pastel-plague-doctor

[pastel-plague-doctor]

there is no “trans debate.” you either believe in the rights of all people to personal freedom, bodily autonomy, privacy, and self-identification, or you’re just a bad person.

[pastel-plague-doctor]

PSA - Delete any asks you receive about "joyofsatan.org!"

We've been through the "Gold Star Lesbian" spam asks, as well as the amegaotaku/rekka007 ones, and it seems that the new copypasta spam ask everyone is receiving is one where people are asked what they think of Joyofsatan.org, claiming them to be "the largest Satanist organization in the world."

These asks are mostly sent to users who frequently talk about the occult and/or witchcraft, feminist bloggers, and Jewish users, with the message slightly altered for each person it's sent to. Here are the two most common variations of the ask:

"What do you think of Joyofsatan.org? They claim to follow the Pagan Goddess Lilith/Lalitha, they’re pro-choice and they’re the largest Satanist group in the world." <- This one also occasionally includes "they support women's rights" after "they're pro-choice." This also seems to be the most commonly sent ask.

"What do you think of Joyofsatan.org? They claim to follow the Sumerian God Enki-Satan and they’ve become the largest Satanist group in the world."

Although these asks are usually sent on anon, they're also sent by the burner account 88643468, presumably to bypass anyone who has anon asks turned off, so I suggest blocking that account, especially if you have anon asks turned off.

Now, the reason you should delete these asks, instead of engaging, is because the Joy of Satan Ministries in question is a Neo-Nazi group, as detailed on the Wikipedia page I just linked, and these asks appear to be a recruiting tactic, going by the types of users most commonly spammed with the asks, and how the asks are re-worded depending on who they're sent to; instead of a singular copypasta that gets sent to everyone, it's variations of the copypasta that are each targeted towards a different demographic.

The people sending these asks want you and your followers to go to the Joy of Satan website, so that it gains more traffic and, of course, to suck people into their white supremacist cult.

So please, please, don't engage, just delete the asks and block the 88643468 account, and if someone you follow answers one of these asks, urge them to delete their post and to block the 88643468 account for extra measure. Right now is also a good time to disable anonymous asks, or even take it a step further and only allow asks from people you follow, just in case 88643468 isn't the only burner account.

Please share this.

#Y I K E S

[pastel-plague-doctor]

Aw, thank you so much! For the reblog and the kind words. 💕

buy me a coffee ☕

Hey, guys! You can now make one-time tips or donations through my brand new Ko-Fi account! This is a great way to show your appreciation and support what I’m doing here and on YouTube without the monthly commitment of Patreon.

For now, I just have my account set up for tips/donations – however, Ko-Fi has a lot of other features, like commissions and a monthly subscription model similar to Patreon, so I may start offering other services like tarot readings and spiritual consultations over there in the future. Let me know if that’s something you guys would be interested in.

#reblogs #grimoirey

[pastel-plague-doctor]

I hope you’ll be able to participate! I’m very excited about it! 

Sea Witch Reading Challenge!

I’m so excited to announce that I will be co-hosting a witchy reading challenge for the month of May! We’ll be diving into the element of water, the ocean as a spiritual force, and the role water plays in magic. 

Shoutout to my co-hosts, @discordantq, @theperfumewitch, and @will-o-the-witch! All of us will be tracking the challenge tag, and all of us are available to answer any questions you may have or to recommend books. 

So, about the reading challenge:

Although we’re calling it the Sea Witch Reading Challenge, you do not have to live near the ocean or work with the ocean to participate. The focus here is on the element of water and the spiritual beings associated with it, and our hope is that you’ll choose books that are relevant to your interests and practice. 

Sea Witch Reading Challenge Prompts:

A book about the element of water and its use in magic 

A book about a god, goddess, spirit, or cryptid associated with water 

A book about mermaids or some other type of water spirit

The challenge will last for the entire month of May. You can participate by reading books for the three prompts above and posting about them on social media with the tag #SeaWitchReadingChallenge. The other co-hosts and I will be tracking this hashtag on Tumblr, YouTube, and Instagram. Be sure to tag your posts so we can interact with them, talk about the books we read, and enter you in our challenge giveaway! 

Speaking of the giveaway, every post in the #SeaWitchReadingChallenge tag on the previously mentioned social media platforms will be counted as one entry into a giveaway for a copy of the Believe In Your Own Magic oracle deck by Amanda Lovelace – so the more active you are in the tag, the more likely you are to win! This is my personal favorite oracle deck, and it’s become a cornerstone of my self-care practice. While not technically water-themed, the deck has a lovely fairy tale theme and many of the cards feature mermaids. The giveaway winner will be chosen randomly at the end of the month. 

While the other co-hosts and I are very excited to explore the subject of water magic and folklore with you all, we also feel that it’s important to acknowledge the necessity of water for human life – a necessity that is inaccessible to many communities. Clean drinking water is a basic human need, but 29% of all people do not have access to safe water. More than twice that number are at risk of water contamination due to insufficient waste water management. Since reciprocity is a fundamental value for many witches and pagans, we encourage participants not only to educate themselves, but to take this opportunity to help provide clean drinking water to people who need it. We recommend a $10 donation to nonprofit dedicated to this cause for each book you complete for the challenge. (I will personally be donating to DigDeep, but we encourage you to do your own research and choose a group you can feel good about.)

We understand that not everyone has an extra $30 to donate, so you don’t have to make a donation to participate or to enter the giveaway. However, we hope you’ll take this opportunity to educate yourself on the issue of water inequality and raise awareness by telling others about it. My co-hosts are also offering free psychic services to anyone who can show proof of donation – @theperfumewitch is offering free tarot and oracle readings for those who donate, and @will-o-the-witch​ has offered to draw intuitive sketches of your spirit guides/companions! If either of those services interest you, you can show a screenshot of your donation confirmation to get a free reading! 

I’m really excited about this challenge, and I hope you guys are too! I am tracking the #SeaWitchReadingChallengeTag on Instagram, YouTube, and Tumblr, so make sure you tag your posts so I can see them and enter you in the giveaway! I will personally be vlogging the books I read for the challenge on my YouTube channel and posting reviews here. 

Happy reading! 

#self reblog #fae-de-lune

[pastel-plague-doctor]

@breathing-in-waves replied to your post: 

I believe it was a mixture Passover and Eostre that created Easter. Either way, we can agree that it's not of Christian origin. It's also not a racist celebration, you may have gotten your Goddesses mixed up there because I'm sure she isn’t white.

Literally quoting the first line of the Wikipedia article because holy fuck y’all, Google is free:

“Ēostre is a West Germanic spring goddess... Ēostre is attested solely by Bede in his 8th-century work The Reckoning of Time, where Bede states that during Ēosturmōnaþ (the equivalent of April), pagan Anglo-Saxons had held feasts in Ēostre's honour.“

The Anglo-Saxons were the ancestors of modern British folks. What race, exactly, do you think British people are? 

#GOOGLE IS FREE #replies #breathing-in-waves

[pastel-plague-doctor]

When NOT to Trust Your Intuition

“Trust your intuition” is a phrase we commonly see thrown around in witchy spaces, and in many cases it’s good advice. Part of practicing witchcraft (especially if your craft has a focus on divination or psychic abilities) is learning to trust in your intuitive promptings. In a lot of cases, going with your gut feeling is the right call. But not always.

Our intuition can be wrong, or can give us an incomplete picture of a situation. It can also sometimes be difficult to tell the difference between intuition and subconscious programming. The human brain is designed to find patterns. Because of this, it can sometimes be hard to tell if we are genuinely receiving a psychic prompting or just connecting dots that are actually unrelated.

There are a few common thought patterns that often get mistaken for intuitive messages by new and experienced witches alike. It’s a good idea to read up on these and to keep them in mind when determining the validity of intuitive messages.

Cognitive Distortions

According to Rebecca Joy Stanborough, MFA, writing for Healthline, cognitive distortions are “thought patterns that cause people to view reality in inaccurate — usually negative — ways. In short, they’re habitual errors in thinking.”

Like a computer error, cognitive distortions cause us to misinterpret information and draw incorrect conclusions. Cognitive distortions are common symptoms of mental illnesses [see below], but all of us experience them at some point, even if we’re 100% neurotypical. Research suggests that cognitive distortions may have evolved as a survival mechanism, and that they’re usually tied to trauma or negative experiences.

This is way too big of a topic to cover in a single post, but here are a few common cognitive distortions to look out for:

Black and White Thinking (also called “All or Nothing Thinking”): only thinking in extremes, framing every situation as either/or. (Example: “I have to do this ritual right or I’m a failure as a witch.”)

Overgeneralization: applying a conclusion based on a single experience to a whole group of people or things. (Example: “People who cast curses and hexes are all evil.”)

Catastrophizing: assuming the worst in every situation; turning everyday worries into major catastrophes. (Example: “I didn’t feel the gods during my ritual — the gods must have cut me off because they’re angry with me.”)

Personalization: taking things personally when they have nothing to do with you. (Example: “My friend cancelled our lunch plans for today — they must have decided they don’t like me anymore.”)

Mind Reading: making assumptions about what other people are thinking or feeling, usually projecting your own feelings onto them. (Example: “My partner is being quiet tonight — they must be angry with me.”) This cognitive distortion is especially important for witches to look out for, as it can be mistaken for empathy or claircognizance.

Mental Filtering: excluding positives and focusing only on negatives OR excluding negatives and focusing only on positives. (Example: You draw the Tower, the Sun, and Death in your tarot spread. You become fixated on the negative messages in the Tower and Death cards, ignoring the positivity and blessings heralded by the Sun.)

Labeling: reducing yourself, another person, a group of people, or a thing/activity to a single, one-word label. (Example: “I’m lazy.”)

I strongly encourage all witches to do research into cognitive distortions and learn to recognize them, especially if the nature of your magical practice has you leaning heavily on your intuition. A cognitive distortion is not an intuitive message — your intuition should be logical, and can often be fact-checked.

Prejudice

The prejudice I’m talking about here isn’t just the obvious kind, like blatant racism or homophobia. We all have prejudices, whether we realize it or not. Merriam-Webster defines prejudice as a “preconceived judgment or opinion” or “an adverse opinion or leaning formed without just grounds or before sufficient knowledge.” Prejudice simply means thinking we know what to expect from something, even if we’ve never experienced it before.

You may have an image in your head of what “real” witchcraft looks like. You might feel like emoji spells, for example, aren’t “real magic” because they seem silly, they don’t take a lot of time and effort, there’s no historical precedent for them, etc. etc. In short, you feel like they aren’t “real magic” because they don’t fit your idea of what magic looks like. This is an example of prejudice, and buying into that prejudice prevents you from having access to an easy, fun form of techno magic.

If you find yourself receiving an “intuitive message” that someone else is faking it, is lying about their spiritual experiences, or is only imagining those experiences, take a step back and seriously examine that thought and where it might be coming from. It’s possible that the thought came not from your intuition, but instead from your own prejudices. It doesn’t matter if the way someone practices magic or experiences spirituality is different from your path — it’s the right way for them, and that’s what matters.

When you bring your prejudice into a tarot reading or other form of divination, you bring a set expectation for what the cards are going to tell you. The cards are going to pick up on that, and they may very well tell you what you want to hear — or you may twist the meaning of the cards to fit your expectations. This prevents you from getting clear, accurate readings.

I know it’s hard, but witchcraft requires us to leave our prejudice at the door. There is no “right way” to be a witch or to practice magic. There is no “right way” to communicate with the gods or the universe. Prejudice, biases, and expectations will only keep you from fully exploring your spirituality. Work on letting them go and opening up to the full spectrum of possibilities.

Stereotyping

This one goes hand-in-hand with prejudice and is closely related to overgeneralization (a cognitive distortion). Stereotyping is a necessary coping mechanism that we use to simplify our social interactions — but it is also the root of serious social issues like racism and misogyny. We all use stereotypes without consciously thinking about it.

While it’s important to be aware of stereotyping in order to avoid contributing to social issues, it’s also important for witches to learn the difference between an intuitive hit and a stereotype. This is especially important for witches who use claircognizance, where information often comes in the form of “downloads” that can sometimes be difficult to tell apart from our own thoughts.

For example, you might “just know” or “have a gut feeling” that a man you know is gay. But if that man talks in a higher pitch, acts effeminately, and puts a lot of time and effort into his appearance, then your gut feeling may have less to do with intuition and more to do with applying stereotypes to your friend.

Mental Illness

Many common mental illnesses, like depression and anxiety, can cause you to feel like you know that something bad is about to happen. “Anticipating disaster” or feeling like something is going to go wrong, is one of the most common symptoms of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and other anxiety disorders. Hyperfixating on details and worrying over small things are also common symptoms of these and other mental disorders.

As a witch with two anxiety disorders, I’ve had to learn to tell the difference between my intuition and my anxiety. Here’s a very recent, real life example: Last week, the entire staff at my workplace was tested for COVID-19. The results were expected to come back on my day off, and I found myself constantly watching my phone. Now, I do have some claircognizance, and when my phone goes off I usually know who the message is from before I even look at it. But on this day, every time my phone dinged I was just sure that it was my boss texting me to let me know that I’d tested positive. After the first couple of “false alarms,” I realized that this was an anxiety thing, not an intuitive thing. I was anxious about the test results, so that was the first thing my mind went to every time. (For the record, when my results did come back, they were negative.)

If you have or suspect that you have a mental illness that affects your thoughts and emotions, I highly recommend seeking out a good therapist or counselor. A trained mental health professional can help you sort out your symptoms and learn to recognize them, so you can differentiate them from genuine psychic experiences. (I’ve personally had really good results with CBT and DBT.)

Journaling has also been really helpful for me, as it helps me keep things straight and allows me to go back and read over my experiences when I’m having a better mental health day. (In my experience, it’s much easier to tell the difference between anxiety and intuition when you’re not in the moment.)

Resources:

“What Are Cognitive Distortions and How Can You Change These Thinking Patterns?” by Rebecca Joy Stanborough, MFA, medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, Ph.D., CRNP, published through Healthline

“50 Common Cognitive Distortions” by Alice Boyes Ph.D., published through Psychology Today

“Stereotypes” by Saul McLeod, published through Simply Psychology

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Facts page on the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) website

New World Witchery Podcast, “Episode 65 — The Slender Man Discussion”

#self reblog #long post

[pastel-plague-doctor]

Guess this DND character’s race and subclass based on aesthetic alone challenge 

#dnd #moodboard #my ocs #my pcs #dungeons and dragons #tiefling #socerer #shadow sorcerer #mine

[pastel-plague-doctor]

Some of you use punk as an excuse to be a dick, and it shows

[pastel-plague-doctor]

I made a meme for today

[pastel-plague-doctor]

My husband is a professional cook and has made huge adjustments to recipes to accommodate my dietary restrictions, namely Celiac disease. Here's a couple tips from him:

If the baking recipe calls for water, use dairy milk. If you can't have dairy due to lactose intolerance, you can try lactose-free milk like Lactaid (which he uses for both of us). If that is still a no, use soy milk with a little bit of lemon juice.

Use an extra egg. If it calls for 2 eggs, use 3. That sort of thing. It binds things better and gives some things a little more fluff.

Those are the adjustments he recommends. Also, try flour mixes rather than just single flour. I like Premium Gold brand. It works perfectly for my banana bread recipe. Single flour is like just rice flour or just buckwheat flour. A mix or blend tends to work better. Try different brands to see what works best for you.

Gluten-free foods tend to be dry or crumbly, but milk and eggs prevent that from happening. Experiment and find what works for you.

Good luck!

[pastel-plague-doctor]

there’s something so tender about holding hands

[pastel-plague-doctor]

the year is 2069. i come home from my job at the communism factory to find that my 6 husbands have collectively invited a catgirl into the polycule. i fall to the ground and cry because we already have like 10 catgirls and im the only one who every cleans the fucking litterbox

[pastel-plague-doctor]

Looks like my familiar shares some of my views

[pastel-plague-doctor]

“reverse harem anime” but instead of meaning the genders get changed its the concept in general being changed. like its one dude and a ton of fan service characters who just cant stand him. they all want him dead. they think hes an annoying little prick and justifiably hate him for it nvm this is just scott pilgrim

[pastel-plague-doctor]

im so mad bc “atlas shrugged” is such a raw fucking title. thats an EXCELLENT name for a book. a man holding the weight of the entire world on his shoulders is so moved by his disdain for the current state of things that he exerts the force to shrug. indifference to the nth degree. that’s fucking metal. then you read it and it’s just about hating poor people.

[pastel-plague-doctor]

white men will watch si fi and think “haha technology go brrr” when the characters are basically looking at the camera and saying “imperialism is bad. fascism is a disease. women should have rights and be able to get abortions” and then complain when newer si fi features a trans person

[pastel-plague-doctor]

Look, I like a homemade cheese sauce as much as the next dweeb, but a lot of food blogs’ insistence that it’s not a real mac and cheese unless the cheeses you’re using are older than God is just perplexing. Like, if I’m making mac and cheese, I’m not looking to have my palate challenged. Maybe your idea of comfort food tastes like getting punched in the mouth by a dairy farmer, but I’m not that dedicated to the cheese experience.