I was thinking about controversial it is, even in pagan settings, to worship tricksters like Loki and Sutekh, and I think that I described it pretty well with
"Tricksters are inherently transgressive figures who literally embody what it's like to live in a socially unacceptable or taboo way, which is why members of marginalized communities flock to them while more privileged people find them distasteful. They are the personifications of chaos and social unrest, which includes how much strife surrounds people who are deemed socially unacceptable; they are literally the gods of minorities and people who suffer under bigoted unjust systems.
When tricksters do something bad in a myth, marginalized groups see a complex rebellious figure with their own motives while privileged people see a bad person doing bad things. And when tricksters are punished, privileged people just see a bad guy getting their comeuppence while marginalized groups see the harsh realities of living as a socially unacceptable person.
It's no wonder then that queer people, the mentally ill and other minorities have flocked to Loki's side, since he embodies the realities of their lives, even when others can't understand it."
10 Spells You Can Cast Right Now Using Absolutely Nothing
Because you shouldn't have to buy a single thing to practice magic.
No crystals. No candles. No herbs. No fancy tools.
Just you, your intention, and 60 seconds.
Here are 10 spells you can do right this second:
1. The Invisible Shield Breath Take three deep breaths. Visualize a protective bubble forming around you with each exhale. Say: "I am protected." Use before stressful situations.
2. The Threshold Protection Stand in a doorway. Place a hand on each side of the frame. Say: "This is the boundary. Only what serves me crosses this line." Step through with intention.
3. The Mirror Visualization Close your eyes. Imagine you're covered in tiny mirrors facing outward. Any negativity bounces off and returns to sender. Use when dealing with gossip or jealousy.
4. The Grounding Breath Count Breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold for 4. Repeat 3 times. Imagine roots growing from your feet into the earth. Use for anxiety.
5. The Posture Spell Stand up straight. Roll shoulders back. Lift your chin. Say: "I am powerful. I take up space. I belong here." Hold for 30 seconds. Use before anything that scares you.
6. The Cord Cutting Visualization Imagine an energetic cord connecting you to someone draining. Visualize cutting it. Say: "I cut this connection. Your energy is yours, mine is mine." Use after toxic interactions.
7. The Open Hands Spell Hold hands out, palms up, like you're receiving something. Say: "I am open to receiving. Money flows to me easily. I have enough." Use for financial anxiety.
8. The Five Senses Grounding Name 5 things you see, 4 you can touch, 3 you hear, 2 you smell, 1 you taste. This pulls you out of your anxious brain and into your body.
9. The "No" Practice Spell Say "no" out loud 10 times. Say it different ways: firmly, kindly, loudly, quietly. Feel how it sits in your mouth. You're practicing the spell of refusal.
10. The Crisis Mantra Say: "I have survived 100% of my worst days. I will survive this too." Repeat until you believe it. Use during panic or bad news.
These are just 10 of the 50+ no-supply spells I wrote about. Want the full guide? Read it here: https://www.edgeandaltar.com/post/no-supply-spells-magic-without-buying-anything
Or browse 100+ more spells (organized by intention, time, and what you have available) in my free spell library: app.edgeandaltar.com
[Alt Text for Screen Readers: "Academic Witchy Texts I Use (Instead of Mass Market Trade Books)"]
These are certainly not the only academic texts available for those looking to advance past mass-market trade books. This list is just a few of the books that I own and that I have found useful for my own practice. Some of these are specific to my own ancestral practice; some are more generally European.
Witchcraft in Europe , 400-1700: A Documentary History (Kors & Peters)
Witchcraft & Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages (Mitchell)
The Witchcraft Reader (Oldridge)
The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe (Levack)
Witch Craze: Terror & Fantasy in Baroque Germany (Roper)
đިđĽ The Snaptoon Stone (Lokean Devotional Practice) đĽđި
(from Pagan Portals â Loki: Trickster and Transformer by Dagulf Loptson)
The Snaptoon Stone is a simple devotional object used in Lokean practice. Unlike amulets or talismans meant for long-term wear, this stone serves as a temporary focus for Lokiâs presence, insight, and catalytic energyâespecially during moments of creativity, problem-solving, or sudden change.
Its power lies in simplicity and intention, not ornamentation.
⌠What Is a Snaptoon Stone? âŚ
A Snaptoon Stone is:
a portable devotional focus
a reminder of Loki as catalyst and disruptor
a tool for quick inspiration and perspective shifts
It is not meant to bind, command, or store power indefinitely.
⌠Materials âŚ
A small stone, preferably naturally found and easy to carry
A candle dedicated to Loki
Incense associated with Loki
Optional: a symbolic activator
(breath, focused touch, saliva, or another personal method)
No carving or permanent marking is required.
⌠Creation âŚ
1. Selection
Choose the stone intuitively. Let it be about resonance, not appearance.
2. Cleansing
Cleanse the stone with smoke, breath, or simple mindful handling, clearing it of distraction rather than âimpurity.â
3. Consecration
Light the candle and incense. Hold the stone and focus on Loki as:
fire-bringer
path-breaker
source of sudden insight
Speak your intention plainly.
4. Activation
Awaken the stone through focused intentâbreath, touch, or visualization.
This is what makes it Snaptoon: quickly opened, quickly responsive.
Art by Fez Inkwright đż@Rosdottir on Twitter, quote from historical text the Icelandic Brennu-NjĂĄls saga.
[Start ID: a quote that is derived from the Icelandic Brennu-NjĂĄls saga, reading "Let there be fog, and let there be monsters, and fantastic sights to all who follow you." It is surrounded by a wreath of fantastical fog, a leafy plant curling around the circle, and beasts: a boar above and a dragon below as inspired by Icelandic mythology, the art by Fez Inkwright đż@Rosdottir on Twitter. End ID]
I saw one of those "Valhalla does not discriminate against the type of battle you lost" posts go by my dash. I really want to say something but the notes are full of people grieving and saying how much comfort this re-interpretation gave them and I'm not that much of a bastard.
This story of the littlest cancer patient going to Valhalla is kind of upsetting but I struggle to articulate why. It's like Christianity wearing my faith like a costume.
I don't want to call it cultural appropriation because, you know, Norse Paganism/Heathenry/Ăsatru is a reconstruction of a dead faith - a (more or less) historically-informed best guess based on scanty surviving evidence (much, if not all, of that Christianised). It's public domain mythology, reuse and remix as you like, etc, etc.
But...
Valhalla is not and has never been a place of rest and healing, and to say it is is to fundamentally misunderstand the mythology. Valhalla is where Odinn is building an army to fight the war at the end of the world. It is not a place for children or victims of domestic violence or cancer patients or anyone like that.
If you're drawn to Norse mythology, if you're grieving and you want to believe that your loved ones are in a better place, let me give you a different story.
It starts with a little girl, a child whom the gods deemed monstrous. Her name is Hela and she's the daughter of Loki, so she every right to claim a home in Ăsgard. But, as I said, she was called monstrous for her appearance and her heritage and all but cast out. She was given her own realm, far away from the gods, and tasked with caring for the dead that Odinn (etc) have no use for.
The charge that the gods give this outcast child was considered shit-work. Un-honourable, if not actually dishonourable. An insult for a goddess.
But Hela took that duty with solemnity and made Helheim a home for her wards. It's not a hall full of warriors feasting and drinking and fighting. It's quiet; a rest at the end of a hard life. A place full of children and grandparents, mothers and fathers, farmers and shepherds. You and me.
Helheim, like its mistress, is misunderstood and maligned. When we, who have no place in war, die, Hela will accept us into her hall, care for us, and let us to rest, instead of demanding we keep fighting forever.
It's where most of us will go, and that is not a bad thing. There are no entry requirements. It's not heaven, it's not even The Good Place, it's the default - to be with our people, to be cared for and looked after, to be free from pain and struggle. Helheim is a place of acceptance, care, peace, and rest. It's not paradise, but I don't think it sounds that bad.
⌠Intent Is Not Everything: The Architecture of a Spell
You donât build a fire by yelling âburn.â (or maybe you do?)
So letâs talk about why some spells flop. It's not because your desire was weak. Not because the moon was in the wrong position. But because you built a magical toaster and forgot to plug it in.
You can have a brilliant, spicy spark of intent, but if it has nowhere to go? No structure to hold it, no current to carry it, no ritual act to release it? That energy just... sits there. Fog in your chest. Static in your bones. Sometimes it loops. Sometimes it leaks. Sometimes it just becomes â§vibe soup.â§
This isnât about perfection. Or control. Or doing it âright.â Itâs about structure and the subtle architecture that lets magic move.
Letâs break it down.
âď¸ The Functional Parts of a Spell
â 1. INTENT â The Internal Spark
This is the raw juice. The emotional voltage. The psychic heat. Itâs not just what you want, itâs what youâre willing to make room for. Not a wish. A directive.
Intent is clearest when itâs emotionally honest and not trying to control everything like a micro-managing Virgo sun.
Bad intent â evil intent. It usually just means the signal is fuzzy, performative, or split. You say âI want clarity,â but your gut is screaming âabandon ship.â Thatâs a short circuit.
âď¸Â Scientific thread: Functional EEG studies show intent activates motor planning centers before action begins (Libet, 1985). Translation: the brain literally starts prepping for action the moment will is engaged. Magic agrees.
Ask: What am I actually calling for? Not with my mouth, but with my will?
â´ 2. FOCUS â The Conscious Thread
Focus is what holds the circuit together. Lose it, and your spell turns into an energetic sneeze.
Itâs not just about âconcentrating.â Itâs about staying present enough that the energy doesnât leak out your ears. Focus is somatic. Breath. Trance. Motion. The ritual nervous system.
âď¸Â Scientific thread: Sustained attention boosts neural connectivity (Posner & Rothbart, 2007). Theta waves (4â8 Hz), accessed in trance or deep meditation, = peak spellcasting state. High suggestibility, low inner critic, good vibes.
Ask: Can I stay with the energy long enough to deliver it?
âď¸ 3. ACTION â The Ritual Anchor
Action is what makes the spell real. Itâs not a metaphor. Itâs a physical interface.
Whether itâs lighting a candle, chanting, drawing sigils, or screaming into a jar. A ritual action anchors intent in time and space.
The body becomes the spellâs delivery system. Itâs not just theater, itâs sensorial confirmation that âsomething has changed.â
âď¸Â Scientific thread: Embodied cognition says movement affects belief. Intentional gestures create somatic markers (Wilson, 2002). You literally move your body into belief.
Ask: What is my body doing to tell the world this spell is happening?
â 4. CORRESPONDENCE â Symbolic Resonance
This is how your spell speaks the universeâs language.
Correspondences (herbs, colors, crystals, numbers) arenât just â§aesthetic choicesâ§. They are the semantic tags of the ritual world.
But theyâre not universal. Whatâs âattractionâ in one system might be âbanishingâ in another. Magic is contextual. Meaning is coded.
âď¸ Scientific thread: Lakoff & Johnson (1980) argue that cognition is metaphor-driven. When you use red for desire, youâre engaging neural circuits that associate red with heat, passion, and activation.
Ask:Â Do my symbols clarify the spell, or confuse it?
âď¸ 5. TIMING â The Temporal Current
Spells donât exist in a vacuum. They drop into a world thatâs already moving.
Timing can mean:
Moon phases
Planetary hours
Your own emotional weather
Ancestor holidays
âThis just feels rightâ
Right spell, wrong time? It fizzles. Or misfires. Or just ghosts you completely.
âď¸Â Scientific thread: Chronobiology says our bodies respond to time cycles (Refinetti, 2006). Mood, immunity, cognitionâtheyâre all tide-sensitive. Why wouldnât magic be?
Ask:Â What larger rhythm is this spell stepping into?
â 6. MEDIUM â The Elemental Channel
Magic needs a conduit. An element. A field. A medium to move through.
Is it fire? Smoke? Water? Ink? Your body? A blog post? A bone? A USB drive?
Medium decides how the energy moves, and where it lands. Wrong medium = muffled signal. Itâs like trying to cast a glamour using baking soda.
âď¸Â Scientific thread: Energy always moves through something. Different materials conduct energy differently. Even placebo effects rely on the âmediumâ of meaning and context (Benedetti, 2012).
Ask: Where is this spell going? And can the medium carry it?
đ¸ 7. RELEASE â The Letting Go
No spell works if you cling to it like itâs your ex. You have to let it go.
Release is the exit point. The click. The exhale. The hand off the steering wheel. Without release, the spell loops. It stalls. It paces in your aura like a ghost waiting to be dismissed.
âď¸Â Scientific thread: Polyvagal theory says we need closure to reset our nervous system (Porges, 2011). The same might apply to magic: unresolved intention = energetic static.
Ask:Â Have I released this? Or am I still haunting it?
The Spell as a Functional Circuit
Visualize it like this:
If any part of the circuit is broken, the spell may misfire, stall, or just sit in your chest like ghost soup.
This is basically the magical version of a pre-flight safety check.
Magic Is Not Wishful Thinking. Itâs Systemic.
A spell is not a vibe. Itâs not â§aesthetic â§. Itâs not a Pinterest board with herbs.
It is a functional symbolic system designed to influence reality. Neurologically, emotionally, energetically, maybe even physically.
It works when itâs built to move energy. When the circuit is whole. When the fire has a place to go.
A spell isnât just a spark in the dark.
Itâs the structure that carries that spark into the world. And lets it burn clean.
Part â Ą of Occult Mechanics đˇđśđˇ
âď¸ Further Reading & Sources
⧠Magic & Culture
Frazer, J.G. The Golden Bough (Sympathetic and contagious magic)
Tambiah, Stanley. The Magical Power of Words
Betz, Hans D. (ed). The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation
⧠Science of Mind & Body
Porges, Stephen. The Polyvagal Theory
Libet, Benjamin. âUnconscious Cerebral Initiative and the Role of Conscious Will.â
Wilson, M. (2002). "Six Views of Embodied Cognition."Â Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Benedetti, F. Placebo Effects: Understanding the Mechanisms
Idunn, the goddess of youth, is the keeper of the golden apples that grant the gods of Asgard their immortality. Married to Bragi, the god of poetry, she is the daughter of Iwaldi and the sister of the dwarves who forged Sifâs golden hair. Her role is vital, for without her apples, the gods would wither and age.
One day, the giant Thjazi, craving the power of the apples, devised a scheme. Disguised as an eagle, he coerced Loki into luring Idunn into the forest under the pretense of finding even better apples. Once alone, Thjazi seized her and carried her off to his fortress in JĂśtunheim. Deprived of their youth, the gods demanded Loki bring her back. Using Freyjaâs falcon cloak, Loki flew to JĂśtunheim, transformed Idunn into a nut, and escaped with her, pursued by Thjazi, whom the gods ultimately slew.
(Text by Delia Gosforth, Illustration by Ellen Artistic)
I am the artist! Do not post without permission & credit! Thank you! Come visit me over on: instagram.com/ellenartistic or tiktok.
These illustrations all made it into a Norse Goddess Coloring Book!
< Lady SĂĄga - The Norse Goddess of Prophecy and Storytelling >
This is everything I know about Lady SĂĄga and my devotion / practices to Her . Keep in mind this is a work in progress and shall be updated throughout time when I come to learn more about Her !
CORRESPONDENCES
Domain(s) : Storytelling + Prophecy + Wisdom + History + Poetry || Her domain is the Hall of SĂśkkvabekkr
General Symbols : Books / Stories + Stationary Items + Her Sacred Animals + Golden Goblet or Chalice + Light Bulb + Lotus Flower + Sun + Libraries + Paintbrush
Tarot Cards : The Hermit + The Magician + Ace of Wands
Animals : Owl + Bear + Cat + Bird ( unspecified what kind of bird )
yousharknotpass
blakekathryn
stormborns
vaporwave
titsay
