⛤ July Q&A (Patreon)

It's the hottest month of the year, summer is coming to an end but not without delivering one last blow of cell damaging radiation across the northern hemisphere. I am tired, I am sweaty and I am tired of being sweaty. but at least I have a fresh haircut! and central air! so it could be worse. what's your favorite way to keep cool during the summer? mine is drinking cocktails and dancing naked in an air conditioned house. live a little. or a lot. in fact, the more you can live, the better! and I mean quality over quantity, make no mistake. tomorrow isn't guaranteed for anyone, all we have is now.

What's one of your favorite snacks? this is hard because we are an ingredient only household lol. we rarely buy snacks unless we're on a road trip. at home, I live off of leftovers, side dishes, raw fruit and whatever baked goods I have made recently. but if we're gonna be driving for a long time my favorite road trip snack is this bacon and bourbon flavored meat and cheese snack. the best thing you can get at a convenience store.

Have you read the book Coraline? Or seen the Henry Selick stop motion movie? I have not, but I am on the internet so I have inevitably seen snippets of the film.

Any trips planned outside of the US? sadly we don't make "trips outside of the US" kinda money. cries in poor

What are your plans for the [home] channel? I loved the spiritual hygiene video and would like to know if you’re going to make more videos over there soon? thank you so much! I'm looking forward to producing more for [home]. right now the idea is to post witch related videos, but not in the way I see others post witch related videos. I want to share some spells and recipes I use, maybe some cozy vlogs. it seems like I'm looking for something particular, but as with all creations that don't exist yet, it's hard to put my finger on exactly what. my only clue is that I don't want to do what everyone else is doing, not because what they're doing is not wonderful, but because it's not my style. above anything, I want to love my creation. the spiritual hygiene video came together in a way that I like and I hope over time my creations will take on a discernible shape instead of just "not like that".

Any tips on getting the perfect consistency of dough for biscuits? I'm struggling here lol. you've come to the right person. first of all, you need to get the measurements right. I recommend this recipe for a starting off point. personally, I like to grate my (fridge cold) butter into the flour mixture since it doesn't take that long and makes for a nice and tall biscuit. once you add the wet ingredients, you only want to mix until a dough starts to form. it is imperative that you don't knead the biscuits. I repeat, NO KNEADING THE BISCUITS. instead, turn out the barely combined dough out onto a floured surface and roll it out to about a half inch, using enough flour to keep the rolling pin from sticking. then fold it like a letter. roll it out again and fold like a letter. repeat this one more time and then roll the layered dough to an inch thickness and punch out circles with a cookie or biscuit cutter or floured cup. gather the scraps, roll another sheet of dough, fold it in half and roll to an inch thickness again. the layers will be messy in the second batch, this is ok. the less you handle the dough, the better. then bake as instructed and you will have a nice, tender, flaky biscuit.

Do you know what Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is? If so have you ever experienced it? Because I had it for eight years and it has been more of a curse than a perk. If you think you could give me advice, if you please. I am familiar with OCD but I don't have it. and for that I am thankful because I get stressed out enough seeing other people struggle with it. in my opinion, OCD is the most pain in the ass mental condition you can have. every waking minute is dominated by intrusive thoughts, irrational anxieties and phobias and an all-consuming sense of looming panic and dread. I'm not sure what you mean by perks of OCD, it has no perks that I'm aware of. the only advice I can give you is to make an effort to reduce anxiety and to not give into your compulsions. the more you give in, the more you will associate giving in with relief, however temporary, making it much harder to break out of the cycle. if you can, speak to a professional who can walk you through ERT therapy. as far as I am aware, that's the only kind of therapy proven to help OCD.

I had been to a Ren Faire this year in may and it was amazing, I want to go again next year. I know you have been to one, what did you do there? Also what were your favorite events while you were there? Jack and I are avid ren faire goers and we have been to all the major ren faires in our state. my favorite thing is to walk around in costume, drink grog (no mead at our local one!) and shop. it appears I have developed a habit of buying flutes that I can't figure out how to play. but mostly I like to buy incense, soaps and jams, possibly jewelry, decorations and pottery if I can afford it. I like to take pictures of people in costume and performers. I like live music, the vibe is just not the same without it. I also like to get my palm read, but palm reading is a dying art. most psychics at ren faires only do tarot. if they are reasonably priced, I also like to get my witchcraft supplies there - a true one stop shop. of course I expect to pay a premium due to the tent rent, but if you're a witch trying to sell supplies at a faire, just know you're not gonna make many sales with a 300% markup. our pockets are only so deep.

I'm interested in the sigil on your back that you mentioned in your Spiritual Hygiene video. You did explain what it meant, but I'm sure I remember you talking about designing it a few months back, and I would be really interested about how you came to that design, what the elements mean, what the origins are, any other information about it. If you're happy to share that? my favorite method of crafting sigils is the letter method where you create symbols with the shapes of the letters of the intention you've written out. it's a very intuitive process and you know it's done when it comes together in a way that feels right. you just arrange, draw, simplify and simplify some more while accounting for all the letters. eventually it'll turn into something unrecognizable. you don't really need to have any knowledge of occult symbols but it can add another layer of energy if you do. my deflection sigil happens to resemble an egyptian ankh and it works perfectly with the symbolism of a self-sustaining eternal life force. the implication is an impenetrable system that remains unaffected by the hatred of others.

Do you think you are good at giving advice when it comes to more personal issues like idk... childhood trauma, anxieties, relationship/dating, depression and even suicidal thoughts? Not like in a professional way but do you think you could offer help, specially to younger people? I like to think I can offer advice, as I have extensive experience with all those things, aswell as a decent understanding of the human experience. there's a video I have from years ago called "patching you up" that I still get people thanking me for and telling me how much this video helped them. this video was born out of a desire to give people who suffer like I have suffered the experience we need to heal which happens to be the opposite of the experience we were given in the outside world. the experience of care and acceptance and a fundamental understanding of the motivations behind our bad habits. a human to human interaction free of judgement. because the way in which self-harm sufferers have been treated in the real world is revolting and embarrassing. the shaming, outrage, disgust, blame and complete bewilderment we were met with only justifies self-punishing behavior in the mind of a sufferer. given my unique perspective, I know this shit don't work. having our freedom taken away and being treated like circus freaks for trying to deal with more pain than our nervous system can handle don't work. being gaslit about our experience by ignorant fucks hammering into us how "good we have it" don't work. having been there, I know how to connect with people on a deep human level that we've been bullshitted into thinking isn't normal nor human. society isn't ready for this conversation yet. but I am.

You know what? I just thought of something, now with your new channel... i am not sure if it is made for that but I think you could do some kind of podcasts about witchcraft or anything that is of interest. This is definitely something I would watch, even if the topic is not of my interest but I believe you would make good podcasts, either by yourself or with Jack, or even with us, the subs. Just a thought that rushed through my head at 4am in the morning. podcasts sure seem popular these days! I don't have a clear vision yet, but it's gonna come together in a way that feels right. the hard part would be finding people willing to sit down and talk to me. not even my friends want to talk to me lol. I don't have a single thing in common with anyone in my friend circle. I need friends whose idea of fun aligns with my idea of fun and then maybe those podcasts could happen! seeking: friends to dance naked in the woods with :)

I hope this was a satisfying read, as always a new question dump will be available here shortly. stay hydrated, wear your sunscreen, hug a cat. remember you can't live on love or beer! 🍸