poison

•just sharing my opinion & tips• practicing witch, hellenic pagan they/she 🖤🧿🖤

[poisonnxkki]

A little introduction...

My name is Poison and my pronouns are they/she. I am a practicing witch, hellenic pagan and doing an archaeology masters. I created this account so I could share my experience, opinions and tips on witchcraft to anyone who was interested (or maybe just starting out). If you would like me to answer any questions, please use the questions feature on my profile. That being said, if you choose to follow me on this journey, I hope you enjoy :) and thank you all for your continued support! 🖤

-Poison

Art by Abigail Larson

[poisonnxkki]

I’ve recently converted to posting on Substack so for anyone who is interested, I have a series called Living Tarot where I write about the lived experience of tarot.

the paradox of choice

examining the lived experience of the Lovers

Check it out if you’re interested!!

[poisonnxkki]

Success Spell 💰 💵

*Used to draw in new job opportunities, money, and success in financial endeavours

Ingredients/Materials:

*NOTE: this spell does not require you to have all the listed materials, I encourage you to customize all spells to suit your personal craft. No specific measurements are used unless listed otherwise.

Chamomile -> for money (💰) & increasing the success of the spell

Cinnamon -> for success & to draw money in (💰)

Cloves -> to stop gossip/ uncomfortable situations (which can lead to the evil eye 🧿 ), banish jealousy & negativity (🧿) gain what is sought, attract riches (💰), bring in a sense of kinship & drive away hostile forces (🧿)

Comfrey root -> stability & endurance of money (💰)

Elderberry -> blessings in business

Hawthorn -> success in matters related to work

Irish moss -> luck & to ensure a steady flow of money (💰)

Mandrake root -> prosperity

Nettle -> remove petty jealousy (🧿), protection & remove envy (🧿)

Patchouli -> draws in money (💰)

Periwinkle -> attracts money (💰)

A green candle 🕯️

Manifestation oil -> can be homemade or bought

A bay leaf 🍃

A sharpie/pen 🖊️

A fire safe dish (like a bowl)

A fire safe tray

Steps: To be completed on a Thursday, the first of the month or the new moon (whichever is more convenient or calls to you)

Gather the listed ingredients and cleanse them if you feel drawn to do so.

Two options: you can either apply the manifestation oil to the candle and roll the candle in a mixture of all the herbs listed above (minus the bay leaf) OR you can skip this step and proceed to step 3.

Place the green candle at the centre of a fire safe tray or in a space which is safe to burn things (always keep some sort of water or fire extinguisher near by).

Place a mixture of all the listed herbs (minus the bay leaf) in a circle surrounding the green candle.

Add some oil to both the candle and herb ring (measure with your heart).

Write your desire on the bay leaf with the sharpie/pen.

Light the candle while visualizing and whispering your intentions.

Light the bay leaf on fire and allow it to burn off to the side in a fire safe dish/bowl.

Let the candle burn completely.

Optionally: add tarot cards (like the ace of pentacles or the empress) or crystals (like clear quartz or pyrite) on the outside of the fire safe tray as additional synchronicities.

[poisonnxkki]

adding this here since I recently discovered it and am loving this style of content

[shibataiishi-deactivated2024010]

I am still baffled that deities love me.

Low self-worth is not news for most of us, but it is easy to justify when a human friend likes or loves you, or shows kindness; they have blind spots, they're flawed, they just don't see how bad you really are, they're just too nice, on and on. Anything to argue that you are not actually worth something.

And then there's a god. This entity that is supposed to possess the wisdom of ages to an extent we can't comprehend, that has all the ability to swat you away and not want to touch you with a ten foot pole. They are good judges and in positions of power. But they like you.

How do you argue? How do you find a flaw in their logic? Where is their blind spot? They see you fully and they like what they see. You're lovable even in the eyes of divinity.

Maybe you are worth more than you think.

[poisonnxkki]

Thank you for your question @inquisitivewwitch sorry for my late response, it’s currently midterm season so I’ve been a bit busy.

This response is entirely based on my opinion and practices. I’m not at all saying that you have to agree or follow me.

I’m Hellenic pagan. So that means, for me, celestial bodies are more than just constellation or planets. They represent gods and important figures. I would never, for example, tether a hex to the sun because the sun is representative of many gods (Helios, Apollo). That’s not to say these gods haven’t historically been petitioned to carry out hexes and curses. That process is different than tethering a spell to them. Often petitions were used instead, allowing the gods to choose to carry out the spell if they want to.

Secondly, baneful workings can backfire or can sometimes need to be undone (for whatever reason). Energetic tethers can sometimes be harder for people to undo. It’s much simpler to watch a physical tether (like a string) be cut than it is to imagine one breaking (unless ur great at visualization). A tether can also be removed by destroying the power source, which is impossible if you attach it to a celestial body. If the spell is something you don’t plan on removing (like a protection this changes my opinion)

This is my reasoning and why I don’t recommend this practice but it really is up to each individual practitioner to determine what works best in their practice. You could, alternatively, create some representation of the sun (or celestial body) and physically tether your spell to that. It would work the same and be easy to remove. However, in my practice, I would never do that without the gods permission first.

Hope this helps!

[poisonnxkki]

your header image is lovely. who is the artist, if you know?

thank you!

I actually don’t know who the artist is, I saved the image from Pinterest a few years ago and decided on using it when I started this account. I will add the image below if you are interested in saving it yourself!

[thewitchintherivervalley]

hey hi hello can you reblog this if you’re a trans-inclusive witchcraft or paganism blog i am fighting for my LIFE out here

[poisonnxkki]

hey there! i’ve been looking around for resources since i’m sort of dabbling in hellenic paganism. i really really like your blog so far, so i wanted some advice from you.

i think the greek pantheon is something i’m super duper interested in, and there’s some deities that i’m super drawn too, and some not as much. but i understand that each deity does something different - can i venerate/worship all the deities, but work more closely with others? will this offend the other gods/goddesses? i’m just starting out, i apologize if this is stupid, but i’m really curious. i don’t want to offend anybody, but i know they all have different domains and only working with a select few and not the others feels awkward to me.

i also have a second question, if it’s not too much to ask: any good resources for someone just starting out? other blogs, discord servers, youtube channels, maybe even books, and most helpfully, websites! i really appreciate that you took the time to read this and i hope you have great day!! thanks so so much :]

Thank you for your question!! Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. Remember there are no dumb questions so if you have anything else you want to ask, pls do!!

Firstly, you can definitely venerate multiple deities but work more closely with others (and it will most definitely not offend anyone). This was actually an extremely common practice in Ancient Greece. Some deities were more significant depending on the area you lived (or the identity you possessed), so although you may have acknowledged the main 12, you would have worked closely with only a number of gods. I would like to gently suggest that you should do what feels natural to you and not worry too much about making mistakes or offending anyone. Making mistakes is a natural part of the learning process and is bound to happen eventually. As you gain more information, your opinions and practices will change so just focus on acquiring knowledge.

Some resources:

Understanding Greek Religion by Jennifer Larson- this is a more academic text so it may not be for everyone but it has a lot of important information in understanding how the ancients viewed worship and interacted with the gods

The Homeric Hymns (and other primary sources)- reading primary sources (especially the oldest sources) are super important because they are what many later sources reference. You can find them all online!

Theoi.com- I will link this below but this is good if you are focusing on a particular god/gods. I use it as a jumping off point for finding references.

Let’s Talk About Myths Baby- (podcast available on Spotify and Apple) retellings of the Greek myths from a feminist perspective. The host is witty and entertaining and I’ve found that she breaks down the myths in a way that is easily understandable.

Tumblr- there are a ton of accounts on here which provide resources and give their own personal takes on information. One of my favs is @olympianbutch but there are so many on here!

I don’t want to overwhelm you with sources but these are a few different types which you can explore since you are just starting out. Also if anyone wants to share their favourite sources (or their perspective), then pls do!

Welcome to the Theoi Project, a site exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art. The aim of the project is to pr

[coinandcandle]

What's something in your practice that you can't quite get rid of? Like, that one thing you were taught that no matter what always comes back to you. Either a teaching/belief, deity, tool, etc

I still find myself having reservations about baneful magic. Due to a lack of other resources at the beginning of my path, I read a lot of Wiccan or Wiccan-coded stuff, which is often anti-baneful magic.

So I find myself overthinking baneful magic even though it's never even something huge, like, I'm never trying to ruin someone's life, just mildly inconvenience them. But I'll still have that worm in my head of the whole "threefold law" even though I haven't believed in that for YEARS (if ever, honestly).

Thanks for the question!! <:

[poisonnxkki]

This is super interesting because I find myself having similar thoughts. Feeling like I have to over-justify baneful workings or feeling like “karma” will bite back if I cast baneful workings. I just had to stop second guessing my decisions and go with my intuition but it can be super hard sometimes.

[ombrokharis]

Tending the dining room altar. :)

[poisonnxkki]

this is so pretty😫

[poisonnxkki]

Astrology & Living With The Planets🪐

What is Astrology?

Have you ever heard someone comment on a certain zodiac? Maybe you've heard people complain about mercury being in retrograde. Both of these comments have to do with astrology. Astrology is the belief that the movement and relative positions of celestial bodies influence our daily lives and the world around us (google).

Astrology has a long and varied history. The form we see today is one of many different styles that have persisted throughout the centuries. Astrology or rather astronomy (the study of celestial objects and phenomena) is believed to be the oldest of the scientific disciplines. Western astrology was used for two distinct purposes, introspection (how celestial bodies affect the individual) and divination (usually for political purposes).

Their Role in Your Destiny:

Not everyone believes in astrology and that's okay. I like to think of astrology as another tool in your toolbox but if it doesn't resonate with you, there are tons of other things out there. Having an understanding of your personal chart can be enlightening for some people. They may feel that they are better able to understand themselves and others using this method as a backbone. As long as tools like this aren't taking over a person’s discernment then they can be fun skills to develop.

There are 12 zodiacs in total and each possesses different characteristics. Depending on which planet and/or house they fall into, their effects will change. According to Joanna Martine Woolfolk "each planet has a specific influence in astrology and governs a certain area of your personality or your approach to life." whereas the houses "represent a specific function of your life" (from The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need). Together, these 3 properties form the basis of you're personal birth chart and are the means by which astrologers predict you're personality traits, compatibility and destiny. Depending on how avidly you choose to study astrology, it can get much more complicated than what I've stated above (just a heads up!).

Beyond the Individual:

If you choose to look up your birth chart online, then you will likely run into another chart. This chart (or sometimes a table called an ephemeris) depicts the current position of the celestial bodies. The study of this chart is called mundane astrology and is traditionally used to predict world events, cultural trends and political movements on a global scale. This area of astrology is also used to forecast monthly and yearly horoscopes.

It is believed that the current motion of celestial bodies influence both our daily lives and the world around us. These observations are what cause people to say "well people are acting like that because mercury is in retrograde right now". What the term "retrograde" is referring to is "the apparent backwards motion of a planet travelling through the zodiac...which in classical astrology was considered weak and a negative influence" (from The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need). A key characteristic of mercury's retrograde is an inability or difficulty to communicate clearly. However, some people attest out-of-character behaviour (like the desire to impulsively cut your hair, drastically change your appearance, etc) to retrograde activity.

Astrology has it's benefits but it should not be used to justify hurtful or malicious behaviour. I, personally, don't really use astrology for anything beyond the individual. This is partly because I'm no expert and partly because I don't utilize astrology in my day-to-day life. I am cautious of people who chalk everything up to how the planets are moving. My advice to anyone who is interested in mundane astrology is; remember that the planets are an influence, not an excuse.

*images are from Pinterest*

🖤Astrology depicted in art:

Astrology Has A Long History in Art Through the Centuries

Artworks incorporating astrological images have been around for as long as astrology itself.

🖤History of Astrology (Warning: the article is an academic paper written in 1984 so it's a bit old but was really interesting and I wanted to share it anyways):

F. Rochberg-Halton, New Evidence for the History of Astrology, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 43, No. 2 (Apr., 1984), pp. 115-140

🖤For all things astrology:

Discover astrology reports, relationship astrology, daily weekly and monthly horoscopes, compatibility, free charts, synastry, celebrity, an

[poisonnxkki]

Mistakes I Made In The Beginning Of My Practice🦋

What Makes Something a Mistake?

How do we define a mistake? How do we know when we've messed up? These were questions that haunted me in the beginning of my practice. I was overly worried about doing things wrong and having to pay the price for those mess ups. The uncertainty of it all made me really hesitant to start experimenting in my craft. I would later come to terms with the fact that mistakes are inevitable, but as a beginner I was definitely intimidated.

The truth is, I'm not really sure there's a surefire way to know if something is a mistake until we've messed up. Spell work can be tricky in the sense that we often define our own parameters of success. This means that a spell can be failure to one person and a success to another based on their personal views of what success means. If a spell has consequences that we don't intend it to have or manifests in a way we weren't expecting, does that constitute as a failure? Sometimes yes and sometimes no. In my opinion the best way to determine if something's a mistake is to mess up. You won't know until things go wrong.

How I Rectify Mistakes:

To start, remember mistakes are inevitable. We can't avoid them and we shouldn't try to. Sometimes spell work isn't going to manifest in the way we were expecting. Sometimes our spells are going to force us to confront uncomfortable truths or set boundaries in order to get what we want, and there may be no other way around that. This is a reality that we should strive to accept rather than avoid.

But what happens when we actually do mess up? How do we go about fixing what we've done? I follow a few guidelines which help me determine what my next steps should be and hopefully these are helpful for you too.

Determine what has happened and if the spell is influencing the situation- the effects of some spells are relatively short lived so if the spell isn't currently influencing the situation then you're on damage control (and a good cleansing should be enough). However, some spells (often spells that are contained within a vessel or are tethered to you) need to be undone first.

Cleanse or banish- depending on the type of spell you may feel like cleansing just isn't enough. If that's the case, doing a banishment of the effects/energy of your previous spell should do the trick.

Mundane over magical- the effects of spell work often show up in our daily lives so taking the time to fix/heal from life events is super important.

Reflect- it's important to try and understand exactly what went wrong. Were you specific enough? What ingredients did you use? What order? What did your petition say (if you used one)? Where was your mind when you were casting? Going over how you did the spell can be helpful when determining what went wrong. It's important to reiterate that sometimes our spells are going to force us to confront uncomfortable truths or set boundaries in order to get what we want. Something that feels like a mistake now, could play an important role in you getting what you want later on so keep that in mind.

Mistakes I've Made:

I've talked about this before but I once did self-love spell for myself and a group of friends. This was fine, my mistake was trying to do them at the same time. I ended up accidentally binding myself to all of them. Months later we had a major falling out, which inevitably ended our friendship and was especially difficult on me. I was sick for several days and ended up doing several chord cutting spells to rectify the situation.

I was struggling with severe anxiety a few years ago and decided to do a spell to help with it. The problem was that I didn't define what I wanted from the spell. I kinda just said "no more anxiety" and lit the flame. When doing this spell, social situations had been the driving force behind my anxiety. However, it became health related after this spell. I should have been more clear in my intention when doing that spell but more importantly, I should have known that there is no "easy" fix for anxiety.

My first baneful protection was a blunder because it didn't work. I was nervous about messing up, which caused me to. Something I find influences baneful protections are boundaries (and our ability to set them). If you can't set boundaries in the physical world, then you aren't going to be able to set them energetically (in my personal opinion). I was an absolute pushover in relationships. I let people take advantage of my kindness and had trouble putting my foot down. My energy reflected that and the baneful protection did absolutely nothing, it was both a waste of ingredients and time.

🖤*All images are from Pinterest*

[poisonnxkki]

I heard something recently that went a little like “you should find ways to incorporate and honour all of the gods. The ancient practitioners would be shocked to find out that there are those of us who don’t honour Zeus and Hera” (heavily paraphrased) and as a Hellenic pagan, I felt that. The more I learn about Ancient Greek worship, the more inclined I am to find ways of including all the gods (especially the main ones) in my practice, even if I don’t have a particularly close relationship with them.

Just food for thought :)

[theoisbos]

I think part of it is that for them, they saw the gods in everything, so it was easy to acknowledge their existence. Modern worshippers are used to modern religion that separates everyday stuff from the divine. I think many of us would consider worship to be prayer/offerings instead of acknowledging the divine in everything around us. It's impossible (for modern practitioners, at least) to worship every god of the pantheon. But we /can/ see where the gods walk beside us, and acknowledge them, and (as we think of it today) worship the household/main 12/14, and patron deities.

[poisonnxkki]

This is super true!

Society in Ancient Greece/Rome was structured around the fact that the dominant religion at the time was polytheistic. It can be super hard for modern practitioners (who come from a monotheistic background) to make that adjustment.

I think for me, that’s part of the fun. Trying to find different ways to incorporate as many gods as possible into my daily life. Learning about how the ancients practiced worship and trying my best to imitate it. However, like you said, structured worship (like prayers and offerings) will probably always feel most natural to me.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

[poisonnxkki]

I heard something recently that went a little like “you should find ways to incorporate and honour all of the gods. The ancient practitioners would be shocked to find out that there are those of us who don’t honour Zeus and Hera” (heavily paraphrased) and as a Hellenic pagan, I felt that. The more I learn about Ancient Greek worship, the more inclined I am to find ways of including all the gods (especially the main ones) in my practice, even if I don’t have a particularly close relationship with them.

Just food for thought :)

[teawitch]

In the Greek myths, Hippolytus refuses to worship Aphrodite, which is her due, and will only worship Artemis. Aphrodite sets out to get her revenge and even Artemis won’t interfer because the man insulted Aphrodite by refusing her. 

Now standing in our way as modern people is that society isn’t structured around the deities in the same way so we don’t have temples and organized festivals were we can just show up as each deity is honored. I don’t think there is the same impact to not incorporating a deity in personal practice as there would have been for refusing a deity in public practice. So don’t panic if you don’t get to everyone. 

This also doesn’t mean we can’t work more with certain deities. After all, there would have been priests and priestess for specific deities at the temples. People would have identified with certain deities depending on their professions, their age and place in life, even the town where they lived. You just weren’t suppoed to outright reject a deity. 

[poisonnxkki]

This is whole post is a fantastic addition!

I think the key to balancing modern polytheistic worship is finding ways to honour different deities in specific pockets of our lives. For example, my vanity doubles as my glamour altar which also happens to be where I honour Aphrodite. Even though I don’t work with her, i dedicate my time there to her as a form of worship. I also practice embroidery, which is something I started dedicating to Athena.

Worship is something that I fit into my day to day because it’s not feasible for me to do otherwise (it’s just not realistic for me to do elaborate rituals or dedicate prayer times). I totally agree with (and want to stress) the point that polytheism doesn’t have the same place in modern society as it once did, which inevitably changes its significance/relevancy to modern practitioners. However, it has been really fun for me to experiment with how many different ways I can honour the gods.

Polytheism isn’t something that calls to everyone. For me, Hecate will also hold more significance and will be a higher priority than any other god, which also would have been normal for ancient Greeks as well.

Thank you TeaWitch, your insight is super appreciated!

[poisonnxkki]

I heard something recently that went a little like “you should find ways to incorporate and honour all of the gods. The ancient practitioners would be shocked to find out that there are those of us who don’t honour Zeus and Hera” (heavily paraphrased) and as a Hellenic pagan, I felt that. The more I learn about Ancient Greek worship, the more inclined I am to find ways of including all the gods (especially the main ones) in my practice, even if I don’t have a particularly close relationship with them.

Just food for thought :)

[banebite-deactivated20230414]

Witchy Quick Tips

Remove black soot from the inside of candle glasses as it is flammable and will ruin your day if it catches fire

Keep a metal tray or other fireproof surface on your altar for placing free-standing candles (those without a holder)

Never consume fragrance oils, essential oils, or burning oils (Food-grade absolutes are a great alternative)

Try to avoid burning anything with pets in the room (especially if they are of the avian or reptilian variety). If you are going to burn something, do so in a well-ventilated room.

Never burn Cedar in a room with pets, no exceptions

Add a small amount of isopropyl alcohol to any river or sea water you make keep on your altar to slow the growth of bacteria

In leu of a dedicated oil burner, scented oils may be added to lit unscented candles to give a similar effect

Massage oil candles exist, give them a look

Do not eat any foraged material unless you are absolutely sure of what it is and it's ediblity

Sticks and drift wood used for crafts can be sterilized by heating in the oven for 2 hours at 250*f (120*C), check on it often to watch for burning

Honey, oils, wrapped chocolates, and high proof alcohol are great long-term food offerings

Pretty much every handy-craft can be used for magick, including but not limited too: metal working, wood working, sewing/embroidery, book binding, gardening, pottery, etc.

Non-witchy books on meditation, gardening, yoga, foraging guides, medicinal plants, and history are great sources of information to round out your practice

Ethically scavenged or harvested animal parts are okay to use in your practice, never purchase any bat specimens as thay are almost always killed purely to be a specimen (as opposed to deer which may serve as food and the left over parts sold)

Bless clothing you wear often for protection

Never place any of the following in direct sunlight: amethyst, kunzite, smoky quartz, jade, lapis, aquamarine, citrine, and rose quartz. There are many more so when in doubt, look it up

Never place any of the following in water: selenite, malachite (turns toxic as it can be absorbed into the skin), moonstone, tourmaline, desert rose, amber, hematite. Once again, there are many more so do your research.

Random stones you find can work just as well as crystals

Have a separate set of utensils, pots and such if possible strictly for your herbal creations (another set should be used if you work with poisonous plants as well)

A good pocket knife is any practitioner's best friend

Beeswax candles are cleaner burning than paraffin and bamboo charcoal blocks are (reportedly) cleaner burning than charcoal

Instead of wild bird feathers; purchase chicken, pheasant, goose, duck, and turkey feathers

If you want an item that is considered strictly apart of a specific culture, see if people of that culture willingly sell them. Many indigenous groups have lost business because people are too afraid to purchase from them for fear of being called out for cultural appropriation.

While "classical" correspondences exist, they are not a set in stone thing. Make your own correspondences within your practice.

Be inspired by others' practices, but never seek to imitate as you will lose sight of what it is you're trying to accomplish

Incense ash, charcoal ash, burned herbs, salt, and other spent ingredients can be added to black salt (or goofer dust for my hoodoo practitioners)

[poisonnxkki]

The one about adding alcohol to river water to slow bacteria growth is genius and never occurred to me!!! Such a well thought out list :)