Archive for July, 2013


Ask Black Witch

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July 26, 2013

So, here is Ask Black Witch where you ask me questions and I answer ‘em. Good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated.

Hello, I am not Wicca or Pagan but I seem to have an ex who is . . . . he has gotten obsessive and I have it on good word that he is “scrying” for me and a friend. im not sure what all that in tells but im a little worried so I have two questions for you if you are willing to answer A- what all is this “scrying” I cant seem to find out much on it and B how do I stop it Thank you for your time and consideration

– Shayla

Oy, this sounds pretty bad but not too incredibly.

A) Scrying is a form of divination that is great for finding things, location and people. Think of it as ye olde school geotagging. It also can be used to ask yes/no/maybe questions. Given it takes a lot of skill to be really good at scrying to the point you can best a GPS tracker, you may be ok.

B) How do you stop it would possibly be a binding spell since this seems to be irritating you and rightfully so. You mentioned that you’re not Pagan or Wiccan, however so you can use binding prayers. Not sure what religion you are but if you’re Abrahamic (Christian, Muslim or Jewish), after thinking about it, I would recommend you do some research to find some prayers to provide protection and to bind his obsession inactive.

Do you know of any Witches/Pagans who may need an apprentice?

– Hattie

Nope, ‘fraid not. That’s not something common to ask – unless you’re in a coven, part of certain veins of Paganism/Magick or are paired up with someone to learn a magick trade like herbalism and even then, they keep their selections close to those they know personally instead of shout it out to the world. If you want to learn magick, you don’t necessarily need a teacher to guide you. There are plenty of resources, check out the Resources category.

Hey there, hope your day/night is well. I have a question for ya. How do you feel about astrology?

– S. Dreams

I consider myself an amateur astrologer but I feel that no one should let it run their lives. It is useful but the weight people on it (actually, they put weight on pop astrology) is ridiculous because the average person is not that informed about astrology. And I really don’t like Pop astrology because it is so shallow, stupid, based on erroneous ideas and dumbed down beyond belief. It’s like pop psychology and pop medicine, not useful at all and harms more than it helps. I rather a person actually study this stuff instead of ramble mindlessly about how poorly Cancers and Arieans get along.

Well I fell odd, but I have had this same dream about 15 times I am at this pretty ladies house, on a date when she tell me I can not leave, and that she is a witch, then she smiles at me waves her hand and then I start to shrink, very small she picks me up in her hand , she then sizes me up with a ruler ahh one inch tall you are the perfect size! Odd , I admit fun, am I going to be shrunk down to a tiny man

– Mikey

As much as I like to present myself as fairly progressive and sex positive, I do not like being sent fetish questions like these. At all. Ever. And trust, you don’t score extra points to mention a witch, you actually lose them until you hit the negative. I am not Dan Savage, who probably would have tossed this in file 13 the second he opened it. Go to Dan Savage for sex and fetish questions and please write them better than this.

So, because I was blown away by this and the absolute nerve this dude had to send me this – the only thing that is one inch tall is just the measurement of his IQ or else he would have never sent this – I looked him up and well, look at what I found: turns out he’s been a nuisance for the magick community for years. The dude is in his mid 20s and been asking random magickal practitioners to be shrunk down since he was roughly 21. He asked on Wicca Space, two accounts actually, he has his Meetup where he’s claims he want to learn about the craft but c’mon, seriously? You’re gonna name yourself “Shrinking Mikey” and expect anyone to take you seriously? I don’t know how the St. Paul, MN witches are (which is where this dude is from) but I take it they wouldn’t be nice about it. Pretty disgusted actually because, hello, it’s a fetish and the average person does not like being asked about assisting in a fetish. It is Wicca Space and Meetup, not FetLife.

However, I saw this really funny response to this dude’s antics on Magicka School – where he has posted multiple times back in 2010 asking for the same thing over a span of days – by a poster named Miri:

“You know. That’s a really, really hard spell to accomplish properly. It is intensly time consuming and very complex. It really shouldn’t be attemped by anyone who is unable to trace their lineage back to Merlin, or at least Morgana. But, since you are in such desperate need, I shall share this with you.

First, you must purchase a purebred chocolate Labrador puppy. Must be purebred, and also, it must be an albino. You need to train this puppy so that it sits, no matter what the commotion, as if it stands or moves during the casting of the spell, you will be unsuccessful. When the puppy is 1 year, three months and 14.5 days old, you can cast the spell. No other timeframe will work.

Location – The place you choose to cast this spell must be VERY public, there must be a crowd surrounding you to ensure effectiveness.

Items needed – Powder, made from crushed rosehips or prickly pear. Honey. Albino chocolate labrador.

At the appointed time, smear your hair with honey. As honey is sweet and we all know that tiny things are sweet. Apply the powder to your arms, legs and torso, avoid any sensitive areas as the results could be, ummmn, unappreciated. Sit down, nose to nose with the Albino chocolate labrador. Raise your arms, elbows bent, hands in the outward facing duck position. Recite the all powerful chant 32 times ….

AHHH YAMA SHEET STAH RAH, AHHH YAMA SHEET STAH RAH.

Once recited, stand and do the sacred dance of power. Arms still raised in the outward facing duck position, hop from leg to leg circling the Albino chocolate labrador. Scream the powerful incantation of WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! By this time, the powder applied will no doubt help in perfection of this dance.

You will know if this spell has worked by the number of points and stares received by the onlookers around you. Even if you are not magically one inch tall …. you will feel an overwhelming desire to be one inch tall.

I take absolutely no responsibility for any embarrassment, itching, skin welts or feelings of intense shame felt by the performance of this ritual. Perform at your own risk with no guarantee of success, though there is a small likelyhood of arrest for public nuisance.”

That response was golden and very humorous. And I’m leaving this up here in case you bother other Witches and Pagans about this. Dude, don’t shrink, just disappear.

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The Arts!: P.O.D.

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July 19, 2013

I am gonna have a jam packed weekend thanks to P.O.D. coming by tomorrow at Rams Head Live (and Artscape and a Straight Line Stitch show). I’ve been a fan of them for the past 11 years so this makes me very excited! As a result, I’m gonna completely get lazy on The Arts! and just post up P.O.D. related music. The hecticness will be over by Wed so don’t be afraid to ask a question for Ask Black Witch.

I really got started with P.O.D. back in 2002, I happened upon their “Sleeping Awake” music video in an air conditioned kiosk during Artscape. I was really blown away by the visuals and the fact that for once, I wasn’t staring at an all-White band. Mainly the visuals.

I really liked P.O.D. and they very easily became my favorite band ever. My favorite album is Brown, which is an acronym for “Believe, Receive, Obtain, Wisdom, Never die”. It’s a fantastic album, I highly recommend it.

My parents…weren’t so keen. Firstly, it’s rock and here comes the stereotype that I’m supposed to like on R&B and Hip hop or something is wrong with me and my Blackness. Then there’s the band’s name of Payable On Death. It’s the “Death” they had a problem with and wondered if I was listening to something Marylin Manson style. I managed to win them over (kinda) with P.O.D.’s convenient religiosity. They’re a bit more accepting of it now than when I was a teenager.

Dude, I really like the music video “Rock the Party (Off the Hook)” because of how lively it is.

Now, they came out with Murdered Love, which I absolutely love. Aw, man, it very much is a great album that has not overly changed in sound too sharply (a la Linkin Park*) but definitely evolved. A like from me on the album is definitely “Murdered Love”

And they just came out with a new music video for one of the gentler songs “Beautiful”.

So I’ll be enjoying myself listening to the band I’ve stuck with for nearly half my life at this point tomorrow (technically today since today is Friday). Huzzah.

Check em out!

* LP would be my other favorite band, sharing a spot with P.O.D., but doesn’t change the fact their sound changed drastically between Hybrid Theory to Living Things)

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BW Sick Day: Pretty Down With The Sickness

Filed under: Pagan Life — Leave a comment
July 12, 2013

So I had a brand new experience earlier this week: I got food poisoning. Yep. It was my fault for ignoring a very dark and runny mustard for my hamburger and now, I have learned to truly respect the expiration date. That was the start of the week and I’m fairly better from that and then ye olde period comes right after that so I’m pretty wiped for the week and thus, no new post. Instead, enjoy this cute vid of a kitty playing tug-o-war:

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White Opinions Need Not Apply

Filed under: Pagan Life, Race — Leave a comment
July 7, 2013

A while ago, I was on the Black Witch Tumblr and saw a reblog from another Black blog about how the term “PoC” (Person of Color) can be really annoying sometimes and I jumped in and added that I agree because PoC can erase individual racial identification whereas “White” is still a standalone. Normal day on the BW Tumblr, right? That’s until the White Opinions started rolling in.

hey man i saw your post about how being called a “POC” is offensive. i’m white, so i don’t know shit about racism and can’t decide what’s offensive to you and what isn’t. to compare, as a gay woman, i find this new term “queer” (used to describe everyone on the LGBT spectrum) offensive, as do many others. do many people share the same thoughts on the term “POC”?

– chihiroschurros

Hi, I happened across your blog on accident and I have to say that your analysis of the term POC is pretty damn interesting. Honestly, I’ve always had an issue with that term. Hell, I’m a white male and every time I or someone else used it it always made my skin crawl and I had no idea why. Now I do. I know for certain that if I wasn’t white, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be referred to as that, and I’m sorry that people have used that to refer to you. It’s actually slightly dehumanizing.

– elegyforafez

See what I have to deal with?

I responded to them both in a super snarky way because, eh, it’s usually tough to explain to Whites how racism effects minorities because they go (conveniently) temporarily stupid and unknowing about the existence of Google so might as well express my opinion fully, even if they don’t get it. That and I wanted to nip any future White opinions before they could come in because it isn’t uncommon for White folks to latch on like a bedbug to the one minority that will put up with their bullsh*t. Especially in minorities-only discussions such as the term of PoC.

I responded to chihiroschurros with this response (wouldn’t be surprised if she thought you couldn’t be gay and not White at the same time) and to elegyforafez with this really scathing response because hey, White folks have a difficult time understanding the comment “Not your discussion, be quiet. And you’re dead wrong anyways, thus why you should be quiet,” I figure that tone and snark would help them understand that hey, maybe they should have been quiet in the first place and kept their White Opinions to themselves.

Oh and one responded to me with this

Oh. Well. Sorry to offend you.

– elegyforafez

What a dingbat. Here was my response. He thought I was offended? Nah. I wasn’t offended, he’s just really annoying with throwing in his opinion – actually assumed he had a place to present one – and if I wasn’t viper, he was probably going to go “hurrrrrr durrrrrrr, I didn’t get any of that. Duuurrrr” like White folks generally do when faced with explanations of why what they said/thought/did was incorrect.

Now for folks who are going, “but they’re just opinions, how is it White opinions? You’re categorizing by race too!” Yeah, the categorizing is on purpose, think of it like the term “mansplaining”, where a guy tries to explain a simple concept but heavily injected with sexism. “White Opinions” are intruding opinions in a subject that generally concerns and primarily affects minorities and White people who express their opinion automatically assume it is the highest opinion or the most authoritative because, well, they’re White. They’re a little too used to their privilege and think that since they’re speaking to minorities, they have the highest word.

It is very important for everyone to understand that in group conversations about race, religion or whatever, if you’re the one with the privilege, it is important not to invade that space and try to dominate the conversation or even inject an opinion that’s not necessary. A White person didn’t have to express how they felt about the term PoC because 1) it’s not their place to determine what we should be called and 2) we minorities already know how Whites feel about using terminology to describe someone’s race and/or ethnicity and given their track record, we really don’t want to hear any more of their thoughts and ideas. Notice in both Asks, the person pretty much implied “Oh my god, I think PoC is degrading, too!” which is really insulting because it tells me that they think PoC is insulting but I bet if the word us Black tumblrs was talking about was the N-word, they would either be silent or go “Hey, a word is a word! People should be able to use that word [especially us White folks because we really want to call you that, oh man, ur so mean. Weeeeeeeh, you’re infringing on my first amendment rights by not allowing me to freely use hate speech, this isn’t what our forefathers died for].” Let’s you know right there that they have a problem with a term that actually has “person/people” built into the name but if it is a dehumanizing term, oh go nuts.

It’s like if there was a Christian in a Pagan safe space, just trying to “correct” people left and right. Telling us, “Oh no, that’s a sin in the eyes of the Lord” or “Your god doesn’t exist so you don’t have to worry about that” or “I don’t think I have privilege at all, I’m just saying, I don’t think that you should take Creationism out of schools because that would lead to more school shootings! Prayer works – just to Jesus though, none of that devil worshipping you do. That causes them.” Notice the Christian is being remarkably rude because they’re completely disregarding a space that isn’t for them and instead of bowing out, they’re just establishing their religious privilege and down talking everyone else. Think this doesn’t happen? It happens all the time, even on national stages, just let a Black group try to talk about racism and prejudice in America and watch the White privilege start flying in through stereotyping, down-talking or trying to have the domineering opinion in an arena they have no business being in.

Now, how does one deal with encroaching White Opinions?

Here are your options:

A) Ignore them

B) Remind them that this is not their convo and you are not their cultural ambassador

C) Remind and ignore

This is really good because let’s face it, you really don’t want to keep arguing with these people forever because they’re going to use every tactic in the book to make you say that they are right or somehow twist your answer into making it appear that you’re proving them right. Nothing is wrong with saying, “This is my position on the situation and after that, we’re done.” No minority has to be a cultural ambassador to White folks. Ever. Google exists for a reason.

Or you can play racism bingo

racism bingo

Let’s see what I hit:

– “Just a coincidence that it looks like racism”

– “Didn’t Mean It That Way”

– Free Space for “White Opinions SMASH!” (I like using my free spaces early)

– “Only saying what people really think”

Remember folks, if you have privilege in that area (racial, gender, religious, cultural, etc), it’s best to just shut up and listen or strongly risk getting snipped at.

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