Betsy Snow White Bibliophile

Tag: I’m a Witch!

  • Welcome to Blogtober!!

    Welcome to Blogtober!!

    It is that time of year again, my favorite month and the month when I blog everyday. I have no idea what that might involve for 2020, but expect lots of fun fall, Halloween and other such content. Also some poetry, because that is what I am studying currently in school.

    On a gorgeous Sunday in mid-September I met with several members of the International Wenches Guild as well as The Witches of Willy-Nilly to record our version of the Hexenbrut. We gathered in the Sunhenge at the Renaissance Festival dressed in our witchy finery. After a few practice runs, we created a masked and socially distanced dance. The video was finally released by the Ohio Renaissance Festival, so I am free to share.

    This was an absolute blast to do, and it looks pretty good too! Dance along if you know it.

    Happy Blogtober!! Happy Full Moon!! See you tomorrow!!

  • Isolation Chronicles: Beltane Edition

    Happy May the First!!  This is a more subdued Beltane celebration than one’s past, but I can still feel the fire of the holiday. I have always loved Beltane, almost as much as Samhain, and there is a feeling that happens when May first comes around that just fills me with energy. Our job is to harness that fire energy and make things happen.

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    What can you harness the fire of Beltane into? Brightest Beltane Blessings!! 

     

  • Day 9 of the Hostage Situation: Divination

    I love tarot and oracle decks. I have been reading since I was 16 and I have loved them ever since. I think they are a divination tool of such beauty, and each deck is unique with new insights to share. I am a bit of a collector when it comes to decks and I have well 6 right here beside me and an additional 8-10 more. I may be underestimating that amount as well. I might have a problem (nah!). In the last month I received a new oracle deck as a gift and I received a tarot deck my husband kickstarted for me as well. I am awash in new divinatory tools and I love it. I thought I would share my first impressions of both decks in case you were looking at them, or so you might want to.

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    Deck 1: The Literary Witches Oracle written by Taisia Kitaiskaia and illustrated by Katy Horan – The artwork for this oracle is lovely. The cards are divided into two types: The Witches and The Witches’ Materials. There are 30 witch cards with portraits of famous literary women and 40 material cards which are common images found in literary work like wolf, cauldron, white dress, etc. The deck comes in a sturdy box and has a guidebook that has basic meanings for each card as well as sample spreads. Here is a quick look through the guidebook.

    The cards are well made and solid, but a little large for my hands when it comes to shuffling. The imagery on the cards is gorgeous and lush for the Witches and beautiful but simple for the Materials. I love the idea of working with imagery as a divination tool and I look forward to using this deck. Here are some examples of my personal favorite Witches and some of the Materials I liked a lot.

    Deck 2: The Oriens Tarot by Ambi Sun – The imagery for this deck drew me right in when Seth showed it to me on Kickstarter and I knew I needed it. The artwork is stunning and comprised of animals and insects. The colors are lush. I have been waiting for this for a while. The deck came in a beautiful sturdy box, and I also got a reading cloth in the design from the back of the cards. The deck does not come with a physical book, but I was able to download a copy onto my computer and phone, and you can look at the meanings of the cards on the website.

    The sides of the cards are gilded in an amazing holographic silver that catches the light beautifully. The cards are of a nice thickness and fit really well in my hands. I could shuffle them all day if given half the chance. (I find shuffling super meditative and relaxing.) I am massively in love with the animal imagery and the beautiful colors. I am so excited to get into using this gorgeous deck. Here are some of my immediate favorite cards.

    Do you read tarot? Or do you collect them like me? What do you think makes a great deck? Do you enjoy oracle decks as well?

     

  • These Are Things that I’m Gonna Do.

    I had so much fun working through my bucket list for the last quarter of 2019, so I decided to do more of them in 2020. Here is what I have so far…

    • Create 2020 Vision Board – Done!! Photos Below.
    • Get prettied up for Shrimp’s Cocktail Party!
    • Meet Dirty Martini at Shrimp’s Cocktail Party! on Saturday.
    • Buy a pair of Veronica Lockhart’s rhinestone cockroaches.
    • Go with the Wenches to Pub Sing at Dub Pub.
    • Wench wine meet up in February.
    • Be under or close to 200 lbs by my birthday March 14.
    • Visit Prologue bookstore.
    • Sew new Viking garb for Seth.
    • Write 30,000 words in my work in progress.
    • Go to Mustache Ride Drag Brunch
    • Go to Archery Range
    • Visit Elizabeth’s Records
    • Set up new Entertainment Stand.
    • Set up Stationary Bike.

    Vision Board – The lovely Molly Roberts held a live event for her Patrons all about creating a vision board. I decided to get in on the action and began building up images and words for my board. I just bought myself a brand new Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (as previously stated my favorite dictionary) so my old falling apart one became fodder for my vision board. I found these battery operated lights I bought at Target a couple of years ago that have glitter in bulbs around the lights and I decided they would look amazing on my vision board. I bought a shadowbox style wooden box to use and painted the inside neon pink and the outside silver. I used glitter infused mod podge to place my images on the board. I began with bright colored images and then added words and pieces from the dictionary. I found some star shaped push pins and attached the lights to the edge with them. I am really happy with how it turned out. It is going to live on my new altar for 2020.

  • Do You Even Witch?

    Do You Even Witch?

    I have been a practicing witch since I was about 16 years old. It started for me, as it did for many people my age, with the movie The Craft. I was a sophomore the movie came out and I went with a group of friends to see it. I immediately began wearing short pleated skirts and button down white shirts. And from the Waldenbooks in the mall I bought two books one day that fall: The Witches Almanac and True Magick by Amber K. I snuck them into my house like they were porn rather than books, and began my secret education.

    True Magick by Amber K is not a bad book, in fact much of it is great in regards to Wiccanism, but it also suggested that you not wear makeup, wear only natural fabrics (I was super into vintage clothes and basically lived in polyester) and that if you eat meat you cannot be a Wiccan because you have no empathy for other creatures. I was very into the idea of The Goddess and The God, and polytheism, and spell work, and many more parts of Wiccanism, but I also loved makeup and polyester so maybe it was just not for me. This did not stop me from stupidly attempting a love spell however…but that is another story.

    Then I found out a local metaphysical shop was going to be hosting a Wicca 101 class. I asked my mom, and she said that she would give her permission for me to take the class since I was under 18. The class was taught by a lovely, and very pregnant, woman named Heather. She gave a lot of the basic information on creating a magickal name, calling the quarters, creating holy water, and so much more. I attended all of the classes except the last one, because it was a ritual and I was too nervous to be involved.

    After the class though, I began to read, study, and actually began to build a practice. I set up an altar (my mom nicknamed it Waltar and it stuck and my sacred space remains Waltar to this day.), I was gifted and began reading Tarot, and though it was on and off at the time I was becoming a Witch.

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    When I was 18 I took that Wicca 101 class again, and this time it did not feel so overwhelming. I felt like I belonged there as much as anyone else did. I was beginning to see myself as a Witch. I was still mostly using Wiccan guidelines, but I had begun reading about other types of Witches and what the difference between a Wiccan and a Witch is. I bought my first piece of witchy jewelry, a gorgeous silver pentacle ring that has been lost over the years. I finished the class this time, which ended with a beltane ceremony including maypole dancing. It was lovely and I knew I had found a place.

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    Over the years my craft has moved and morphed, I now consider myself an eclectic cottage art witch. I tend to make magic with whatever is on hand, rather than requiring special tools. I have been dedicated to Odin the All-Father for almost 7 years after years of him trying to get my attention. I work with a wide pantheon that includes traditional and pop pantheon figures. I firmly believe that magic works best when it reflects you, so if that means that the person you petition for beauty is Aphrodite or Rupaul both are valid.

    Are you looking for some witchy inspiration? I am a patron for several lovely magical ladies on Patreon:

    Molly Roberts    Youtube    Patreon

    Joanna DeVoe    Podcast     Youtube     Patreon

    Paige – The Fat Feminist Witch   Podcast    Patreon

    Cris Ashburn   Youtube    Patreon

    These women are inspiring, knowledgeable, fun, and all around gorgeous human beings. Check them out and be in awe and inspired! I cannot recommend them more.