Zen-the-wizard - Cottagecore Is Racist, Just Say Farmcore

Decolonizing your Practice: Smoke Cleansing

So, the cleansing most people seem familiar with is using White sage, sometimes it comes in a kit with and Abalone shell and a feather. However these shouldn't be bought as this IS A CLOSED AND SACRED PRACTICE FOR NATIVE AMERICANS KNOWN AS SMUDGING. And if you're a non-native you should not be using White sage as it's one of their sacred Medicines.

And because I know some of y'all are too lazy to look up alternatives I'm here to help.

So Smudging is a type of Smoke cleansing—burning botanicals, resins, wood, etc. for health and/or spiritual purposes. This type of cleansing is used by many different people and faiths throughout the world so you can find a type of Smoke Cleansing that doesn't make you appropriate sacred medicine from indigenous people.

There are no excuses.

Common Ways to Smoke Cleanse

Incense Sticks

Incense Cones

Resin Incense (straight up bits of sap from trees)

Powdered Incense

Herb Bundles / Burning Bouquets.

Herbs you can use other than White Sage

Green Sage/Kitchen Sage: Cleansing and Good Luck

Russian sage: cleanses and can be used for protection

Cedar: For Cleansing negative energy and protection. (Note: Cedar is still one of the four sacred medicines of Native Americans. So while it's not closed in the same way white sage is if your in America try and either buy from Native Shops or find a store near you that works with Native People and pay them fairly)

Rosemary: rosemary is perfect for burning as a purification herb. it's burned to create a "fresh start" in life

lavender: uplift the mood, dispel negative emotion and bring in a sense of calm and relaxation

White Pine: cleanses emotions and can be used for protection

( i do know there are other herbs used for smoke cleansing I just wanted to list a few that had the same affect as White Sage does)

🌿🔮💧✧cleansing✧💧🔮🌿

THE TOWER - Tarot Card Curse Jar

Hey y'all ! I made this because some people love to be absolute douche bags!!! So if your local douche bag is being extra douchey then this just might be for you

This curse is meant to fuck up five different aspects of someone’s life (depending on the cards) which can be changed accordingly This is the first Curse/Spell I’ve ever written so go easy on me, yeah? If you do actually do this- tag me. I’d love to see it ;0;

You Will Need:

* The Tower

* Chariot

* The Wheel of fortune

* Ten of Pentacles

* Three of Cups

* Knight of Pentacles

* A Mason Jar

* Taglock (preferably a picture)

* Curse powder (optional)

1. Print out the Tarot cards mentioned above (you can even use a scanner and scan your own cards) and cut them out. These are the cards you’ll be using for the curse

2. Take your mason jar and your taglock. Tape the taglock on the inside of the jar’s lid.

3. Now you’re ready to start. Find a place where you won’t be interrupted and lay out all the cards in front of you

THE CARDS

* Pick up the chariot first. Hold it above the taglock and say: “The Chariot, for determination and will power” now reverse the card and say “may you lose your focus and motivation, especially in study” now tear up the card and place it in the jar

* The wheel of fortune is next. Hold the card above the taglock again and say “the wheel of fortune for good luck” reverse and say “may your luck run dry and your path be strewn with mischances” tear and add to the jar.

* Third is the ten of Pentacles. Again, holding the card over the taglock say “Ten of Pentacles for Finance” reverse “may you experience personal financial failure” rip and toss it in the jar

* Now move on to the three of cups. Say: “three of cups for friendship and joy” next,you guessed it, reverse the card. “May your bridges burn and your heart fill with sadness” tear up that baby and toss it in the damn jar

* Lastly (thank the lord) is the knight of pentacles. Say: “knight of pentacles for efficiency and hard work” turn it upside down and continue. “ May your efforts and hard work prove fruitless” throw the shreds in the jar

————————————

Now that all the shredded cards are in the jar, throw in some curse powder or red pepper flakes to give the curse an extra kick. You can add other things like rusted nails or a tiny bit of war water etc, etc..

Close the lid of the jar. Shake the shit out of it. Let your anger bubble up and envision the target suffering the above mentioned misfortunes. Open the jar back up and place the tower, upright, into the jar.

Close the lid again. Say: “may the tower bring the destruction you deserve” Hide the jar in a dark place and shake it when you feel the curse needs an extra kick.

————————

To undo this curse open the jar and remove the tower. Reverse and rip it then throw it into the jar. Declare that the curse is lifted and dispose of the taglock and contents of the jar outside. Sweep the contents off of your property and dust off your hands. Now you can cleanse your jar for later use. Again, this is my first spell and curse I’ve ever written. If you decide to try it show me your results!!

👁‍🗨Cheers!

as someone who is a HUGE daydreamer and often builds up a whole world of expectations when i make plans, i made this spread for myself, and it’s proven to be incredibly useful. hopefully it’s of use to some of you as well!

"My Cacti Stay Healthy"

Draw this on the pot you keep your cactus/cacti in

Homemaking, gardening, and self-sufficiency resources that won’t radicalize you into a hate group

It seems like self-sufficiency and homemaking skills are blowing up right now. With the COVID-19 pandemic and the current economic crisis, a lot of folks, especially young people, are looking to develop skills that will help them be a little bit less dependent on our consumerist economy. And I think that’s generally a good thing. I think more of us should know how to cook a meal from scratch, grow our own vegetables, and mend our own clothes. Those are good skills to have.

Unfortunately, these “self-sufficiency” skills are often used as a recruiting tactic by white supremacists, TERFs, and other hate groups. They become a way to reconnect to or relive the “good old days,” a romanticized (false) past before modern society and civil rights. And for a lot of people, these skills are inseparably connected to their politics and may even be used as a tool to indoctrinate new people.

In the spirit of building safe communities, here’s a complete list of the safe resources I’ve found for learning homemaking, gardening, and related skills. Safe for me means queer- and trans-friendly, inclusive of different races and cultures, does not contain Christian preaching, and does not contain white supremacist or TERF dog whistles.

Homemaking/Housekeeping/Caring for your home:

Making It by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen [book] (The big crunchy household DIY book; includes every level of self-sufficiency from making your own toothpaste and laundry soap to setting up raised beds to butchering a chicken. Authors are explicitly left-leaning.)

Safe and Sound: A Renter-Friendly Guide to Home Repair by Mercury Stardust [book] (A guide to simple home repair tasks, written with rentals in mind; very compassionate and accessible language.)

How To Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis [book] (The book about cleaning and housework for people who get overwhelmed by cleaning and housework, based on the premise that messiness is not a moral failing; disability and neurodivergence friendly; genuinely changed how I approach cleaning tasks.)

Gardening

Rebel Gardening by Alessandro Vitale [book] (Really great introduction to urban gardening; explicitly discusses renter-friendly garden designs in small spaces; lots of DIY solutions using recycled materials; note that the author lives in England, so check if plants are invasive in your area before putting them in the ground.)

Country/Rural Living:

Woodsqueer by Gretchen Legler [book] (Memoir of a lesbian who lives and works on a rural farm in Maine with her wife; does a good job of showing what it’s like to be queer in a rural space; CW for mentions of domestic violence, infidelity/cheating, and internalized homophobia)

“Debunking the Off-Grid Fantasy” by Maggie Mae Fish [video essay] (Deconstructs the off-grid lifestyle and the myth of self-reliance)

Sewing/Mending:

Annika Victoria [YouTube channel] (No longer active, but their videos are still a great resource for anyone learning to sew; check out the beginner project playlist to start. This is where I learned a lot of what I know about sewing.)

Make, Sew, and Mend by Bernadette Banner [book] (A very thorough written introduction to hand-sewing, written by a clothing historian; lots of fun garment history facts; explicitly inclusive of BIPOC, queer, and trans sewists.)

Sustainability/Land Stewardship

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer [book] (Most of you have probably already read this one or had it recommended to you, but it really is that good; excellent example of how traditional animist beliefs – in this case, indigenous American beliefs – can exist in healthy symbiosis with science; more philosophy than how-to, but a great foundational resource.)

Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer [book] (This one is for my fellow witches; one of my favorite witchcraft books, and an excellent example of a place-based practice deeply rooted in the land.)

Avoiding the “Crunchy to Alt Right Pipeline”

Note: the “crunchy to alt-right pipeline” is a term used to describe how white supremacists and other far right groups use “crunchy” spaces (i.e., spaces dedicated to farming, homemaking, alternative medicine, simple living/slow living, etc.) to recruit and indoctrinate people into their movements. Knowing how this recruitment works can help you recognize it when you do encounter it and avoid being influenced by it.

“The Crunchy-to-Alt-Right Pipeline” by Kathleen Belew [magazine article] (Good, short introduction to this issue and its history.)

Sisters in Hate by Seyward Darby (I feel like I need to give a content warning: this book contains explicit descriptions of racism, white supremacy, and Neo Nazis, and it’s a very difficult read, but it really is a great, in-depth breakdown of the role women play in the alt-right; also explicitly addresses the crunchy to alt-right pipeline.)

These are just the resources I’ve personally found helpful, so if anyone else has any they want to add, please, please do!

“My Posters Don’t Fall”

Draw this on the back of your poster(s)

Sometimes I wonder if my patrons watch me open a container with my teeth, and then elbow their fellow gods and point going, "look look! That one's mine" 😏