Cenozoic

magic, religion, and general occult blog. deep time, evolution, and paleontology. replies from modernmesonyx

[paleomagic]

Sorry for dropping off the face of the earth! Spring kicks my ass so I’ve been fighting it off for a couple months. Hopefully will be back soon

[paleomagic]

Been thinking a lot about the Triassic Cuddle

[paleomagic]

I would love to do those journal prompts and post them, it would prob be fun and it’s what I have this blog for, but my lizard brain is so scared of expanding on my beliefs more than I already have. I think cuz so much of witchblr has a very “grounded” “mundane” “psychological model” view of the occult, the part of me still recovering from xtian trauma thinks everyone’s gonna accuse me of being crazy or some shit? Wholly irrational but the paranoia persists

[paleomagic]

One of my most common workings is chronomancy to make my workday go by faster

[paleomagic]

I don’t have the technique for this right yet—and I honestly don’t need it since I ask a spirit ally for help— Something I’ve been trying lately is visualizing time as a thin, elastic string, pinching it with both hands, and pulling my hands together. Shortening the stretch of time I’m cu.rrently in and lengthening some time in the future (usually while I’m asleep).

I think my methodology is sound. But not quite there yet. I can feel resistance when I pull, which is expected, but the tension I feel when I finish pulling feels like the timelines just going to “snap” back into place when I let go. I don’t think I’m applying enough energy. Or my techniques not refined enough. Or I need to add “more” to make this work. For now I’m falling back on my spirit ally

[paleoart]

A beautiful sight for compound eyes

(Eurypterids coming ashore under the recently-proposed rings of ancient Earth)

Patreon • Ko-fi • Facebook  • Twitter • Prints & Merch  

[paleomagic]

One of my most common workings is chronomancy to make my workday go by faster

[serpentandstang-deactivated2021]

“Magic, then in its most primordial sense, is the experience of existing in a world made up of multiple intelligences, the intuition that every form that one perceives—from the swallow swooping overhead to the fly on a blade of grass, and indeed the blade of grass itself—is an experiencing form, an entity with its own predilections and sensations, albeit sensations that are different from our very own.”

— David Abram

[paleomagic]

Made an offering to Tobe yesterday cuz I was finally in the headspace for it. Also cuz I had a strange dream that gave me the impression he could use it.

It was maybe a little lavish, but I wanted to cover all the bases and give him his favorite snacks. Moon water with ice cubes (mostly ice cubes. He used to run to the fridge when we got ice and demand a tax.), green beans (another favorite of his, to the point he would rip up our green bean plants cuz he couldn’t get the beans cleanly free), dog kibble (for a proper healthy meal), and a shot of Chivas Regal (one of my standard offerings as it was one of my grandpas favorites. That and Toby loved booze and he can drink without moderation now lol). The candle I lit burned for about two hours longer than that type usually does so I think the offering was well-received

I also gave an offering to my patron today. Much simpler, just a portion of my homecooked lunch and ice water. Giving it offerings is a fascinating experience— It’s like suddenly I haven’t eaten or drank in days and the stuff we share tastes incredible. I don’t consume the offerings I make to any other spirits, currently those just go into my composter (and offered water goes to my plants). My patron seems to insist on this communion, either as an affirmation of our bond or as a way to experience the stuff in greater depth. Or both. Probably both. I’ll find out at some point

Hopefully I can do this more often in the future

[paleomagic]

Today I’m melting all the wax out of a mediocre candle so I can reuse the metal cauldron it’s in

[paleomagic]

I miss making offerings weekly. I used to cook myself a meal, portion it out, and then offer some of it and a beverage to my spirits. I want to get back to that place. Everything is so much harder now that I work fulltime.

[paleomagic]

Discussion of pet death under the cut

I had to put my dog Toby to sleep yesterday. He was suffering. It was time.

I had a weird dream when I slept afterwards. It wasn’t a visit from him or anything. The whole thing was framed as a sitcom, bizarrely. I was entering the afterlife (getting out of a taxi and heading up a set of stairs) to look for him. As I was on my way up, a group of people were on their way down, laughing and yelling to the people upstairs that they would be back again soon. Cue laugh track. I don’t remember much of the dream after that, just the look of the rooms upstairs.

It feels somewhat foolish now that I never really considered that Toby has the same metaphysical composition that I do. That all incarnate beings do. His soul has been released from his body, he will get to rest and wander the otherworlds, and then he will reincarnate. Obviously I knew and believed this, I just…never thought about it, I guess

I’m still not certain what else I believe about the soul and the afterlife besides the existence of a “persistent self” and cycles of incarnation. Not necessarily a Higher Self, but definitely a continuous intelligence not fully accessible to the incarnate mind. Maybe the soul is tripartite. Maybe there are fewer or more parts than that. Maybe higher self is accurate. I wonder about Toby’s past lives. I wonder where he will go next, and how long “he” will stay discarnate if he has a choice in the matter. I wonder what his persistent self is like. I wonder what version I will find if I reach out.

I would like to work with his discarnate spirit if I can, but, well. Same issue as last time I considered this. I don’t know what I would ask him for help with. And I don’t want him to feel like he needs to stay for me. Irrationally, I worry giving him attention and offerings will detract from my patron and my guides. I feel stupid for wanting to work with my animal ancestors (him) and not my human ones.

This is all a lot and there will be time for me to figure everything out. I have his collar. I’ll be getting his ashes back soon. I’m going to make a photo album with the pictures I can salvage. He’s not in pain anymore and I no longer have to worry about him

I’m not fine right now but I will be eventually

[redlipstickresurrected]

Un Loup aka Lou Benesch (French-American, b. 1989, Paris, France) - The Devil, Paintings: Watercolor

[paleomagic]

Would really like to visit the skunk cabbage today but I think I might legit be sick. The stream I wanna visit them at is maybe a ten minute walk. But I already feel exhausted and all I’ve done is take my old dog outside. And in this snow, every step is extra effort

[paleomagic]

In case you wanna know why I want to see them so bad

[paleomagic]

Would really like to visit the skunk cabbage today but I think I might legit be sick. The stream I wanna visit them at is maybe a ten minute walk. But I already feel exhausted and all I’ve done is take my old dog outside. And in this snow, every step is extra effort

[paleomagic]

This might be a lead. The other night, while practicing trance and trying to fall asleep, I saw a wet crevice in the rocks with a pool of water at the base. The beckoning entrance of a submerged cave.

[paleomagic]

A Simple Weather Protection Spell

We got slammed by a blizzard last week. I threw this together in the moment after getting a bad feeling and just itching to practice in general. Our house stayed warm, the power stayed on, and water didn’t come pouring in the windows like it did last storm, so I’m counting it as a success. That said, i would do some things differently next time.

No photos this time cuz I don’t wanna doxx myself.

Materials

Salt (protection and melting ice)

Carnelian (protection, elemental fire)

Sunstone (elemental fire and the warming energy of the sun)

Orange candle (fire to warm and illuminate the house. Orange was chosen because red felt dangerously aggressive in this context)

Red chalk marker (red for fire and protection)

Black plate (holding everything and a surface to draw on)

Procedure

Drew a circle on the plate with the chalk marker, then drew a picture of my house inside of it. Inside the circle, I wrote the address, and on the outside above and below it I wrote a symbol of my patron’s power. (***L.U.C.A.***, used similar to +++I.N.R.I.+++ in some other practices.)

Drew a sigil of protection below the house and a symbol of protection from weather above the house

Scattered a line of salt around the edge of the plate outside the circle

Placed the sunstone to the left of the house and the carnelian to the right, inside the circle

Placed the orange candle on top of the image of the house and burned it throughout the blizzard. I put it out when I slept and replaced it with a white candle when it ran out

Notes

The house doesn’t need to be a perfect representation so long as it resembles where you live. A floor plan would also suffice.

Colors can vary but I would keep them warm or neutral. Whatever evokes protection, heat, not getting frozen, and the lights staying on for you

Use whatever words/names/symbols of power fit your practice

Obviously you don’t have to use a plate. If you can draw on it and safely place salt and candles on it, it’ll work

What I Would Change Next Time

I would give myself more prep time to raise power into everything. Luckily all of my stones were charged

Rather than to the left and right, I would place the stones in alignment with where the storm is coming from. The carnelian would be a bulwark against the elements with the sunstone and its light shielded behind it

I would nest a square inside the circle for added stability. More protective symbols could be added to the voids between the square and circle. Extra insulation if you will

The sigils I used were pretty non-specific. Rather than just doing “protection” or “protection from weather”, I would get more into the aspects of the storm I’m trying to keep the house safe from

An electric candle might be a better option than a real candle in this scenario? Because electricity is what keeps homes warm in a lot of the world and because you could leave it safely running while you slept

I’ve considered whether or not I would want to add herbal components in the future, but I don’t think this needs anything more than it has. Nothing I could think of, anyways

[haremask]

“Catmint (Nepeta cataria), catnep or catnip ‘tea’ was prepared as an infusion for drinking in the era before the importation of tea began, “quite as pleasant and a good deal more wholesome”. It should be infused, boiling will drive off its volatile active components. “The root when chewed is said to make the most gentle person quarrelsome, and there is a legend of a certain hangman who could never screw up his courage to the point of hanging anybody till he had partaken of it””

— Nigel Pennick, Operative Witchcraft