what to do for a broken spell jar, let me know!

Friendly reminder not to bury glass or plastic jars or throw them in the ocean :)

Environmentally friendly options include:

-seed starter pots

-bell peppers

-paper towel rolls

-toilet paper rolls

-tissue paper

-hollowed out vegetables

-hollowed out fruits

-eggshells

-wrapped banana peels

(Updated thanks to all of your lovely suggestions <3)

If you have any suggestions or concerns please let me know and they will be added

@crhserenity my formula that I use for digits is 1. State your intention 2. Put the sentence backwards 3. Get rid of all of the vowels 4. Get rid of all repeating letters 5. Take the letters you have left and connect them all into one solid picture 6. Add little dots and lines and swirls where you want them

I hope this helps a little, and I will try to mix some social stuff in for you!!

Why Aren’t my Spells Working?

A break-down of why your magickal intent may not be taking effect in your life

Hi there! So, if you’re reading this, you’ve probably had this problem at one time or another; in fact, almost all witches experience a ‘fizzled’ spell every once in awhile… but what happens when you’ve been casting multiple, and they all just won’t take? Here are some reasons why this could be happening:

⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜⧜

The spell was not transferred enough energy to take effect. Think of this as filling up a balloon with helium ~ If you don’t put enough in, the balloon with just roll around or float a few inches above the floor, rather than floating high in the air like you intended for it to do. This can also happen with spells! There needs to be enough energy transfer (The energy you put in, the energy you’ve taken from something/someone else, etc.) to allow the spell to ‘take hold’ and manifest strongly and in the way you preferred. 

You’re not helping the magick along when it requires you to do so. For many spells, such as magick geared towards jobs, people, physical events, etc. there needs to be more than just one magickal variable working towards your intent to manifest. You need to work for it; If you cast a spell for a job, you also better be turning in that application and resume along with it ~! A spell can increase your chance, luck, and appeal, but it cannot contact your employer and set up an interview. 

(A break-off from the above reason) Your conditions just don’t allow the magick to materialize easily. This is the most possible to happen in weather spells, such as those to bring heavy rain to a dry climate area, or magick for something that your life/area just cannot manifest. For example, imagine somebody trying to cast a spell to ‘make one of their friends fall in love with them’ whilst having not a single friend in their life; the spell is incapable of materializing, because their are no variables for it to work with! It is a sad thing to think about, certainly, but this example shows how casting a spell that is wrong for your life situation can cause it to work improperly or not at all. (Tip: This person should have cast a spell for new friends first! This also shows how you may be casting spells that are wrong for the situation) 

Your wording was not the best. Similar to how people will often word things in a positive or future-tense manner (EX: ‘I AM BRAVE’ / rather than ‘I WILL BE BRAVE’) during spellwork or how in some fairytales the genie will grant a wish in a horrible way according to the wording of a wish, you must be careful to be clear and concise in what you’re wanting! Stay away from vague or general wording; You’ll wish you had when you try to cast a spell for a person to love you romantically, and later find that they love you like a sibling or best friend ~ 

You forgot to/incorrectly grounded after a spell. Grounding is not only important to maintain your own energies, but it is also a good tool for assuring that the energies of your spell don’t simply go on floating ‘up in the clouds’, failing to come down to earth and manifest! Grounding after a spell also increases the chances that it will work faster. 

Your focus/energy was off during the spell. Common for those with a low rate of focus, who’s mind wanders easily, or with low/confidence and doubt (which can especially put off your energies) you might have broken the intent of the spell while casting it. Not to worry, for spells can be re-cast and focus can be sharpened, but be sure to have a strong mind when performing visualization or transferring your intent into a spell! This can lead to a spell manifesting in a different way than you intended (which may not always be a bad thing) or just all-together not working.

(For people-directed magick) The person on the other end of your spell has a protection ward. If you’re simply trying as hard as you can to curse, heal, bless, cast upon another witch without their knowledge, there’s a chance that they have up some magickal barriers of their own. Be cautious with curses on other witches especially, since there are wards to reflect curses back upon the sender, and you never know! This can also be so if you are casting magick upon somebody to improve an aspect of their life; they may unknowingly be mentally/spiritually guarding, or ‘closing’ their energy, making it difficult for the magick to attach to them. 

Further tip: Have patience! Some spells take a while to manifest or come to be, and if you’re becoming discouraged after them not working within a week, you need to have a bit of patience.

Keep in mind that these are things anybody can do without knowing; they do not at all make you a bad or incapable witch, but it is important to know and accept why they may not be working. I hope for those that experience it, these reasons can provide some insight ~ This post was inspired by all of the anons who have been asking this question frequently

Send me a message if you have any questions or comments ♡ Thank you!

~Rainy

I'm a guy and I had really cystic acne when I was 16 (now 18). I'm on my second treatment of acutane right now. The first was for 8 months and my current treat is on its 5th month. I just feel like shit all the time. I feel bad about myself. I can't look into the mirror and like what I see. I've already seen a therapist about this problem but it didn't really help much. I've learned to deal with it better, but I still struggle. Any advice?

I’m so sorry!! It’s really unfair just how much acne can affect ones self image. I had a really hard time with mine when it was bad, and I don’t think I can say that I know how you feel, but I went through a long period of self hatred just because of my skin. I definitely understand that it can take a toll on you and your happiness. I think the best advice I have is that in the long run, dealing with something like this can make you a much better person. It makes you understanding of others, less judge mental, and more accepting. That’s mostly how I got through dealing with my skin, but I know it’s not as simple as that. Just know that we are all here for you and you are so so so much more than your skin. Don’t forget that you have a personality and all the potential in the world to do what you want. And honestly, when I see someone dealing with acne it makes me relate to them more and have respect for them. When mine was at its worst I really reached to people that had similar problems and t made me feel better to have an unspoken similarity. It helped a lot to not feel judged because who I surrounded myself with understood what was happening. Another thing is that when accutane comes up with people I know, the people can’t seem to remember what my skin used to look like, because when it isn’t your skin it isn’t a big deal. Don’t worry, you’ll get through it and you’ll come out on top. If you ever need anything I’m here, and I’m sure tons of other people apart of this community and your life are there for you too :)

Hestia

Hestia is the Greek Goddess of the hearth, home, architecture, the state, and family. She’s also one of the virgin Goddesses who is seen as a protector deity. Legend says that she was originally one of The Big Twelve (or the Olympians, or the council) but she stepped down to keep the peace on Olympus when Dionysus showed up. 

General: hearth, home, living flame, architecture, bowl, veils, pantry, keys, pictures of houses you’ve lived in/cool architecture you like, family (chosen family counts) and ancestor stuff 

Animals: donkey (ass) and pigs

Plants: Angel’s trumpet (Datura), California poppy, goldenrod, hollyhock, purple coneflower, and yarrow

Perfumes/Scents: angelica, iris, lavender, and peony

Gems and Metals: amethyst, garnet, gold, silver, and brass

Colors: gold, dark rose, lavender, silver, and black

Things To Pray For: protection, inspiration, happiness, guidance, and help getting rid of the home of negative entities 

Invocation of Hestia Hail Hestia, Ancient heart Mother Goddess of the Spiritual Flame, We thank you for your constant love and care. We ask that you come and dwell here. Make of our home your home. Make of our hearth your hearth. Make of our temple your temple. Make of our hearts one heart, your heat. Hail Hestia! 

Prayer To Hestia  Blessed Lady of the Hearth Keeper of the sacred flames of Olympus Enter this home and make it your own Enter and be welcome Bless all who enter here with peace Bless all who dwell here with your protection Grant me and mine your protection That we may always find our way to you

Personal Experience: I have limited experience with Hestia as I haven’t really started practicing with her yet. But the experiences I have had have all been really positive and easy going. 

Hymn to Aphrodite

Hear me oh Muses!

I sing the praises of the wondrous Aphrodite Pandemos, Common to all people.

Mighty and powerful are you fair-haired Aphrodite,

Your radiance is a gift upon all mortal beings who would look upon your visage,

I humble myself before your altar that weeps golden tears of frankincense in your honor.

I imagine myself along the shores of the island of your birth with you by my side,

Enchanting Aphrodite Paphos, mistress of Kypris.

I feel your presence in all beautiful things great goddess,

I look at nature and see your gentle touch, Aphrodite Doritis, the bountiful.

I look at the ocean of your birth and see your smile in the waves, Aphrodite Pontia, of the waves.

I see visions of your mighty temple in Korinthos, your devotees showing people your truth,

The gift of the mighty Aphrodite Praxis, of sexual activity, for you, are she of shapely form.

You great mistress, who brings forth true love as Aphrodite Ourania, divine love.

Great Aphrodite Psithyristes, one who is whispering, let me hear your alluring voice.

I praise your beauty mighty Goddess.

I praise your strength mighty Goddess.

I praise your kindness mighty Goddess.

I am thankful for your protection and attention strong and furious Aphrodite Areia, Warlike.

I am thankful for your guidance and patience when I am alone gentle Aphrodite Epistrophia, she who turns to love.

I have devoted myself to you great Goddess, for your divinity has struck me deeply.

Bless us oh great Aphrodite Pandemos,who loves without questions all mortals