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JBB: An Artblog!
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me
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@acakaos
“I wanna go home.”
“…And by that, you mean you want to leave your physical body and return to the days when your particles were infinitely spread across the multiverse.”
“Yes. You don’t happen to have the ability to do that for me, do you?”
You have to be careful who you pray to. Some gods have more exciting ways of snapping you out of self pity than others.
Is your blog title a suggestion?
yeah
AHHHHH a bunch of my mushrooms are amanita parcivolvata
An exhaustive list of books for the advanced witch.
Occultism, Witchcraft, and Cultural Fashions: Essays in Comparative Religions by Mircea Eliade
Evolutionary Witchcraft by T. Thorn Coyle
Advanced Witchcraft: Go Deeper, Reach Further, Fly Higher by Edain McCoy
Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers by Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English
The Veil’s Edge: Exploring the Boundaries of Magic by Willow Polson
Deepening Witchcraft: Advancing Skills & Knowledge by Grey Cat
Kissing the Limitless by Thorn Coyle
The Sea Priestess by Dion Fortune
The Training & Work of an Initiate by Dion Fortune
The Second Circle: Tools for the Advancing Pagan by Venecia Rauls
The Otherside of Virtue by Brendan Myers
Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune
Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World by John G. Gager
Wicca 333: Advanced Topics in Wiccan Belief by Kaatryn MacMorgan
The Elements of Ritual: Air, Fire, Water & Earth in the Wiccan Circle by Deborah Lipp
777 And Other Qabalistic Writings of Aleister Crowley: Including Gematria & Sepher Sephiroth by Aleister Crowley
Treading the Mill: Practical Craft Working in Modern Traditional Witchcraft by Nigel G. Pearson
Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson
The Call of the Horned Piper by Nigel Aldcroft Jackson
Masks of Misrule: The Horned God & His Cult in Europe by Nigel Jackson
The Pillars of Tubal Cain by Nigel Jackson
The Roebuck in the Thicket: An Anthology of the Robert Cochrane Witchcraft Tradition by Evan John Jones
The Robert Cochrane Letters: An Insight into Modern Traditional Witchcraft by Robert Cochrane
Secrets of East Anglian Magic by Nigel Pennick
Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals by Luisah Teish
The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts by Judika Illes
HEKATE: Keys to the Crossroads – A collection of personal essays, invocations, rituals, recipes and artwork from modern Witches, Priestesses and Priests by Sorita D’Este
The Satanic Witch by Anton Szandor LAVey
Advanced Wicca: Exploring Deeper Levels of Spiritual Skills and Masterful Magick by Patricia Telesco
The Meaning of Witchcraft by Gerald Brosseau Gardner
The Study of Witchcraft: A Guidebook to Advanced Wicca by Deborah Lipp
Progressive Witchcraft by Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone * The Crossroads in Folklore and Myth by Martin Puhvel
When the Drummers Were Women: A Spiritual History of Rhythm by Layne Redmond
The Night Battles: Witchcraft & Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries by Anne Tedeschi
A Razor for a Goat: Problems in the History of Witchcraft and Diabolism by Elliot Rose
Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches’ Sabbath by Carlo Ginzburg
Popular Religion in Late Saxon England: Elf Charms in Context by Karen Louise Jolly
The Return of the Dead: Ghosts, Ancestors, and the Transparent Veil of the Pagan Mind by Claude Lecouteux
Contemporary Paganism: Listening People, Speaking Earth by Graham Harvey
Athenian Popular Religion by Jon D. Mikalson
Greek Folk Religion by Martin P. Nilsson
Homo Necans: The Anthropology of Ancient Greek Sacrificial Ritual and Myth by Walter Burkert
The Greek Way of Death by Robert Garland
The Odyssey by Homer
The Iliad by Homer
Theogony, Works and Days by Hesiod
The Histories, Revised by Herodotus
Popular Magic: Cunning-folk in English History by Owen Davies
Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions by Hilda Roderick Ellis Davidson
The Well and the Tree: World and Time in Early Germanic Culture by Paul C. Bauschatz
Carmina Gadelica by Alexander Carmichael
Greek and Roman Necromancy by Daniel Ogden
Rotting Goddess: The Origins of the Witch in Classical Antiquity by Jacob Rabinowitz
The Silver Bough by F. Marian MacNeil
The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion by James Frazer
The White Goddess by Robert Graves
Myth and Sexuality by Jamake Highwater
The Homeric Hymns by Homer
The Wisdom of the Outlaw by Joseph Falaky Nagy
Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon
Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain by Rachel Bromwich
Lady With A Mead Cup by Michael Enright
Women’s Religions in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook by Ross Shepard Kraemer
Auraicept na n-Éces: The Scholars Primer by George Calder, ed.
A Guide to Early Irish Law by Fergus Kelly
The Tain by tr. by Thomas Kinsella
The Banshee: The Irish Death Messenger by Patricia Lysaght
Sex and Marriage in Ancient Ireland by Patrick C. Power
The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. Evans Wentz
The Secret Commonwealth and the Fairy Belief Complex by Brian Walsh
Beyond Celts, Germans, and Scythians by Peter S. Wells
Tales of the Elders of Ireland by Ann Dooley and Harry Roe, trans.
The Celtic Heroic Age by John T. Koch and John Carey, eds.
The Poetic Edda
The Prose Edda
Society and Politics in Snorri Sturluson’s Heimskringla by Sverre Bagge
Feud in the Icelandic Saga by Jesse L. Byock
The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns and Fairies by Andrew Lang
The Way of Wyrd by Brian Bates
The Real Middle-Earth: Magic and Mystery in the Dark Ages by Brian Bates
Gods of Love and Ecstasy: The Traditions of Shiva and Dionysus by Alain Danielou
Pagan Dream Of Rennaissance by Joscelyn Godwin * Spiritual Mentoring: A Pagan Guide by Judy Harrow
Loneliness & Revelation by Brendan Myers
The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over by Starhawk
A World Full of Gods: An Inquiry into Polytheism by John Michael Greer
Exploring the Pagan Path: Wisdom from the Elders by Kristin Madden, Starhawk, Raven Grimassi, and Dorothy Morrison
Between the Worlds edited by Sian Reid * The Gaelic Otherworld by John Gregorson Campbell, ed. by Ronald Black
The Visions of Isobel Gowdie: Magic, Shamanism and Witchcraft in Seventeenth-century Scotland by Emma Wilby
Dreamtime: Concerning the Boundary Between Wilderness and Civilization by Hans Peter Duerr
The Underworld Initiation: A journey towards psychic transformation by R. J. Stewart
Power Within the Land: The Roots of Celtic and Underworld Traditions Awakening the Sleepers and Regenerating the Earth by R. J. Stewart
The Tree of Enchantment: Ancient Wisdom and Magic Practices of the Faery Tradition by Orion Foxwood
The Woman in the Shaman’s Body: Reclaiming the Feminine in Religion and Medicine by Barbara Tedlock
Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy by Mircea Eliade
Walkers Between the Worlds: The Western Mysteries from Shaman to Magus by Caitlin Matthews
Plant Spirit Wisdom: Shamans and Sin eaters, Celtic Techniques for Healing the Soul by Ross Heaven
The Wiccan Mystic by Ben Gruagach
To Fly by Night edited by Veronica Cummer
Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-Shamanism in North European Paganism by Jenny Blain
Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic by Emma Wilby
Sacred Mask Sacred Dance by Evan John Jones * Circles, Groves and Sanctuaries by Dan and Pauline Campanelli
Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic: A Materia Magica of African-American Conjure by Catherine Yronwode
Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo & Conjuring with Herbs by Stephanie Rose Bird
Mastering Herbalism: A Practical Guide by Paul Huson
Encyclopedia of Natural Magic by John Michael Greer
The Tree of Meaning: Language, Mind and Ecology by Robert Bringhurst
Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plantlore and Healingby Stephen Pollington
Learning Their Language: Intuitive Communication with Animals and Nature by Marta Williams
The Meaning of Herbs: Myth, Language & Lore by G. & Field, A. Scoble
The Lost Language of Plants: The Ecological Importance of Plant Medicines to Life on Earth by Stephen Buhner
The Essential Guide to Herbal Safety by Simon Mills, Kerry Bone * By Standing Stone and Elder Tree: Ritual and the Unconscious by William G. Gray also known as Rollright Stone and Elder Tree
Magical Ritual Methods by William G. Gray
The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion by Mircea Eliade
Hekate Liminal Rites: A Study of the rituals, magic and symbols of the torch-bearing Triple Goddess of the Crossroads by David Rankine
Circles of Power: Ritual Magic in the Western Tradition by John Michael Greer
I’m not advanced by any means, but maybe one day I will have a need for these (fingers crossed)
(Boiga irregularis) Brown tree snake
mushrooms are STUPID, I collected a beautiful creature today and narrowed it down to either amanita volvata, amanita phalloides, or amanita bisporigera. Mostly waiting for more rain so I have more individuals to look at, there’s no ring but I can see where it might have fallen off? waiting for the spore prints Just In Case
Probably my favorite mushroom cap texture, the old man of the woods (Strobilomyces sp.)
By Damaris Brisco (@Fungal_Love)
do you think youll ever talk more about eldritch stuff on this blog?
Maybe? I'm not entirely sure what to talk about with it. I'll be more likely to write about it if I know someone wants to hear about x thing, because discussion on hard topics is important. But... it's a broad topic to talk about without a focus, haha.
I've been wanting to get back into gear with publicly journaling, but most of my research atm is focused on wargs and mushrooms (which, funnily enough those end up relating back to eldritch matters).
Like the thing about Loki in Norse mythology is there’s like 8000 myths about Loki just being chaotically mischievous and the other gods are like lol oh that scamp, no matter how disastrous his schemes are, their reaction is still pretty much always ‘haha oh that’s just Loki.’
EXCEPT for basically….one myth. Where Loki’s instrumental in the death of Baldur and the gods are all WHOA TOO FUCKING FAR DUDE and send him to Hel to be tormented for all eternity, leading to his ultimate escape/release in Ragnarok to end all things and lead the army of the damned and his monstrous children to pretty much…eat all the gods, destroy Asgard, and burn the World Tree all to the ground so it can all start over.
Here’s the thing though. Norse mythology spanned centuries. The tales of Loki as the mischievous trickster god were told for centuries.
However, for most of that time, the myths were told as part of oral traditions passed down generation to generation, until they were finally compiled in manuscript form in the 13th century, roughly. This is when pretty much all the sagas, as Norse myth compilations were called, are considered to have been written down for the first time, and so they included thousands of stories that had been told over hundreds of years.
They were also regional, though there was a lot of overlap, given that the Vikings traveled widely and regularly across the various parts of Scandinavia. Still, different parts of Scandinavia had their own sagas. Norway had different sagas than Denmark who had different sagas than Iceland, etc. Even though all of them featured primarily the same figures, they each had their own unique stories featuring the gods. However, very rarely did they have radically different takes on those gods.
Now what’s significant about the fact that pretty much every saga we have, where these myths were all finally written down and preserved, is from the 13th century….
Is that pretty much all of Scandinavia had converted to Christianity by the early 12th century, with active worship of the Norse gods being scattered and mostly underground from that point on.
Why is this significant?
Because it means every Norse myth we have a written recording of was not written by people who still actively worshiped those gods. Nor were they intended to be read as such at the time.
They were written down by Christian scholars who wrote them AS stories. They were intended as collections of their regions’ cultural histories, but not by or for people who still actively believed in these stories or the figures they featured. They weren’t like….TRYING to be super accurate, is the thing. The scholars who wrote these sagas were writing down the stories that had been passed down for generations, but through the lens of people who saw them as stories their ancestors once believed, not ones that pertained to their own current worldview.
And they were writing these sagas for an audience of people who similarly believed as they believed.
Which means that inevitably, some things got ‘adjusted’ to fit the current world view, the zeitgeist of the scholars writing down the stories and that of the people who would read or have the stories read to them from thereon. Because again, they weren’t aiming for being 100% faithful to the tales as they’d been told to them. They were just treating them as stories. And what do you do when the story you’re writing down has elements that don’t make that much sense to you because they were born of and aimed a worldview that doesn’t match yours?
Well, if you’re the Christian scholars writing the Norse sagas, you ‘tweak’ those elements until they make a story that fits your worldview.
So remember how I said the various sagas were regional and had a lot of overlap but some stories were distinct to some regions and didn’t show up elsewhere?
Yeah, Ragnarok is one of those.
Thousands of sagas encompassing centuries of Norse mythology and oral traditions were written down all over the various regions of Scandinavia in the 13th century.
Ragnarok only showed up in one.
The most famous, granted, but still. Everything we’re told in Norse myths about the death of Baldur and Loki’s role in it, leading to his punishment and torment in Hel and his ultimate release and bringing forth the armies of Hel to slay the gods and end the world?
Comes from the Prose Edda and the later Poetic Edda, from Iceland.
Which had primarily converted to Christianity as far back as 1000.
Now, the Vikings? Were actually surprisingly not a big doom and gloom people. Pretty much every assumption of them as such comes from how synonymous we regard Ragnarok with their culture.
It is after all, the ultimate Judgment Day myth, isn’t it? Right up there with Christianity’s Book of Revelations. An apocalyptic end of the world scenario, a war between heaven and hell, where everything is destroyed so that the world can basically start fresh with a clean slate. Nothing old ‘deserves’ to survive, pretty much the only way for a world free of sin and evil to arise is from the ashes of the old, after everything has been cleansed with fire.
Now contrast this ‘myth’ with pretty much every other Norse myth that’s survived. Larger than life tales of grand adventures, noble quests, gods walking among mortals in disguise and heroes fighting giants and stealing from dragons.
Where the closest thing the Norse pantheon has to a devil figure is Loki, the god of mischief….not even evil, but MISCHIEF, because a far more accurate representation of the Vikings’ world view is that sometimes shit happens, because Loki the god of chaos likes to make a mess of things. And what do you do when that happens? If you’re the Vikings, you basically just shrug, go “well, that’s Loki” for you, and drink some more mead.
Loki isn’t vilified in a single myth until Ragnarok, because the Vikings didn’t hate him. And they certainly didn’t fear him. They LAUGHED at him. In nine out of ten myths, Loki ends up the subject of ridicule himself, as he has the tables turned on him or outsmarts himself
Until Ragnarok.
Which, granted, could very well be another Norse myth that was passed down generation to generation in Iceland, land of frequent volcanic eruptions and likely inspiration for Musplheim, the land of the fire giants.
BUT. Which could equally likely, and far more plausibly given the overall context of Norse mythology, simply be a story the scholar who wrote the Prose Edda made up to ‘finish off’ his saga of the world according to the Vikings, from beginning to end.
An ending his Christian audience of the times would understand and identify with a lot better than they would understand the concept of a devil-figure that existed to be LAUGHED at, to show how little the Vikings feared some mythical figure with the power to lie and deceive them….the complete opposite of the way Christians feared Satan.
Basically put….Ragnarok, for all that we think of it as the ultimate Norse myth….DOES NOT MAKE SENSE in the context of almost EVERY single other Norse myth AND in the context of how Norse society viewed the world and their place in it, or their gods and their relationship with them.
Same with Loki’s depiction in Ragnarok.
What both Ragnarok and Loki’s role in Ragnarok DO make sense in the context of, however, is in a bastardization of Christianity’s own doomsday tales of a Judgment Day, stylized to fit the trappings of Norse mythology and feature their gods instead of Christian figures.
With Loki recast in the role of the Devil, as he was the closest fit they could find to that.
And with Baldur, god of light (a Norse god who is at best a footnote in Norse myths other than Ragnarok, and certainly was never the major pantheon figure he’s assumed to be), recast in the role of the Christ figure. Whose death starts the ball rolling for Judgment Day and who is destined to return for it, to triumph over Loki/Satan and preside over the new, purified world once it’s reborn from the ashes of the old one.
Anyway, tl;dr, don’t believe the hype, Ragnarok’s probably not even an actual Norse myth but the invention of Christian writers who were like lol this would make for a great Book of Revelations fanfic AU, and Loki was almost certainly never regarded by actual Vikings as some evil, malicious world-destroyer who would lead armies of the dead at Armageddon whoops I mean Ragnarok.
tl;dr of the tl;dr Loki’s not actually evil and more on how Christians bastardize things.
Hunting Dog, The Cloisters
The Cloisters Collection, 1955 Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Medium: Wrought iron
http://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/468493
Inktober 24 / 25 - Neith, warrior goddess of Sais / Khepri, the scarab morning sun
witch’s harvest sangria
this is a wonderful recipe for a sangria with flavors of harvest fruits; apples, figs, and pomegranates. harvest fruits tend to carry magickal properties that honor spirits, promote the growth of love and prosperity, and cultivate wisdom. you can make it with or without alcohol; just replace the sparkling cider with sparkling wine. you will need:
☾ 1 cup of pomegranate seeds (love, honoring spirits)
☾ 1 large apple (beauty, love, prosperity)
☾ 5 figs (love, prosperity, fertility)
☾ 2 cups of pomegranate juice (wisdom and wealth)
☾ 1 bottle chilled sparkling cider
cut the figs into quarters, and slice the apple thinly. add the figs, apple slices and pomegranate seeds into a bowl; top with ample ice, then pour in the pomegranate juice and sparkling cider/wine. stir with a wooden spoon clockwise and serve.
Hedonism as a concept is so dope and yall gotta unbrainwash your religious upbringing nostalgia and realize that life IS about kicking back and eating grapes around a fire in nothing but a swim suit and drinking margaritas. A little hedonism never hurt nobody
