Archive for June, 2017


Ask Black Witch: another wannabe shape shifter that can’t read, can I turn back time and am I pregnant? I didn’t want to test myself

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June 30, 2017

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It’s officially time for Ask Black Witch! Readers send me questions and I answer them. Good questions are appreciated, bad questions are eviscerated. Let’s start.

Can you turn me into a werewolf like a shape shifter
– Shannancope

Any regular reader knows that this is what I consider a bad question and why:

A ) I don’t do pay for pray (paid spellwork)
B ) I’m a witch, not a genie
C ) I’m not a spellwork vending machine and find anyone who treats me like that, despite the fact I constantly express the two previous points, very annoying and idiotic.

Is it possible to do a spell to turn back time, and redo your decisions?
– Loma

Short answer: not really.

Long answer: In spellwork, magick and the occult, all things are very possible. Thing is, they require a metric f*ckton of skill, usually in high magick, not easy dealings for noobs and especially not for dabblers. Also, the Fates get begged alllllllll the time, this is definitely not for noobs.

Here’s the kit and kaboodle about going back and making decisions: they ripple into other decisions in ways the human mind (and definitely not the human heart, which is what drives the “Gotta go back, I totally f*cked that one up” feeling) can definitely not comprehend. The decision the person made could have been a bad choice on its face but who knows what the effect could branch out to be? Yes, divination can tell you quite a bit but no diviner on this planet is going to go over every minute detail. Also, what if the other choice would have created a bigger mess? And this is the choice that you know of, not of the smaller choices that you may not be aware of that could also affect this choice. Then there are situations where you’re simply going to be screwed one way or another, you’re just going to get the rusty, jagged dildo instead of the spiky one coated in salt instead because there is literally no “good option”. Decisions are tough, that’s fact. Even with magick, they don’t get easier.

I am also tempted to post the “If I Could Turn Back the Hands of Time” song but that was made by R. Kelly so I’ll be sparing.

am I pregnant
– Elizabeth S.

My response to this obscenely short question was “Have you tried taking a pregnancy test?” Because, pregnancy tests do exist and are even available in dollar stores. You can even buy a slew of them and test yourself weekly, twice a day.

Her response:

I have talked to a south Africa psychic and she told me I was pregnant [but] I have black magic on me that’s why I am asking

Breh.

This literally tells me nothing. I think the part that blows me away is that usually I get people who do not interact with anyone from the occult always mentioning that they are cursed somehow by someone else. The chances of being actually cursed by an actual witch is very slim nowadays. If you’re visiting a psychic, you’re in this group. Besides, I have no idea what the “black magick” is or anything, not so much as an example. Also, while it’s nice she’s talking to a diviner, a doctor is better. I’m a witch and a womanist and I say: go to a doctor. Doctors definitely can tell you if you’re pregnant or not.

So can time. Thing is, pregnancy is a binary state – either you are or you aren’t. And that state will be defined certainly by at least the third month. So there’s waiting, or taking a bunch of pregnancy tests while you wait.

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The Arts!: Adafruit, NationStates

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June 23, 2017

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Adafruit
I know I have featured Adafruit in the past but it’s always good to feature again, especially since I buy from her store regularly for tech needs. Especially since Radio Shack has closed down…right when I needed to buy more diodes and resistors for my personal projects – such as an automatic cat feeder and an automated snowglobe to help me sleep better.

While I usually prefer to go to an actual store for supplies, Adafruit has pretty much everything a techie person needs. In addition, this woman-owned online store also has how-to guides and easy-to-follow projects to teach coding, soldering and general electronics creating.

There are some pretty pricy bits and bobs on the site but if you’re learning arduino, there is the budget pack for $34.95. It’s bare bones but you can learn basic programming and circuitry.

If you want to solder things together, they’re available on the site, too. The cheapest soldering iron is this pen-like soldering iron for $22. The cheapest solder on the site is $5.95. You won’t need to use much for each project, especially beginner projects. Also, as a tip – get a solder sucker, the cheapest being $5 on adafruit. It’s okay to not get the soldering stuff first, especially if you’re learning programming and circuitry. If you’re at the point of soldering, you’re pretty much at the final stages of your project. Don’t spend money, solder or time on your first LED blink. It’s better to save for a project.

NationStates
Definitely have featured this pretty recently but I just got back into the game so I want to bring it up again.

NationStates is an online text-driven role playing game (rpg) where you run a fictional nation and make all the decisions for it. You can run a democratic nation, a socialist nation, an oppressive nation, whatever you want. And the decisions you make can create a ripple effect for your nation, even have its government reclassified.

You get four issues a day and they appear with two to five options, all acted out by an affected person of the issue. The options are very light-heartedly written, which is part of the fun of the game. If you ignore the game for too long, you’ll just have five total issues to answer before the “new issues” timer restarts.

The issues may play well with fantasy but they can definitely stem from real world events, such as the Flint water crisis, should police wear body cameras, and sustainable energy. Of course, there are light hearted issues such as your nationfolk fussing about being able to walk around nude, should the government invite ufos to visit and if there should be a national holiday dedicated to the act of whistling. You can bypass any issue and whatever you pick will either drop the tax rate of your nation or hike it. And the interesting part? It’s not clear cut of what will actually benefit the nation, tax wise. Or even for your nation’s civil rights or economy or political rights. Good ideas can quickly become disasters for your nation and bad ideas can become popular and well loved. I’ve selected solutions that I thought would help everyone and it just threw my nation into disarray. Just like in real life, it’s a difficult balance.

It’s been a fun experience to get back on NationStates proper, especially since I’m older now and also previously worked for the US government. I think I make more competent choices for the country I have, Dursto, which I run as a socialist nation because I’m a socialist, myself. My nation isn’t perfect (yay for making sleepy choices), but it’s something. Each choice you make changes how the country runs.

Try it for yourself! You can interact with other nations as well, forming alliances or starting wars. I just have my nation basically mind its business, I don’t visit other nations nor am I part of any alliances. I don’t bother other nations so I pretty much stay out of the way. Hooray!

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Love and Ethics in Magick – or “Maybe It’s Time to Let Go”

Filed under: Relationships and Dating, Spells & Potions — Leave a comment
June 16, 2017

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Last Ask Black Witch had a question from a person who said he was a witch of 17 years…and wanted a spell to bring back his cheating girlfriend. Part of my response was:

Regardless of whether you practice witchcraft or not, heartbreak is still possible. If someone’s going, “If you’re a witch, why can’t you make the person love you and never leave you?” Because that’s abuse and would you like someone to do that to you? Free will is still a thing. Practicing witchcraft doesn’t make you impervious to life’s problems.

Apparently, that wasn’t all! I got more from the dude after the post went up:

Breh.

Really?

Two things:

A) I seriously think this person has not spent even 17 months in Paganism, Witchcraft, nothing. Ethics gets covered in the first year, so there’s no excuses.

B) Even if the dude decided to forgo ethics over a broken heart this time, he still wouldn’t be begging someone else to handle his problem. He’d already know what to do.

Let’s talk love and ethics in magick because, holy crap, it’s a reoccurring topic. It’s amazing how folks think that because they’re not using guns and threats, it officially not abuse anymore so let’s start there.

What is Abuse?

There are various types of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual, verbal, etc) but abuse is basically the act of impinging on someone else’s free will for destructive means. Mundane examples of abuse:

– Restricting contact with others

– Treating person as if property, not as an individual

– Gaslighting

This guy here is hurt that his ex-girlfriend (let’s face it, she’s gone), cheated and left…and given his “she’s mine” approach, it makes me wonder if it was actually a cheating. She could have simply have broken up with him and found someone new. It’s not uncommon for abusive significant others to see a clear-cut break up and moving on as “cheating” because, in their head, the person never left or broke up, they’re just playing about – but now they’re being “unfaithful” since there’s a new person involved.

There’s also the thing that this type of behavior doesn’t magically pop up during immense stress, such as a big break up. Oh, certainly, emotions can drive someone to act in ways that are odd to their regular personality but there are such things as red flags. There’s a difference between sobbing “don’t leave me!” on the floor (and via text…and on social media), and declaring “leave me and I’ll kill you and the dog!” The latter behavior shows a more abusive streak that was most likely present throughout the entire relationship (and probably the reason why the person left). This dude is showing the latter.

What points this out is, first, the dude is initially asking about how to get his “cheating” girlfriend back, as if I have a history of just giving out spells and for any request – which I don’t. Then there’s the fact I already suggested moving on and therapy to get over the break up, the dude still asks about spellwork. Being dismissive of the initial answer is not a good look if you don’t want to look like a controlling ex-boyfriend. Listening is a crucial skill in relationships – and when interacting with other humans.

Finally, there’s the phrase of “I’ve been trying to do this without hurting the other guy”.

Usually, I would say, “it’s possible to blame the significant other for straying because they knew they were in a relationship, a fact they could have consciously withheld from the person they were cheating with”, but here? Why put care into not hurting the other guy, which means the ex-girlfriend is 100% fair game? I mean, it takes two to cheat, the significant other and the person they’re cheating with. It sounds like the dude just wants the girlfriend back to simply punish her. Not work things out, just mete out punishment. Which is shifty.

There’s feeling hurt and angry, those are legit feelings, but this is not the route to go down. At all. This is no different if the dude walked into a gun shop and was trying out glocks, saying to the shop owner, “I don’t want to hurt the other guy, I just want my cheating girlfriend back.”

If she’s a cheating piece of sh*t, then just ditch her. Be angry but let her go. Take time to heal and work on yourself.

In general, this is part of why I don’t do pay for pray (paid spellwork), bother with love spells or anything of that nature. Add in human ego and things can go south ridiculously fast.

Ethics is a very boring topic in magick, certainly. It can take the fun out of the whole “Ooooh, I’m a witch!” thing. But it’s important, because it’s better to set the lines clearly before you mistakenly cross them. Ethics is important especially in topics such as love and war because, that’s where they’re most needed.

People make rash decisions. There are pages and pages of history that proves this. People, regardless of gender, are emotive. Incredibly emotive. “Long wars have been fought over small differences” emotive. This can be really, really bad for so many reasons if left unchecked, thus why ethics exist. Ethics are the defined rules a person should follow, regardless what their emotions dictate. No matter how it feels at the time, emotions are not always right. Emotions may feel right, during that moment, but ethics help give a fairly defined “what is right/what is wrong, what is good/what is bad” line to decide with.

This is why I mentioned “what about ethics?” because that should be a go-to. It’s why ethics exist. If you wind up dismissing the ethics, that can be a super downhill slide.

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Black Witch Anniversary: 7 Years!

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June 9, 2017

Black Witch turns 7 years old today. This is very nifty. Tiring and nifty. It’s been a long thing, frankly.

BW started because there was no content for Black Pagans at all back in 2010. The most anyone was going to find was White Pagans making columns and posts about race that were well meaning but super short-falling.

The column has changed obviously over time, I still talk about Black Pagan issues but I also added in gender and mental health because they’re just as important. That and they’re things that affect me, a Black Pagan person. That and there’s only but so many columns you can write about the meaning of stones and divination before it starts to sound rehashed and a total broken record.

Even if it has been seven years, I still feel like I’m learning how to blog and maintain digital content. For example, I used to do livestreaming via Ustream but that became too much of a headache, Ustream would delete videos after a set amount of time (unless you fork up cash) and I didn’t know. Then Facebook opened up the ability to livestream on fan pages, Facebook Live. Once that happened, I am able to live stream a little more than on BW anniversaries and Halloween. I mainly livestreamed bookbinding for journals being sold on the BW Shoppe. It’s not must-see-tv but I kind of didn’t want the ability to livestream sit around.

With the constant changing nature that is the internet and social media sites changing their ways of operations – from chronological posting to algorithms – it can be a bit tough to keep a readerbase. An example is how Facebook actively throttles organic reach in exchange for money. When you like a page, it generally means that you want to see the page’s content. Facebook doesn’t feel the same way. Facebook believes that unless the page you like has shelled out some money (I believe the smallest amount is $5/day), you really don’t need to see their content that badly. And if it isn’t clickbait or fake news, it’s not really going to be viral. And Facebook likes viral because viral = money for Facebook. Basically, if you like a page for kitten paws, unless “Kitten Jellybeans” has forked over any money to Facebook, you’re going to nearly never see them…but you’ll get plenty of clickbait and nonsense that you never wanted to see.

What I would like to see in the future for BW is to be more persistent with posting. While I feel like I haven’t missed nearly as many Fridays as I did in the past couple years, I can still do better. I want to be a lot more steady in posting.

I also would like to make for more reader interaction since there aren’t physical spaces where Black Pagans meet. I already have the Discord server so I’ll probably start there. Doing the livestreams seem to be not a bad option, either. I’ve tried to tweet more but it’s not the most fun of habits to learn. Unless I am going to write in other languages, I’m just too long winded for 140 characters.

I do sometimes wonder about creating a bigger pull but, frankly, I don’t want to start making crap content just for clicks and views. I mean, this is a Pagan site, I could easily start posting fake positivity, pop astrology, new age treatment and random spells that sound legit but only to idiots. This is a Black site, I could post only about police killings and echo whatever Shaun King and Cornel West says. These and more can boost my site’s visibility and notoriety (even start bringing in money), buuuuut I simply wouldn’t like anything. I don’t really read sites like these so I don’t want to mimic them.

Instead, I rather try to monetize the blog with Ko-Fi and the BW Shoppe. Speaking of the BW Shoppe, there will be a 50% discount with the coupon code: BWAnni17. Expires June 16, 2017.

So, BW is turning seven years old, huzzah. I’ll be doing a livestream about it on the FB page at 8 PM EST.

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