WITCHY SAGE BUTTER ROLLS

These things are really like garlic rolls meet cinnamon rolls but with delicious sage butter!

They are perfect if you have a little extra time on your hands, and can be served alone or with a dinner, stew, or any type of soup and it pairs pretty well.

Quite the crowd pleaser ^_^

INGREDIENTS

For the Tangzhong:

For the Bread:

For the Egg Wash:

For the Sage Butter:

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the Tangzhong ingredients over medium heat until they become very thick, about the consistency of a very thick brownie batter. It should be congealed enough so that it doesn't slide off the spatula very easily. This should take no longer than 5 minutes. Let it cool down completely (If you add it in hot, you will risk killing the yeast and the bread will not rise.

(What is Tangzhong?) Its a mixture of flour, milk, water that really steps up your game when it comes to the fluffiness of the rolls. Once you try adding this to your basic breads, you wont go back!

Bloom yeast in warm milk (Put in the microwave for about 15 seconds, it should be lukewarm, not hot. Add Flour, salt, and sugar into a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Crack egg and milk into the yeast and with the stand mixer’s dough hook attachment, mix into the flour mixture. Add in Tangzhong. Add butter 1 tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough is elastic. Then mix for another 5 minutes. If the dough looks too dry, add a tablespoon of water, and repeat until smooth. If it is too liquidy, add a couple pinches of flour.

Put the bread dough in a lightly greased medium bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature for 2 hours. In the meantime, make your sage butter by beating your salted butter, garlic, and herbs.

Flour the workspace and roll the dough flat to about 1/4 inch thick. Smear all of your butter mixture onto the dough. Roll as you would a cinnamon roll, from the widest side of the rectangle to the other side.

Cover for 2 more hours for them to proof. Then combine egg and water to form your egg wash and brush it onto the rolls briefly before putting it in the oven. Put in the oven at 350 F for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Astrology Witch Market

Sunday Aug 13 2023, 12pm-5pm Triple Crossing Brewery, 5203 Hatcher St, Richmond VA (USA)

Hey witches - while you're plotting your August shenanigans, why not plan to stop by the Astrology Witch Market at Triple Crossing on Sunday Aug 13th!

There will be vendors with all kinds of supplies for your celestial doings, plus artwork, clothing, home decor, altar supplies, and lots more. There will also be a few witches onsite to help you find out more about your personal astrological chart, just in case you need to fill some gaps in your knowledge. I have some new items on my table, so make sure you come and check those out.

And when you’re finished your shopping, you can grab a drink and a bite to eat and relax in the brewery’s tasting room and lounge. (The pizza at Triple Crossing is AMAZING - try the pepperoni and hot honey!) Make sure you check out the River City Witch Markets page on Facebook for details, directions, and a full calendar of events for the year.

See you there! 😁🌟

Goddddddddddddd Cleavon Little was cute. Fuckin’ hell look at him. 

i love watching wilder’s eyes in this scene - he’s watching every fucking muscle twitch, every micro-expression. he isn’t gonna drop that “morons” until he KNOWS he’s got him.

my god, they were both so good.

“you know… morons” was not in the script. All the points to Gene Wilder for getting Cleavon Little to corpse that hard on camera. Also props to Mel Brooks for leaving that take in the movie.

Blazing Saddles is what happened when Mel Brooks (Jewish WW2 vet) and Richard Pryor (Black man who grew up in shittiest conditions possible) got in a room, decided to throw their collective fucks out a window and see how many groups they could piss off in two hours.

All true, but there’s something else worth talking about:

Brooks and Pryor knew EXACTLY how far to go, and where to stop. Brooks has talked about this–he would happily show a Black man escaping the noose, but not one being lynched.

There are important limits to this sort of comedy, a delicate balancing act of how to strike for maximum effect but not to punch down. And a lot of people who are saying “you couldn’t make Blazing Saddles today” don’t get that.

extremely good video on this exact subject

Seconding this. It's not unique and it's not new and it's DEFINITELY not a product of the internet age.

Witches and occult practitioners have been arguing over their personal practices and magical headcanons since the 1800s. It's pretty much baked into the culture to have....spirited discussions over these things from time to time.

If you want to hear about some epic drama, read about the fallouts and schisms within The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, one of which literally involved W.B. Yeats (yes THAT W.B. Yeats) kicking Aleister Crowley down a flight of stairs. No I am not kidding, that is A Thing That Happened.

In any community that grows to sufficient size, disagreements about practice and ideology are kind of inevitable. Some of them will be simple agree-to-disagree type conversations. Others will be knock-down-drag-out fights between parties who can't (or won't) see eye to eye or just agree to live and let live.

Because people are people, some will be better at discussing and resolving these situations in a civil matter. (And some will go, "Well, I'm gonna go make my own magical secret society! With blackjack! And hookers!")

Heal Thy Heart Powder

Intent: To relieve heartache, heartbreak, loneliness, grief, and other emotional pains.

Ingredients:

Materials:

Note: Powdered versions of most herbs are available online. I recommend such sites as Starwest Botanicals and Penn Herbs for the quality products at reasonable prices. Also, if you can get your hands on a good spice grinder, you can make your own powder from dried herb products.

Grind each ingredient separately to produce fine powder. Sieve the material through the mesh strainer into the collection dish; this removes the larger unground pieces and gives you cleaner powdered herb. (Pro- Tip: Putting a funnel under the mesh strainer reduces lost material and makes collection much easier.)

Combine the component powders in the collection dish, mix well, and bottle immediately. For volume, go heavier on the less expensive or more easily available materials like Red Roses, Cloves, and Cinnamon. Otherwise, combine in more or less even amounts.

Use in any spellwork designed to ease pains of the heart, be they from loss, fatigue, relationships, loneliness, or general sadness. Add to charms to help one recover from emotional pain.

For more recipes to fill out your potion kit, you can check out Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils. (Available on Amazon and in my shop!)

If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊

Some Democrats are siding with their effort to let the most conservative state censor us all for being queer on the Internet.

Please, please, please don't sleep on this.

If you can't safely contact your Congress Critters in person, here are some other options:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be connected to the representative of your choice.

Here is one that will send your reps a fax: https://resist.bot/

I slept in and just woke up, so here's what I've been able to figure out while sipping coffee:

This man wants you to give him control over all of your financial information.

Edit to add further developments:

When Statler and Waldorf go after you for your life choices, you seriously need to sit down and have a rethink.

Watching wealth hoarders with the intellectual capacity of an inebriated fruit fly publicly self-destruct is my new favorite form of entertainment.

Hex Positive, Ep. 036 - Margaret Effing Murray with Trae Dorn

Margaret Murray was a celebrated author, historian, folklorist, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist, first-wave feminist, and the first woman to be appointed to the position of lecturer in archaeology in the UK. So why so we get so annoyed whenever her name is mentioned in conversations about witchcraft? Well, it all has to do with a book Margaret wrote back in 1921…which just so happened to go on to have a profound influence on the roots of the .modern witchcraft movement.

Nerd & Tie senpai and host of BS-Free Witchcraft Trae Dorn joins me in the virtual studio to discuss the thoroughly-discredited witch-cult hypothesis, Murray’s various writings and accomplishments, and why modern paganism might not have caught on so strongly without her.

Hex Positive is now on YouTube⁠!

Check my ⁠Wordpress⁠ for full show notes, as well as show notes for past episodes and information on upcoming events. You can find me as @BreeNicGarran on TikTok, Instagram, and WordPress, or as @breelandwalker on tumblr. For more information on how to support the show and get access to early releases and extra content, visit my ⁠Patreon⁠.

Visit the ⁠Willow Wings Witch Shop⁠ to purchase my books and homemade accoutrements for your craft!

Proud member of the ⁠Nerd and Tie Podcast Network⁠.

View the full article on WordPress

New episode now live on your favorite podcatcher!

Fairy Tale Spells by Bree NicGarran

Fairy tales have always been with us. Apart from teaching moral lessons and practical cautions, they remain a source of wonder and inspiration that persists even in a modern age dominated by technology.

There is magic in these tales as well - spells and charms that aid the worthy and conquer obstacles, heal the ailing and bring wealth to the poor, thwart the wicked and exact terrible revenge, or grant someone their hearts' desire and make their dearest wishes come true.

I have created over a hundred such spells, inspired by the tales recorded by the Brothers Grimm and the folklore collected by Andrew Lang. One volume was published back in 2017 and another is forthcoming. If you're curious (and maybe a little bit daring), here are some previews of the spells to be found in the pages of The Sisters Grimmoire.

After all, who couldn’t use a bit of Happily Ever After?

The Sisters Grimmoire, Vol. I

The Sisters Grimmoire, Vol. II (forthcoming)

You can find more spells from The Sisters Grimmoire, Vol. I and potion and powder recipes from Pestlework by checking out the mid-month minisodes of Hex Positive, available on your favorite podcast platform.

All of my titles can be found on Amazon or ordered from the Willow Wings Witch Shop. (If you'd like to see them in your local witch shop, feel free to give the proprietor my contact information!)

If you're enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar! 😊

Willow Wings Witch Shop

Since we're all heartily fed up with Amazon right about now, I'm pleased to bring you my very own online shop. Here you can purchase print copies of all of my books, plus vials of my most popular magical powders and all kind of witchy goodies!

Here's what's in stock:

BOOKS

MAGICAL POWDERS

WITCHY GOODIES

Ordering instructions are at the bottom of the shop page and you can always reach me at BreeNicGarran@gmail.com if you have any questions. Orders generally ship within 7 days of payment and I provide tracking information. Non-U.S. orders I have to restrict to books only because of customs nonsense, but I do ship worldwide!

Hope you're all having a wonderful season so far and I thank you for your support!

(Disclaimer: This shop is in no way affiliated with Tumblr or Wordpress beyond hosting and posting, and the seller assumes all responsibility for the sales process and quality of the wares therein.)

Witchcraft Books by Bree NicGarran

Grovedaughter Witchery: Practical Spellcraft

The Sisters Grimmoire: Spells & Charms For Your Happily Ever After

Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils

Visit my Amazon Author Page for listings and book reviews! You can also visit my Wordpress shop to order books and other witchy goodies directly from me. (All orders billed through Paypal. Nominal shipping charges will apply.)

Make sure you check out my podcast, Hex Positive, on your favorite podcatcher app! (Part of the Nerd and Tie Podcast Network.)

If you own a shop and would like to carry my titles, please contact me at BreeNicGarran@gmail.com for wholesale information.

Magical Powder Recipes

A collection of some of my original magical powder recipes.

For those of you who may not be able to find herbs locally, here are some online suppliers who consistently have affordable and high-quality products.

For more recipes to fill out your potion kit, you can check out Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils. (Available on Amazon and in my shop!)

If you're enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊

Simple Moon Spell - One Dozen Wishes

Intent: To create a jar of potential wishes, to be used as needed.

Materials:

In addition to their usefulness in spells for protection, wisdom, and healing, bay leaves are a potent ingredient for wishmaking. This spell does not specifically create a wishing spell, but it prepares a small supply of leaves for future spellwork, using the fulfilling energy of the full moon to pre-charge the component.

Obtain a bag of whole bay leaves. These can usually be found in the spices and seasonings aisle at the grocery store, or you can order them from a botanical supplier if you wish. Prepare a clean, dry jar with a lid as you see fit. Select twelve leaves, as whole and unbroken as possible, and place them into the jar. Cap the jar and leave it to soak up the moonlight on the next full moon evening.

When you have need of some wishmaking magic, take a single leaf from the jar, write your wish upon it, and use it in your spell. The use of the leaf depends on your casting method - you can include it in a jar or sachet charm, cast it into fire or water, or bury it to help your desired results grow, to name just a few.

Use the leaves as needed and when the supply is exhausted, you can pick twelve new leaves and refill the jar.

Happy Witching! 🔮🍃

Witchcraft Exercises

Just a quick compilation of the posts I've made about exercises to help improve your craft. These can be used as journaling prompts, inspiration for activities, or as methods for pulling yourself out of a slump and recharging your witchy inspiration.

Most of these are also available in the May 2021 bonus episode of Hex Positive (check your favorite podcatcher).

Happy Witching!

(If you're enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

Roughskin - A Protective Glamour Spell

“Before I consent to your wish, I shall require three things - a dress as golden as the sun, another as silvery as the moon, and a third as glittering as the stars; and besides this, I shall require a mantle made of a thousand skins of rough fur sewn together, and every animal in the kingdom must give a piece of his skin toward it.”

[…] In the night, when every one slept, she rose and took from her jewel-case a gold ring, a gold spinning-wheel, and a golden hook. The three dresses of the sun, moon, and stars she folded in so small a parcel that they were placed in a walnut shell; then she put on the fur mantle, stained her face and hands black with walnut-juice, and committing herself to the care of Heaven, she left her home.

- The Princess in Disguise

—–

Intent: To protect and disguise oneself from those who mean to harm you.

Materials:

Ideal Timing: Full Moon, for protection, but can be performed anytime.

Obtain an empty walnut shell. You can use the shells off of the whole bagged walnuts that most grocery stores carry in the produce section. Try to crack the walnut so that the shell comes away in two halves. This makes reassembling it for the charm much easier.

Mix the following herbs together in small pinches:

Carefully stuff the herb mixture into the two empty halves of the walnut. Use little dots of glue to help the herbs stay in place. At the very last, add a strand of your hair or a nail clipping. Line the edges of the shell with glue and carefully fit them back together. Wrap them with the rubber band to keep everything in place until the glue dries.

Once the charm is dry, place it in a patchwork cloth bag. You can purchase one or make it yourself. It only has to be large enough to hold the walnut.

Hold the bag between your palms and say:

You can either carry the bag with you whenever you feel you need protection, or you can hide the bag in a wooden box if one is available.

- From The Sisters Grimmoire: Spells and Charms for Your Happily Ever After, © 2017 Bree NicGarran

If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊

More Fairy Tale Spells:

I dunno if this has been posted yet, but.....

Keep this shit off AO3

We don't want that kind of pearl clutching 'christian' conservative sitting on the AO3 board. Keep Moms For Liberty out of our fanfiction.

this is the second fucking year in a row someone has tried to pull this crap. but if you're still on the fence about it (though fair warning, I am not copying everything she wrote as a response, which you can read on the OTW website):

Also, just for some proof of the "Republican" part, from Twitter:

like, it's not a pejorative, it's how she's self-identified

also, ENTIRELY unrelated to this crap, but she's only been a volunteer for about a year and a lot of her answers to questions about ongoing problems is "I don't know because I've only been here a year." she doesn't even know what PAC is.

Persuasion Powder

Intent: To make your words ring true with your listeners, to sway them to your point of view without directly commanding, to make your arguments strong and get your point across in a convincing fashion.

Ingredients:

Materials:

Note: Powdered versions of most herbs are available online. I recommend Starwest Botanicals and Penn Herbs for quality products at reasonable prices. Also, if you can get your hands on a good electric spice grinder, you can make your own powder from dried herb products.

Grind each ingredient separately for several minutes to produce fine powder. Sieve the material through the mesh strainer into the collection dish; this removes the larger ungrindable pieces and gives you cleaner powdered herb. (Pro-Tip: Putting a funnel under the strainer helps reduce lost material.)

For the Wild Cherry Bark, Marshmallow Root, and Galangal Root, retain the leftover large pieces that don’t make it through the strainer. You can use this for loose incense or charm bags later. Remember, witchlings: waste not, want not! (If you don’t have Marshmallow or Galangal Root handy, plain sugar and cinnamon will suffice.)

Combine the component powders in the collection dish, mix well, and bottle immediately.

Sprinkle a little pinch in your shoes before going to important meetings or interviews, or any time you feel like you might need your arguments to have a little extra oomph. This powder can also be used in any spellwork intended to achieve the same result.

Copal Resin may be added to this mix to create an incense. If you plan to do so, do not use sugar in the mix, as burning it may damage the vessel or leave a sticky, hard-to-clean residue.

Note: As tempting as it may seem, do not put this powder in your mouth as a method of application. If you want to sweeten your speech with magic using an edible focus, use sugar, hard candy, or a drop of honey, not Persuasion Powder.

-adapted from Pestlework: A Book of Magical Powders & Oils, © 2017 by Bree NicGarran

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. You may also enjoy my show, Hex Positive - available wherever fine podcasts are heard. 😊)

The Sorrow Pot - A Spell for Sadness

Then said he, “If you will not tell me anything, tell your sorrows to the iron-stove there,” and he went away.

Then she crept into the iron-stove, and began to weep and lament, and emptied her whole heart, and said, “Here am I deserted by the whole world, and yet I am a King’s daughter, and a false waiting-maid has by force brought me to such a pass that I have been compelled to put off my royal apparel, and she has taken my place with my bridegroom, and I have to perform menial service as a goose-girl. If my mother did but know that, her heart would break.”

-The Goose Girl

—–

There are times in our lives when we suffer from the words and deeds of others. These are hard enough to bear without the additional strain of feeling like we can’t talk about it or have no one to turn to for sympathy. This spell allows for both a venting of those grievances and a call for justice upon those who have wronged you.

Intent: To relieve your sorrows and bring justice for a grievance.

Materials:

Ideal Timing: This spell can be performed whenever there is a need.

Obtain a small pot or saucepan. If neither of these are available, a teapot or a large mug will do. This will be your sorrow pot. It is important to note that after performing this spell, you should wash and thoroughly cleanse the item to make sure that none of your sorrows remain before using it for mundane cooking or other magic.

Whisper your sorrows into the pot. Take as long as you like and be as sad or as angry or as vulgar as you feel you need to be. If you shed any tears, try to catch a few of them in the pot for additional potency.

Gather the following and place them in the pot:

Stir the contents with a spoon until well combined, then tip the whole mixture into a fire-safe dish, carry it to a clear area without fire hazards, and set it alight. The candle shavings will help the herbs to burn more thoroughly, and you can add drippings from a bayberry or black wax candle if you wish to help it along.

Carefully sprinkle a generous pinch of Ground Allspice or Ground Cloves into the burning material. Let the herbs burn to ash, then cast the ashes into the wind.

If you stop there, the spell works to relieve sorrow and emotional pain, and to aid recovery and mental clarity. If you wish to go one step further and seek justice for the harm that caused your pain in the first place, add the following incantation as you sprinkle the Allspice or Cloves into the burning herbs.

Recite over the flames:

Once the herbs are completely burned, take the ashes and cast them into the wind to carry the spell to its’ intended target.

Note: If you do not have the space for burning herbs or do not wish to use fire, the herbs may be poured into a bowl and placed in strong sunlight for an hour, with the word “sun” replacing “flame” in the incantation. Cast the herbs into running water or scatter them in the wind for the final step.

- From The Sisters Grimmoire: Spells and Charms for Your Happily Ever After, © 2017 Bree NicGarran

All of my titles can be found on Amazon or ordered from the Willow Wings Witch Shop. (If you’d like to see them in your local witch shop, feel free to give the proprietor my contact information!)

If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar! 😊