Jun 19, 2019
I'll probably spend some time writing some original content for this blog. As it currently stands; it's little more than a reblog blog; and I'm not completely comfortable with that.
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Nocturnal Whispers
@einodian-cthonian
Zeir. Necromancer, Chaos Magician, Theurgist, Eclectic Death Witch.
Jun 19, 2019
Criticism and Dedication in Witchcraft
I don’t understand this culture of “nobody’s craft is better than another’s.” In what world is this true? Are there no doctors better at their healing than others? Are there no sculptors who are better at their craft than their peers? Are there no scholars more learned than their colleagues? Does it not then stand to reason that some witches are indeed “better” at their craft than others. Is it possible for one to simply *feel* like a witch and adopt that title as a mark to claim some of the associated power? Certainly. And there are many who do little else than this. Some more sincerely than others.
However, to imply that all approaches are equally valid, that all create success, or that witchcraft is something which requires minimal effort is simply. not. truth. And further, to adopt such sentiments to heart, and spread them as foundational teachings representative of the craft to others is to misstep. It not only does a disservice to your own practice, but to the craft as well. There are people who have devoted their lives to learning, working, and refining their practice. To flippantly cast off the importance of dedication, devotion, and discipline in the magical arts is to dishonor the nature of the work and the spirits whom attend to you. Truth. There is no ONE way to all of this. And if someone is trying to sell you that there is, then close your ears to such falsity.
There are, however, better ways to accomplish the work than others. This is a part of why certain practices and lore have stood the test of time. Unfortunately for many, there is no quick and easy route to obtaining such things. To assume that a witch who just started practicing is in any way a match for one who has been diligently studying and practicing for decades is to insult both the craft and the dedication of your elders. No. A person who has this level of experience, and the wisdom that comes with it does not deserve your friendship or respect on a personal level simply because they’ve been at it longer than you. Many of the greatest magicians and witches I’ve known could quite easily be described as assholes, at least on occasion. This does not diminish the work they have done. Or more importantly that witchcraft, if you want to get good at it, requires actual work. Or that, even if someone more experienced than you behaves in a fashion that you find arrogant, or is critical about your practice, their points and the value found in them may not have value. Witchcraft is not about us all getting along. It never has been. That’s not the end goal. Powerful people often have powerful personalities and strong opinions. Get enough of that together in one place and the result is rarely going to be folks standing in a circle sweetly agreeing with each other and nodding heads. There are times where things should rightfully be pointed to as being of little use and not germane to the study and practice of what has traditionally passed for witchcraft throughout the ages. Or at the very lease, suffer a bit of poking at for being silly. People died, and still do, in the name of witchcraft. To treat it with flippancy, or as fashion does a discredit to all of those people (practitioners or otherwise) who were martyrs to the craft. It besmirches the work of those people who have have dedicated their life’s work to the craft. Let’s talk about dedication shall we? Are you willing to die for your craft? Would you be willing to stand in the face of an inquisitor and tell them to fuck off should you find yourself in their grasp? Is that the level of love and devotion you have for it? Do you truly believe that in the current era this is an impossible scenario that might be not faced by this generation of would be witches?
Or is witchcraft simply a way to tell yourself you’re different? Something fun to do on the full moon? Is that true dedication? Something worth dying for? Something which gives honor to legacy? Your craft may not look like mine. And it rightly shouldn’t. But if your expectation of what will make you a stronger, better, more effective practitioner is that your work be beyond reproach or critique, particularly when you put your works and words out there for the consumption and adoption of others then the person you do the most disservice to is yourself. The standard I hold for others in the craft is not one born of ego. It is the standard I hold for both myself and my students. My work is not without its flaws or beyond critique, nor is my practice, or even my dedication at times. And I have faced the critique of others, both friends, and strangers. Some of them were teachers who strengthened my craft. Some of them were assholes. Some of them were both.
Thank you for saying more eloquently what I’ve been trying to express for a long time. Validating everything anyone ever does accomplishes nothing and is counterproductive to the entire community.
Nobody wants to admit that you need to put in hard work to accomplish great things; they want instant gratification from magick like everyone has since the dawn of time, this is nothing new. What is new is the common acceptance of this mindset to the point where dozens of people come out of the woodwork to berate you for daring to imply that magick is a skill that needs to be learned over time.
Magick is a craft. It is not anything you want it to be. It’s not adopting an aesthetic and then declaring that you’re a witch now. It’s not something fun to do on a full moon. It’s a skill that you learn and practice to achieve a certain goal. If you don’t have a goal, you’re not practicing anything. You’re just playing pretend.
While I agree with many of the points here, and as a serious practioner myself,-not everyone WANTS to do great things.
Some people need to paint the Mona Lisa and some people are content to doddle idly in their spare time.
The difference is that someone who just doodles doesn’t call themselves an artist, yet someone who makes glitter jars and reblogs emoji spells will happily call themselves a witch.
Not to put too fine a point on it but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the ~no craft is better than others everyone is valid uwu~ crowd and the “if you do magick just for the results you’ll be disappointed” crowd are one in the same.
Alright but????
Doodles lead to great pieces?
Sometimes people only want to give a certain amount of dedication to something and that doesn’t make it any less than it is.
The need to be better than or more important than others by comparison in this thread is so fucked like…. Call yourself whatever you like but you don’t get to dictate the level of ‘realness’ as based on the comparison of your own work….
I agree with OP in a lot of ways for their own specific views but this becomes literal gatekeeping when you think a word or title cannot be used by someone else who isn’t up to your own self decided standards…
Fuck off.
It’s not ~literal gatekeeping~ because one can stop you from calling yourself whatever you want but we’re also not obligated to take it seriously or validate a bunch of lazy bullshit.
Someone said in this thread don’t call yourself a witch if your not serious that’s gatekeeping hello.
No one wants you to take them seriously or validate them like sorry, hi the world does not revolve around you.
Criticism is one thing, as I’ve said, holding other people to your own standards and considering them less than you is another thing entirely and while you’re obviously entitled to feel that way WE DON’T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT IT lol so stop telling us all about it.
Go be The Best somewhere else if it’s that important to you.
I always find it strange when people who claim to not give a fuck become so defensive about someone’s opinions and observations and reblog/respond with such fervor.
It instead implies that this thread has perhaps struck you in some way.That’s possibly worth examination.
If you honestly believe that witchcraft is without at least some rightful gatekeeping around certain traditions and practices then you are mistaken. You aren’t entitled to all things, all mysteries, and all traditions simply because you want them.
And we all have our personal standards that we apply to others in all things. To simply except all behaviors as satisfactory is to celebrate the lowest common denominator. I won’t apologize if I desire more for the world, and for the craft.
You know we would all be a lot happier if we stopped caring so much about other witches and their craft. Like I don’t get shit like this because to me nobody can taint my own craft or even witchcraft as a whole to me. Witches on Tumblr doing emoji spells or emphasizing aesthetics over actual work have zero barring on any of us. No one person can say how witchcraft is supposed to be and how witches are supposed to go about it. That’s why I love it. Something so personal and deep shouldn’t be controlled or defined by a selected few. It should be up to each one of us to figure out what it means to us. And we don’t have to agree but I think we should at least respect each other enough to insert ourselves and beliefs into each other’s crafts.
Dudes this is ableist, elitist, classist bullshit. Don’t be jealous of witches who can do magick an “easier” way than you had to in order to get results. Not everyone can put the same time and effort into their craft as you, doesn’t mean they aren’t a witch. The most powerful magick comes from within and if someone believes their emoji spell will help then it can, even if it’s in a small way, even if it’s in a personal way, it’s still real and valid. Fuck my dudes this is just a bunch of salty ass witches being mad that others are happy and cute af. Wanna talk about how you’re privileged ass is studying and practicing and making shit for hours a day in the name of the craft, great! props to you for being so lucky. Don’t shit on other people who aren’t able to do the same, hell even WANT to do the same. you have your beliefs and other have their own. Oh by the way, just because a witch is into the “cutesy” witchcraft doesn’t mean they don’t study or practice other types of crafts and actually do put as much or more work into it than you
Please see my earlier comments about folks reading things through the filter of insecurity and projecting such things back. Because I’m pretty sure you read something other than the OP.
Also…Ableist and classist?
Way to diminish these terms by casually tossing them about when you find something you don’t agree with. You do a great service to those who are actually the victims of such things.
Damn Tumblr, you scary.
You can’t make a post and say “hey this is true for everyone you can’t call yourself a witch if you don’t do x, y and z” and expect people to NOT read it though a “filter of insecurity” lol. Because it’s not true for everyone you aren’t thinking about people who have different circumstances than yourself and witches who look down on those who to YOU look like they don’t “Take the craft seriously” is a shitty thing to do. By the way I am actually a person who deals with ableism and classism, i live with them so idk why you assumed I was coming from a place of privilege.
Now I thought I made it pretty clear on how this whole idea was ableist so I’ll explain how it’s classist. In order to “Take the craft seriously” and dedicate yourself to it you need time and resources. Wonder why not everyone has that? Well if you are poor you need to work extra hard sometimes extra hours, there goes most of your time. Working while poor means you need money to spend on important things you need to survive like food and bills, not of books and tools for witchcraft, even though you might really want those things. Understand now? and then after all your work you want to spend your free time doing more work and studying witchcraft? some can, some can’t have that emotional, mental, or energetic ability. Does that mean these people can’t be a witch because they do “easy”, “simple” magick that makes them feel good? No, fuck you if you think so. That’s a shitty shitty thing. I mean, you can believe they don’t, but know that I’m calling you out on being a shitty person for it.
Again I ask…did you ACTUALLY READ the OP?!?
because you’re referencing things and statements that were not and are not a part of the original post.
And you seem to have created your own conception of what I determine is required for one to be dedicated, sincere, and disciplined in their craft. Namely filling in the gaps with money, material possessions, and hours upon hours a day of practice.
These are your own illusions. They were not conjured by me.
This was a solid post to read and definitely reminded me of why I chose this path. No doubt there will be pitchforks and torches.
For the rest that read to this part, hi, welcome to the discourse.
I’m a hatchling. At best. Legit only got into the craft a few years ago. Like many, life has definitely been a journey, so I’ve only been practicing for a few years. On and off, to boot. No, I’m not a witch or anything. I want to be a sorceress. However, that requires a lot more dedication to my chosen craft, a lot more than I’m able to give. College and all that.
People have difference capabilities and understandings, but at the base of it all, we’re all equal as people.
At this craft, however? Hell no. There is always someone better at something. Always.
The OP is literally saying that there are standards for a reason. Yes, there’s “gatekeeping,” as one reblog put it. At one point, OP says, “ Is it possible for one to simply *feel* like a witch and adopt that title as a mark to claim some of the associated power? Certainly. And there are many who do little else than this. Some more sincerely than others.” Tell me, at what point was it said that someone can’t claim to be a witch or whatever title they’re aiming for?
The topic addressed here is a matter of understanding that there are levels of dedication and work to a craft before one can claim to any mastery of it. There’s a level of quality to keep in mind. It’s a harsh reality, but it is our reality nonetheless. For a craft, our craft, to continue to flourish and prosper, there is a level of skill and dedication that’s necessary to earn the titles and recognition. Those people dedicate their lives to the study and practice. Their dedication is why we can sit here now and debate on this.
What’s going on right now is a common and natural problem in societies or communities. Accepting everything means lowering the standard–it’s mathematically proven. Increase the data points you account for and you get smaller standard deviations. In order to push for growth and new heights, yes, there’s an acknowledgement that not everyone can or is a high priestess or grand master or whatever. You don’t have to be. No one is saying that.
What is being said is that dedication and diligence are necessary to improve.
What is being said that in order to reach amazing levels of seeing people levitate, reading minds, or summoning powerful entities, you’re going to have to work.
What is being said is to not claim to be something greater than you are.
I’m just starting out. Sure, I’ve a variety of abilities that I’ve only just started learning how to harness, but that’s nothing special. I don’t know a lot and definitely don’t know what all I can do. What I do know is that I’m practicing and studying, a little bit every chance I get. What I do know is that I have fought tooth and nail for the space to practice my craft. And I’ll get better, so long as I practice and dedicate, more and more.
Respect the craft, and the sacrifices made for it–the deaths, the work, the people who’ve come before us. A craft is not only something you just pick, it’s something you also try to contribute to, something you honor as best you can.
Do the best you can do, but don’t get the idea that no one is better than you.
There’s always someone.
That’s how we all improve.
Anyway, that’s my input. Thanks, @spiritusarcanum, for the insight, inspiration, and reminder.
Thank YOU!
For reading, comprehending, and contributing to the discussion.
Let’s talk about this “ableist” argument. Guess what? I’m disabled. I’ve been disabled my whole life. My only income gets eaten up by student loans, and the only reason I have food on the table and a roof over my head is because of my family, who still put up with me.
I spend ten to twelve hours a day poring through classifieds, applying to jobs, taking free classes to try and get “marketable skills,” in the hopes that someone will hire me. I paid someone to take me back and for the an internship I didn’t get paid for just to bump my resume.
There are days I am in so much pain I have to fight to do more than crawl down the hall, and then I curl up in the tub and do all of that from my phone.
At the same time, however, I am dedicated to my craft. I don’t let a day go by where I don’t do something, even if all I have the energy for is to commune with the spirits. My craft means something to me, and getting better at it, becoming better at it, means something to me, so yeah, I devote time and study to it, even if it means I get a little less sleep, or the next day is harder because I have fewer spoons.
Do I always have money for tools and books? No, not at all. Here’s the thing though, many of those things aren’t necessarily required. There may be some sects that require you to have fancy this and fancy that, but I’m a traditional witch, and it’s not like our ancestors had cash to throw everywhere in the early modern period. A black-handled pocketknife for fifty cents at Goodwill can work just as well as some knife that cost hundreds of dollars. I have a staff that came from a yard sale, and I paid $1.00 for it. And all of that is ignoring the idea that if you truly need something for your craft, sometimes the spirits can lead you. Poor, disabled, 200% under the poverty line people can still be serious traditional witches who put themselves into their craft.
Yes! Yes to all of this.
If folks think that my original post was about how ablebodied you are, how much money you have, or even whether or not you want to practice pop culture magic, they’re entirely missing the point and filling the gaps in with their own insecurities.
Thank you!
And utmost respect and support to you on your path.
Beautifully written, OP.
I have a lot of problems with the argument that all witchcraft is inherently equal. It really screwed me over in my early years, and I spent time looking at emoji spells instead of doing real research and practice. It is a bit disheartening to think about the fact that had I not gotten dragged into the witchblr community at a young age, I could have spent a year of my life researching witchcraft instead of wasting it on fake spells.
As a side note, as someone with a neurocognitive disability and multiple mental illnesses, and as someone who grew up under the poverty line and remains under it because college tuition is fucked, the ableist and classist argument here pisses me off. Ableism and classism are serious issues, and it feels as if using them as an argument against this post isn’t out of actual concern, it’s just an arguing point. It’s such an insensitive way to use two very serious problems and water them down to just an argument about why glitter is a legitimate magickal tool.
At the end of the day, I don’t care that much what people do with their craft, but I don’t want beginners getting sucked into witchblr bullshit, and I also recognize the fact that people who dedicate actual time and effort to something are probably going to be better at it than people who don’t.
I want to reblog this again because I realized I was unclear about my view on this and want to clarify.
I think dedication is important in witchcraft, but I also think it’s important to recognize that dedication looks different for different people.
It can veer into ableism and classism to expect disabled and poor people to be able to spend the same amount of time on things. They can still be dedicated, though.
If someone’s chronic fatigue, mental illness, chronic pain, or anything else that causes them to not have as many spoons as a neurotypical able-bodied person would means they have to take breaks from their practice or can’t cast as much, that’s fine. The point is that people dedicate themselves when possible.
If someone has to work full-time to scrape by and can only research and practice on the weekends, they still have dedication because they’re doing witchcraft when they’re feasibly able to.
I know my witchcraft doesn’t look the same as a neurotypical, middle- or upper-class person’s would, so I don’t expect anyone else living with illness or poverty to look the same. Dedication means spending time when it makes sense to do so, not forcing yourself when you’re not able.
Jun 4, 2019
© Nona Limmen Webshop / Instagram
Jun 4, 2019
Jun 4, 2019
That post on Hellfire I promised
Before I get into all of the details, I should remind you that I’m still learning. As such, what I say on this matter comes from the personal experience and philosophy of somebody who, despite having a head-start, is still studying and more knowledge is revealed to me by the day. Even some of my older posts here I will roll my eyes at, so I may do another mass correction post at some point in the future. Enough with my babbling.
What is Hellfire in Abrahamic mythology? Hellfire, also known as the “black flame,” was first mentioned in the New Testament. While most references to Hell reference it as a place for sinners, filled with destructive fire far away from Heaven, there are a few quotes that make reference to Hell as dark (2 Peter 2:4) and that it’s a place of gnashing teeth (Matthew 13:50). In Hadith literature, Jahannam is described as having fires blacker than tar. In some disciplines of Cabala merged with Gnosticism, there have been theories that mankind has both a spark of divine light and a shard of darkness, and that they have the freedom to choose which one they embrace.
What is Hellfire in Luciferianism? Outside of Abrahamic sources, and thus closer to the truth of the subject, we have Luciferian, Sabbatic, and Anticosmic teachings of Hellfire. In Luciferianism, particularly those who work with the Cainite Lucifer adversarially, they teach about the “black flame” that was inherent to Lucifer and thus prevented Him from being destroyed after the fall. The demiurge, Yaldabaoth, identified with the Old Testament Yahweh, could merely unmake the parts he had formed, and in doing so freed Lucifer from his bondage. This same black flame is symbolically represented by the fruit of knowledge, by which he shared individualism with mankind. Similar to the aforementioned Cabalistic theories, this gave mankind the ability to reject dogma and embrace its inner fire. The black flame here is a metaphor for individual freedom and self-empowerment, and through these enlightenment. It’s something everyone possesses, they just need to exercise it.
What does Hellfire do in Satanic witchcraft? In the Sabbatic craft, the black flame is viewed as the antithesis to the white light associated with Rosicrucian workings. This means that the black flame was used as their symbol for the fifth element, and what Satanic witches drew from as their magickal current. It was, in a sense, a step-in for “The All” that was not associated with Yahweh. It symbolized individuals working together. Rather than the white light merging all of the elements into one, the black flame absorbed them and could be used in the place of any element in the same fashion for a different reason.
Hellfire as the Thoughtless Light. In chaosophy, as espoused by the Temple of the Black Light and various institutions influenced by them, there is yet another analogue. Having ties with Kabbalah and Gnosticism, it’s no surprise that chaosophy also teaches about how each person has shards from Hell and shards from Heaven. It posits, however, that the shards from Heaven are a false calling, and the shards from Hell are truly where all has come from. Kaos, of course, is the formless void from which the demiurge had to limit in order to form Heaven. What was left over was called Hell, and it sought to reintegrate the tyranny the world was born from. In this sense, the Thoughtless Light that emanates from beyond the Qliphoth could be viewed in a fiery, destructive aspect as it seeks to destroy and dissolve the order that prevents true freedom from shining. Similarly, the Thoughtless Light is the direct opposition to the so-called “Limitless” Light of Heaven. Here, too, we get a glimpse at the qualities of this qliphothic energy. Tohu, Bohu, and Chasek, describe the outer reaches of Hell that are closest to undiluted Kaos. These are formlessness, emptiness, and darkness, respectively.
Conclusion: Hellfire is the same as qliphothic energy, the black flame, and the powers of darkness called upon in Satanic witchcraft. It is antithetical to order, and is an energy composed by the absolute freedom of all energies. Hell is basked in it, as has been noted by the scriptures of mainstream religion, and it ultimately comes from chaos itself. It can be worked with by anyone, although doing so requires an independent mind filled with a love of knowledge and an endless curiosity. Hellfire is death, but as in reincarnation, it’s also where life comes from. Hellfire is the rawest form of the darkness that birthed the light that we as theistic Satanist are able to interact with. Hellfire is dark, formless, and empty. It is black as tar, it emanated from chaos, and yet it is paradoxically empty and hollow. I believe it might very well be the same as azoth. In my experience, it’s taken many forms. It’s been fire, liquid, smoke, electricity. It’s all the same, but being used for different purposes. I’ve seen it writhe in a way that looks like fire, but is only a representation of its formlessness. These are all the same material in different shapes. For this reason, many people forego the use of the word “hellfire” to describe it, preferring instead the terms I listed above. Personally, I cannot verify that the hellfire I work with is the same as azoth, and I prefer to use “qliphothic” only when working with a specific qlipha or set of qliphoth. “Demonic” energy is also not the same, although demons by my definition interact with Hellfire in some capacity. “Infernal” energy might be closer, although more wordy. And it is not the same as chthonic energy or death essence, despite having similar properties. It is, however, also known by those who work with it outside of rigorous systems as “void energy” and I’m quite certain these two are closely linked if not identical.
Jun 4, 2019
“His body a bloody-ruby radiant With noble passion, sun-souled Lucifer”
— Aleister Crowley, Hymn to Lucifer (via wrappedallinwoe)
Mar 11, 2019
Epithets of Lilith
Howler in the Desert
Childless Mother
Hairy One
Horned She-Beast
The Maiden Who Has Stolen the Light
Queen of the Night
The Woman of Harlotry
She Who Screeches
Ki-Sikil-Lil-La-Ke
The First Woman
Exiled Eve
Whole Unto Herself
She Who Walks Without Shame
The Shadowed Lady
The Bloodless Martyr
The Tortuous Serpent
Breaker of Chains
Wild One at the Gates
The Nationless Queen
Kindler of Denied Desires
Great Winged One
Mar 6, 2019
Learn Black Magick Now Masterpost
Before anything else, I would read dazed-sparrow’s post on discernment: http://dazedsparrow.tumblr.com/post/172871508476/discernment-is-your-best-friend From here, there are the basic spiritual practices (for those of you who aren’t Satanists, checking out the last link is still important, the meditation is in almost all disciplines under different names). https://tinybuddha.com/blog/30-simple-mindfulness-practices-to-help-you-focus-and-be-present/ https://tinybuddha.com/blog/7-obstacles-to-mindfulness-and-how-to-overcome-them/ https://dark-apheresis.tumblr.com/post/172312565639/spiritual-polytheistic-satanism http://www.angelfire.com/empire/serpentis666/Satanic_Void_Meditation.html
Now on to the basics of magick:
I would start with my How Magick Works post. From here you should read all of my Spellworking series because they are all important parts to keep in mind while doing magick. Some models are better for different workings, but a working that combines all of them will be far more effective. Spellworking 101 Spellworking 102: Energy Model Spellworking 103: Spirit Model Spellworking 104: Planar Model Spellworking 105: Psychological Model On top of these, there are additional resources for study: This great article on the information model of magick. The previous writer’s main article on just starting out in magick. Mad Diviner’s masterpost, I recommend the post on better visualization. I also recommend reading about masculine/feminine energies, and why they aren’t what they sound like. I have a post that covers the basics here, they’re important in understanding the wheel of the year as well as many occult correspondences. Even infernal alchemy is about balancing the elements and masculine/feminine energy, as well as the seven operations of alchemy. It’s slightly different in that, instead of unifying all of it into one new entity, you divide them equally into a state of cooperative harmony. Some of the resources here cover this in more depth, and our version of the Philosopher’s Stone is called the Black Diamond.
The classics (Reading List of Primers):
The 3 Books of Occult Philosophy by Agrippa. (Astrology, Esotericism, much more) The Greater Key of Solomon, specifically Book I Chapter II (Solomonic Ceremonialism) I would read the Corpus Hermeticum and its associated musings if you can, as well. (Hermeticism/Alchemy) The Book of Law/Liber Al Vegis by Aleister Crowley (Thelema/Rosicrucianism) Wisdom of Eosophoros by Michael W Ford (Luciferian Philosophy) Liber HVHI by Michael W Ford (Theistic Luciferianism) Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson (Occult Evolution) This site on gnostic Luciferianism The Book of Sitra Achra: Dragons of the Other Side (Anticosmic Satanism) Anton LaVey’s Satanic Bible (LaVeyan Satanism) Draconian Ritual Book by Asenath Mason with the Temple of Ascending Flame (Draconian Trad) The material of OFS Demonolatry and S Connoly, I recommend starting with Modern Demonolatry and Demonolatry Magick, which is listed among their free works here (Demonolatry) Clavicula Nox Maleficarum Nigra (Sabbatic Satanism) Qabalah, Qliphoth, and Goetia by Thomas Karlsson (Qliphothic Satanism) Nightside of Eden by Kenneth Grant (Typhonian Trad) The Lesser Key of Solomon, Dragon Rouge, Grand Grimoire, Grimorium Verum, Daemonologie (Demonology) Liber Null and Liber MMM (Chaos Magick) The Diabolicon by Michael Aquino (Infernal Left-Hand Path) My types of Diabolism post might be of some use to you here, too So might its less-ambitious sequel This list of beginner magick/occult books
You will also want to read my:
Warnings about using curses Warnings about love spells Warnings about using magick made by others Warnings about covens Warnings about the Left-Hand Path These warnings are not me being a moral guardian, magick is amoral; they are important to understand if you get into the Art. It’s not my fault if you don’t read through them and end up worse for wear. They, logically, apply to the vast majority of paths, despite being written to cater to an audience of “dark neopagans.” I also recommend reading through the Church of Azazel’s site on Theistic Satanism. It’s older and a bit dated, but it’s genuinely an invaluable resource for the beginner.
Now on beginning actually doing magick:
The Theistic Satanism site still has really good resources on using magick. Honestly, the whole site is great, but for the porn blogs that follow me I would recommend checking this out (NSFW-ish). Joy of Satan exercises are known to be mostly stolen, or otherwise flawed, although I will link them here merely as comparative study. The Psychonaut Field Manual is one of the best introductory pieces on magick in a ceremonial occult setting for the individual practitioner ever written, and it’s written in a very approachable manner. Keep in mind that it’s written to be agnostic about the objective reality of magick or external entities in the beginning to help neophytes overcome their initial mental block. I myself have quite a few posts on spells you can do if you’re willing to browse through it all. You should visit this post I have on the place of anger and hatred in magick, as it’s something both adherents of the Right-Hand Path and the Left-Hand Path often seem to misunderstand I would also recommend this post by Noita Taka on mistakes people make in the beginning of witchcraft. If you’re interested, I have a short article on Hellfire/Qliphothic energy. My meditation exercise for demons (typo in the title, daemons are Greek spirits). My new rewritten daily prayer My post on the basics of shrines and altars My follow-up post to improve results with your shrines and altars VK Jehannum’s Wordpress, especially his masterpost on the Qliphoth VK also has made quite a few decent videos on his YouTube channel, and I would highly recommend checking out his videos on exorcism and psychic attack if you’re going to become involved in summonings or foresee yourself angering anyone who partakes in spirit work. The Satanic Astral Temple on Satan’s Den. Test the work out here for yourself and double-check the resources, because some of it seems cheesy or suspect to me, but I haven’t combed through the entire site. This article is written fairly cheesy and doesn’t actually describe how to build or enter the temple in enough detail, luckily that’s covered by other material in this post. And of course, Summoning a Demon, perhaps the most important practice of demonolatry. If the demons contradict what I say, listen to them. I’m just trying to get you to the point you can work with them efficiently.
Forums I recommend for discussing your craft:
Become a Living God (EA Koetting isn’t as full of it as his showmanship may paint him, but the forums are divorced from him and dedicated to the magick of the Left-Hand Path as a whole; they have a lot of excellent contributors as I write this.) Temple of Atem (This is meant strictly for demonolators dedicated to their craft, so I recommend you don’t apply here until you’re well-versed in OFS demonolatry from J. Thorp to Connolly and find it a system you want to engage in.) Wizard Forums (A surprising number of big names have passed through here.) The Occult Subreddit (They tend to fluctuate in quality every few months, and I would recommend hard-passing on their discord as every time I have checked it’s been filled mostly with circlejerks, ego-bating, and elitist herd mentality founded on smug ignorance. This isn’t surprising, it’s Reddit. If you have a higher tolerance for that than me, or you find the situation has improved, be my guest.) The 600 Club (as an example of what not to be, mostly, such as this thread trying and failing to explain a working curse away) Don’t use Tumblr at all. It’s a social networking site with an emphasis on pandering to the masses mostly composed of partially touching echochambers with the most infamously terrible “witch” community. I’m not saying it’s all bad, but the site may as well be designed to be antithetical to Satanism and black magick in general, especially with the amount of “Satanic grimoire” blogs I have seen that read more like fantastical worldbuilding than veritable occult information. You would be better off using one of the above services and doing your own original research the proper way. Throwing herbs in a box together and pouring water you left out over night with the “intent” to charge it with the moonlight isn’t going to amount to any real results, you’re going to need an actual understanding of the various models of magick, how they interact, and practice the skills necessary to pull them off. Yes, it has some very creative applications and the possibilities are endless as long as you have the core components and the proper skill, but you need those core components and the discipline of frequent practice.
Final Statement:
This is all I can give you. My entire blog has been essentially building up to this moment. It has now fulfilled its purpose. If you’re dedicated, and you go through all of what I have here, you will eventually surpass even where I am as I write this.
Sep 28, 2018
{ for @mythologicalnet event: sky and space deities }
s e l e n e
↳ selene was moon goddess of the ancient greeks and influenced the lunar cycles. she was traditionally worshipped on the full and new moon.
Sep 28, 2018
Sep 26, 2018
Thanatos
Sep 22, 2018
Canis major. “Sirius, the brightest star in the heavens, is in this constellation.” Trees, stars and birds. 1919.
Sep 21, 2018
Vanitas: A Skull & Luna Moth (2016 / Acrylic on Canvas) - Adam Burke
Sep 18, 2018
inktober day 4
Sep 18, 2018
Eternal Return.
Sep 18, 2018
Lesser Gateway Sigil
This enables the practitioner to traverse the astral or dreamscape. Simply draw the doorway in front of you and project the place you wish to transport yourself to into the center of the glyph. Vibrate or intone the name until the portal glows vibrantly before you; then pass through it into your destination.
Sep 18, 2018
I'm curious about the place that cain (qayin) plays in sabbatic craft, and how his position as first murderer relates to the theology and ethical stance of the tradition. I only ask because I like a lot of the thought behind traditional witchcraft, but have trouble with a patron ancestor defined by a fundamentally evil act.
Within the Blood Acre:The Path beneath the Wanderer’s Heels
Addressing the fairly complex spiritual concept raised by the question demands I providesome framework for discussion. Allow me to first touch upon a few of the preliminarypoints. We should beclear in our understanding that ‘traditional witchcraft’ as a term describes acollection of traditions, threads (no matter how loosely bound) or currents of ritual magic,spellcraft, and/or devotional mysticism whose commonality rests in an ethos ofpraxis. Within the coterie of initiatory lineages that are described by thatterm exist a number of different modes of belief that inform these separatepractices. With this in mind, we see there are a number of forms of TraditionalCraft that do not necessarily hold the same reverence for Cain/Qayin as a patronancestor or primogenitor of the Mighty Dead. Those who do typically fall underthe heading of what has been coined ‘modern traditional witchcraft’, yet evenhere we see varying degrees of emphasis placed on the lineage of Cain.
SabbaticCraft is one such form that observes and acknowledges the ancestry of Cain/Qayin, and whose inherent devotional gnosis is structured around Qayinite lore. Ifwe want to be technical, as Chumbley was (1), Sabbatic Craft more specifically refers to the lineageof practices existing solely within the initiatory body of the Cultus Sabbati, but in many respects has become synonymous with most magical work within the wider SabbaticCurrent with which the Cultus shares reciprocal influence. (and no, this does not include Michael W. Ford)
For the purpose of this missive I will address Cain and Cainite Gnosis as they apply to the Sabbatic Craft tradition and its mysteries, as best I understand them, from a point of perspective grounded in the greater Sabbatic Current.
Qayinite lore covers the entire breadth of mysteries surrounding the figure of Cain/Qayin, of which his role as First Murderer is an integral part. However, to consider this the sole defining feature of Cain, while observing it exclusively from within the paradigm of Sin and exclusion from Salvation, is a particularly Judeo-Christian or Abrahamic stance. As a whole, it is the transformationaljourney of Cain as ‘First Sorcerer’ that is embraced within the Sabbatictradition: the birthright resulting from the union of the Serpent/Samael/Lucifer (the Illuminer) and Eve/Lilith, the killing of Abel, and his subsequent path in exile. The last is of utmost importance, for it is here from which the exilicwisdom of Cain’s journey may be extracted. This is exemplified by Andrew Chumbley’sdescription of the devotional mysticism inherent within Sabbatic Craft (2),referring to it as the Faith beneath the Wanderer’s Heels.
It is not merely his birthright as the begetter of witchblood that presents Cain as an illuminative figure, but his extricationfrom societal bonds, the transgression beyond the boundaries or constraints ofimposed belief – even death, to arrive on the other side as the embodiment of theperfected sorcerer. The murder of Abel is the gnostic representation of that spark of transformation which ignites the flames of the torch that lights thepath through exile. To better understand this one must look at the relationship of Cain and Abel from both an allegorical and gnostic perspective.
Cain was known as ‘the tiller of soil,’ a farmer and ploughman, and indeed it was his offering of the fruits of the earth to Yahweh which led to his dispute with Abel. As we know from the tale, Yahweh showed favor for Abel the herdsman’s offering of animal sacrifice. This embittered Cain, thus leading to the slaying of his brother. On a purely mundane and material level, the biblical myth of Cain and Abel could serve as an allegory for early Middle Eastern civilization’s transition from that of nomadic herdsmen to a more agrarian based culture (3). Seen in this light, the third brother, Seth, would come to represent the joining of agriculture and animal domestication to form the future means of economic capital and resources.
But within the Cain mythos, the struggle between Cain and Abel also serves as a spiritual metaphor for the process of self-overcoming that is intrinsic to the Gnosis of the Crooked Path. The clay-born Abel (son of Adam) is slain by the half-angelic Cain, whose true father is Samael/Lucifer (whom some call Lumiel). As Michael Howard notes in his book The Children of Cain, “This struggle between the bright and dark ‘twins’ is reconciled by the third brother Seth, the ‘Man of Light’ or ‘Perfected Man’ (no gender bias is suggested by these terms and they should be regarded as unisexual in nature). In some forms of modern traditional witchcraft the bright and dark twins Cain and Abel are represented by the Oak and Holly Kings and the Green Man and Lord of the Wild Hunt who rule summer and winter.”
From an historical perspective, Cainite Gnosis may possibly be traced to the ancient doctrines of the Cainites, an antinomian Gnostic sect described by the 2nd century CE Church Father Irenaeus in his heresiological treatise Against the Heresies. Among its teachings, the Cainite sect is notable for its “soteriology of ‘Passing through All Things’ in order to receive […] illumination. This antinomian and transgressive view of Ordeal as a specifically spiritual arena finds philosophical resonance in the Sabbatic Tradition (4).” A similar notion of self-overcoming by way of ‘passing through the Fire,’ so to speak, is apparent in some Qabalistic teachings and Left-Hand Tantric practices, as well as playing a key role in the non-dualistic form of gnosis present within Sabbatic praxis.
Daniel A. Schulke, current Magister of Cultus Sabbati, further expounds upon this philosophy and its spiritual processes as they apply to the Sabbatic Craft in his essay Cainite Gnosis and the Sabbatic Tradition:
“As it relates to Cain, the Crooked Path of the Witch is reliant on a magical formula of Transmigration of the Flesh. The movement from the profane man (Abel) through the refining Fire of Transmutation (Cain) to a purified state of gnosis (Seth) is one means by which to re-present this process. In this schema, it is worth noting that Abel and Seth occupy hypostatic places in the journey of the initiate, with Cain being the active or dynamic force of progression between the two. This mystical pilgrimage of transembodiment, played out on a moment-to-moment path of the Sabbatic Initiate, is the very essence of the Crooked Path. Moving from a state of transgress against God or society, to that against self, to that against transgress itself, the mystical state of perpetual ‘selfovercoming’ catapults the initiate beyond the sphere of the mundane into confrontation with that which lies Beyond. It must be noted that in the schema so described, Cain is the sorcerer who holds the profane in his left hand and the sacred in his right, the Master of the Chariot who “serves with both hands alike”.
The CrookedPath in both ritual praxis and as a way and means of mental re-conditioning promotes self-liberationfrom imposed ideals and outer constructs of belief, however, in no way does it encourage “fundamentally ‘evil’ acts.” It is the way of Bane and Blessing,placing moral choices firmly within the domain of personal responsibility as tended by each individual practitioner. This is quite in keeping with the overall ethos of Traditional Craft.
“Thus is the sorcerer, wherever he may wander, become one with the Path of Cain, and the wisdom of the step is declared anew. First, by the stance of Exile as one apart and alone. Second, for the path declared, but also transgressed, its points of oscillation betwixt cure and curse: here the way is bifurcated and become Crooked. Third, for the threefold patterning of Exile, Pilgrimage, and Sojourn that is the bridge linking point-to-point-to-point in crystallisation of knowledge of the Way.” – Andrew D. Chumbley
References and Resources
1. Opuscula Magica Vol.1, Andrew D. Chumbley, Three Hands Press.2. Cultus Sabbati: Provenance, Dream, and Magistry, Andrew D. Chumbley. 3. The Children of Cain, Michael Howard, Three Hands Press.4. Cainite Gnosis and the Sabbatic Tradition, Daniel A. Schulke.
additional readingQutub, Andrew D. Chumbley, Xoanon Publishing.Way and Waymark: Considerations of Exilic Wisdom in the Old Craft, Daniel Schulke, Xoanon.
