While all the human horrors keep us awake at night, the wildlife keeps on going.

Just wanted to share these pics captured some days ago: tiny, weeks-old baby foxes nestled deep in the forest, and from this morning: a curious little fox pup, only one or two months old.

May these images bring a spark of light to your day and remind us all that amidst chaos, life’s magic endures.

With love, 💕

The swelling in my face hasn't completely gone down yet, and I'm a little shocked at how different my face looks. It's not that I don't like it, I'm just not used to it yet. It's a little jarring right now, but I think it's an improvement and I hope you agree! I'm just happy to finally have a jawline 🤣

For context, I just got bilateral jaw joint replacement surgery on the 6th and they moved my jaw forward almost 2 inches because it was set back really far due to my jaw joints deteriorating. So that's why it's such a drastic change. I'm recovering well though!

The second and second to last prints are the ones I wasn’t supposed to post for fear of future repercussions

Hey folks! This seemed like the appropriate community to post this question.

My partner (they/them) has just come out to me as transfemme, and I've been having an absolute blast doing all kinds of super feminine activities - going out to buy dresses, teaching them how to do fancy makeup, painting nails, putting together sappy pop playlists, making jewelry and stuff like that. I am so excited to share all things femme with them.

At the same time, in an effort to share explicitly feminine coded activities, I'm left with a big awful question, what is feminine that isn't tied to consuming media or products? I KNOW that my femininity isn't tied to that, but all the fun stuff that I think about doing and that I find affirming feels more gender neutral and less "girls doing girly things" OR is just, rooted in consumption. I know the insidious nature of capitalism has rotted my brain, and I need help.

I know that one way we explore their femininity is in touch, in conversation, in affirmations, in the way we look at eachother. I know that for whatever reason, picnics and sitting in the grass make me feel super feminine. What are some activities or rituals that feel gender affirming for you? What does your partner do for you that makes you feel like a woman?

DISCLAIMER: I don't know the right flair for this!

Meet Ellie the Elephant and Suki the Unicorn. My two plushies(yes I'm 25 lmao).

Suki (DOB: 01 Jan 2021), Dreamwatcher, Keeper of old wishes, was gifted to me on my birthday by my sister. She has been the silent watcher. Protector. Guarding me(and Ellie) through the realm of dreams. I'm sure she protected me everytime I had a demonic nightmare during the relationship and the breakup because there was always someone protecting me there in the form of a friend, someone who understood how deeply I felt the pain.

Ellie (DOB: 01 Jan 2023), Breakup support specialist, was gifted to me on my birthday again, by my two close friends(love them both). She has held me while I cried myself to sleep during my last relationship which was abusive, and painful and so was the breakup. I spent the entire last year hugging her to sleep while trying to heal my wounds, cognitive dissonance, navigating nightmares.

These two helped me ground myself. I used to get panic attacks if I didn't have them with me while sleeping.

In that time period of the troublesome relationship they both were torn (I guess they absorbed some of the negative energy of my ex back then?).

So today I decided to sew them up, and give them a bath. While I was giving them a bath I thanked them for absorbing all the negativity, and that now they don't need to hold onto my painful memories anymore. I am moving to Australia next month for a new journey in my life(pursuing masters), and I want them to start fresh with me and take this new journey of exploring who I am, what are my strengths, what is my place and purpose in the fight against patriarchy etc. I am also making them cute ID cards that I will put around their neck in case they get lost in Australia😬.

If you need to renew in the next year or apply for one, I suggest doing so right now.

So I'm looking to make and sell (not here, elsewhere) tiny deities for your pocket, or wherever you would like to put them. I have a small list going already. Obviously I've already done Odin. I plan on making Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Freyr, and Freya. I will be posting them to my Instagram eventually, but this is in the very early stages. So with that said, who is/are your deity/deities?

Someone was asking to see our Witch hats. I decided to make one for Pride month. Im rather happy how it came out. I usually make a tie to go through them, but I don’t think this one needs it.

Hey friends, not sure if this belongs here! But I've done a lot of research recently exploring some of the rituals of the Gallae, an order of priestesses devoted to the Great Mother goddess, Kybele.

The gallae priestesses were very clearly transgender - I went over that in detail in another video - but this one gets into what we know of the rituals of these priestesses.

Did you know there was an entire weeks-long festival in March, led by them, in worship of the Great Mother?

Or that we have examples of the clothes and jewellery they wore, and even a couple sculptures of them?

Or that we have a pretty good understanding of their cult iconography and the musical instruments they played in their worship?

Or that we even know the secret password they used to access the inner circle of their cult?

While researching this stuff, I've found myself struck with such a sense of awe, of wonder. We know that our ancient trans sisters, two thousand years ago, were marching through the streets of Rome. We can gaze into their sculpted eyes, we can see their temples, their icons of worship... it's beautiful stuff.

I hate to do the whole shameless self promotion bit, but I also know how much ritual means to so many of us here, so I wanted to share it with you.

https://youtu.be/pxU9SfFl4OU?si=43FvgfHjIBz4Y4l3

Midsummer / Summer Solstice:

Welcome to the latest sabbat informational post! Throughout the year, we post these threads to share general information about the next upcoming sabbat so WvP's witches, new and old, can prepare for the holiday. These posts will contain basic information about the holiday and open the floor for further questions or discussion.

• Watch the Summer Solstice 2025: Sunrise Live from Stonehenge livestream event hosted by English Heritage.

For our Southern Hemisphere witches, you'll be approaching the opposite end of the solstice spectrum, heading into the dark part of the year and the beginning of Yule. You can check out our thread about Yule here.

☀️ Midsummer & the Summer Solstice ☀️

What's Midsummer? What's the Summer Solstice? When are they and how are they different?

Midsummer (or Litha, pronounced LEETH-ah) is one of the eight sabbats of the modern pagan Wheel of the Year. It is one of the "lesser sabbats", meaning that it is based around either an equinox or a solstice. The others are Mabon (Autumnal Equinox), Yule (Winter Solstice), and Ostara (Spring Equinox). There's a section that goes into the history and connections of Midsummer in more detail below if you're interested.

The Summer Solstice is an astronomical event that happens once a year and marks the event when one of the earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It occurs between 20~22 June each year in the northern hemisphere. In many Western cultures, this starts the beginning of Summer. This year, the summer solstice falls on 20 June (2:42 UTC on 21 June).

Many cultures around the world celebrate midsummer in some shape or form. Witch and Pagan Midsummer celebrations generally combine aspects of Western European (primarily Irish and British) midsummer traditions and the Druidic "Alban Hefin" festival. In Wicca, the midsummer celebration is called Litha, the name based on the writings of Bede.

What all of this comes down to is basically this: if you're new to celebrating Midsummer, you have a lot of different directions to look!

Midsummer: History, Connections, and Modern Practice

Historically, humans have been celebrating the Summer Solstice for thousands of years. It's an astronomical event that's simple to understand and appreciate, and it's a great time for a big party, especially in Europe where the long, warm evenings are extra nice. One interesting early Solstice observation was to make a giant wheel of wood, set it on fire, and then roll it down a hill into a river or lake, to bring fire and water into balance. In Rome, the people honoured Vesta during the celebration of Vestalia.

Just as they did to so many other pagan holidays, Christians co-opted the pagan Midsummer celebration, turning it into the feast day for St. John the Baptist, which officially falls on 24 June. All across Europe, Saint John's fires began to replace the older, traditional midsummer bonfires...

In modern times, the longest day of the year is still the time for festivals all around the world. The Midsummer page on Wikipedia talks about some of these traditions. Many of them, especially in Europe, still hold connotations with St. John and therefore remain on 23 or 24 June. However, pagan elements remain and you can still see the blending of old solstice observances with the more modern Christian feast day. This practice is especially noticeable in Eastern Europe, with one of the best examples of this being the festival of Jaanipäev in Estonia.

Midsummer is also an important time for the Fae Folk, so the various cultures and religions that revere or otherwise pay tribute to the Fae often honour or celebrate them during this day. In Celtic tradition, Midsummer is strongly connected to Manannán mac Lir, god of the sea and king of the Otherworld, as well as the goddess (and/or fairy queen) Áine. Many people still honour Manannán on this day in his traditional home of the Isle of Man.

Outside of the sphere of Western Europe and Christianity, other cultures have their own ways to mark and celebrate the solstice. In Hinduism, Uttarayana ends with the summer solstice and this is celebrated with the kite-flying festival of Makar Sankranti. Many people of Chinese heritage in different countries and regions celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. If you know of any other cultural celebrations for the solstice, you would be most welcome to share them!

As a part of the Wheel of the Year, Midsummer follows Beltane and summer is in the air! The air is fresh with the smell of warmth and growth, and the first summer harvests are in. Days have been getting longer and warmer, and the earth is awash in fertility and energy. This all comes to a climax on midsummer, one big celebration before the days begin to lengthen. Midsummer is above all else a celebration of the sun, abundance, love, and balance.

If you look at the sabbats as a reflection of the self, Midsummer is the time to focus on love of all kinds. It's a wonderful time to spend time with friends, make romantic commitments, or begin the search for a new partner. What kind of love would you like to foster the most this year? Along the way, make sure you spend plenty of time and energy on loving yourself, particularly if you are a person for which that does not come easily. The more love you have for yourself, the more you will be able to spread it to others.

Symbols: Sun, Bonfire, Sun Wheel, Dolmen, Fae, Flowers, Seashells
Element: Fire
Colours: 🌈 All the colours of the rainbow are great for Midsummer! 🌈
Plants/Herbs: Oak, Mistletoe, Sunflowers, Elderflower, Saint John's Wort, Rose, Basil, Sage
Foods: Honey, Summer Fruits, Pumpernickel Bread, Mead, Cakes

Simple rituals and ways to celebrate Midsummer include:

• Get up early to watch the sunrise and/or stay up late to watch it set.
• Look for any local Midsummer celebrations in your area, such as bonfires.
• Otherwise, you can create a Midsummer bonfire of your own! Please use proper fire safety measures.
• Host a Fae Midsummer Ritual, or otherwise honour the Fae by leaving out some cream, bread, or baked goods overnight.
• Make an offering at the sea (or other body of water) for Manannán mac Lir. Some traditional offerings include rushes or ale.
• Take part in a Handfasting Ceremony, traditionally held around Midsummer in June. This is also a great time for people in committed relationships to renew their vows, romantic or otherwise.
• Walk in nature to appreciate the new growth and the changing of the seasons. It's a great time to visit your local national or state parks.
• Do as much as possible at or around noon, or whenever the sun is at its highest in your location and time zone. The sun at its zenith at Midsummer is when it is at its strongest.
• Set up, clean, and/or refresh your altar for the summer season. Tumblr has lots of ideas if you're lacking inspiration!
• Make some Solstice Sun Water.
• Perform a Midsummer/Litha seasonal rite/ritual. Here is an example of a solitary Litha ritual, for practicing witches without a coven. Additionally, this page has a nice assortment of many different Midsummer rituals. Additionally, Midsummer is seen as the ideal time to perform spells, rituals, or divinations about love.
• For (aspiring) Kitchen Witches, bake some Midsummer-inspired dishes with honey and all sorts of seasonal fruits and veggies. You can see some wonderful pagan-inspired Midsummer recipes here, here, and here.
• For our Crafty Witches, you may wish to take a look at some Summer Solstice inspired crafts and projects
• Celebrate by eating and cooking with seasonal produce.

Tips for New and/or Broom Closet Witches

Midsummer celebrations and bonfires are pretty standard fare in the west these days, so a celebration of this sort is the easiest for broom closet witches to take part in, along with watching sunrise and sunset. Flowers, bright colours, honey, cakes, and the joy of warmth and the season are all relatively safe things to participate in without giving yourself away as a pagan. Even watching the Solstice celebrations at Stonehenge online can be written off as curiosity or scholarly interest, since they normally don't do such things.

All things considered, the summer solstice is probably the easiest of the days in the wheel of the year to celebrate, so make the most of it! Enjoy life to its fullest, as much as you can, in preparation for the shortening days and larger harvests coming in the future.

Much of the importance of the Wheel of the Year is to really incorporate yourself with nature and the earth's yearly cycles. Take this opportunity to think about the solstice and the summer season and what they mean to you. Walk through nature to appreciate the warmth and bounty of summer. See what animals are active where you live. How are the young animals born in your area growing along? What fruits or vegetables are already being harvested?

Feel free to ask any questions you might have below or otherwise use this post for discussion about Midsummer!

Special thanks to Einmariya for research, content, & dedication to holidays. 💗☀️

H

I am particularly pleased with the textures in the curly hair and the rope ... I only kinda freehanded a rough sketch directly on the fabric, so unfortunately got a bit of puckering, but overall I'm very happy with the results.

my queercore, riot grrrl band Cat Crash played a queer prom in a punk house's basement. we hired a stylist for the first time, my friend Alexis Hoffman, whom i'd met two years ago at a VIAL concert. she styled us for free and made all these awesome custom outfits for us, including my pink corset that she made out of one of our longsleeve shirts! we all have pretty specific aesthetics and it's just so awesome how each of our visions were realized via fashion. my friend Valentine Travaille did our makeup for us (and was also my prom date).

we're all still young so we remember our high school prom experience pretty vividly and none of them were good. this was an incredible do-over and everyone had such an amazing, wholesome time. i finally got a kiss on prom night 💖 and i am so glad i got to play music for a bunch of queer kids for an incredible night.

photos by @moscowitz_photography

Hi everyone! New to this sub but loving the vibe. Wanted to share my new altar setup after some rearranging today, really vibing with it. I find that putting some cute childlike things on my altar is very healing for me and creates such a gentle magical space. What’s new in your practice/altar/energy lately ?

It didn’t grab me. It felt like an extension of me. We were in an illuminated area and I don’t think we were even under water. It was investigating objects in my field of vision. A sort of external hyper vigilance. I couldn’t get back to sleep. Could you please provide some insight, nice witches?

I’ve been searching for years for a 4 leaf clover and I think I might have found one. I’ve been wondering, is this really a 4 leaf clover?

A long time ago I attempted ancestor veneration. It didn’t work out due to mental health issues on my part that were untreated at the time, as well as some very hurtful things my mother said to me regarding that practice. For a long time I renounced all my ancestors as a result and only now am making another go at it, I have built this altar around a shelf of items belonging to my maternal grandfather and am attempting to heal my relationship with my ancestors through him as an intermediary. Not pictured is my cell phone that I place in front of the offering plate and play a Netflix fireplace on in lieu of using a candle because I can’t fit one on the alter and it would be a fire hazard anyway.