Someone once told me that I should be able to interpret the tarot without ever looking at the cards and like on the one hand okay, it’s important to know the general meaning of the cards but on the other, each deck has energy from the artist’s work imbued into the card and that’s important too, and this whole rant is really to justify pulling the 8 of wands, which in my deck has a cherub shooting and arrow, and deciding that the deck was telling me to play a first person shooter
I know it seems like I’m active but it’s 90% queue right now. My health has been really bad and the fatigue and exhaustion is hitting me hard so I barely come on here. Even typing this is difficult. I’ll be more active when my health allows it ❤️
Because the garbage pit of discourse is apparently overflowing onto my dash again, a few reminders:
Accepting or renouncing particular religions does not make you any more or less genuine, authentic, or “accurate” as a witch.
You are never required to “prove yourself” as a witch by doing something that makes you seriously uncomfortable. Anyone (human or spirit) who says you must do so is an ignoramus at best, and a predator at worst.
Your spirituality and worldview are not disconnected from the political realm. When people call you out, it is your responsibility to sincerely attempt to listen.
People are allowed to define what “witch” means when applied to themselves.
No single person, no matter how fancy their bibliography, gets a monopoly on what’s “traditional.”
One subject that I incorporate into my craft are local deities. What are local deities? Local deities are guardians and protectors of specific places such as a specific forest, mountain range, river, or even a specific city. They can come or manifest them in many different forms or none at all. Everything within the entirety of it’s domain is its eyes and ears.
But this post is specifically about local forest deities. If you’re lucky, you might be able to catch them manifested as a huge gorgeous deer, an hawk who’s gaze seems to pierce right through you or maybe even as a huge, seemingly ancient tree that you swear that you can see it breathing.
The forest deity, as the name suggests, watches over the forest and all its inhabitants. The way you treat the forest can be the difference between suffering the fate of a forever lost traveler, who can only seem to walk in circles, and having a safe voyage through to your destination.
If you go out of your way to help protect and conserve the forest, you might just gain the respect of the deity. If you’re particularly devoted and deemed trustworthy, it is possible to have a relationship with them, working together for the forest.
Here are some ways to help gain respect:
Pick up litter
Report poachers (it’s super dangerous to approach them so please don’t)
Organize an event to plant some NATIVE trees*. Do your research. It would be wise to contact your local conservation group
Meditate in the forest. Try to feel the breath and whispers of the forest
If you find a unnaturally injured animal (caught in trap, hit by car, shot and left to die, etc) DO NOT INTERACT WITH THEM but rather call you’re local animal rehabilitation unit**.
*I can not emphasize how it important it is to not plant non-native flora. It can seriously harm the entirety of that ecosystem and can wipe out complete species of fauna/flora there
**Touching or interacting with wild animals is really bad and sometimes illegal. It can seriously stress them out which can be deadly to them and/or you. If an animal is injured, the consequences will be much worse.
Heatherwitch 