this blog was created to show off my spirit pantheon, who have forms based on the common animals i see around me in day to day life.
my belief is that these are spirits that already existed, but have anchored themselves to me. they serve no specific purpose, and have no specific beginning or end. i am the one who gave them their names and faces, as well as some parts of their story.
ill include detailed posts on each individual, but for now the pantheon includes everyone below.
The psychopomp. The one who is death. Living. Coming in a cavalcade. Prophecy of the future. Born again into soil. Does not care for your shame over your rot. Sees you in your fullness. The psychopomp
Vultures are holy creatures.
Tending the dead.
Bowing low.
Bared head.
Whispers to cold flesh,
“Your old name is not your king.
I rename you ‘Everything.’”
The Stranger is definitely the most solitary of my spirits, and at most I'll see him and maybe a mate together. I see him at sunset nearly every day when I go to smoke, and hear his family nested in the oak tree in my front yard.
He is yet another corvid in my pantheon, a cousin of The Mimic, who is an infrequent visitor of my area. where I see The Stranger nearly every day, I have yet to see The Mimic in real life.
He is the effective counterpart of The Glenn, who represents the morning sun and the real world, whereas The Stranger represents the evening sun and the otherworld. He is also frequently seen fighting The Mange or other large birds, with a voice that can be heard for hundreds of yards (or meters).
DOMAIN: the afterlife, the evening sun, portals, entrances, found items, mirrors, scrying, rebirth, spirits or the spirit
COLORS: light blue, grey, white
CRYSTALS: celestite, blue calcite, howlite, obsidian, blue lace agate, tourmalinated quartz, blue aventurine, milky quartz, caribbean calcite
HERBS: rosemary, oak leaves and acorns, cornflower, cloves, coffee, juniper and juniper berries, rose buds, borage, skullcap, anemone, sagebrush, mugwort
DEVOTIONAL ACTS: visiting a cemetery or mortuary, doing psychopomp work, talking to otherworlders, planting trees, watching the sunset (especially at a beach or overlooking the ocean), collecting acorns
TAROT CARDS: The Fool, The Hanged Man, Eight of Cups, Ten of Wands
before reading, please keep in mind that this post is based on my experiences and my thoughts on these topics. if you disagree, i'd love to hear from you in the comments or reblogs!
what's even the difference?
a conpantheon can be defined in two ways:
1) a pantheon that a person creates from the ground up through thoughtform manifestation. this includes the stories, names, faces and domains of the spirits.
2) a pantheon that contains spirits that already existed, the practitioner just gives names, faces, or general stories to them.
thoughtform creation is something i would consider a fairly advanced bit of magic. that doesn't necessarily mean you need to have any amount of years under your belt, just that you need certain skills to be well developed before you can start, and im not really there yet.
the hardest part is anchoring thoughts to form, whether that be a physical or astral one. im still designing a ritual for this, and i don't even know if ill end up sharing that.
to me, these are two different kinds of conpantheons, but the ideas for how they form don't have to be mutually exclusive
spiritual servitors, on the other hand, fulfill the two below criteria:
1) they fulfill a specific purpose or purposes
2) they only exist for that purpose, or for a specific time period
spiritual servitors are manifestations of the practitioners will, and are almost always temporary. if the same spirit is recreated over and over again, though, that would seem to fit under this term as well.
why one or the other?
a conpantheon often works better for practitioners who feel called to certain spirits or domains but can't connect with existing deities or spirits that have been named and fleshed out already. to me, i basically stumbled headfirst into this shit. i just felt so drawn to these animals and the environment around me that i started creating them in my head before i even knew what a conpantheon was. i felt drawn to these stories, these names, these faces.
a spiritual servitor often works better for witches or pagans who already have a number of spirits or gods at their side, or if they're not at the point to be keeping up with the maintenance of a full pantheon.
creation and maintenance
the best way to create a conpantheon, in my experience, is just to start writing shit down. the more you write, whether it be full thoughts or partial glimpses, the further you'll get. meditate often, pull some cards or throw some bones, go on a walk. try to see the undercurrents of energy that flows all around us, find where they meet and give it a name. introduce yourself. take notes and pictures and just breathe it all in. this is your journey, not anyone elses, and that's what's beautiful about this experience. there's no one here to judge you, no one to make your choices for you. it should be terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. this is the spell i use for upkeep of my conpantheon, on top of regular offerings.
for spiritual servitors, there's often a certain ritual surrounding their creation. from what i've seen, most people will take an idea or a spell, create a sigil for it, and then imbue that sigil with its own power. kind of like sicking your dog on someone--it only goes where you tell it to go, and it will "come back" (end) when it's done.
in my opinion, you could absolutely elevate a spiritual servitor to a conpantheon, or ask your conpantheon to act as a servitor, which is why i conjoined these ideas into one post. the line between the two is fairly grey for a lot of practitioners, and that's totally okay! these are terms to serve us, to describe what we're doing, not dictate it.
companion of the Knight and sometimes the Glenn, the Herald is another of the more reserved, uptight spirits. although not originally part of the Family, his form was familiar and his countenance kind, so he was easily adopted by the Mother.
DOMAIN: mountains, hills, changing of seasons, self-love, self-care, pictures, painting and drawing, photo albums
COLORS: green, sky blue, white
CRYSTALS: blue, green, and white aventurine, sodalite, lepidolite, aquamarine, blue lace agate, moss and tree agate
although not native to the area, the virginia opossum is such a well known and stand out species that it would feel wrong to ignore his presence. considering it is the only marsupial found in the North America, it makes sense then that the rest of the Family were originally hesitant to accept the Seditious. the same hesitation did not apply to the Herald, who was so open and gregarious he was immediately adopted into the fray.
DOMAIN: death, deceit, retribution, necessary selfishness, peace, sleep, nightmares and dreams, moving far away
COLORS: pink, black, red
CRYSTALS: rose quartz, mahogany obsidian, rhodochrosite, red jasper, watermelon and black tourmaline, pink and red opal, pink aventurine, flower agate, morganite
a part of a triad of sneaky, mischievous musketeers, the Observer has been tied by the pinky toe to his brother, the Corruption, since birth. although many were wary of the Seditious at first, the Corruption and the Observer were quick to take him under their wing. whether or not that helped his image remains to be seen. although much more of a space case (pun intended), the Observer shares his brothers affinity for the night. with the Seditious, their dark nature works as a mutual affliction.
DEVOTIONAL ACTS: going on night walks, doing cord-cutting spells, researching/using astrology, working on freeing yourself from any metaphorical cages you're in
TAROT CARDS: eight of cups, ten of swords, death, the star
companion of the Mistress, the Lost is an important figure in the background of mine, and many others lives. you may notice them in the way the earth speaks to you, the way your voice echoes on a mountain top, the way your body moves without thinking when dancing. they are a subtle yet gracefully beautiful energy that i cherish in my life.
CRYSTALS: white and green aventurine, moss and tree agate, rainforest jasper, malachite, petrified wood, amber, moonstone, selenite, green calcite, milky quartz
HERBS: wild grasses, cereal grains, catnip, thistle, nettle, wildflowers, tomatoes, ivy and other vining plants
DEVOTIONAL ACTS: dancing, planting native plants, persevering through hard times, going to therapy, making your voice echo, pulling tarot cards
TAROT CARDS: ten of swords reversed, four of swords, the sun, the star
the Mistress, as her name might suggest to you, is a spirit of love and war. she embodies both the domains of aphrodite and ares, and thus makes an appearance all throughout my life. an important companion to the Lost, the Mistress is a defender of the weak and disenfranchised. as long as you need her, she will never leave your side.
DOMAIN: righteous anger, love, lust, domination and control, fighting, violence, getting random bruises, drastic changes
COLORS: red, purple
CRYSTALS: red and purple jasper, amethyst, lepidolite, garnet, bloodstone, ruby zoisite, tourmilinated quartz, red tourmaline, morganite, rose quartz, rhodonite
HERBS: roses, thorns of any plant, aconite, mistletoe, thistle, nettle, blackthorn, dragon's blood, poke root, oleander, catnip
DEVOTIONAL ACTS: standing up for yourself and others, calling out dangerous people or behavior, conducting baneful magic, masturbation, going on dates, caring for a lover or friend
TAROT CARDS: the devil, eight of swords, nine of swords, the lovers
taking the form of the widely known and widely beloved, the raccoon. the Corruption, like raccoons, finds its space in the dirty, dingy, and claustrophobic parts of life. he hides behind corners and waits to strike, slinks into the sewers when an adversary arises. you'd have to know him to look for him, and so few do.
DOMAIN: thievery, the night, scavengers, stalking and watching, things moving in the night, the dark
COLORS: green, grey, black
CRYSTALS: green and white aventurine, malachite, azurite, pyrite, black and regular moonstone, star jasper, snowflake obsidian
HERBS: moonflowers, acorns and other nuts, velvet sage, rosemary, pine needles, sweet gum pods, horse chestnuts
DEVOTIONAL ACTS: taking a five finger discount, going on night walks, star or moon gazing, feeding wildlife (where it is safe and ethical to), taking out the trash, cleaning your space
TAROT CARDS: the hermit, the moon, the star, fourof pentacles
the Hare is not only the arbiter of fear, but also the keeper of time which comes from a direct vision that depicted the white rabbit from alice in wonderland. he often accompanies the Decay, like i mentioned previously, and is the one who directs and advises him. in return, the Decay protects the Hare, shielding them from terror.
they also have domain over something called tapetum lucidum, or the shine of a mammal's eyes at night. whenever i see this phenomenon it freaks me the fuck out, plus there is also the association between bunnies and rabbits being anxious and easily frightened.
DOMAIN: fear, the unknown, shadows, secrets, lies, poetry, rhythm and music, clocks, watches, mystery, horror media, tapetum lucidum
COLORS: white, grey
CRYSTALS: black moonstone, labradorite, howlite, obsidian, pyrite, clear, smokey and tourmalinated quartz, sodalite, white aventurine, selenite
