Just finished The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by Robert Kirk. This is a good primary source of folklore and the intro links it to 1800’s psychical research, even if its age can make it harder to read. 4 stars. My cats liked how it smelled and felt to rub. #WitchSky #reading

Doing this and moving the water there somewhere else

Same energy.

Just finished The Comfy Cozy Witchy’s Guide to Making Magic in your Everyday Life by Jennie Blonde. This is a good if not groundbreaking beginner’s guide I gave 4.25 stars. Despite it being a library read, my cats were disinterested in it. #WitchSky #reading

Just finished Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire. This was a fun read that moved quickly even if it is very tropey. 4.25 stars. #BookSky #reading

If the clip wasn’t here to prove it, I would believe it if someone told me he said this. Feels too blatantly satirical.

Just finished A Scheme of Heaven by Alexander Boxer. This was a detailed overview of the history of astrology that handled the topic skeptically yet respectfully. It was a bit dry to read. 4 stars. My cats were disinterested in this one. #WitchSky #reading

Just read The Probability Broach by L. Neil Smith. I picked up this libertarian propaganda alternate history because I hoped it would be the funny kind of bad and was not disappointed on that front. That said, it is objectively a 2.5 star book at most. #BookSky #reading #alternatehistory

Thinking about how back when I was in college a decade ago the CR chapter I was in impeached its leader for an Islamaphobic joke and then those same people who did that either left the GOP or shifted to the alt right as soon as they saw where the momentum on that side were going.

The snake is the eel of the land and the eel is the snake of the water. There are also water snakes, which are the land eels of the water. Sometimes eels go across land as well, which makes them the water snakes of the land (distinct from water snakes, which are land eels of the water, as mentioned)

I miss having a government that at least cared enough to pretend not to be run by totally sociopathic ghouls.

Just finished Dollcraft by Patti Negri. It’s a good basic overview of haunted dolls and poppets, but was a bit too basic for my tastes and the repeated mentions of Zak Baggans did ick me out a bit. Spooky was more interested in her toy rainbow as she should be. #WitchSky #reading

One of my favorite classes in college really hammered home not only how corrupt & authoritarian the Shah was but 1979 leading to theocracy was made inevitable by the regime crushing every opposition group but the clergy with brute force for 25 years. This ‘50 year war’ didn’t come out of nowhere.

Just finished Practical Solitary Magic by Nancy B. Watson. This was a generally solid guide if a bit dated (from 1996) and basic in its advice. 4 stars. Little Dipper enjoyed rubbing her head on it. #WitchSky #reading

The idea of adapting this is…questionable to me, but I have enough nostalgia for the original game I’ll probably watch.

Just finished A Guide to the Tarot of the Greek Magical Papyri by Jason Augustus Newcomb. This was a good overview of the logic behind this newly acquired tarot deck as well as its potential use in rituals. 4.5 stars. Cats were too busy sleeping to provide comment. #WitchSky #reading

Just finished Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. This compelling reimagining of the ‘visiting a strange otherworld’ genre of children’s fiction kept me hooked even if it was a bit short. 4.5 stars and I will be continuing the series it launched. #BookSky #reading

I have conflicting feelings about John Green. On one hand, his videos helped me pass 3 AP classes. On the other hand, a joke he made about Milton Friedman T-shirts is what ultimately made me go libertarian and I regret that.

‘Accepting that dinosaurs became birds is a slippery slope to transgenderism’ is a take my brain generated that almost certainly is real. I really could write for the Daily Wire if I was soulless enough.

I mean I guess if she was right about him being a powerful astral being not bound by linear time maybe he actually was preventing war with Iran with his mystical powers but I doubt it.

Ok look I’m sorry but I can’t respect anyone still going to bat for the imperialism-fetishizing ex-Blackwater Reddit Nazi (because he has made it very clear that’s what he is), even if the alternative is a cringe octogenarian.

John Bolton rn

Donald Trump’s ‘anti-war’ credentials always were based on assuming his hostility to liberal internationalist and neoconservative principles meant he was a non-interventionist or isolationist while ignoring the obvious truth that he was just an old-school imperialist.

Just finished Vicuous by V.E. Schwab. This was a compelling and unique take on the concept of superpowers and how people respond to receiving them. 4.5 stars. #BookSky #reading

Five authors I've read at least 5 books by: 1) Ursula K. Le Guin 2) R.F. Kuang 3) Stephen King 4) Jeff VanderMeer 5) Octavia Butler

Going to a Ghost concert (known to some as a ritual) tonight. Should be a great time!

Just finished Word Witch by Kate Belew. This was a good overview of blending magic & creativity. I’m kinda bummed it’s a Libby borrow because it makes it harder to try the exercises so I may have to purchase it later. 4.5 stars. Little Dipper was too sleepy to share thoughts. #WitchSky #reading

Thinking about all the paranormal podcasts I listened to who said ‘Trump will only do UFO disclosure if he thinks it will help him by distracting the public from Epstein’ and…yeah they clocked it.

Just finished The Trickster and the Paranormal. This was an excellent analysis of the paranormal taking into account a number of frameworks and highlighting the role trickery has played in shaping narratives around it. 4.5 stars. Mooch felt it was very good for scritches. #WitchSky #reading

Just finished Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson. This was a fast and fun archaeology adventure with some romance and direct engagement with more problematic tropes associated with ‘adventure archaeologist’ stories. 4.5 stars. #BookSky #reading

I know there’s a lot going on right now so I kinda get why this isn’t getting as much traction but it should be a bigger deal that Obama is casually going ‘yeah there’s aliens.’

Dragonposting

Really not liking the fact that increasingly the defining fault line of politics is ‘do you support cruelty?’ and ‘hell yes cruelty rules’ is at least a third of the country.

Just finished Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. This was a solid sci fi thriller that moved perhaps a bit too fast at times but definitely kept me hooked. 4.25 stars. #BookSky #reading

This piece’s author heads an outlet which has generally treated the apparatus of mass deportation and subversion of democracy as at worst equally problematic to the higher taxes and regulations of Dems. Speaks to the hollowness of libertarianism and I say this as someone who used to be one.

Just finished My Life with the Spirits by Lon Milo DuQuette. This memoir gave a lot of insight to how the occult expressed itself in his life. Aspects of it do raise eyebrows in interesting ways. 4.25 stars. Mooch did not like bad things happening to a kitten in this book. #WitchSky #Occultsky

Just finished The Dinosaur Lords by Victor Milan. This was a solid, if bit generic, fantasy story WITH DINOSAURS. 3.75 stars. #BookSky #reading

who’s the super bowl halftime performer? *wrong answers only*

I'm sorry the guy changing the rules on the fly is named what

Just finished Before You Do Magic by Donald Tyson. This is a good overview of foundational skills for a magical practice. It’s overall go some good stuff, even if it may feel repetitive to a long term practitioner. 4.5 stars Little Dipper was scared of it, #WitchSky #reading

Just finished Expedition by Wayne Barlowe. This is a classic of the speculative evolution genre and seeing the creatures’ creative designs it’s easy to see why and there’s enough extras compared to the Alien Planet mockumentary to make it worth reading. 4.75 stars. #BookSky #reading

He’s such a little bitch. Like he’s awful in so many ways but it still stuns me people see him as a tough and strong leader when he’s a whiny crybully.

There are 3 cat personalities: 1) proper princess 2) nothing behind the eyes 3) trash goblin I am privileged enough to have all 3 in my life.

Just finished Beast of the North Woods by Annalise Ryan. This cryptozoological murder mystery story was fun but its solution to ‘how can a hodag kill a man if hodags were never real?’ was honestly unhinged. 3.75 stars #BookSky #reading

Considering he married one of his undergrads, frankly this isn't surprising, actually. Happier that Steve Brusatte is the paleontological adviser now anyway.

Just finished Dream Sorcery by Nikki Wardwell Sleath. This is a very thorough guide to advancing lucid dreaming. However, it is a bit overly tailored to Celtic and Norse paradigms. 4.25 stars. Spooky felt the book smelled boring and gave 2 stars. #WitchSky #reading

Just finished Five Ways to Forgiveness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Le Guin weaves some powerful stories into these novellas and reflects very strongly on how to approach liberation. I did find a lot of the novellas were a bit slow paced for me. 4.25 stars. #BookSky #reading

Perfect angel baby. 🥰

Five Classes I Took in College ● Conspiracy Theories ● History of the Devil ● Modern Japan Through Film ● Puzzles & Paradoxes ● American Government in Film

Just finished The Voyage of the Basilisk by Marie Brennan. This was a fine enough story but I wanted more dragons than I got. 4 stars. #BookSky #reading