I'm NinthFamiliar, I'm 25 soon to be 26. I'm a witch, my practice goes through phases. My core deities are Hecate, Charon, Hermes, Persephone, and Hades.
I wasn't sure how to remake this post but fuck it. It's never gonna be perfect. I love witchcraft, I love practicing, helping others on their path. I love learning. I've gone through so many phases of my practice
From The Liminal Spaces, to The Depths of The Sea, The Spider Web, and even The Silk & Nectar Path and now Ninth Familiar's Samhain. Because I love learning whatever my path is at the time. To a degree they are all me.
I don't know what's always in store for me but I know I always find my way back. When Hekate first walked out of my practice, it was devastating but it taught me that I shouldn't have relied on her so much. Now I know how to better balance asking help and knowing just how much of both to do.
This time around when Hekate came back I was ready, my practice was once again shaken, deities leaving and "new" ones coming in.
For right now it's Hekate, Charon, Persephone and Hades. Which brings me back to liminal spaces. I'm constantly living in the in-between.
But other deities have entered my space and they may only be temporary but they have lessons to share too. I think that's the important lesson I learned losing my whole team at once, is I have the strength to continue and learn from myself even if against all odds I don't believe it..
So if you're like me and you're practice is ever changing, welcome to the Samhain celebration that never ends
creating an altar to yourself: an exercise in manifestation and passive control
recently my best friend told me about a change he made to his personal practice that completely revolutionized the way he felt fortune flowed for him. i've seen people talk about creating an egregore of themselves or their alter ego, but this approach is uniquely secular and occurred completely detached from this online space.
and what was it he did? well, he created an altar to himself.
and i know what that sounds like, but hear me out. this isn't so much an altar of worship or reverence--at least not in the way we think about those things--it's a passive spell that runs in the background, an act of self-care for his past self, boosting his self-confidence for his current self, and manifesting the person he wants to become.
WHAT IS AN ALTAR TO THE SELF?
This temple can be created from a very wide variety of items, but most often includes things that are meaningful or attractive to the person. For me, this includes crystals, trinkets, bones, flowers and herbs, pictures or drawings, sigils, and salt or ash. My friend also has a little statue that represents him, self-affirmations, and a devotional jar of beads in his.
I was introduced to this idea as not just something to help improve my self-confidence, but also as a way of shaping my future self. Each crystal will have its own meaning or trait that I'm is hoping to embody, and I can move them closer or further away depending on what I need more in the moment.
And even if you didn't care for a spell like this, from a psychology standpoint, this absolutely seems like it could be a productive exercise--especially if you're a more visual person.
HOW TO MAKE THE ALTAR
For this I'll introduce two different methods, one that I employed, and one that my friend employed.
My method:
Start with your favorite color(s) and maybe even an aesthetic (like cottage-core, dark academia, etc.)
Choose items that represent those colors or aesthetics, for me this would be green, pink, or purple crystals, naturey trinkets, and drawings that combine the two
Include things of great importance to you, even if they don't fit in the aesthetic, and try to make them look right
Arrange everything in a visually appealing way (I'll give some examples of this later)
But what my friend did was kind of the opposite, building the altar from the top down with things that were important to him, and just making it look good from there.
You've probably noticed that I make a big deal about the visual appearance of this altar, which is on purpose. I believe that it is of great importance this altar is appealing to you, since it's supposed to represent you, and it's supposed to represent your interests. If you don't really care as much about things being artistic or aesthetic, that's okay! As long as you can look at it and go, "Yeah, that's the vibe, that's what I want for myself," then you've done it right.
You can also add things like sigils, salt, or ash for an added layer of protection or a "boost" to the magic aspect, which I've added to mine. I also really like bones and don't have anywhere else to put them, so I add those, and I'll throw in some lavender to the salt since that's my favorite herb to use in workings.
WHY CREATE AN ALTAR?
Have you ever felt tired of being subservient to the whims of some external force, of waiting for things to happen rather than getting to decide that for yourself? If you do, this might be for you.
And it's not that this is supposed to snub or push aside worship of actual deities (I mean it can but it doesn't have to), but add to it. Think about it, most of us already have a self-care routine, something sacred to us, that we may even dedicate to our gods. All this altar is meant to do is add to that, to create a holiness to self-love and self-care.
The ultimate purpose of this exercise is to manifest the things you want in life, to design your future self, and combat the helplessness many of us feel when things start to change. It's meant to feed your energy, to form a conduit between you and something physical (which is helpful for those of us that dissociate often).
It is not meant to feed some heretical "fuck you" to the gods or the universe, rather give these forces a framework or "checklist" of things you want. At the end of the day, this is more similar to a spell than making yourself a deity that you want other people to worship.
🍊 Food: Sun tea (that's tea that's been warmed in the sun's heat), cider, orange juice, sunflower seeds
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Simple ways to work with the sun
💛 Prefer practicing at sunrise. For extra magical intent, wait until the sun is at its peak in the sky.
💛 In the summer months, try to sunbathe every day, even if it's just for a few minutes. It will help you absorb the sun's energy. You'll be able to redirect it in spells or rituals.
💛 Research what kinds of offerings are most appropriate for the sun, and leave them outside for a blessing.
💛 Make sun water by placing jars of water outside at midday.
💛 Wear its colours: any shade of yellow or orange will do.
I just need to say this, whether or not it's heard, whether or not it's agreed with.
Who are you. To dictate my practice. My beliefs. Or my rights as a thinking, feeling, living being?
If at any point in time, you feel you need to do that to me, turn around, find a mirror, stare long and hard at it to inspect your own self instead. That's who needs the judging, thank you.
-Written by someone who's sick and tired of people barging in to tell someone what's allowed and what's not in their belief system and practices and life in general.
Hope someone needed to hear this too or have someone out there who relates. Have a nice day, all <3
Hi everyone! After a much longer wait than I initially intended, I have finally finished my book on herb associations, and have uploaded a PDF version to both ko-fi and Google Drive. Furthermore, if you're interested in a fully formatted version that is suitable for book-binding, I have added a $2 listing for that as well. If you're not into that, no worries! I am absolutely fine just providing it for free.
I decided to create this project after finding myself largely dissatisfied by the information available on the mass market--often being Wicca leaning or at least heavily influenced. I decided I wanted to create a (mostly) non-denominational, secular, baneful magic friendly resource guide. Because I largely sourced from other practitioners or the internet, I wanted to provide this for free, as the information is not inherently my intellectual property. The reason why I do have a paid version is purely for the effort I went through, and only if you feel like supporting me.
Again, this book is NOT my intellectual property, and this information is readily available online, I just decided to put all of it in one place.
KO-FI (FREE)
KO-FI (PRINTABLE)
GOOGLE DRIVE
If there are ANY issues with obtaining the file, please reach out to me here or at [email protected] and I will fix it ASAP
So Hermes came into my practice and at first I didn't understand why. It wasn't until I started embracing a bit of the jokester mischievous energy I understood. For context I'm a Virgo, and as most people I know a lot of us Virgos are strict, straightforward and restricted. Though what changed today was I learned to let me inner dialogue out a bit. I'm not saying I'm hilarious. But I work at a retail store and some of it is lifting fridges, for context I'm 5'0 tall so I get asked a lot if I can lift things. Well my go to with customers lately is
" I don't know if I can lift it but don't underestimate me"
Its helped me relax and why I feel it's important to being a medium, because sometimes ghosts, spirits and all that just want to be funny too. Let them have fun!! It doesn't always need to be so serious
So Hermes came into my practice and at first I didn't understand why. It wasn't until I started embracing a bit of the jokester mischievous energy I understood. For context I'm a Virgo, and as most people I know a lot of us Virgos are strict, straightforward and restricted. Though what changed today was I learned to let me inner dialogue out a bit. I'm not saying I'm hilarious. But I work at a retail store and some of it is lifting fridges, for context I'm 5'0 tall so I get asked a lot if I can lift things. Well my go to with customers lately is
" I don't know if I can lift it but don't underestimate me"
Its helped me relax and why I feel it's important to being a medium, because sometimes ghosts, spirits and all that just want to be funny too. Let them have fun!! It doesn't always need to be so serious
In case you need someone to tell you this, people are going to dislike you and your practice. And there's nothing you can do to categorically avoid that. Sometimes it will be because of something you did or because of disparate views/personalities; sometimes it will be because of their own issues. But you can't stop it.
You can't make yourself small enough or palatable enough to please everyone. So, you should do what feeds your soul. You should build the practice that aligns with you. You should build or seek out the community that uplifts and supports you and fits your personality. Do what makes you you (apply nuance as necessary), and don't worry about what other people think about it. They're not living their life for you, and you don't owe them yours.
Please stop asking for permission from other witches about everything. It’s perfectly normal to want to gain knowledge from others, but avoid seeking validation for every step of your practice. Stop placing absolute authority on witches you think are more advanced than you. One of the most powerful aspects of witchcraft is knowing yourself—uncovering your own magic, developing intuition around your magic, and becoming a sovereign individual. You will hinder this if you need constant validation from other witches regarding your practice. This behavior gives away your power.
Of course, be curious, do your research, and be culturally respectful. But beyond that, you are your own authority. Fuck around and find out!!! You do not need anyone’s permission but your own to call yourself a witch.
Today’s lesson is that people love you because they feel you’re deserving of their affection. They love you because they think you’re worth it - even when you don’t see that yourself.
To Pagans, Polytheists, Worshipers, Witches, and all manner of Spiritual Practitioners:
If you feel like you are not doing enough please give yourself some grace. We are all doing so much just to barely get by, to keep our heads slightly above water. We live in a very different world from our ancestors and the worshipers/practitioners that came before us. It’s not realistic or sustainable to try to approach your practice the same way as those who don’t have the same struggles or responsibilities as you (and this goes for the current world as well).
Try to remember that “enough” is defined by what you are able to truly give or do and that it will vary day by day. It doesn’t matter how small because to your gods, your ancestors, your guides, the universe, your magic & witchhood, none of what you give is small or trivial. Even more so considering how much the current state of the world takes from us, leaving only so much (if any) to give elsewhere. That scarcity of time/energy makes anything you choose to give so very precious. And when you don’t have anything to spare, it’s okay. Your gods still love you. Your ancestors and guides are still looking out for you. And you are still a witch. 🩷
I just realized that the 'era' of my practice that I feel the most nostalgic for felt so whimsical because I was learning everything for the first time. That sense of excitement came from reading a good book for the first time, and baby's first ritual. I feel disconnected from that because I'm settled into my practice now. I'm not constantly hunting for knowledge all the time, and I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.
