general witchery @crowsfeetwitchery - Tumblr Blog

PODCAST RECS - Debunking and Fact-Checking for Witches & Witchcraft Spaces

A collection of podcast episodes fact-checking, debunking, or just providing some clarity on modern myths, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that are frequent flyers in witchcraft and pagan spaces, both theories mistakenly touted by community members and some of the utter drivel spouted by non-witches that still affects us today. Check out these shows on your favorite podcast app!

(Updates to be made whenever I find new content. There will be some crossover with my Witches In History Podcast Recs post and some of the content will be heavy. Blanket trigger warning for violence, abuse, bigotry, sexism, antisemitism, and mistreatment of women, queer people, and children.)

[Last Updated: April 16 2025]

This post is broken into three basic sections:

Historical Misinformation

Modern Myths and the People Who Create Them

Conspiracy Theories and Moral Panics

List of Cited Podcasts, in alphabetical order

American Hysteria

BS-Free Witchcraft

Dig: A History Podcast

Hex Positive

Historical Blindness

History Uncovered

Morbid

Occultae Veritatis

Our Curious Past

Our Fake History

Ridiculous History

Stuff You Missed In History Class

The History of Witchcraft

Unobscured

You’re Wrong About…

Recent Additions:

American Hysteria, S5 E97 - The Paranormal Entertainment Industry with Sapphire Sandalo and Jim Perry A discussion about the paranormal entertainment industry as it exists today and dream of breaking away from the Christian-influenced "ghost bros" formula to tell a broader range of more nuanced stories.

BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 74 - Homeopathy Is Bullshit Host Trae Dorn dives into the history of homeopathy, what it is, why it's bad, and how it wormed its' way into modern witchcraft and paganism.

Hex Positive, Ep. 049 - Satanic Panic? In MY Witchcraft Community? (with Trae Dorn) Bree NicGarran and Trae Dorn of BS-Free Witchcraft sit down to discuss the stubborn traces of Satanic Panic rhetoric that still linger in the modern witchcraft movement….and have somehow become an accepted part of the lore.

History Uncovered, Ep. 131 - The Satanic Panic: Inside The 1980s Hysteria Over All Things Demonic Beginning in the early 1980s, wild theories about ritual abuse, widespread occultism, and devil worship dominated news headlines and created a moral panic that led to unfounded accusations and even wrongful imprisonments.

breelandwalker

You can also check out the May 2025 episode of Hex Positive, where I discussed this topic with queer activist and journalism industry veteran Daylina Miller. 😊

breelandwalker

Witchcraft Exercise - Spring Cleaning

There’s a marked tradition of cleaning and airing out the house in the springtime when the weather warms. As you’re dusting and tidying and getting rid of winter stagnation, take some time to do the same with your craft.

Clean and organize your workspace. If you have an altar space or a shelf where you keep bottles and jars and the like, remove everything from the surface and give it a good dusting. Take the opportunity to rearrange things or swap out pieces if it suits you. If you have ritual tools that don’t often get cleaned, check them for signs or rust or wear and give them a bit of love. Repair things that need fixing, if you can. If you have an iron cauldron that you use for fire magic, get a wire brush or some steel wool and gently remove any burnt residue left inside.

Sort through your supplies. If you have lots of candles and crystals and small items laying about, consider getting some small totes or craft organizers to keep things tidy. Divided storage boxes for beads or scrapbooking supplies are great for small items, and shoebox-sized caddies are perfect for taper, chime, and votive candles. Organizing things will make your space easier to navigate and also gives you a proper idea of what you have on hand. Which might help you resist impulse purchases the next time you’re out shopping for witchcraft supplies. While you’re tidying, be sure to discard any rubbish, candle stubs, wax blobs, herb scraps, bits of string, incense bases, and so forth that might be cluttering up the place.

Discard things that are too old or worn to be useful. Dried plants and seasonings can usually be kept for 1-3 years if they remain in sealed containers. If they have no scent anymore or smell musty or mildewy, discard them and sanitize the container. If you’re using supermarket spices, you can use the expiration date on the container as a guide. Powdered material will likely last longer than whole herbs or cut-and-sifted material. One helpful tip is to put a purchase date on packets or bags of herbs when you buy them, or to put a little date sticker on your jars of herbs when you refill them. (Anyone who’s worked in food service will probably be familiar with the concept of container dating or day-dotting.)

If you make oils or tinctures or suchlike in your practice, check on these as well. Make sure nothing has gone off or lost its’ potency. Day-dotting your potion containers will help with this as well. A simple sticker with the name of the brew and the date it was bottled will help you keep track of your supplies and know when something needs to be tossed and replaced. (You can also print labels with the ingredients and purpose of the brew if you’re feeling super organized.)

Reorganize your books and resources. Review what's there and see if there are any materials that need to be weeded out, donated, or discarded. Remember that as you grow and progress, some things will become obsolete or may show themselves to be unhelpful or inaccurate. It's okay to remove things from your resource library that no longer serve you if you want to make some space on the shelves.

You can also cleanse your workspace and/or components while you’re tidying if you wish. It doesn’t have to be a full clean-slate-everything-must-go cleansing, but it can be helpful to just clear out stagnation or bring in some freshness and vitality.

Happy Witching! 🧼

Want more witchcraft exercises? Check out the masterpost here and visit my shop for spell kits, books, magical powders, and more!

(If you’re enjoying my content, please feel free to drop a little something in the tip jar, tune in to my monthly show Hex Positive on your favorite podcast app, or check out my published works on Amazon or in the Willow Wings Witch Shop. 😊)

book-of-forbidden-knowledge

Magic in Ancient Greece: An Introduction

I have seen some people claim that magic or witchcraft did not exist in Ancient Greece. This is not the case. So, I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce you all to the strange and wonderful world of Ancient Greek magic!

First, what do we mean by "magic"? Radcliffe Edmonds, one of the leading scholars on Ancient Greek magic, defines "magic" as "non-normative ritual behavior." In short, what makes something magic, and not just normal religion, is that people in a given culture think it's weird. The word "magic" itself refers to the magi, Zoroastrian priests — the Ancient Greeks thought they did magic because to them, Zoroastrianism was foreign and weird. They also thought that Ancient Egyptians could do magic for the same reason — what the Greeks thought was spooky magic was just normal religion in Egypt. Within their own culture, magic was basically heteropraxic religion. Magic was not considered hubristic, at least not inherently.

There are multiple Ancient Greek words that refer to magic. The word μάγος, magos, itself means "magician" or "charlatan." There's also γοητεία, goetia, usually translated as "sorcery." The word most often translated as "witchcraft" is φαρμακεία, pharmakeia, the use of drugs or herbs to transform or influence people. This is what Medea and Circe do.

One of our best sources on Ancient Greek magic is the Greek Magical Papyri, or PGM, a set of magical texts from Hellenistic Egypt. When I first learned about it, I thought it was too good to be true, but here it is: uncorrupted ancient pagan magic! Essentially, the PGM is one of the oldest known grimoires, and the ancestor of the entire Western magical tradition. The papyri contain spells and rituals for almost every purpose: curses, love spells, divination, dream oracles, summoning daimones, necromancy, even full mystical rites. Most of them include invocations to various gods, which are heavily syncretic. Helios/Apollo (treated interchangeably) is invoked the most often. Aphrodite appears pretty often, too. Hekate-Artemis-Selene-Persephone (conflated with a whole bunch of other chthonic goddesses, including Ereshkigal) has her own set of spells. You'll even find the names of Egyptian gods and Hebrew angels in there.

One of the most common features in PGM spells is voces magicae or barbarous names, nonsense words that are supposed to be the secret names of the gods, which give you the authority to call them up. They act almost like a written form of glossolalia. Most are supposed to be spoken or chanted aloud. Some sound like actual names, or are well-known magical epithets like ABRASAX. Some are just strings of Greek vowels. Some of them are palindromic; there's lots of spells that use the "abracadabra" disappearing-letter-triangle format. There's also charakteres, apparently-meaningless magical symbols, the distant ancestor of modern sigils.

Another major source for Ancient Greek magic are defixiones or katadesmoi, curse tablets. They're little lead leafs called lamellae, which are inscribed with curses and then deposited in wells, graves, and other chthonic places. Thousands of them have been found.

Here's the text of a curse tablet that invokes Hekate and Hermes Kthonios (copied from Curse Tablets and Binding Spells from the Ancient World by John G. Gager):

Hermes Khthonios and Hekate Khthonia Let Pherenikos be bound before Hermes Khthonios and Hekate Khthonia. I bind Pherenikos’ [girl] Galene to Hermes Khthonios and to Hekate Khthonia I bind [her]. And just as this lead is worthless and cold, so let that man and his property be worthless and cold, and those who are with him who have spoken and counseled concerning me. Let Thersilochos, Oinophilos, Philotios, and any other supporter of Pherenikos be bound before Hermes Khthonios and Hekate Khthonia. Also Pherenikos’ soul and mind and tongue and plans and the things that he is doing and the things that he is planning concerning me. May everything be contrary for him and for those counseling and acting with…

Another curse tablet, which invokes Hekate to punish thieves, includes a drawing of her and charakteres. This is how she's depicted:

From Curse Tablets and Binding Spells in the Ancient World by John G. Gager

It's supposed to be a woman with three heads and six raised arms, but to me it looks like Cthulhu, which is honestly appropriate.

There was a very fine line between love spells and curses in Ancient Greece. Some love spells in the PGM call upon the spirits of the dead and chthonic gods to torture a poor girl until she submits to the magician. Just as many defixiones attempt to forcefully bind a lover. But there's another, gentler kind of love spell described by Theocritus in Idylls, in which a witch named Simaetha invokes the Moon and Hekate and uses an iynx wheel to make a man love her.

If you want to know how to apply all of this in modern practice, I'm still working that one out. I've found the PGM very hard to adapt, because a lot of its requirements are dangerous or impractical. Many of its spells require gross ingredients worthy of the Scottish play, or plants that scholars can't identify, or procedures that I don't plan on attempting. And if you haven't noticed by now, most of them fly in the face of modern magical ethics. (Don't let anyone tell you that the gods will punish you for doing baneful magic, because that's clearly bullshit.) On the other hand, Crowley adapted his Bornless Ritual almost word-for-word from PGM V. 96—172. So far, the best resource I've found on modernizing Ancient Greek magic is The Hekataeon by Jack Grayle. Its material is clearly historically-inspired, but still doable, and spiritually relevant. I really recommend getting it if you have the means, especially if you have an interest in Hekate specifically. I'm happy to have it as a model for how to adapt ancient magic for myself in the future. To me, it strikes the perfect balance between historically-informed and witchy, which is right where I want to be.

If you can't access that one, here's some other books I recommend:

Drawing Down the Moon: Magic in the Ancient Greco-Roman World by Radcliffe G. Edmonds III: An introduction to Ancient Greek magic, both scholarly and accessible. It covers the definitions and contexts of magic, curses, love spells, divination, theurgy, philosophy, basically everything you need to know.

The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation by Hans Dieter Betz: The definitive English edition of the PGM. A must if you plan to study ancient magic in-depth, especially as a practitioner.

Curse Tablets and Binding Spells in the Ancient World by John G. Gager: An English edition of the texts of many curse tablets.

Magic, Witchcraft, and Ghosts in the Greek and Roman Worlds by Daniel Ogden: a sourcebook of ancient literature concerning magic.

The Golden Ass by Apuleius: A Roman novel about a man who is turned into a donkey by a witch. A very entertaining story, also our source for "Cupid and Psyche" and one of the best sources on the Mysteries of Isis that we have.

Ancient Magic: A Practitioners Guide to the Supernatural in Ancient Greece and Rome by Philip Matyszak: A simple and straightforward introduction to Ancient Greek magic, less scholarly but very easy to follow and directed at practitioners.

kalopsiapollo-deactivated202106

🏺 Hero Worship Resources 🏺

Articles / PDFs

Epithets in Homer - Wikipedia

Greek hero cult - Wikipedia

Greek Hero Cultus

Heroes and hero-cult

Hero Cult and Tomb Cult in early Greece

Pindar and the Cult of Heroes

Relevant facts about ancient Greek hero cults

Singing Heroes: The Poetics of Hero Cult

The sacrificial rituals of Greek hero-cults

Also see :

theoi.com has pages on specific hero's cultus

Hero Worship [tag] by @adri-le-chat

Hero Worship by @forthegloryofthetheoi

[Updated : 15/05/21]

athenaeum-of-the-herald-deactiv

PLEASE DO NOT USE TIKTOK AS A RESOURCE FOR HELLENIC POLYTHEISM

Tiktok is probably one of THE WORST places to learn about REAL hellenic polytheism because it is rampant with misinformation and most creators are only interested in views and parroting misinformation THEY heard. Yes there are some great and informative creators on there to learn about the hellenic gods but they are far and few in-between.

INSTEAD if you're new to the religion and have no clue where to start researching/learning, here are a few phenomenal creators on here with wonderful and informative posts!

@wisdom-devotee has an amazing guide for starting out in hellenic polytheism

@seasaltdevotion also recently made a fantastic post on resources for starting out

@crazycatsiren has a SUPER long list of resources and research material

@khaire-traveler has possibly the greatest list on subtle deity worship for just about every god

Please actually learn from those of us that truly love and covet this religion and spread information that will truly benefit you.

crazycatsiren

Grimoire - Decolonizing Witchcraft

Racist Stereotypes About Magic What you mean to say: Karma Edition Depth and Cultural Appropriation in Witchcraft Racism, Spirituality, and Witchblr Making Magic More Inclusive Accidental Appropriation Closed Traditions Aren't a Monolith. Chakras - What they really are CHAKRAS (are not what you think they are) Recognizing the difference between real history and pseudohistory

More related posts at: For Pagans/Witches to Beware of My Posts Related to My Practices Religions and Deities

xartus

The Cernunnos Debate- A Decade Later

As y'all know, I've been studying this deity for a decade now. Doing my own research has proven crucial.

The majority of recon folks follow Serith's theory that the Gaulish Cernunnos is a god of bidirectionality, liminality, psychopomp, ect ect. I disagree, on several points:

The first point is that there is simply no attested deity of that type that far west. The PIE Paxuson is found, at the Westernmost point, probably in Italy, though better attested in Greece. That is the full stop of his reach to the West

Iconography. Phyllis Bober wrote a paper in the 50s about the iconography of the Cernunnos deity, which argues that he is a cthonic deity of nature and regeneration. This is further supported by Miranda Green, who writes that Cernunnos may have a forest deity who came to be known for natural regeneration and thus the afterlife and a whole host of stuff

Green also writes that the epithet "Cernunnos" is uncertain, and could be a name for a type of deity. Furthermore, Paxuson has a distinct animal related to him: Goats. Deer are also an older symbol of the deity (based on Anatolian evidence, scant as it is). The Gaulish Cernunnos is most often depicted with a snake

Now, as for Paxuson, I do agree that he is a deity of roads, pathways, liminality, wealth, protection, man's interaction with nature, a psychopomp, a conduit of natural magic. I disagree with the bidirectional thing just because Jesus, that's advanced philosophical waxings for Romano-Gaulish iconography

Paxuson's reflexes are Pushan, Hermes, Pan (a hypostasis of Hermes), Faunus, and SOME elements of Mercury, though the indigenous Italic deity is more concerned with human commerce, markets, and wealth

As for Cernunnos, less is known. All we have are Romano-Celtic depictions. He cannot be divorced from that context. And in that context, I believe him to be a deity of nature and the regenerative forces of nature, especially forests. Each forest may have had their own antlered deity, we simply don't know

I suspect all this got mixed up with the Romans. Its easy to make the leap from Cernunnos being depicted with Mercury, back to Hermes, back to Paxuson. But Mercury absorbed many of Hermes' aspects, and the archaic version of both of them are pretty different from one another

((Its my UPG that the Gaulish Cernunnos isn't for us. He's not a human-concerned deity. We are a part of nature. His force can be harnessed but isn't directed at us. I pray for deceased animals to be led home by him and for the capitalist destruction of nature to be avenged by him. He isn't mean or anything, but is focused on the survival of the web of life- we can work with him or against him, but he will win in the end))

wolverinesorcery

UNBLENDING CELTIC POLYTHEISTIC PRACTICES

Celtic Umbrella

This lesson is largely focusing on the insular Celtic nations & Brittany (Ireland/Eire, Scotland/Alba, Wales/Cymru, Cornwall/Kernow, Isle of Man/Mannin, & Brittany/Breizh) - traditionally regarded as 6 out of the 7 Celtic nations. Galicia/Galizia is the 7th, but because of a mix of the below + my own lack of knowledge, I won't be covering them.

The vast swath of Continental Celtic cultures are a different but equally complex topic thanks to extinction, revival, varying archaeological artefacts and the work of modern practioners to piece unknown parts back together.

This will serve as a quick 'n' dirty guide to the insular Celtic nations, Celtic as a label, blood percentages and ancestry, the whats and whys of "Celtic soup", and how to unblend practice.

The insular Celtic groups are split into two language groups: Brythonic languages and Gaelic languages.

Brythonic languages are Cymraeg/Welsh, Kernewek/Cornish, & Breton

Gaelic languages are Gàidhlig/Scottish, Gaeilge/Irish, & Gaelg/Manx.

The language split leads to certain folkloric and religious figures & elements being more common within the language group than without. All of these nations had historic cultural exchange and trade routes via the Celtic sea (and beyond). Despite this, it is still important to respect each as a home to distinct mythologies.

Pros/Cons of a broad Celtic umbrella

Pros

- Used within celtic nations to build solidarity - Relates to a set of cultures that have historic cultural exchange & broad shared experiences - A historic group category - Celtic nations’ culture is often protected under broad legislation that explicitly highlights its ‘Celtic-ness’.

Cons

- Can be used reductively (in academia & layman uses) - Often gives in to the dual threat of romanticisation/fetishisation & erasure - Conflates a lot of disparate practices under one banner - Can lead to centring ‘celtic american’ experiences. - Celtic as a broad ancestral category (along with associated symbols) has also been co-opted by white supremacist organisations.

In this I’m using ‘Celtic’ as a broad umbrella for the multiple pantheons! This isn’t ideal for specifics, but it is the fastest way to refer to the various pantheons of deities that’ll be referenced within this Q&A (& something that I use as a self identifier alongside Cornish).

What about blood % or ancestry?

A blood percentage or claimed Celtic ancestry is NOT a requirement to be a follower of any of the Celtic pantheons. The assumption that it does or is needed to disclose can feed easily into white supremacist narratives and rhetoric, along side the insidious implications that a white person in the USA with (perceived or real) Celtic ancestry is 'more celtic' than a person of colour living in a Celtic region (along with other romanticised notions of homogenously white cultures).

Along side this, a blood percentage or distant ancestry does not impart the culture and values of the Celtic region or it's recorded pagan practices by itself. Folk traditions are often passed down within families, but blood percentage is not a primary factor within this.

Connecting with ancestry is fine, good, and can be a fulfilling experience. It stops being beneficial when it leads to speaking over people with lived experiences & centres the USA-based published and authors - which can lead to blending/souping for reasons further on.

What is 'soup'?

Celtic soup is a semi-playful term coined by several polytheists (primarily aigeannagusacair on wordpress) to describe the phenomenon of conflating & combining all the separate pantheons and practices from the (mainly) insular Celtic nations into one singular practice - removing a lot of the regionalised folklore, associated mythos, & varying nuances of the nations that make up the soup.

Why does it happen?

The quick version of this is book trends and publishing meeting romanticisation and exotification of Celtic cultures (especially when mixed with pre-lapsarian views of the Nations). It's miles easier to sell a very generally titled book with a lot of Ireland and a little of everywhere else than it is to write, source and publish a separate book on each.

This is where centering American publishers and authors becomes an issue - the popular trend of USA-based pagan publications to conflate all celtic nations makes it hard to find information on, for example, Mannin practices because of the USA’s tendency to dominate media. Think of Llewellyn’s “Celtic Wisdom” series of books.

It has also been furthered by 'quick research guides'/TL;DR style posts based on the above (which have gained particular momentum on tumblr).

The things that have hindered the process in unblending/"de souping" is the difficulty in preserving independently published pamphlets/books from various nations (often more regionalised and immediately local than large, sweeping books generalising multiple practices) along with the difficulty of accessing historic resources via academic gatekeeping.

All of this has lead to a lack of awareness of the fact there is no, one, singular Celtic religion, practice or pantheon.

Why should I de-soup or unblend my practice?

Respecting the deities

It is, by and large, considered the bare minimum to understand and research a deity's origin and roots. The conflation of all insular Celtic deities under one singular unified pantheon can divorce them from their original cultures and contexts - the direct opposite to understanding and researching.

Folklore and myth surrounding various Celtic deities can be highly regionalised both in grounded reality and geomythically - these aren't interchangeable locations and are often highly symbolic within each nation.

Brú na Bóinne, an ancient burial mound in Ireland, as an entrance to the otherworld of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

Carn Kenidjack & the Gump as a central site of Cornish folk entities feasts and parties, including Christianised elements of Bucca’s mythology.

The Mabinogion includes specific locations in Wales as well as broad Kingdoms - it’s implied that Annwn is somewhere within the historic kingdom of Dyfed, & two otherworldly feasts take place in Harlech & Ynys Gwales.

Conflating all celtic pantheons under one banner often leads to the prioritisation of the Irish pantheon, meaning all of the less ‘popular’ or recorded deities are sidelined and often left unresearched (which can lead to sources & resources falling into obscurity and becoming difficult to access).

Respecting the deities

Deities, spirits, entities, myth & folklore are often culturally significant both historically and to modern day people (just average folks along with practitoners/pagans/polytheists and organisations) located in the various Nations

A primary example is the initiatory Bardic orders of Wales and Cornwall.

Desouping/Unblending makes folklorist's lives easier as well as casual research less difficult to parse. The general books are a helpful jumping off point but when they constitute the bulk of writing on various Celtic polytheisms, they become a hinderance and a harm in the research process.

A lot of mythology outside of deities & polytheisms is also a victim of ‘souping' and is equally as culturally significant - Arthurian mythology is a feature of both Welsh and Cornish culture but is often applied liberally as an English mythology & and English figure.

Celtic nations being blended into one homogenous group is an easy way to erase cultural differences and remove agency from the people living in celtic nations. Cornwall is already considered by a large majority of people to be just an English county, and many areas of Wales are being renamed in English for the ease of English tourists.

How can I de-soup?

Chase down your sources' sources, and look for even more sources

Check your sources critically. Do they conflate all pantheons as one? Do they apply a collective label (the celts/celts/celt/celtic people) to modern day Celtic nations? How far back in history do they claim to reach?

Research the author, are they dubious in more ways than one? Have they written blog articles you can access to understand more of their viewpoints? Where are they located?

Find the people the author cites within their work - it can be time consuming but incredibly rewarding and can also give a good hint at the author's biases and research depth. You may even find useful further reading!

Find primary sources (or as close too), or translations of the originating folklore, e.g The Mabinogion. Going to the source of a pantheon’s mythos and folklore can be helpful in discerning where soup begins in more recent books as well as gaining insight into deities' actions and relationships.

Ask lots of questions

Question every source! Question every person telling you things that don't define what pantheon or region they’re talking about! Write all your questions down and search for answers! Talk to other polytheists that follow specific Celtic pantheons, find where your practices naturally overlap and where they have been forced into one practice by authors!

Be honest with yourself

There’s no foul in spreading your worship over several pantheons that fall under the celtic umbrella! A lot of polytheists worship multiple pantheons! But be aware of the potential for soup, and make sure you’re not exclusively reading and working from/with sources that conflate all practices as one.

If you approach any Celtic polytheistic path with the attitude of blood percentage or 'ancestral right', stop and think critically about why you want to follow a Celtic polytheistic path. Is it because it's the most obviously 'open' path to follow? Is it a desire to experience what other folks experience? Being critical, turning inward, and really looking at yourself is important. Originally posted in the Raven's Keep discord server

thegrapeandthefig

Blog masterpost / FAQ

PSA 1: All posts written after August 1st 2020 are also posted on my Wordpress, as well as some chosen older articles.

PSA 2: My posts are now available in audio format on Soundcloud. As of 12/12/2020, only posts written after November 1st are recorded, but I will be recording the older ones in the near future.

So this blog has recently reached its 3000 followers milestone. Warm welcome to my new followers, glad to see you there.

Because I suck at keeping a consistent tagging system, I’ve figured that maybe a masterpost would be necessary. If you’re new, you can refer to it and catch up with some of my older posts.

About Dionysus

30 day of Dionysus Masterpost

About my oath to Dionysus

About my magpie UPG

About his aspects

About my worship of Dionysus + how it happened

Why pine is sacred to Dionysus

Debunking the 12 days of Dionysus

About the Haloa festival

Tips on how to take your worship to the next level

Tips on researching Dionysus’ chthonic aspects

My understanding of Dionysus-Hades: an orphic perspective

How NOT to act with Dionysus (or any god for the matter)

Dionysus’ less known epithets

Dionysus’ link to swamps

Reading recommendation on Dionysus + tips on further research

The Cult of Dionysus in Roman Britain and Northern Western Europe

Maenadism, Artemis and Dionysus

Gender neutral term for dionysian worshippers

Addressing the Dionysian Phallus

Raw meat meals for Dionysus

On satyrs

Rethinking the Anthesteria

Dionysus, this winter god

Wine posts

Wine basics 1 and 2

Prime wines in Dionysiac worship

About Pan

Cultic information on Pan 1

Cultic information on Pan 2

The Caves of Pan 1

The Caves of Pan 2

About Silenus

He deserves worship and respect: a rant

Worshiping Silenus 1

Worshiping Silenus 2

An updated list of Silenus Epithets

About Priapus

30 days of Priapus Masterpost

Introduction to Priapus

Practical information on the cult of Priapus

More information and historical offering list

I love Priapus (a rambly rant)

Priapus the Sailor + “sacred” birb

An updated list of Priapus Epithets

Hymns for Priapus (which I wrote)

The Covered Priapus

About Aristaeus

Offering ideas

Poem request for him written by @winestainedpoetry

Prayer request for him written by @adri-le-chat

About Aphrodite

On Aphrodite Areia (a very rambly post, sorry)

Respect pigeons

Sacred prostitution: an overview on the historical debate

On Aphrodite’s “gravedigger” and “she upon the graves” epithets

Aphrodite of the Sea

About Zeus

Worshipping Zeus 1: Why is he the King of Heavens?

Worshipping Zeus 2: Civic and legal aspects

Worshipping Zeus 3: Zeus as a paternal and domestic god

About Hera

General information on Hera

Why Hera is not “a jealous wife”

Tips on researching her cult

Hera in Samos

Hera and her ship models

Hera Henioche, the charioteer

Hera the Blossoming

About Hephaestus

He deserves respect and worship: a rant

Hephaestus’ return to Olympos and Dionysus

About Athena

Weaving in Ancient Greece

About the owl

About Apollon

Apollo Delphinios in the Ionian city of Miletos

About Asklepios

Introduction to Asklepios

Healing Shrines and Incubation in Asclepian cult

About Prometheus

Prometheus and his cult in Athens

Generalities

Important and useful online resources

Book recommendation for beginners + more books

About the Hellenic Calendar

On the fact that myths are written by mortals

Why divine silence is normal and good

Tips to get over bad representation in myth (example of Poseidon)

Why fearing the gods is counterproductive

Tips for beginners + Can I introduce myself to all the gods at once? + Can I address an offering to multiple gods?

Why consistency in myth is not an issue

About oaths

Delphic maxims and core values of Hellenic Polytheism

About Cerberus

Tree cult and sacred groves in Ancient Greece Part 1

Tree cult and sacred groves in Ancient Greece Part 2

Anacreontic poetry and why it’s underrated

The Auloi

The Mushroom Discourse (a rant)

Werewolves in Greek myth and folklore (Halloween special)

Why Personal Devotion Matters

Spiritual Protection in the Greco-Roman World

The Protective Functions of Ancient Greek Sanctuaries

Children in Ancient (Athenian) Festivals

Actual ancient lapidaries or “the ancient Greeks and Romans probably didn’t use crystals the way you think they did”

“How the Greeks asked for household spiritual protection”

Dissecting ancient Greek wedding customs

Orphism

A few things about Orphism

About the first Orphic Hymn to Hekate

Offerings and devotionals

About food offerings

Examples of daily devotional activities

Another example of devotional activities (more recent)

About private sacrifices

About clay offerings and making your own + additional information about clay offerings

Offering flowers (check notes for additional info)

Some sacred plants

Salt is sacred

Offerings for special events

Why water is not a “lazy” offering

On offerings of fruits and nuts

Offering jewelry

The Golden Phallus I made for Dionysus

Can I offer this drink? A chart

Throwing Barley

Hair offerings: historical context, purpose and uses

Opinions and personal viewpoints

My personal viewpoint on death and the hellenic afterlife

My personal opinion on veiling

Scents I associate to the gods

My personal example of local cultus (can help if you live by the sea, not up to date with my current practice)

Why I don’t worship my “native deities”

Why I don’t trust pagan authors 1

Why I don’t trust pagans authors 2

Why I have trust issues with pagan groups

My opinion on the reconstructibility of Orphism

My opinion on timezones in worship (the case of Pan)

I really like figs

Professional patrons, a fun list

About my views on philosophy and my own

Organizing worship (or “I made a book for myself”)

Why Thasos?

Calendars and local reconstructionism

My method as to how to tackle local reconstruction

Making a festival from scratch (case example: the Priapeia)

Differences between Ancient Greek calendars

The Posideia Festival: a breakdown

Last updated: December 2023 (non exhaustive)

yamayuandadu

Hecate: falsehoods and myths

While my blog generally focuses on China and Japan, occasionally other topics related to religion and mythology warrant a post too. Due to Halloween being right around the corner, I decided to finally cover something I’ve been meaning to for a long while – the large number of misinterpreted, misreported or outright made up information about my favorite minor figure from Greek mythology, Hecate. While only rarely present in myths, she’s a mainstay of not only popculture, but also of what I think warrants being called “pop-spirituality”. Under the cut I will examine a number of claims commonly seen online, and provide both the necessary debunks as well as some interesting genuine information.

Keep reading

elderravenfire

Something for nothing.

Those who deny our truth and our past are doomed to repeat it. You can deny the burning times you can deny that we Witches are an ancient and powerful people. I don’t know why one would deny any of this if one does call themselves a Witch but, you can.

You will regret this. This will lead to the downfall of our society. The Pagan community is crumbling. It is a weak shell of what it could be. You want to deny the truth. Then deny it. However, the truth is still the truth.

It is the most important step to revive The Craft. We are dying and perhaps we should die off of this it what the community as become. But, I will not let it die without first trying to make it right. Ignore me or criticize me all you want. I speak truth. I speak with the heart of the Goddess.

Deny deny deny. Lie lie and lie some more. You will see the truth. I hope it won’t be too late. For many you will only see the truth as the lid closes on your path. You are a weak and vulnerable shell of what you could be. You have denied the truth you have lied about what Witches are.

One day there will be those of us who will bring back The Craft in all it’s true glory and form. Although that is not this day, that day is coming soon.

creature-wizard

What "truth"? You're literally just pushing a bunch of pseudohistory and conspiracy theories. The witch cult hypothesis and Great Goddess hypothesis have long been discredited. About the only people who are seriously into that anymore are actual fascists, or very close to it.

You claim that the pagan community is crumbling and that "the Craft" is dying (I'm going to slide past your ignorant assumption that mystical and magical practices were ever some kind of monolith to be lumped together thus for now), but there is literally no evidence of this whatsoever. More people than ever are following pagan spiritualities and practicing various forms of witchcraft and folk magic.

You might think you're on a grand quest to set things right, but all you're actually doing is pushing a bunch of bullshit. You need to take a step back and start learning some real history and real science before trying to position yourself as some kind of educator.

elderravenfire

How sad it has become that to better fit in the world of today we have forgotten who we once were. The Goddess isn’t real? The Goddess isn’t based in historical fact? Oh how lost this community is. How far it has fallen. How much damage has been done. The Goddess is weeping at her lost children. You can deny her presence. You can say she’s not historically a fact. But just because you say it doesn’t make it true. Now I see that even Pagans of the modern era are trying to make the Goddess obsolete and forgotten about. I will say this. You are lucky that the Goddess is not vengeful and doesn’t force herself on others like Yahweh does. If you don’t want her she will abandon you. And leave you alone. How sad of a day when her children deny her.

creature-wizard

For someone who claims to hate Christians so much, you're sure borrowing from their rhetoric and acting like some of the worst of them with all of your melodramatic attempts at guilt tripping people into following your very special precious goddess.

You've pretty much just swapped out "Jesus" for "the Goddess." Good job.

Also? "We've forgotten who we are"/"Remember who you are" is fascist rhetoric. You're really showing your ass, aren't you?

cynical-robot-deactivated202307

Can this guy talk like a normal person? He speaks in such a grandious way as if he were a prophet. He likes to say "the truth is the truth" but as far as I can see I haven't seen a single source or at least a book that backs up his claims. Where are you sources fucker? Show me the papers that are going to dismantle "our fragile reality" and turn us back to your so-called "almighty goddess".

elderravenfire

And we resort to swearing and acting like a five year old. It seems it is you who have shown your true colors.

deactivated-blog

@elderravenfire you're the one acting childish here.

I suggest actually reading some legitimate scholarship before lecturing people on the history of paganism. You really don't seem to understand it and seem adverse to learning.

And by "legitimate scholarship" I don't mean some "How to Witch 101" book from the 1990s. It's important to read (okay, clearly better) occult books and learn from other witches, but also read books by historians.

If you want to be pagan, already consider yourself pagan, consider yourself a witch, etc... well, you should know the true history of such things, the wide diversity of magic, of paganism (which is not a religion, but many religions). Start by actually reading some of the responses to your posts here, like this one.

Listen to @pondering-the-kaiju, too. Witchcraft is beautiful, and so is paganism and magic in general, but they're three different, related things. They're very different than you seem to understand.

If you ignore those things, you're doing a disservice to pagans and witches who do care, do put in the effort, and do understand the history and context of the Craft.

I'm sorry if an adult using bad, mean word offends you, though.

betweenleavesandstars

I wish this were a bit, an act of satire someone was doing but there are people who really are like this.

I think this really underscores how paganism requires a different mindset from Christianity and many people identifying as pagan are looking for Christianity's structure in a different wrapper. This fearmongering, "the one true deity has been abandoned and we're losing ourselves" is absolutely fascist rhetoric used to rile up fear in white Christian people.

Personally, I think the idea that paganism is somehow crumbling is funny as there's been such a boom of interest and commercialized witchcraft bringing it into the forefront of pop culture.

jessicalprice

This.

It’s not accidental that fascist regimes are usually all about “reclaiming” supposed lost folk traditions.

jessicalprice

I’ll also note that there is nothing wrong or inauthentic or inferior about creating new ritual.

(reposted, with additions, from Twitter) I think a lot of neo-paganism would be a lot healthier (and a lot less vulnerable to white suprema

#the original post is actually so funny I’m going insane

verdantlyviolet

Masterpost

These are religious posts. If you’re here from a fandom, be respectful.

My Posts

General Hellenic Polytheism

Basic Prayer Formula (also French trans.)

Posture and Gestures in Prayer (also French trans.)

Kharis: The Reciprocal Relationship with the Gods (also French trans.)

Invoking Kharis (Examples) (also Portuguese trans.)

Eusebeia

Libations (also Portuguese and French trans.)

Effects of Libations in the Garden

Extravagant Offerings Are Unnecessary

Traditional Daily Devotions

Deipnon, Noumenia and Agathos Daimon Prayers

Developing Worship for Minor Deities

Divination Tools: Accessible, Online, Free

Example Modernisation of an Ancient Greek Festival

How I Converted Athenian Festivals to my Local Calendar

Modern Devotions for Household Gods

Household Gods of Worship: A Collection of Posts

Choose Your Starter Theoi

Masterpost - Reference Excerpts

Opinion piece: On Kharis

Opinion piece: On adding modern holidays to the festival calendar

Opinion piece: On modern relationships

Opinion piece: On not giving offerings or saying prayers

Opinion piece: On shunning gods

Opinion piece: On why oracles and priests can’t exist today

About Hera

Hera Aegophagos

Hera Alexandros

Descriptive Epithets of Hera

Hera Epithets of Life Stages

Hera Epithets of Places

Favourite Epithets of Hera

Daedala Festival

My experience worshipping Hera

Hera’s Asterion Flower

Hera further reading and resources

Notes on Argive Hera

Offerings for Hera

On Dread Hera (UPG)

On the golden apples

On Hera and Zeus’ marriage (UPG)

On reconciling worshipping Zeus + Hera + Herakles

On sacrificing cows

Zeus and Hera’s Marriage

About Herakles

Dice Divination by Herakles Bouraikos

Favourite Epithets of Herakles

Hercules the Kneeler Constellation

Herakles Epithets

Herakles Playlist

Nemean Lion

Notes from “From Bowman to Clubman”

Opinion piece: Herakles and Hera’s Wrath

About Sappho

Girls of Lesbos epigram

Sappho the Mytilenean epigram

Who Was Sappho?

Sappho: Ideas for Devotional Activities

Sappho Offering Ideas

Epithets of Sappho

Sappho and rose imagery

About Zeus

Athenian Temple to Olympic Zeus and the Olympeia Festival

Zeus Agonios of Contests

Zeus Ataburios

Zeus Heraios

Zeus Ktesios and the Kadiskos

Zeus Epithets of Mountains

Zeus Epithets of Morality and Order

Zeus Epithets of Nature

Zeus Epithets of People

Zeus Maimaktes

Other

Anthesphoria festival

Aphrodite’s Marjoram

Brief Timeline of Argos

Candle Care

How to Fix a Tunnelling Candle

Demeter Erinyes and Poseidon

Epithets of Iris

Epithets of Peitho

Notes on Erotidia (Eros Festival)

Gymnasia in Ancient Athens

Hermes Dolios

Hesperides

Identifying the 10 Basic Cloud Types

Ourea: The Mountain Gods

Potamoi: The River Gods

Reconstructed Calendar of Argos

Telesilla the Armed Lyric Poet (fragment)

Theoi Gymnaskitoi

My Festival Calendar / Local Cultus / Personal Practice

2021 Goals

2021 Festival Calendar

Recommended Books in my Library

My E-shrines

My Prayers / Hymns / Poetry / Stories

My Devotional Journal Pages

How I do offerings

Nyoongar Six Seasons

#Local Cultus | #Australian Cultus | #South West Australian Cultus

Others’ Posts

Pronouncing Greek Gods’ Names

ASL Signing Greek Gods’ Names

On Household Worship

Household Gods

Things Every Baby Hellenic Should Know (also here)

Home Study for Greek and Roman Polytheism

How to Pray in Ancient Greek

Suggestions for Ending Prayers

Basic Greek Phrases for Rituals

Miasma vs Lyma (also here and here)

Khernips

Formal Ritual (Ouranic)

Tips for Khthonic Rituals

Theogony

Nymph Worship

Hero Worship

Underworld

Death Rites Resources

Wedding Rites

Veiling

Historical Offerings

Make An Offering

Festival/Holy Day Descriptions

Hekate’s Deipnon

Noumenia

Devotional Journal/Heirographe, also here and here

Mythology vs Cultus

Divination

Astragaloi

Homeric Oracle Online

Homeric Oracle

Greek Alphabet Oracle (and a second link)

Apollo’s Oracle Online

Golden Thread Tarot App

Sortes Vergilianae Online

Ornithomancy

Festivals

Attic Calendar Converter

Numachi

Baring the Aegis Attic Calendar Explanation

Sponde!

Hellenion Festival Descriptions

Temenos

Ethics, Philosophy etc.

Delphic Maxims

Solon’s Tenets

Golden Verses of Pythagoras

PDFs

Theogony & Works And Days; Hesiod

Myths

Updated: 9th May 2021

#greek

verdantlyviolet

Masterpost

These are religious posts. If you’re here from a fandom, be respectful.

My Posts

General Hellenic Polytheism

Basic Prayer Formula

Posture and Gestures in Prayer

Kharis: The Reciprocal Relationship with the Gods

Invoking Kharis (Examples) (also Portuguese trans)

Eusebeia

Libations (also Portuguese trans)

Effects of Libations in the Garden

Extravagant Offerings Are Unnecessary

Traditional Daily Devotions

Deipnon, Noumenia and Agathos Daimon Prayers

Developing Worship for Minor Deities

Divination Tools: Accessible, Online, Free

Example Modernisation of an Ancient Greek Festival (also Portuguese trans.)

How I Converted Athenian Festivals to my Local Calendar

Masterpost - Hellenic Polytheism 101

Masterpost - My Prayers / Hymns / Poems / Stories

Masterpost - Reference Excerpts

Opinion piece: On not giving offerings or saying prayers

Opinion piece: On shunning gods

Opinion piece: On why oracles and priests can’t exist today

About Hera

Hera Aegophagos

Descriptive Epithets of Hera

Hera Epithets of Life Stages

Hera Epithets of Places

Favourite Epithets of Hera

Daedala Festival

Hera’s Asterion Flower

Hera further reading and resources

Notes on Argive Hera

Offerings for Hera

On reconciling worshipping Zeus + Hera + Herakles

On sacrificing cows

Zeus and Hera’s Marriage

About Herakles

Dice Divination by Herakles Bouraikos

Favourite Epithets of Herakles

Hercules the Kneeler Constellation

Herakles Epithets

Herakles Playlist

Nemean Lion

Notes from “From Bowman to Clubman”

On the date of Herakleia

Opinion piece: Herakles and Hera’s Wrath

About Sappho

Girls of Lesbos epigram

Sappho the Mytilenean epigram

Who Was Sappho?

Sappho: Ideas for Devotional Activities

Sappho Offering Ideas

Sapphomanteía Divination

Epithets of Sappho

Sappho and rose imagery

On Anne Carson

About Zeus

Athenian Temple to Olympic Zeus and the Olympeia Festival

Zeus Agonios of Contests

Zeus Ataburios

Zeus Heraios

Zeus Ktesios and the Kadiskos

Zeus Epithets of Mountains

Zeus Epithets of Morality and Order

Zeus Epithets of Nature

Zeus Epithets of People

Zeus Maimaktes

Other

Anthesphoria festival

Aphrodite’s Marjoram

Brief Timeline of Argos

Candle Care

How to Fix a Tunnelling Candle

Demeter Erinyes and Poseidon

Epithets of Iris

Epithets of Peitho

Notes on Erotidia (Eros Festival)

Gymnasia in Ancient Athens

Hermes Dolios

Hesperides

Identifying the 10 Basic Cloud Types

Karneia Festival

Ourea: The Mountain Gods

Potamoi: The River Gods

Reconstructed Calendar of Argos

Telesilla the Armed Lyric Poet (fragment)

Theoi Gymnaskitoi

Updated: 31st July 2021

#greek

verdantlyviolet

Hellenic Polytheism 101

A collection of posts others have written to start or further your worship, and additional resources.

Pronouncing Greek Gods’ Names

Greek Sign Language - Signing Greek Gods’ Names

On Household Worship

Household Gods

Things Every Baby Hellenic Should Know (also here)

Home Study for Greek and Roman Polytheism

How to Pray in Ancient Greek

Suggestions for Ending Prayers

Basic Greek Phrases for Rituals

Miasma vs Lyma (also here and here)

Khernips

Formal Ritual (Ouranic)

Tips for Khthonic Rituals

Theogony

Nymph Worship

Hero Worship

Underworld

Death Rites Resources

Wedding Rites

Veiling

Historical Offerings

Make An Offering

Festival/Holy Day Descriptions

Hekate’s Deipnon

Noumenia

Devotional Journal/Heirographe, also here and here

Mythology vs Cultus

Divination

Astragaloi

Homeric Oracle Online

Homeric Oracle

Greek Alphabet Oracle (and a second link)

Apollo’s Oracle Online

Golden Thread Tarot App

Sortes Vergilianae Online

Ornithomancy

Festivals

Attic Calendar Converter

Numachi

Baring the Aegis Attic Calendar Explanation

Sponde!

Hellenion Festival Descriptions

Temenos

Ethics, Philosophy etc.

Delphic Maxims

Solon’s Tenets

Golden Verses of Pythagoras

PDFs

Theogony & Works And Days; Hesiod

Myths

#greek

elegantshapeshifter

Reconstructionist Traditional Witchcraft 101

Non-rebloggable version: click here.

Definition:

Defining Reconstructionist Traditional Witchcraft

Why Reconstructionism matters

“Is [X] or [Y] a part of Recon Traditional Witchcraft?”

Basic Practice/Vademecum:

The Basic Practice

How to adapt the basic practices to your Country and Region in order to reconstruct your Regional Tradition

Why history books describe (Recon Trad) Witchcraft better than any practitioner book

Deepening about the Wild Hunt

History:

A bit of history

Deepened history

Another bit of history: Dual Faith, Renouncing Christianity & relationship between Witchcraft, Folk Magic and Pagan Survivals

Deepenings about the difference between Cunning Folk and Witches

Mutual hostility between pre-Christian Spirits and the Abrahamic god (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4)

Deepenings about Practice:

Tools in Reconstructionist Traditional Witchcraft, the Devil, the Flying Ointment and Grimoires

Familiar Spirits

What is a Major Spirit?

Offerings to the Major Spirits (i.e. the Gods)

Traditional Fairy Offerings

How to make offerings to the Major Spirits, the Animal Familiar or the Household Fairy explained with… GIFs!

Discovering your Animal Familiar Spirit: Recon, Revivalist and Recon-derived Approaches

Ancestor Worship in Recon TradCraft… with GIFs!

The Sabbath

Dreamwork and the Oneiric Sabbath

Trance Techniques (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Distinguish Real Visions from Imagination

Some Big Questions of Life to ask during Trance/Dreamwork

Renouncing Christianity & Self-Initiation (Part 1) (Part 2)

Some of the main Major Spirits in Recon TradCraft:

Hellequin: leader of the Wild Hunt and Fairy King

#traditional witchcraft

necromancyandme-deactivated2020

Necromancy skills: Mummification and Preservation.

One of the key skills required to create some of the most powerful necromantic talismans and foci is a firm grasp on mummification and preserving organic materials. In this lecture i will cover the mummification process as practiced by the Egyptians in a secular manner, to be adapted into one’s own path.

___________

Key knowledge/Foundations: ___________

These are the logical foundations of the mummification process.

+ Microbiology: • Bacteria rapidly decompose organic matter. • Bacteria need water to survive. Therefore: Bacteria are the enemy of the mage attempting to preserve a specimen and must be eradicated hastily, less they destroy the specimen from the inside. The mage must remove as much water and bodily fluids as possible in order to assure the specimen will last long past death.

+ Osmosis: • Water will (if possible) go from high concentrations to lower concentrations. Water will pass through any permeable tissues and membranes in order to achieve this. • Water dissolves salt, and as salt has no moisture, osmosis will attempt to equalize the moisture content between the salt and the water, drawing moisture out from anything around the salt. Therefore: Using salt is an effective way to draw moisture out from your specimen, killing any bacteria and preventing the growth of new ones inside the specimen.

Your specimen must be dead for no more than two days or kept frozen before starting this process. Use your own judgment to know if the subject is in a state worth preserving.

___________

Methods ___________

Once you have acquired your specimen, assess what the best course of action is:

Resin dip: The fastest and cheapest way to mummify a specimen. This process was the most common method of mummifying pets and small animals in ancient Egypt. See “resin dip”

Traditional mummification: This is the possess used on humans by the ancient Egyptians up until the 18th dynasty, it leaves you with the most authentic style of mummy and can be used on almost any animal with minimal damage to the specimen.

Wet preserve: For the smallest and most fragile specimens. Refer to “Preserving individual pieces” for instructions.

Drying: For small specimens like hands and feet. Refer to “Preserving individual pieces” for instructions. ___________

Materials ___________

+Salt: Traditionally, natron salt was used in the making of mummies. If you can’t afford natural natron salt, it can be made with the following recipe: ¼ unit of finely ground sea salt ½ unit of sodium carbonate (powdered bleach, found in the laundry aisle) ½ unit of sodium bicarbonate

+ Resin: You will need a fair bit of resin for any mummy, for a specimen 20cm in length, i recommend 8 cups of resin. I recommend pine resin but any NON SYNTHETIC resin will work just fine.

+ Linen wraps: These are just as functional as they are cosmetic. Wrapping your mummy will keep insects, bacteria and moisture off the body, as well keeping the body from falling apart with the slightest movement. Cut strips 15 - 20cm across and 3 - 5cm wide for your bandages.

+ Sharp and sterile blades

+ Scissors

+ Needle and thread

+ Tweezers

+ Herbs and spices: Use cinnamon, lavender and other herbs and spices between bandages, not only does it hide the scent of the body, but it also keeps away insects.

+ Syringes ___________

The Process: ___________

Step One: Disembowelment

Make a small incision left side of the specimen’s abdomen. If the subject is 15cm or smaller, it is best to make a shallow cut down the middle of the animal, as to avoid damaging the subject too heavily with blind prodding. From your incision, remove all organs as carefully as possible. Take extra care with the digestive tract as it is host to tons of bacteria which can ruin your specimen if released. If desired, one may leave the heart in place as the Egyptians did. With the body now hollowed out, wrap a table spoon of natron salt and any desired herbs in linen to form a small parcel. Place the parcel into the body through the incision and repeat the process until the body regains it’s shape, finish by sewing the incision shut and pouring melted resin or wax over it to seal it shut.

The brain and eyes can be left in their place if desired, they will shrivel, shrink and dry with the rest of the body during the drying process.

If desired, your subject should be shaved/defeathered completely before the next process, this will prevent any chance of the body not drying out entirely, Resin sticking and clumping to the fur/feather/hair or for any parasites such as fleas to remain on the subject.

At this point the eyelids, vagina (if applicable) and mouth are sewn shut and the subject may be castrated if the mage feels it necessary.

Any removed organs can be wet preserved or thrown away to the mages liking (see “wet preserve” in “Preserving individual pieces”). ___________

Step Two: Drying

Spread a layer 3cm thick of natron salt down on your drying table or container. Rest your specimen down on it in the position desired and proceed to cover the subject completely in the salt. For the most optimal drying environment, the table or container should be in a room with high temperatures, low humidity and good ventilation. The total drying time is 35 days - 2 months with salt changes every seven days. During these salt changes, the specimen should be inspected thoroughly for maggots or decay. maggots or eggs should be pulled out and any holes caused by them filled with salt to destroy any beneath the skin. Decay should be monitored closely and recorded as thoroughly as possible to note chages or spread. Once the subject is completely dry, move on to the next step. ___________

Step Three: Resin and Wrapping.

After melting your resin in a double boiler, fill a syringe with it and use the syringe to fill the anus and ear canal, preventing insects from crawling into the body.

Next, we will either submerge the specimen in or pour the melted resin over the subject, with care taken to cover the specimen only where the mage wishes to wrap the mummy, some mages will wrap the whole body, others only from the neck down. Quickly, before the resin hardens, the mage must wrap the specimen in the linen bandages, starting from the legs and arms (or wings) and moving on to the body, tail, neck and head and adding in herbs and spices between the bandages. If a thicker, stronger and longer lasting mummy is required, repeat the process again as needed. ___________

Preserving individual pieces: For the smaller bits or individual organs, different techniques can be employed.

Baking: For pieces like the severed hand, foot or tail, fill a deep baking tray 1/3 with natron salt, place the subject(s) in and cover them in more salt*. Place it in the oven at low heat for 9 hours to melt off a majority of the fats in the subject without cooking it. After removing it from the oven, place it in a bowl of salt and proceed with drying as explained in step two.

*it is important to leave the piece in whatever position desired before placing it in the oven as it will stiffen after baking.

Resin dip: Refer to “Resin dip”

Wet preserve: I will refer the reader to this most excellent source for a complete guide on how to accomplish wet preservation: http://mickeyalicekwapis.com/blog/2015/9/10/wet-specimens-a-general-guide

___________

Resin Dip: The absolute laziest and cheapest way to mummify a subject. I warn you that your specimen may loose shape or decay under the resin UNLESS you use this to preserve a peice of a specimen (Tail, ear, Finger etc).

Prepare a container just deep and narrow enough to fit your specimen with melted resin and proceed to dip the specimen completely into the resin. Hang the subject to drip any excess resin before wrapping it in linen. This can and has been done with entire specimens but i urge you to use this only for pieces of a specimen.

I plan on teaching how to apply this into making talismans at a future date.

Best of luck- S

#death

asklepiad-apollon

Evil Eye ( μάτι ) Charging Ritual

note: this is just MY personal way of charging them and invoking the Gods to help protect me! This is not, by any means, a set in stone method or an attempt to fully or accurately recreate historical practices!

Get the pieces of your evil eye or the materials that you wish to use.

Invoke the Gods that you with to reach while holding some or all of your materials.

Recite a prayer, whatever you’d like, but I’ll write an example up for those who can’t think of one: “Khaire, O Apollon, Healer of Greece, Bringer of both Plagues and Health, please allow me to bless this mati with your strength to cast away miasma and protect those I care about.”

Get water that has been purified (khernips). This can be done by either charging it under the moon or sun with intent (just leaving it out), cleansing it with sound (playing music near it), extinguishing a flame in it, etc etc, however you want and feel like you can purify it.

Grab some of the water and flick it over the evil eye, or you can dip the whole charm in it if the material allows.

Finish making your evil eye

Recite a banishing phrase, whatever you’d like, but here is an example. “With the power and blessings of the Theoi, I spit away the evil eye. This xematiasma” (evil eye banishing) “will release the evil on those the eye gazes upon. Khaire O Theoi."

And you’re done! Feel free to put it anywhere. Also feel free to cleanse it with sun/moonlight or sound or anything as you deem necessary. Take care of your charms and they will take care of you!

#hellenic

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