the aries witch

diary of occult philosophy, witchcraft, and magick

[mollybeenoel]

Source: poeticalphotos

[beweep]

by Julie Falk

[ariesinwitchcraft]

Magick is like both the space between neurons and the message that is relayed through it. You could see magick as the friction of threads being woven as they pass by each other, and the pattern they create together. It is the metaphysical application of thought, focus, and the will to create a desired change. The change you are looking for might be within yourself, your environment, other people, things, or something else you seek to manipulate.

—Laura Tempest Zakroff, Weave the Liminal

[arsanimarum]

Eliphas Lévi, Transcendental Magic, Its Doctrine and Ritual (1896)

[teawiththegods]

“Artemis is freedom- wild, untrammeled, aloof from all entanglements. She is a huntress, a dancer, the goddess of nature and wildness, a virgin physically and, even more important, a virgin psychologically, inviolable, belonging to no one, defined by no relationship, confined by no bond.”

— The Gods of Greece by Arianna Stassinopoulos and Roloff Beny

[forbidden-sorcery]

“Self-poisoning for the attainment of mystical knowledge, ecstasy, and congress with spirits, we call ‘The Poison Path’. This designation separates the mystical endeavor of Trans-mutation from the vulgar dross of hedonism or criminal activity. Ours, therefore, is an Art of subtle discrimination, of observation and caution. Gnosis of the Poison Path arises not from the first matter of its toxin, nor its mundane somatic effects, but in its Transmutation via the Art Magical to serve the Path of the Seeker. This Art is thus the holy dominion of Shiva Vishpan, or Shiva the Poison-drinker, emblematized imbibing venoms from a conch, and whose blue skin colour resulted from its ingestion. In Islamic lore, it is the domain of the uphir, or Hell’s Physician, possessing the secret lore of medicines and dead bodies; akin to the shadowings of the Bulgarian vampire and also the Turkish upir or ‘sorcerer’.”

— Daniel A. Schulke - Veneficium: Magic, Witchcraft and the Poison Path

[ariesinwitchcraft]

Magic in its purest form consists of a dialogue between Earth and yourself, a dialogue whereby you are able to express your desires, receive and recognize a response and are then able to make your wishes and desires come true. Earth’s gift to her children, it is the simplest, most basic and most ancient magical art, open to all.

—Judike Illes, Pure Magic: A Complete Course in Spellcasting

[ariesinwitchcraft]

The evolution of the religion of Artemis extends at least as far back as predynastic Egypt, through Minoan and Mycenaean culture and onto into the Greek period. It is evident from this history that Artemis is the key figure through which goddess ritual, tradition, and community worship is preserved and adapted over time. By the Greek period, Artemis had become the most popular goddess of the Mediterranean. This popularity and devotion of her followers is evident not only in her numerous titles and incarnations but particularly in the moments in which she is called upon or adored. 

—Dr Carla Ionescu, She Who Hunts: Artemis, the Goddess who Changed the World

[feuillesmortes]

“Blood was the seat of the soul—that invisible, elusive principle—that was determined to ebb and flow in hiding, swelling and diffusing in the oily liquid of life. Thus it was said that the soul was “submerged in blood, and life is maintained with blood as the flame of the wick [is maintained] by its pool of oil.” Human existence, tenuous and precarious, developed in an unsure, unstable, fluctuating equilibrium, ever on the verge of unravelling, constantly about to slip into corruption, to begin the journey to putrefaction.”

— Piero Camporesi, tr. Robert R. Barr | Juice of Life: The Symbolic and Magic Significance of Blood (via showings)

[flowerytale]

William Shakespeare, from “Henry V”

[ariesinwitchcraft]

—Lon Milo DuQuette, Low Magick: It's All in Your Head... You Just Have No Idea How Big Your Head is

[happyheidi]

the moon in paintings. x

[ariesinwitchcraft]

Thus, we see that Artemis transformed the ancient world by unifying many disparate practices across many goddess cults in a wide variety of regions, and by providing comfort to millions as they experienced different stages of life: birth, adulthood, marriage, old age, and death. She was the goddess for all generations, for all cultures, and in many ways her worship allowed for spiritual connections through a deep and instinctive understanding of nature and its transformative experience. She was as ever-changing and adaptive as the seasons, and as a result, her worship survived all cultural conquests and varying ritual interpretations.

Dr Carla Ionescu, She Who Hunts: Artemis, The Goddess who Changed the World

[floralwaterwitch]

“Magic, indeed, is all around us, in stones, flowers, stars, the dawn wind and the sunset cloud; all we need is the ability to see and understand”

— Doreen Valiente   (via budddha)

[ariesinwitchcraft]

Even in her light-bringing aspect, Artemis shows us darkness. The purpose of Her moonlight is to illuminate the night just enough so that we can explore it and navigate it without becoming lost in it. Her light guides us through dark places and dark times that we must pass through and must not ignore, avoid, or destroy. She reminds us that the world requires both darkness and light, and shows us how to embrace and understand the darkness around and within us. She can show us the darker parts of ourselves, can illuminate corners of our soul that we are ashamed or afraid of. She can show us how to come to terms with these pieces, how to accept and embrace all parts of ourselves.

—Thista Minai, Dancing in Moonlight: Understanding Artemis through Celebration

[crazycatsiren]

[ariesinwitchcraft]

In a purely symbolic form, the underworld may not be a physical place but rather a representation of the deeper layers of the mind, where memories and feelings are buried, perhaps those that happened to us in our youth, just as Persephone suffered trauma as a young person. Demeter’s grief may represent the sorrow or depression that we can suffer as adults if those things are not addressed. In that case, Hekate’s torches serve as a guide for us to reunite with the parts of ourselves we used to be before we suffered the injury. In this role, Hekate’s torches light the way toward healing.

—Courtney Weber, Hekate: Goddess of Witches