Rabbit

I’d like to pick some brains about something. I’ve seen a lot of people talk about making moon water by leaving water outside overnight, e.g. during the full moon. Can I ask what is being done in your personal practice that differentiates this from other water left outside, like ponds? #fedicoven

#FediCoven 2026 Q8: What’s a mundane activity that becomes unexpectedly magical or spiritually significant when done attentively? Anything and everything is magical when you do it magically, but I’ve never shut up about housecleaning as ritual. To avoid repeating myself for the thousandth time here, though, I’ll say: Cooking and gardening and especially cooking with what you gardened. Thrift shopping, therapy, diet and exercise. Mending clothes, doodling in the margins of your notebook, dancing. Cutting your own hair, arguing, protesting, saying good night and good morning to your loved ones.

My altars are very, very utilitarian. They have basically nothing on them that isn’t functional. They aren’t decorated. I’ve noticed a lot of people use their altars for seasonal decoration? Mine are more of a workspace.

This is the raised bed, which is where I tend to stick anything I’m experimenting with. I’ve come to think of this as a learning garden. (You can also see a green thing in the soil in one of the pictures—this is part of the vermicomposting system we have been trying out in this bed.) The main ground bed was previously a three sisters+ arrangement. I’m starting to seriously consider obtaining heat-resistant cultivars from further south because of the heat waves that seem to be becoming a permanent feature of the area. Herbs are mostly in flatbeds/pots—many of them aren’t tolerating the summer heat so this lets me pull them in toward the shade. I’m going to experiment with putting some directly in the ground early next year and see if a deeper root system helps. Based on what I use, this might end up becoming an herb garden anyway.

@fey@pagan.plus I enjoy everything you've written here and I appreciate hearing your very considered approach as well. There is definitely something to be said for examining and understanding the underlying structure and coming back stronger for it (in the same way cis people can question their gender? haha). I do know several people whose observation of the Wheel is deeply considered and I feel that their approach echoes a lot of what you mentioned, especially attuning to the locale and its microseasons. I think there's a lot to chew on re: what the origin of the Wheel is doing theologically, from the Wiccan (et al) perspective of the god and goddess--which is not a theology I hold with--and the degree to which it has influenced contemporary "default holidays" celebrated by casual witches and pagans. I think it's probably underlying a lot of the pervasiveness of masculine/feminine binarism in the space, for example. But the high days on their own are just a solar wheel, which is celebrated in so many traditions and cultures that no one has a monopoly. There are solar high days I celebrate, and holy days which are influenced by Germanic and continental Celtic traditions, yet I hold them as distinct. I also do consider them cultural holidays at this point, in a way, like Christmas. Do I celebrate Christ? No. Will I go to your white elephant party and drink your punch around a fire? Absolutely, so long as you don't make me pray. Same with the Wheel. I've kind of meandered, but I really appreciated hearing your thoughts. 🥰

I have two kind of “writing paths” I could get to work on from my complete notes. There’s a “localizing animist witchcraft” “series” that talks about building meaningful relationships with the spirits already with you, in culturally-embedded ways, as skill and relationship development. There’s also a “witch’s body as place” series that I’ve been meaning to get to work on that discusses body work as land/altar work and living human as materia. I’m a bit split on which I want to do first.

Of particular interest are the intuitively performed folk cures: a knife may cut pain as it does a physical object; a child may be passed from sickness into health as it is passed from the arms of one parent to another; a wart may be taken or given away like a coin or a gift.

Today I was able to sit down and write out some notes on my use of the rocking chair as well. https://harebones.com/rocking-chair/

I have been asked to write some things for my local anarchosocialist witchcraft collective and I am not sure how much I will be able to cross-pollinate that work but am excited for it! they're particularly interested in engaging me to do some more dedicated writing on comparative theology which is my jam and something I have been meaning to dig into for a really long time

Suffumigating my needles for some stitch work that I hope to get done during a community meeting tonight.

I love divination and think it’s a great tool, but don’t give up your agency over your own life to it.

I am reckoning with doing professional tarot readings for the first time in a very long time (a decade and change?!) and have been practicing with my obliging partner. They want a tarot reader for a fundraising event so I’ve offered my time. This is a more casual setting than usual: think “free at a fundraising fair.” I’m considering offering only two- and three-card spreads, which is not my usual style. I also need to consider my ruleset (e.g., “no love readings when both/more than one party is present” and so forth). Are there any professional readers who have worked in this kind of setting? What are your rules and thoughts?

I don’t think I shared my notes here on deliberately not celebrating the Wheel of the Year, but it remains relevant as ever. This is one of those things that I wrote up almost as an evergreen signpost. https://harebones.com/building-cultus-a-criticism-of-the-wheel-of-the-year/