{"id":569,"date":"2017-05-09T11:33:55","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T19:33:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/?p=569"},"modified":"2017-05-13T18:41:04","modified_gmt":"2017-05-14T02:41:04","slug":"witchery-world-float-like-jellyfish-sting-like-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tempest\/2017\/05\/witchery-world-float-like-jellyfish-sting-like-one.html","title":{"rendered":"Witchery World: Float Like a Jellyfish…and Sting Like One Too."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"jellywitch\"
\nThe things that wander into my brain when the nearly full moon is keeping me awake: Witches are like jellyfish.<\/p>\n

(Come with me on this one, you might enjoy it.)\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I had been thinking over interactions I\u2019ve had in person with a variety of people over the last week or so. \u00a0After spending most of April in my studio working, with little social interaction beyond Nathaniel,\u00a0cats, students and close friends \u2013 suddenly I had house guests, art openings, book talks, vending, parties, gigs. \u00a0I mingled with all kinds of people from various backgrounds, ages, experiences, and social-economic structures. \u00a0Mix in a late night conversation with Mat<\/a> about psychic interactions and mediumship \u2013 and I got to thinking about my days as a nearly full-time psychic reader and my diverse clientele.<\/p>\n

What does that have to do with jellyfish? Actually quite a few similarities: energy & form, movement & flow, \u00a0and work.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Water
Water Element, painting by the author<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Energy & Form<\/strong>
\nI often feel like a jellyfish when I\u2019m moving through various groups of people.<\/p>\n

Folks may talk a lot of about setting up protective wards, shields, grounding, etc \u2013 but for me personally, there is an intrinsic, instinctive reflex in dealing with people in general. \u00a0To try and put it into words, I would explain it as a gentle buffer that protects while filtering in necessary information. \u00a0It\u2019s nearly always on, dampened pretty much only by alcohol.<\/p>\n

Scientifically, jellyfish lack a brain and basic sensory organs (eyes, ears, nose), but they have extremely sensitive nervous systems that allow them to perceive stimuli and react very quickly. \u00a0Narrowly avoiding the obvious some Witches also seem to be lacking brains at times<\/em> joke, psychic perception and intuition could be compared to how jellyfish get by in the world. \u00a0Witches often feel and experience things that can\u2019t be observed plainly by eyes or ears or\u00a0explained through rational thought.<\/p>\n

Most jellyfish are nearly invisible, imperceptible until you\u2019ve made physical contact \u2013 and sometimes not even then. \u00a0You might not even know you\u2019ve encountered one until long after. \u00a0Also, a lot like Witches. \u00a0Often hidden, not immediately apparent, undetected that they\u2019re taking stock of the situation. Of course, there\u2019s always the man 0\u2019war*\u00a0who must make a big show out of everything \u2013 looking all scary and stingy, getting in everyone\u2019s way. \u00a0Bet you don\u2019t know anyone like that.<\/p>\n

Side note:<\/em> I think a lot of practicing Witches who work with people and the arts also utilize the same buffer structure, which explains why we occasionally (ahem frequently)<\/em> tend to bump awkwardly into each other as we\u2019re swimming along.<\/p>\n

Movement & Flow<\/strong>
\nJellyfish utilize the currents of the water to flow into where they need to go, but most are also equipped with an internal propulsion system, so they can jet along when they need to. \u00a0Again, I feel a kinship here, because I find it\u2019s easier to flow with the current of the Universe and how it\u2019s directing me, versus against it. \u00a0But I can certainly can do move when action is necessary. \u00a0That way I\u2019m not overworking myself, and energy expended is well-used for a defined purpose.<\/p>\n

I want to take a moment here to distinguish between \u201ccultural current\u201d and \u201cuniversal current.\u201d \u00a0Going along with social norms, bandwagons, and whatever is easiest isn\u2019t what I\u2019m talking about here \u2013 that\u2019s cultural current. \u00a0The Witch is historically iconoclastic, counter-cultural, and marginal. \u00a0Universal current is the pattern of how things are unfolding on a larger scale \u2013 spiritually, metaphysically, in liminal, unknown and known places. \u00a0It connects in with that perception of things outside of the standard sensory organs.<\/p>\n

\"jellyfish\"
painting by the author<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Work<\/strong>
\nI grew up at the Jersey shore<\/a>, where in the summertime, the warmer currents and storms would deposit a great amount of jellyfish on to the beach and fill the waters. There was a myth passed around that the clear jellyfish don\u2019t sting, it\u2019s just the ones with the red bits. \u00a0Really, all jellyfish are capable of stinging, it just depends on whether you as a being are sensitive to it. \u00a0You can look at spellcraft\/magick\/metaphysics the same way. \u00a0They all have punch, they all have varying levels of effectiveness and implications \u2013 it depends on the practitioner and the situation. \u00a0The same energy that can be used defensively can also be used to bring home dinner.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no big show of it either. \u00a0The jellyfish sidles up, stings, noms, and heads on its way. \u00a0And as I mentioned earlier, most folks are none-the-wiser until later. \u00a0The same works best for spellcraft: do what you need to do without a lot of fuss or attention.<\/p>\n

Also important to note, from https:\/\/animalcorner.co.uk\/jellyfish-anatomy\/:<\/a> \u201cJellyfish have an incomplete digestive system\u2026The absence of these organs means that the same orifice is used for both food intake and waste depositing. Jellyfish dispose of their waste matter very quickly. Jellyfish cannot afford to carry too much bulk around with them otherwise they would find it difficult to stay afloat.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

So much jellyfish wisdom there in that quote! \u00a0I am reminded of the Witch\u2019s Guide to Etiquette<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 as well as some Moonstruck<\/a> wisdom via Olympia Dukakis\u2019 character, \u201cdon\u2019t shit where you eat.\u201d \u00a0Don\u2019t dish out what you can\u2019t stomach and don\u2019t hold on to things that will hold you down.<\/p>\n

In Conclusion:<\/strong>
\nI think I may need to form a cult of Jellywitches.<\/p>\n

*technically, the Portuguese man o\u2019 war<\/a> isn\u2019t a jellyfish, but you get the idea.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The jellyfish sidles up, stings, noms, and heads on its way. The same works best for spellcraft: do what you need to do without a lot of fuss or attention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2676,"featured_media":570,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,12],"tags":[245,246,162,7,4,94],"class_list":["post-569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-metaphysics","category-modernpractice","tag-jellyfish","tag-jellywitch","tag-pwords","tag-witch","tag-witchcraft","tag-witches"],"yoast_head":"\nWitchery World: Float Like a Jellyfish...and Sting Like One Too.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The jellyfish sidles up, stings, noms, and heads on its way. 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