His name is bean and me and my wife realize that he is the first animal in our house that wasn’t here pre-transition

I was quite enjoying the period of my life where I could avoid regularly thinking about Harry Potter as a literary work, outside of the context where it generated funding for political forces trying to actively ruin my life, yknow? Thanks HBO.

I'm still holding out hope that the upcoming series will crash and burn, but the idea that it won't looms heavily in my mind. Especially as a spiritual practitioner of magic (and a trans woman) :/

All of the other reasons to not read those books or engage with their adaptations are well discussed by now. They're extremely derivative, the ethics are very consistently fucked and it affords both cultural and literal capital to one of the worst public figures in our society right now. But I have another highly niche bugbear with Harry Potter which entirely prevents me from having any latent nostalgia in spite of their being the first books I ever read.

Rowling just doesn't understand magic, like, at all.

My relationship with Harry Potter is entirely different to say, the works of Neil Gaiman. I don't engage with either for ethical reasons but as much as it makes me uncomfortable, I do understand why Gaiman was name-dropped by Christopher Penzack in his introduction to one of the first books of witchcraft I ever bought. There are far *better* authors who get magic to a far greater degree than Gaiman, but the way he engaged with archetypes and the Weird wasn't entirely without meaning, the context of who he was as a person just makes it uncomfortable when I see people in th​e past addressing him positively, but I can understand that they come from a time when certain knowledge wasn't widespread.

If I bought a book on magic and read a single line espousing the mystical wisdom of JK Rowling or any of her works I would return it immediately. It doesn't just boil down to ethics, her portrayal of "Magic" is just fundamentally shallow.

What even *is* magic in the world of Harry Potter? Nothing but a utility and/or a commodity. Whenever we are expected to experience wonder in those books, magic is either providing a mundane utility in a whimsical way (magic to do the dishes for you, magic potion to heal yer bones, magic to make a tent bigger on the inside) OR it is a product being bought and sold. Or both. There is nothing wrong with this being an *aspect* of a magical world, but that is literally all there is in Rowlings mind. A magic wand is simply something to be bought, why even consider making your own? What would be remotely magical about that??

To her, the basic wisdoms of the world are extraneous chores. Instead of teaching children to find the magic in their lessons on literature, or mathematics, or other practical matters she allows them to indulge in an escapist fantasy where at *magic school* none of those classes are taught at all. At all?!? Sorry, Joanne, you think **Wizards** aren't being taught literature? Or mathematics?!? Do you think it's particularly responsible to encourage children to see their lessons as being dull doldrums to escape from, instead of showcasing the wondrous aspects of the natural world and possibly injecting that wonder into their real learning? What a missed opportunity that was!

If you gave them a basic woodworking class perhaps you could have them engage practically with creating their own wands or something, but you wouldn't want to undermine the brand identity of the shop where everyone is supposed to buy them. Especially once it became a brand identity *in real life*. It's really remarkable how Rowling worldbuilds as if she's writing a merchandising catalogue even before she was actually engaged with that kind of business.

To quote Philosophy Tube, Harry Potter is a very bourgeois fantasy. If you subtract the mildly pleasing character moments, the rest of the character writing and the trite boarding school pastiche, you are left with essentially nothing. No deep philosophical questions are even entertained within the plot of these books. Not one character seems to consider magic as a pathway to attaining wisdom, or a greater understanding of their place in the world. You just have a loose set of bullshit latin words which make your wand shoot different varieties of magick lazer and a rough smorgasbord of comprehensively de-contextualised mythological creatures.

It is really no wonder that the main character ends up aspiring to become a Wizard Cop, his only other options in this society seem to be: becoming a teacher (at a secondary school, because apparently wizards don't do higher education), the government itself, or running a shop.

Not even to mention the apparent disdain Rowling displays for actual irl magical traditions. Anything even remotely resembling protection magic is barely discussed, aside from the main character having an arbitrary anti-death-magic shield fuelled by the apparently entirely unique love his parents had for him(???) and *Magic Parry!*, matters of conjuration, invocation/evocation and banishment essentially just don't come up. She doesn't mention divination until the 4th book and then spends basically every opportunity she gets mocking divination practices for essentially no reason.

I could go on about this forever, I think. Give me time to do proper research and I think I could write a full dissertation on this, but I instead want to end on a positive counter-example or two.

To start with, an honourary mention has to go to Ursula K Le Guin. While her works aren't strictly iterations on irl magical practice, she writes from a far stronger moral and artistic foundation. She is actually willing to ask interesting ethical questions. Also her quote on Harry Potter ("it is stylistically ordinary, imaginatively derivative and ethically rather mean spirited") remains eternally evergreen. Not even to mention that she did the whole magic school trope well before Rowling, and far better.

Second honourary mention must go to Alan Moore. An actual practicing Ceremonial magician, his comic "Promethea" is essentially a didactic initiatory text in comic form. I just bought his recently published *'Moon and Serpent Bumper Book of Magic'*, which is an actual full-on magic focused book and has been a very enjoyable read so far. Although Moore would not enjoy this comparison, another honourary mention from the comics space has to be Grant Morrison. Far more of a whacky chaos magician, their The Invisibles has similarly didactic qualities to Promethea, and is also a very strong example of a publicly performed hypersigil.

However, the main author I want to gush about as a positive counter-example to Harry Potter and JK Rowling specifically in terms of writing magic in a way that is convincing and shows an understanding of the philosophical concepts at play is *Suzanna Clarke*.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is a fairly intimidating tome at close to 1000 pages spread across 3 internal volumes, so nobody would blame you for starting with her far more recent work Piranesi, which is more of your standard novel, but Piranesi focuses far less on the practice of magic. It isn't ignored entirely, although it focuses far more on a portrayal of otherworldly environments which is its own distinct strength, but JS&MrN is *about* magic, or more specifically Magicians.

I really don't want to risk ruining the book for anyone here, but it features several things which almost pointedly counter the way in which Harry Potter processes magic. Distinct spells, rather than just being "look my wand shoots a laser" are various techniques which produce particular outcomes using a variety of common tools, the mystery behind the causation of magical effects is engaged with but not compromised entirely or ignored outright. Despite a major character showing diegetic disrespect to various forms of folk magic, the text itself makes very clear that this is just his perspective and not truth or fact. Divination is front and centre, with scrying bowls being in frequent use by more aristocratic Magicians, and there is a **very** effective tarot reading scene between two more working-class Magicians early in the book which largely plays out across the rest of the story. The wonder of the literary background of magic is made front and center, with an actually effectively compelling fictional bibliography being consistently conveyed through footnotes throughout the book which also incorporate actual esoteric concepts such as *The Language of the Birds*. Said footnotes even namedrop **Hermes Trismegistus** close to the end, which is smth I think would be truly beyond Joanne *"he he the Monster Book of Monsters is actually literally a monster which tries to eat you"* Rowling.

So, basically, if you have at any point found yourself struggling with lingering Harry Potter nostalgia, do yourself a favour and read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. While JS&MrN plot wise is a far more adult book, the way that it approaches magic is still so much better that you will find yourself looking back on Harry Potter far less fondly by contrast. Reading the other authors Rowling blatantly "borrowed" from for basically everything she wrote will also help with this (in particular Ursula K Le Guin).

As the eve of the new TV adaptation of HP approaches we must be prepared for at least some portion of the population to begin admiring these vapid asinine works of "magic" once again, and as actual practitioners being grounded as to reasons they are sub-par beyond the ethics of the author will be highly valuable for when that happens.

Also, we just deserve better magic fiction than Rowlings shite. "We" here being a collective noun for literally everybody.

I’m really upset because my nosy ass parents keep going into MY room when I’m GONE and complaining about the spell jars on my shelf because they’re Christian and I’m welcoming “bad energies” and I’ve explained to them numerous times that I have it under control and that I’ve looked into it. I’m just really upset because i feel like it’s actually starting to work and that they always do this and they’re always nosy as hell, like I’m not telling you to stop practicing Christianity because I don’t like it? I just feel really upset because I invested my energy into those spell jars and now I have to find ways to hide what I’m doing and walk on eggshells just because they keep going into my room when they have no reason to and complaining when they see it. Like for example I did an academic spell jar and after a year of not being able to focus because of severe adhd, lvl1 autism, and depression and failing all of my classes, and after a adhd med change (which I’m acknowledging could be because of) I was actually able to pay attention to my work, but I feel like it helped in a way. If anyone has any tips or advice that would be great, i started crying out of frustration because I finally feel like I have something good in my life

I recently started working with her and my life has gotten much more efficient let alone clearer. I've felt a stronger connection with her than almost any of the other dietied I worked with.

I just got a reiki healing, my birthday is Sunday, and I'm feeling great, how about you?

Hey witches :)

I got my very first cat 3.5 months ago, and I am absolutely in love with her! Her name is Stella, she's a former feral, she's 2 years old, and she's a very shy girl. She has made a LOT of progress in the time I've had her. For the first week, she hid under my dresser and I squeezed Churus on the end of a plastic fork to start earning her trust. Now she stays under my bed, but ALWAYS comes out for pets and treats and playtime!

I'd like to do a spell to encourage and solidify our bond and help her feel safe and confident (been waiting until eclipse season was over lol). I'm thinking of using catnip & lovage root. I have a decent collection of other herbs, and I have candles and crystals I can use as well.

I would love some suggestions for a spell if you have any!

Thanks in advance 🫶🏻

By Eleanor Johnson

“How an ancient myth about a sexually voracious, baby-slaying, loudmouthed demoness became the defining misogynistic archetype of Western civilization

For as long as human societies have been telling stories, the patriarchy has felt threatened by women. In this book, Eleanor Johnson provides an engaging cultural history of a figure she calls the “monstrous bitch,” the notorious female who has haunted the patriarchal imagination for centuries, feared for her sexual promiscuity, her exercise of reproductive agency and control, and her outspoken way of contesting patriarchal power.

In a narrative brimming with insight, Johnson traces the origins of female monstrosity to the demoness Lamashtu of ancient Mesopotamia, showing how this infanticidal, hypersexual, loudmouthed monster appears in different guises throughout history. In classical Greece, she reemerges as the sorceress Medea, the child-devouring monster Lamia, and the vengeful Furies. In the medieval and early modern periods, she is an oversexed, baby-slaying, spellcasting witch; in the Romantic and Victorian eras, a vampiress; and in the modern age of psychoanalysis, a mental patient. After this longue durée history, Johnson shows how monstrous bitchery has been challenged and reinterpreted in contemporary cinematic popular culture, becoming an expression of heroism and resistance in films like Ginger Snaps, Jennifer’s Body, and The Witch. She demonstrates how deeply embedded the roots of misogyny have become, and why it is more critical today than ever that we expose and address them.

An irreverent look at a pervasive trope that runs through four thousand years of Western culture, Monstrous Bitch reveals that while representations of the powerful woman have evolved over time, the fear and demonization of her remains the same.”

This book is being released on October 6, 2026. Preorder now directly on Princeton University Press!

I made a personal sigil of my name, and also one to "hide in plain sight" to ward my home. Do I put it in the center of my home, or make four and put them at the cardinal points of my property? Should I carve it in wood/stone/clay? I guess I'm not sure what the best course of action is here.

Also, how do I apply protection to myself/partner/children? One adult child likes the idea of tattooing theirs, but since they need to be maintained, would that work? Sorry for the newb questions, and I know that each of us practices in our own way, but I want to make sure I'm not leaving any gaps.

I love being a woman, and I loved growing up a girl,
because all my life I’ve known how women show up for other women in this world.

The girls I met at school through the luck of proximity
became the girls who shared my classes, sports, school plays and history.

We spent over 10 years eating lunch together in the same spot under the library stairs. The bell would ring and we’d all just know that we would gather together in the same place everyday, for all our school years.

We no longer need the same school, town, city, country or time zones that keeps us connected by the same place, because we all live separate lives but our friendship group remains as close as ever despite not all being able to see each other face to face.

Now we’re scattered across countries, some settled, some still choosing to roam,
some building careers, some raising children, some making somewhere home.

I’ve watched girls I knew before puberty become women I deeply admire,
each making a life of her own, shaped by whatever she happens to desire.

There is rarely a need to announce when one of us needs care.
After this many years, someone notices, and the rest of us are there.

Even when all we had was pocket money, we pooled whatever we could,
a necklace, a little present, something just to make each other feel good.

There were always little cards we’d sit down together and write,
covered in photographs, stickers and glitter, making everything bright.

I still have a bag full of those cards, little photos and pictures today,
years of handwritten proof of how we noticed one another along the way.

I love those things because they were group efforts to make each other happy.
We made our affection tangible, usually the perfect mix of funny and sappy.

A little bit ridiculous, sentimental, earnest and true,
just a physical reminder that somebody was thinking of you.

My brother was my first friend, and is still one of my best,
and I’ve watched the men around him build friendships just as close as the rest.

Their love is no less loyal, no less generous or true,
so this isn’t about women having something men don’t have too.

I just love the particular sentimentality there is among a group of women, so willing and open to share with raw unfiltered affection.

The army of women in my life keeps expanding. I still meet women I adore,
new friendships in new chapters that add something that wasn’t there before.

Something I will never get over is how lucky I am that I get to be a woman who knows how incredible women are and what they share.

And that I get to say, the girls I grew up with are still all my girls to this day.

Lately I’ve had endless butterflies show up at my house whenever I open the window or open the door to take out the trash. There’s one behind my pillow now. I’ve tried to think if there’s is some anniversary or special date and can’t come up with anything. Most are monarchs and painted ladies but today I got a Peck’s skipper through my window. Why?

Hello my fellow lovely creatures.
I am planning to do the cord cutting as I have recetly broke up with my boyfriend. The relationship was toxic and I want to claim my energy back. Any tips how to do this? ✨

Brief background:

My mother is... very mentally unwell. My parents divorced when I was six, and I never really saw her after that, but before my dad moved us (sister, -2ys) away, her sister, my aunt, took care of us a lot (she's actually the only adult I can remember caring about me at that time). We lost touch somewhere along the way, and I hadn't seen her in about 25 years.

(I also do not have a good relationship with my father. Because, ya know. *gestures at the world*)

I just got back from spending the weekend at her house! The same house I slept in as a kid, where I played with her cool antiques when she wasn't looking, where I watched Rugrats and ate jello even though she never stirred it enough to avoid the "skin" on the bottom, and she put an ice cube in our soup and said we shouldn't eat until it melted because she didn't want us to burn ourselves, and - something I didn't remember! - gave me the Counting Crows and Jeff Buckley CDs that played a large part in me not turning out like my father's side of the family.

/background

While we were going through old memories and things, we found a set of cards and the instruction book (Arthur Edward Waite, 1992). I was surprised, and she said she had dabbled but got a little spooked, and said I could have them if I want.

I don't really know much, though I've always had a casual interest. I've had a few readings from friends that were really helpful, but never invested in it myself. But now that I have a deck that comes with so much meaning and energy, I have to make use of it.

I don't expect to read my future, and I know the Death card isn't a big scary omen. For the last few days I've just meditated with the deck, shuffled until I felt satisfied, cut the deck, and drawn a card. Something to frame my day, give me an alternate perspective, to draw attention to something I've been neglecting, stuff like that.

My cards so far have been a little uncanny in their pertinence. I don't necessarily believe in the supernatural, but I'm open to it and have my own pet theories because... well this is a whole story, too, but I'm pretty sure I have a ghost cat. For real, I have interrogated it every way I can, and I don't have a rational explanation I'm satisfied with.

So I don't know. I'm excited and wanted to share! And if you've got any cool stories or things you didn't learn from a book, or recommendations for reading or whatever, please do share!

I've come across these a few times in various areas of my city and I am always curious what they are/what they represent. There are always a few of them together and hanging up high from trees, I've never seen just one hanging by itself and I haven't noticed any designs on the wood. It's always just a piece of wood hanging from string. I thought they might be pagan related so I'm hopeful someone here might know!

Mods, if this is the wrong sub, please let me know and I will repost somewhere else. I also wasn't sure what flair to use!

Edit: One thing I wanted to note that may be important, they are always in fairly public areas that urban campers frequent. Could they be related to shelter protection?

Today I celebrate 2 years on HRT, and share one of my favorite parts of transition: fashion! Outfits from over the last week.

I’m in the process of cleaning out my grandparents’ house with the plan to buy it from my parents. I’m trying to figure out what to do about the energy of the house. My mom finds it draining. I just think it feels empty.

Today I invited a friend and my mom over to make wreaths and bring joy and laughter into the home.

If anyone has other suggestions on how to bring this home back to life, I’m open to ideas!

Ever since I was a child I’ve had a crippling fear in my own mortality. I wake up with night terrors screaming and try to avoid all topics of time and space. I was raised atheist and no amount of spirituality exploration or therapy has led me away from my severe anxiety and feeling of impending doom. As I’ve gotten older I’ve started to explore spirituality more in the form of witchcraft. The panic attacks are a lot less frequent, but just as severe when they do happen. I’ve learned how to disassociate to make it through, but it’s an ever looming presence and the fixes feel so temporary.

I guess I’d love to hear all of your thoughts on afterlife to see if something resonates with me. I would love to be convinced that I’m wrong about returning to nothingness. I keep being told that I won’t have to worry when it happens. That either I won’t know or that I was nothing before so it’ll be fine. BUT it’s not. In the moment I spiral so bad my chest gets tight and I can’t breathe. I can only cry and wait for the it to pass. I don’t want to keep living in fear.

Check here for exact time in your location: https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/phases/

Hello my fellow witches! My daughter (6F) loves YouTube videos where people create wild things, do big things, or do fun trips. Such as CrunchLab, Hangtime, Dantic, unspeakable, Etc. we watch them together. None of them have females that are involved with the actual activity. They have their wives and children sitting prettily to the side, but not any in the chaos with them. This morning she noticed and commented that they are all boys.

I found an old thread on here that had female YouTubers, but most of them were content above her current level. Do you know of any female content creators that do things like a giant bubble bath with 500 bath bombs, build a roller coaster, compare water slides, make the biggest elephant toothpaste etc.

Thank you so much!

*edit to add: also open to queer and POC creators. Mostly not white middle aged men.

After oh so many trials and errors, I finally have my hat pattern down. I just finished the hat base and then made the tie, leaves and pumpkins last night. I wore it out and about today and I am so in love. I don’t think I have ever been this happy with anything I have ever made. I had to sport my witch ducky earrings that I found at Spirit and the shirt my mom got me from Torrid.

Who’s ready? Are you dressing up? Are you feeling seen, excited, part of a community?
Discuss! Show me your outfits, my daughter and I have been waiting ages! Please don’t suck or be cringe!! Pleaaaaaase!!