Happy Friday!
Friday is Aphrodite’s day every week and I like to honor Her by writing a little prayer. Today’s topic is self-care when it’s hard. I chose this because as someone with depression who is also a major people pleaser, it’s very hard for me to put myself first or care about myself at all, and I know I’m mot the only one who struggles with that.
Note: I do not write prayers often but am practicing, so this may not be good. Sorry!
Loving Goddess Aphrodite
Of the sea (Pontia)
Of the sky (Ourania)
Of the dark (Melainis)
I ask you to please help me with this request.
She who rules over love of all forms,
Assist me in caring for myself.
Help me to see me the way you do
Beautiful, Loving, and Human
And help me to treat myself like I deserve
with patience, kindness, and care.
For when the waves of my emotions
crash against my heart,
and when the skies are filled with sorrow
When all I can see is darkness,
You are the light.
I thank you for all that you have already done
for I now know how you see me.
I ask you to help me to take care of my mind and body
For I know that I am full of beauty.
do you think adrien would be a swiftie bc i do. i actually think he has a spotify playlist named “right where you left me” that he shuffles whenever he needs to face the horrors of his childhood and wallow a bit before resuming his facade of false happiness and belonging in a world that glorifies the cause of his suffering
or maybe that’s just me
I think a lot of what pro-AI people are really wanting is stuff that already exists but they don't know it's out there like
can't format a work email? templates
don't know how to write a resume? templates
writing a thank you card or a condolences card or a wedding invitation? templates templates templates
not sure how to format your citations in MLA or whatever format? citationmachine.net
summary of something you're reading for school/work? cliffsnotes.com
recipe based on ingredients in your fridge? whatsintherefrigerator.com
there's a million more like, guys, we don't need AI, we never needed generative AI
I love radical feminism for opening my eyes to all the women around the world ,but it has made it impossible to "enjoy" things anymore. This is mostly because I've realised that I never liked these things anyway, I just did them because everyone else did.
Almost a year ago I got my "dream job" of working at Sephora. I had already began reading a lot of rad fem literature by the time I got there.
10 years ago I would have loved it but by the time I was working there I was already aware of the dystopian nightmare it really is.
It was one thing to help someone find a basic skin care routine to calm their skin but when we had to push certain products.
To make the sales goals you had to look at a woman's face and slowly ask and press them on their flaws and suggest the magic product that would help them.
I did it for one day, I killed it on the sales floor. I could not sleep that night and had already began drafting my resignation letter.
When I grew up, drag full face glam was popular but now it was the "no makeup, clean girl" look and I had to help girl find foundations that would hide their flaws.
Their flaws were either
1. Natural human function of the largest organ we have
2. Cover up the damage they were continuing to do with all the latest products.
I pleaded with parents to not buy little girls skin care than I knew would destroy their skin barriers. But isn't that the point? So when they grow up they need products to help cover up or heal the damage they have caused.
They paid so little I couldn't even afford most of the products in the store even with my discount.
We would have to clap when told we made the company billions of dollars in profits.
It really pushed home the oppressive costume that is "femininity".
I have a lot more to say but I'm droning now.
But I have to say I understand now why people do not want to engage with radical feminism because it "ruins" everything. Everywhere you look you realize the psyops being ran to keep woman consuming and enjoying their bonds.
September will be filled with happiness.
September will be filled with blessings.
September will be filled with positivity.
September will be filled with progress.
September will be filled with kindness.
September will be filled with opportunity.
September will be filled with love.
If you are prone to hallucinations, psychosis, or anything similar please make sure you are stable before trying to do deity work, or maybe reconsider doing it at all.
Deities will not and should not ask you to do harm. They will not ask you to hurt yourself, they will not ask you to hurt others. If you are experiencing this type of interaction with a deity please consult a medical or psychological professional as it may be an underlying illness.
If this has been ruled out then please cut contact with whatever is telling you to do negative things as it may not be a deity, and if it is, it is not one worth working with.
(photo credit: Andrew Seaman)
Deity work, as well as most spiritual and witchy things, is a very personal and individual practice. So anything I talk about here are suggestions and common ways I have seen deity work be done, as well as my own experiences sprinkled in.
There is no one way to work with deities, but hopefully this post will help you find a starting place so that you can move forward on your own and learn, experience, and grow with deity work as an individual.
Essentially deity work is exactly what it sounds like, you are working with deities. It is the act of initiating and then cultivating a relationship with a deity.
This is for a few reasons, at least in my mind; One, not every deity is a male or female therefore the gendered terms of God and Goddess don’t apply to them. Two, because some deities don’t fit into the transcendent idea of gods and goddesses. In many cultures the deities are more like spirits or elements, so calling them by god or goddess.
That’s a loaded question, actually! There are so many ways you can practice working with a deity. First let’s talk about the difference between deity worship and deity work.
Deity Worship
You worship the deity, give them offerings, praise them, pray to them, but you don’t really expect responses or feedback from them. This is a great option for those who are hesitant to work directly with a deity.
Deity Work
Working with a deity is different because of the dynamic between you and your chosen deity. There is a lot more getting to know each other and relationship building involved in this. This involves speaking with the deity, which can mean speaking through ways of divination, like tarot, pendulums, runes, etc., or you can try and speak with them through meditation.
First let me say that you do not need to choose one or even a few deities to work with. You can be like my sibling (and many other witches) and work with deities in a casual way.
This means that you do not work with specific deities, you work with whatever deity you need help or support from with whatever magic you’re doing.
You can also follow a specific deity (or a few specific deities) and still causally interact with other deities. Very rarely will you find a deity that bans you from speaking with other spirits and gods and such. If you do find that your deity doesn’t want you speaking to any others, ask them why. Maybe you’re not ready to speak to this other deity you had in mind, or maybe you need to set some boundaries with the deity you’re speaking to.
Regardless, always, always do research on a deity before working with them. This whole blog is about researching witchcraft and magic and asking you to do so as well. Research is key in any path in life that you decide to take. So please make sure you look into a deity before working with them.
Honestly, if you ask yourself this, you’ll find the answer pretty quickly. Do you feel like a deity is reaching out to you? If so, then maybe they are! Of course, some of us have anxiety or imposter syndrome and think that there is no way a deity could be reaching out to us; I say this from experience.
Often the deities won’t show themselves to you right away, not many are that blunt (some are though!) but they will still try to show themself to you through other means.
If you think a deity is reaching out to you, or if you’re not sure, here are a few ways you can try to discern if it’s a deity or not.
Synchronicity, are there a lot of instances where you are faced with the same symbol or sign? Does it happen to the point of it being far too uncanny to be a coincidence?
Dreams, are you often having dreams about the same signs, animals, or objects?
Divination, are you pulling the same cards or tossing the same runes all the time?
If you said yes to any of these, check to see if it correlates to a deity.
It may also be a sign or omen from another source, if that’s the case then don’t be disheartened, it’s still something you need to know, so pay attention!
The best way that I have personally found to see if I am being contacted is to ask a form of divination in which I am the strongest at. In my case I am really connected to my tarot cards, so I will ask them. There are deity identification and communication spreads that you can find online, but be sure a deity is what you’re talking to before doing these so that things don’t get muddled.
If you want to be really sure you can try asking them to send you a specific sign. I usually ask for something uncommon but not difficult.
Example: you could ask to be sent a yellow heart three times or maybe a picture of a purple snake randomly.
It’s ok if a deity isn’t reaching out to you and sending you signs, this could be because you hadn’t opened yourself up to the opportunity yet.
If you would like to work with a certain deity it is okay to reach out to them first. Do research on them, ask other people who work with that deity about them, see what they like, and maybe start with worship.
If you feel like you have started feeling a stronger connection, see if they are willing to work with you. You can do this by asking forms of divination like tarot cards, runes, or focused meditation; or you could ask for a specific sign as mentioned earlier.
Example: If you’re willing to work with me, please send me a (insert chosen sign here).
You don’t need to make a contract with a deity if you don’t want to. Honestly, I don’t know of many witches that actually make a formal contract with any deity or spirit or anything of the like.
With that being said, if you would like to make a contract of some sort with the deity you interact with then please feel free to do so.
Regardless of if you do a contract or not, I suggest you let the prospective deity know of your boundaries and ask them about theirs. This goes with any relationship, really.
You don’t have to have an altar for any specific deity, or even have one at all. If you have the space, however, and you feel moved to create one then go ahead! Decorate this space with things that you have found that the deity likes, maybe they like fire so you put matches and candles on it. Perhaps they like water so you put a shell or stone you found in a river on the altar, and so on.
If you’re curious as to what I put on my altars, here are a few ideas:
Cup, bowl, or other container for liquid offerings
Candle
Incense holder
Herbs and rocks associated with the deity
Artwork you’ve created for the deity
There are many types of offerings that you could do
Herbs, rocks, and other things from nature (make sure it’s ok to take these items if you’re gathering them from nature!)
Beverages, especially alcoholic beverages for some deities (Lugh seems to like Cider in my experience and The Morrigan like red wine)
Food
Artwork, even better if you made it yourself!
Sing or play a song that reminds you of them
Devotional act, what you do here really depends on what deity you’re devoting the act to.
Honestly if you can, ask the deity what they would like to be offered. The two I follow don’t really like receiving a lot of physical gifts, they prefer to see me get stuff done and better myself.
~~~
This is a pretty basic deity work post, so if you have anything to add please do so. If you have any questions please feel free to ask me!
You might need some T.L.C. - Tigger Loving Care!!!
Tigger board for you sunshines :)
Im gonna be so real can yall actually talk about ways we can support trans women in the UK instead of giving all the attention to fucking JKR. I already know that Harry Poter sucks, I wanna know how to actually HELP people. Something something you have to love the oppressed more than you hate the oppressor
I think the historical treatment of left handed people is objectively the funniest form of bigotry mankind has ever displayed
I hope everyone heals soon 🌱
Here are your pretty flowers
🌹🌸🌻🌷🌼💐🪷🌺
For trying each day.
•Delilah Paris •Audhd •any pronouns • the greek gods 🏛️ •fandoms: HP (the marauders), miraculous lb, pjo, Sherlock Holmes
423 posts