[ofspeckledplumage]

My New Hot Take

I think a good portion of the hate lobbed at god spouses and other people with romantic/sexual relationships with spirits/gods is because of the sex negative culture that has pervaded (and continues to pervade) so many things, especially for women.  Think about it. Why is the stereotype of a godspouse a: woman, older, lonely, and fat/unconventionally attractive or unattractive.  To the sex negative culture we live in, women are not supposed to have sexual interests and drive in the first place. They are supposed to wait for a man to lead the way, and while he is doing so, to submit and shut up about it.  Older women are supposed to suddenly lose their desire for companionship and sex (when? At thirty? Forty?), because they are not in the flower of their youth any more.  Fat and/or unconventionally attractive women are not supposed to be an object of sexual desire for anyone. It is laughable to think they may have desire themselves. It is outright subversive to suggest or say that a god has interest in them.  Of course, god spouses in general get mocked a lot. But brushing aside the hate from people who aren’t spiritual, who don’t believe in gods in the first place, a special venom becomes clear from people who are actually pagan.  Also, because: sex has been portrayed as dirty. Earthly. Even as outright bad. 

[skepticaloccultist]

Of Pacts & Spirits

I have been increasingly considering the nature of pacts, that is, those agreements we make with the spirits with whom we traffic. Pacts are, on the face of it, a natural arrangement of dealing with any sort of being (material or immaterial) with whom no preexisting trust has developed. A contract that stipulates the services required and those that will in turn be rendered as payment.

Recently I have done a bit of work in the striking of a bargain and have found myself in a precarious position, one in which my dealings with regular humanity have chaffed against the more important, and considerably private, parts of my life. The terms of the pact having been well laid out there is little recourse I have been afforded by my own undertaking. The path ahead, though uncertain, is still well laid out before me.

Given the nature of our dealings with spirits, we must consider the way in which a pact is to be reinforced. The power of the spirit as a threat is ultimately the damocles sword that drives the need to fulfill our end of the bargain. Yet what recourse does the magician have in dealings with wayward spirits to whom no appeal or previous threat have been successful?

This depends in the main on the nature of the spirit itself. If it is of a goetic character, finding itself listed among the tables of the grimoires, it will likely have rulers to whom it answers, or kings to which you can apply to straighten out the wayward demon. An hierarchy is good to have, one to which you can appeal in particular.

If, on the other hand, the spirit is of the land, called sidhe or fae, mouros and many other names, the path of control is likely outlined in the historic character of the being. Folklore leads a path toward the dealings of each landscape spirit, the necessary tools and offerings that can implore a spirit to stick to its end of the deal found in the likely sources (such as Dalyell, Crofton Croker, Briggs, et al).

When the spirit is that of the ancestors, a horse rider, lwa, spectre, barrow wight or other deceased persons to whom the magician calls on for aide, the ability to have them keep their word is in the main the domain of one’s own trustworthiness. If the magician is honest, and sticks to their end of the deal, there is little chance of an ancestor spirit not doing as agreed. Failure of the spirt is invariably a failure of the conjuror in heart or intent.

The agreement itself, the pact, is more often than not actually written down on a virgin piece of paper. Though it can be simply an oral agreement I find those are about as solid in the spirit world as they are in the judiciary of mankind, i.e. not at all. In my opinion the best pact is one written and signed by all concerned parties, bound in sigil and seal and hermetically sealed into some container. Jars, boxes, bells, skulls, bones, gourds, all have been brought to this purpose the world over.

In the written pact one should be sure to include all of the demands of both sides, much in the way one would write a mundane contract. But like a music contract beware that the terms themselves limit the range or scope of the true intention of the magician. The pact should be simple and concise, the more words it contains the more likelihood of mistaken intention.

As in the regular world you would not sign a contract with a person you had just met. Take your time in developing a relationship with those spirits with whom a pact may eventually lead. Get to know them, their desires and whims, their moods and powers, before you come to any arrangement with them. A spirit is of a necessarily transient and shifting nature. What you bind is often not exactly what you wished to conjure.

There are those beings who linger on the edge of the Veil, waiting for you to poke a hole in its gossamer membrane, that they may slip into materialization on the back of your work. They will claim an identity, conforming to your desires in appearance and character. Seeming to perform the tasks you wish all while undermining your goals. Learn to know with whom you traffic, to recognize their true voice as you would an old friend. Be sure to cleanse one’s space of undesirable elements before and after any work is done. Always assign a license to depart.

Remember that a pact is binding in two directions. The spirit is bound to you, as you are to it. It helps if your goals and theirs are aligned, though it isn’t always necessary. Working with a spirit to ends other than its desires is a dangerous practice that can lead to madness and death. Remember to look both ways before you cross the threshold of the crossroads.

[quantum-natura]

Lunar Eclipse Dates

Total Lunar Eclipses:

31 Jan 2018 - West North America, Asia, Australia, Pacific

27 Jul 2018 - Africa, South America, Asia, Australia, Europe

21 Jan 2019 - Africa, Americas, Europe, Central Pacific

26 May 2021 - Americas, East Asia, Australia, Pacific

16 May 2022 - Africa, Americas, Europe

08 Nov 2022 - Americas, Asia, Australia, Pacific

14 Mar 2025 - West Africa, Americas, West Europe, Pacific

07 Sep 2025 - Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe

03 Mar 2026 - Americas, East Asia, Australia, Pacific 

Lunar Eclipse Magic:

Lunar Eclipse Water by @lunaesteria

Eclipse Magick by @phaesphore

Solar & Lunar Eclipse Magick by @lunaesteria

🌒🌓🌔🌕🌖🌗🌘

[simplemagicality]

Reminder that Aloe is extraordinarily poisonous to cats!!

Please keep any bottles of aloe out of reach and any plants caged if you have cats!!

[spookymulde-r]

I don’t know how many tumblr witches know, this could be old news, but I found that this is the best place to get jars/bottles to feed my obsession! They have a bunch of different colors, but most of them are clear. They have different shapes and such, and they’re very very cheap, even the jugs !! In their FAQ they said it’s fine to even order just 1 bottle at a time, even though most people order a bunch at once. It’s honestly the best deal on high quality bottles and jars that I’ve found so far! I would honestly skip Amazon and go straight here. 10/10!

https://www.specialtybottle.com

[ball-jointed-wing]

I gotta know how the corks are

[angel54980-deactivated20211025]

Anyone else feel like an accused outcast village witch?

[thebibliosphere]

“Accused”. Like I don’t have a sign on my front lawn.

[thebibliosphere]

Actually I don’t. Someone make me one.

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

Give me an hour

[thebibliosphere]

I’m about to scream.

[lynati]

You’re going to wind up with two dozen.

[thebibliosphere]

tbh that’s probably necessary.

[theshitpostcalligrapher]

Gonna package her up and send it u via PO box. Do with her what you will. 

[bruisedapricot-deactivated20180]

Stoner Witch Tips:

[littlehexboy-deactivated2018062]

🌼 Fill your bong or bubbler up with charged moon water for a magical boost

🌼 Consider your pipe as an extension of your being & use it as a wand. Decorate it with crystals, feathers, embroideries or even enchant it.

🌼 Write down spells or a chant to say before you smoke to enlighten your high.

🌼 Save your stems & ash for black salts, rituals, potion bottle spells etc,.

🌼 Smoke before divination. For many people, it will calm you and help you tap into the spiritual realm.

🌼 Draw sigils on your lighter or, croquet them onto your own little pipe pouch

[awitchabouttown-deactivated2018]

Grimoire/Book of shadows Tip. 📔

If you mess up on a page or regret a page/no longer like what you put, take some parchment or any paper you’d like and scrap book over those pages.

Even if you think its messy or the pages become thick it adds charm to your book. It makes it look like an actual grimoire of occult knowledge/your personal craft rather than some reference book from barns and noble. Hell even add dried herbs or images you’ve cut or printed out. Have fun.

[marigoldwitch]

Yep. Yep. Yep. Done this many many times over the years. I like to collage over the pages I find “ugly” or that didn’t come out the way I’d like. I get those free subscriptions to magazines (even if I don’t necessarily want to actually read it) just for the imagery. I really like pop culture magz because I work a lot with pop culture archetypes when creating spells.

Sign up for those free subs to garden, lifestyle and home living magz. They have great photos and since magazine paper is pretty thin it doesn’t add too much bulk to your journal. But to be honest, I actually love when my journals start to get bulky. Reminds me that I’ve put a lot of myself into it. 

[haunting-hibiscus]

Finished my natal chart page in my book of shadows!

[taunyatta]

“Hermaeus Mora has always tried to seduce mortals into his service with the lure of forbidden knowledge. Where the Black Books actually came from… no one really knows. Some appear to have been written in the past, others might be from the future. Apparently time is more malleable if you’re a Daedric Prince of fate and destiny.”  - Neloth

[localcraigslist]

[1witchyboi]

The 3 S’s of witchcraft: Sage, Salt, and Screaming

[dumbbbunnnyy-deactivated2021021]

witches who support modern medicine 2k18

[m0oooon]

witches who can’t do shit, don’t understand pharmakeia and blow incense smoke at grass clippings while pretending to do magic and believe in everything that the profane do as long as it’s in a peer-reviewed academic paper while pretending to be different than them 2k18

[dulcetblood]

Omfg what does this even mean 😂

[dulcetblood]

I need to fix my tagging system

[coloricioso]

Hey again in the previous post you said "And the result of that is that we get this image of gods being “rude, unfair, etc”. If someone doesn’t understand the Greek concept of hubris they just WON’T understand the final meaning of any myth where a God punishes someone." What then was the concept of hubris to the Greeks?

Ok, hybris/húbris is not a translatable word, therefore its complexity. But by húbris we could understand: human arrogance, excessive pride, or human’s tendency to overstep the cosmic and divine limits of the world. 

For Ancient Greeks, the gods were superior beings that ruled over their lives. By hierarchy, humans are always below gods. Humans have a place and role in the world and the limits for their actions are set by the gods. Whenever a human exceeds those limits, we have húbris.

The best examples for this are the myths where humans get punished by the gods. I’ll give you 2 from Odyssey, and a general one.

- Example 1: When Odysseus blinds Polyphemus and mocks on him, Poseidon gets angry and spends years trying to punishing for that. Why it’s húbris? Because Odysseus was unnecessarily pride and arrogant. At first we would think: okay he was defending himself and his friends when he blinded Polyphemus, but what he does after that, laughing and mocking the Cyclope is what exceeds the limit. 

-Example 2: When Odysseus’ men eat the cows of Helios, that’s húbris again. Why? Because those cows were sacred to Helios, there is an stablished limit between divine-mortal world that Odysseus’ men overstepped. 

-Example 3: When a mortal claims to be better/prettier/smarter than a god that’s hybris again. Like the myth of Niobe who boasted that she gave birth to more or better sons than Leto (Artemis and Apollo’s mom). Why it’s húbris? Because that’s breaking the limit between the divine-human; by nature, a human cannot be better than a god.

Now, why I say it’s important to understand this. Because if we fail to understand this concept, we will think things like “Oh, the gods are so rude! They are so flawed, so evil!”. The entire interpretation of Greek Gods as “flawed beings”, so often found in mythology-books comes specially from people (mostly christians) that judge the Gods for this kind of myths without understanding the logic and context behind them.

Best example for this? What Ovid did mostly in his Metamorphoses. Instead of having myths were gods punish the mortals because they overstepped their limits, we get this depiction where gods are simply angry and punish mortals “because they can”.

Let’s take the so popular Medusa story, told by Ovid. For Ancient Greeks Medusa either was i) already a monster-gorgon with no background story; ii) a nymph that had consensual sex with Poseidon.

What did Ovid do? Give us a tale where i) Poseidon rapes Medusa in Athena’s temple; ii) Athenea gets angry and punishes Medusa. 

When you read Ovid’s tale, the only feeling you get is “wtf, why did Athena punish Medusa?! she is the victim, this makes no sense”. And it obviously makes no sense, because the Greek-fictional-device was “1) human hybris + 2) god punishes”. Ovid turned into some kind of “1) helpless human + 2) angry and unfair god” which doesn’t belong to Ancient Greek narrative.

A Greek parallel of Ovid’s tale would be when Ayax rapes Cassandra in Athena’s temple. That’s a huge display of húbris and at the end, depending on the version, Athena punishes Ayax and he dies, or Athena tries to punish Ayax and he manages to escape anyway but then Poseidon kills him. There you got the right structure: human hybris + god punishment.

So, my point is that, depriving myths from their context, inevitably leads to wrong interpretations and bad portrayals. Same happens to any myth of Zeus affair’s, Persephone’s abduction, etc. People get all the wrong ideas because they ignore Ancient-Greek-background ideas as aristocracy system, marriage rites, etc.

btw: I don’t know Ancient Greek, but from my books in Spanish the word is translated as hybris, and in English is mostly hubris. Greek is ὕβρις. :P if anyone knows better please let me know <3

[honorthegods]

People forget (don’t know) that Ovid had a reputation for raunchy writing. His five-volume series of erotic love poems was followed up with the best-selling Ars Amatoria, three volumes on how to hook up, get it on with married women, and the best positions to make sure she has orgasms. It was so popular that he wrote a sequel, Remedia Amori, on how to avoid bad feelings when in love, being dumped, or ending an affair. 

Having established a reputation as a player, he next wrote the Metamorphosis, a work probably intended to be humorous that depicted the gods as lustful and foolish. He probably finished it in exile, since the Emperor Augustus was so done with him that he banished him to Romania, either because Ovid’s books subverted Augustus’ laws promoting monogamy, or suspicion that Ovid had been involved in an attempted coup led by the husband of Augustus’ far-from-chaste grand-daughter.

Not exactly the best source to consult for myths containing religious truths. 

[smarmykemetic]

how i got into kemeticism

me: is a happy fundamentalist Christian

Set: 

(add a gif/gifs explaining ur entry to kemeticism)

[igamuinacra]

me: a conflicted muslim

Ptah:

[scalesojudgement]

Me: A frustrated “on-the-fence” Atheist

Heru:

[satsekhem]

Me: is a confused and lost bby pagan

Sekhmet:

[into-strange-skies]

(Oh geeze i dunno if I have a gif that represents how Montu and Sobek got involved)

Me: On the fence Atheist/Agnostic with an animism bent.

Monthu (after waiting for a solid 5 years for me to realise what was going on):

Two years later…

Me: I swear I locked that Door…

Sobek:

[the-netjeru-oasis]

Me: a depressed little shit who’s questioning their own mortality

Set:

[het-fekat]

Me: a hardline atheist with no religious/spiritual beliefs EVER

Djehuty:

[waxingmoonstone]

Me, after leaving Christianity a year or two ago sitting in college.

Anubis:

[shezep]

Me: (Enjoying a little quiet afternoon meditation, and then Sekhmet shows up and has something to say.)

Me: (Spends a few years trying to ignore it.)

Ra: 

[dulcetblood]

Me: agnostic who finally stopped denying belief in Egyptian gods.

Amun: (ever so patient with me for years)

[dulcetblood]

So I’m working on a travel grimoire and holy shit.

I’ve gotten such a headache from trying to figure out Correspondences. There are so many fucking contradictions and a lot of them just plain don’t make sense.

I mean, yeah, there’s the “make your own associations!!” But quite frankly, I don’t have deep enough personal associations about colors and whatnot and I honestly couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. Hence, references.

But either they make no fricking sense, contradict other sources, or contradict themselves on the next page. It’s amazing really.

So, I thought of something pretty nifty. I made a chart where I just wrote down everything that is supposed to correspond to each other, then I added the few bits of my own associations I could scrounge up. Then I crossed out shit that didn’t make sense to me. And I didn’t just do it all willy nilly. There was a methodology behind it.

Now, instead of Venus being a correspondence for Pink, and then orange only being a correspondence for Venus, it’s the goddamned same backwards and front and it’s simple and makes logical sense to me.

But it took me hours to figure it all out. For colors, planets, elements, Zodiac, and days of the week. Still got some other things, but at least I got some out of the way.