we’re a bit witchy. this blog is mainly hellenic polytheistic and includes many hellenic things- but is not the main focus. pretty eclectic- you can find nearly anything pagan / craft related here!
CAT NEEDS URGENT SURGERY. PLEASE REBLOG, LIKE, AND DONATE IF YOU CAN!!!
Hey guys, my best friend's cat was attacked by a dog (who is an untrained hunting dog), broke his leg, and had his rectal sphincter bitten off. He’s in DESPERATE need of financial support to be able to have both surgeries. I'll put the type of surgeries & the x-rays below as well as where you can donate. Please help if you can, even if it's just to reblog and share so others can see.
Surgery One (1): Rectal sphincter reconstruction and antibiotics to avoid septicemia
Surgery Two (2): A displaced compound fracture. Bone recovery and reconstruction, antibiotics, and anti-inflammatory medication.
Price of the second surgery is around €1.100 and the first surgery was just discovered so my friend doesn't know the price yet, but he will update when he knows and once I know I'll update here as well.
PayPal: dew.tuiss@gmail[dot]com
And here is his twitter (@ magvritte if the link breaks)
There is an allure to graveyard dirt; it’s one of the first ingredients that really sticks out to people just getting their feet wet in witchcraft. It fits the mysterious aesthetic of a witch: descending upon a cemetery in the dark of the night, whispering prayers and hymns as you gather soil from your great-great-grandfather’s age old grave, leaving trinkets and well-meaning offerings to his ghost as you leave with your collection.
Unfortunately, collecting graveyard dirt isn’t that simple.
Many cemeteries have strict rules and regulations for their graves. You can get a hefty fine if you are caught digging around in a cemetery, and in some states it’s very easy to get arrested for vandalizing a grave like this. Not to mention, not all of us are living close enough to the grave of a dead loved one– leaving some to ponder whether they can just scoop some dirt from a random grave with the permission of a spirit.
Please, for the love of all things good, do not go digging around and taking dirt from random graves. That is highly disrespectful to the surviving members of the family who are likely maintaining that grave still. I don’t care if you claim that the ghost of this person erupted from the earth in the middle of the night on the full moon and gave you full permission to use his coffin dirt to hex your boss. His relatives are just going to think you’re crazy, and you’re going to look ridiculous on the evening news.
So what do you do as a witch in 2020 who needs graveyard dirt? Make your own with a memorial grave.
💀 First, you’re going to need to make a grave. No, you aren’t killing anybody. You are going to make what I call a memorial casket. This is going to simulate a classic grave. You are going to take items and pictures of deceased love ones, friends or even cultural icons (have good taste with this and don’t be insensitive, if you’re going to choose a cultural icon, have a good, legitimate reason), and put them into a box. Then, you are going to seal the box. Get fancy with it if you want. You can make it as big or as small as you want, but aim for ring box to shoe box size.
💀 Next, find a place on your property where you can safely dig. A garden is a good spot. Go outside and dig about a foot down into the earth, enough where animals aren’t going to be able to dig up your memorial casket. Place the casket into the hole and cover it up.
💀 Mark your grave. Usually this can be done with a heavy rock, garden ornament, log, or if you’re really feeling like getting into the spirit, make a faux headstone.
💀 Leave the grave undisturbed for an entire moon cycle. Fresh graves are full of volatile, unstable energy. Rested graves are more earthed and grounded. For this reason, let the grave sit from the new moon to the full moon, or vice versa.
💀 Collect your graveyard dirt. Now that you have your own little grave, you can collect the dirt at your leisure. To make this process the most effective, collect it as you would traditional graveyard dirt. Sit by your memorial grave, and speak aloud to the person that your memorial is dedicated to. Leave them offerings, say a prayer and thank them for the soil that they are about to provide you.
And there you have it, graveyard dirt in a much more ethical way that isn’t going to get you arrested. Happy digging. ⚰️
Eisheth Zenunim (Heb. אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים, “Woman of Whoredom”)
Agrat bat Mahlat (אגרת בת מחלת)
Naamah or Na'amah (Hebrew: נַעֲמָה; “pleasant”)
Just a quick disclaimer, information on this post are from research online. Links I used will be at the end of the post. There might be contradicting information online or points i have completely forgone. Your info and knowledge would be greatly informative if you wish to share public or privately to me.
These Queens are known as goddesses of sacred prostitution and brides of Samael. They are concerned with the expression of human sexuality
Lilith (/ˈlɪlɪθ/; Hebrew: לִילִית Lîlîṯ)
I have another post talking about Lilith and that would be great if you checked it out
The existence of Lilith is first shown to us during Babylonian Talmud (3rd to 5th century AD). She is said to be Adams first wife yet she is not mentioned in the christian religious text The Holy Bible. The common theory of this is because Lilith displayed a courageous fight for equality with Adam.
It is said that during sexual intercourse, Lilith asked to take the top position while Adam took her position of being the bottom. Adam protested this as he believed it was his right as the man to be on top during sexual intercourse. Lilith complained to God of the uncompromising Adam yet she was punished for protesting Adam.
The apocryphal book of Genesis states “Why should I lie beneath you? He asked: I was also made with dust, and therefore I am your equal … As Adam tried to force her to obey, Lilith, angry, pronounced the name of God, and left.”
Powers and rulership: Seeing through illusions, women’s mysteries, protection of women and children (especially infants), sexuality, sex magick, boldness, independence, discernment, self-esteem, justice, false accusations, ending gossip, reconciliation, slander, inspiration, divination, attaining familiars, acquisition of wealth, attaining fame, black magick, astrology, necromancy, pyromancy, transforming dark energy into usable energy, removing curses and Auric attachments, defensive magick, spiritual healing
Eisheth Zenunim (Heb. אֵשֶׁת זְנוּנִים, “Woman of Whoredom”)
excluding her appearances in fiction written by Jacqueline Carey. Eisheth is the sister of Demonesses. She is said to be the first succubi. She is often approached by older women and can be seen by soft polytheists as the Crone aspect of Lilith. Outside of softy polytheist inclinations, others regard Her as the wisest and the eldest of the Four Queens.
Powers and rulership: Women’s mysteries (especially adult and older women), protection of the innocent and vulnerable, destruction of enemies, vengeance, wisdom, sacred sexuality, death, Crone magick, infantile and geriatric disorders and conditions, prostitution, judgement, reconciliation, false accusations, acquisition of wealth, crops and harvests
Agrat bat Mahlat (אגרת בת מחלת)
Agerath is the daughter of the Demoness, Machaloth. She is sometimes reputed to be the mother of the Demon Prince, Asmodeus—as She was once mated with King David to produce the offspring. Alternate versions of the story of Asmodeus’ conception suggest that Naamah, not Agerath, was His mother.
Powers and rulership: Getting in touch with the primal needs of the Self, instincts, sexuality (especially female sexuality), love, compassion, healing, illusions, visual magick (glamour), magikal control or influence over others, divination, theatre and music, prostitution
Naamah or Na'amah (Hebrew: נַעֲמָה; “pleasant”)
Naamah is the goddess of divination her alleged status amongst pseudo-Christian occultists as a sinister being associated with evildoing. Out of all demons she is seen as the most sensual and virtuous Demonesses of sacred sexuality.
Powers and rulership: Love, sacred sexuality, lust and desire, comfort, healing, nurturing, safety, relationships, protection and wellness for animals and vegetation, comfort for the dying and departed souls, healing, introspection, reassurance, discernment, serenity, logically solving problems and dilemmas, soothing anxieties, self-confidence, willpower, altered states of consciousness, earth magick, geomancy, talismans, alchemy, physical strength, love magick, sex magick, knowledge of the afterlife, communication with the deceased, necromancy
Mainly known due to Hermeticism, the god Hermes Trismegistus (“Hermes the Thrice-Greatest") is a greater deity who has many different facets that he uses to approach humans; some of these are Hermes/Mercury, Thoth, Nabu, and several other deities of knowledge. Each of these gods are only fragments of who he is. Hermes Trismegistus is one of the most complex beings in existence and cannot be easily described, especially due to all the various aspects he has. He is a greatly powerful spiritual teacher of the path of Hermeticism and has many different forms; yet he says that none of them came first, they simply are. He had been incarnated as a human when he was born in Egypt and began calling himself Hermes Trismegistus. During this life, he had done many things such as writing the Emerald Tablets, teaching alchemy, founding Hermeticism, and writing thousands of works. His incarnation was also known for prophesizing future events, almost seeming as if he had known all of history. At one time, he had said “all of your countries, cultures, languages, and monuments will one day be forgotten and replaced by new ones. This has happened countless times in the past, and will happen countless times more.”
Hermes Trismegistus has described himself as the reason for why people choose solitude, why they cannot fit in with others. He is the storm, as well as the lantern within the storm. He is the voice of madness that stirs the seeker into evolving. He is a Messiah and a Buddha; a rebel and a black sheep; he is salvation and he is oblivion, for he is the one who brings us death so we can be reborn. He is the unfathomable one who grants us eternal transformation; always becoming greater, always seeking truth. His path is the wasteland beyond society, beyond the false comforts of governments and doctrines. Yet this path is full of struggle and sacrifice; those who cannot endure it will fail and remain stagnant. Though if we embrace the challenge and are willing to sacrifice our current selves through great effort, Hermes Trismegistus will assist us in tearing away our humanness and transform us into becoming something far greater than imaginable. Due to this, Hermeticism is very similar to Luciferianism, allowing these two religions to be easily followed at the same time, especially since both Lucifer and Hermes Trismegistus are two of the most knowledgeable elder gods.
He explains that the first thing one should do when starting a spiritual path is to “know thyself”. Without understanding our own self, we will always continue making the same mistakes and cannot evolve. To know ourselves, we must analyze in-depth our current self, our potentials, our fears, desires, weaknesses, strengths, emotions, reactions; everything. Then we must work on shedding away who we are, even if we like who we currently are, for there is always so much to improve on. Hermes Trismegistus seeks to expand our minds beyond what typical humans are like so that we may begin to comprehend true reality, and not the reality humans teach.
He also teaches that we must recognize that our negative emotions are illusions; they come over our eyes like a dark veil and obscure reality. Everything still looks the same, yet darker. With will-power, we can visualize a beam of light penetrating this darkness, then we can lift ourselves away from the veil. Through this, we can come to the realization that these emotions are merely constructs; therefore, they are malleable and can be replaced by healthier emotions. He also explains how we are not our thoughts either, since thoughts are often influenced by outside causes such as teachings, trauma, bias, etc. In order to break through these, we must realize that our current selves are not our true selves; we need to shed all of these away and constantly seek greater heights and absolute truth. Though the seeker will come to find that this path of evolution will never end, even in death; we will always strive to become more.
Hermes Trismegistus is fully dedicated to knowledge, wisdom, transformation, evolution, and all forms of communication (especially books). He is very humble and dedicated to those who choose his path, granting them many insights of wisdom so they can grow. He values those who love truth unconditionally, always embracing it no matter how uncomfortable or upsetting it can be. If one walks this path and faces their struggles with wisdom, courage, and determination, they are likely to succeed and achieve a higher state of being. This is the true path for enlightenment, as true wisdom and knowledge can only be gained through immense strife. If you wish to prove that you are greater than those who give into their negative thoughts and impulses; those who allow themselves to remain as slaves to their emotions, habits, governments, and holy scriptures, then you must walk the wasteland path through the relentless storm. Only here will you find your freedom.
Devotion: Since Hermes Trismegistus does not accept offerings since he sees no true value in them, he requests acts of devotion. These acts must not be simplistic things, only actions that will enrich who you are. This can be meditating on yourself and what you learn, analyzing yourself, seeking knowledge and wisdom, tearing down current beliefs to make room for truth, shedding away your Ego, doing shadow work, and striving to become the version of yourself that is confident and experienced. All weaknesses must be rooted up and overcome, allowing only strength to remain.
Additionally, you can hold at least one of these four following stones while you mediate upon Hermes Trismegistus in order to form a connection with him: citrine, yellow calcite, carnelian, imperial topaz
Hello my loves! I'm going to add some more shadow work prompts (primarily because... Kaye needs to do shadow work and maybe this will convince them to do it. (It won't. We all know it won't. But we can hope....))
I'm gonna put these below the cut just so people don't have to scroll through this long as fuck list on their dash if they don't want to see them lol
Some of these are really, really heavy, and do touch on things like sexual assault, abuse, death, etc., so this is the trigger warning for you.
A lot of these are also focused on women and AFAB folks because I'm trying to reconcile with my femininity and whatnot.
Anne Carson Quotes
You remember too much, my mother said to me recently. Why hold onto all that? And I said, Where can I put it down?
Why does tragedy exist? Because you are full of rage. Why are you full of rage? Because you are full of grief.
Words bounce. Words, if you let them, will do what they want to do and what they have to do.
Eros is an issue of boundaries. He exists because certain boundaries do. ... Eros: the boundary of flesh and self between you and me.
Desire is no light thing.
It is easier to tell a story of how people wound one another than of what binds them together.
Reality is a sound, you have to tune in to it not just keep yelling.
All mortals owe a debt to death.
...sex is a substitute, like money or language.
...your story begins the moment Eros enters you. That incursion is the biggest risk of your life. How you handle it is an index of the quality, wisdom, and decorum of the things inside you.
Myths are stories about people who become too big for their lives temporarily, so that they crash into other lives or brush against gods. In crisis their souls are visible.
Philosophers say man forms himself in dialogue.
There is no person without a world.
If there is anything dearer than being alive, it's dark to me.
We humans seem disastrously in love with this thing... life.
The underworld's a blank and all the rest just fantasy.
Caught between the tongue and the taste.
What is mortality after all but divine doubt flashing over us? For an instant God suspends assent and poof! we disappear.
Girls are cruelest to themselves.
What really connects words and things?
Blessed be they whose lives do not taste of evil
Perhaps the hardest thing about losing a lover is to watch the year repeat its days.
Consider incompleteness as a verb.
You can get used to anything, my mother was in the habit of saying.
I am talking about evil. It blooms. It eats. It grins.
I don't want to be a person. I want to be unbearable.
Beauty makes me hopeless.
The dead... are victims of love, many of them.
To live past the end of your myth is a perilous thing.
You read a hundred military manuals you won't find the word kill they trick you into killing.
I went mad, a god hurt me, I fell.
Those nights lying alone are not discontinuous with this cold hectic dawn. It is who I am.
Love does not make me gentle or kind.
Your grief is as great as your splendor was: some god is weighing the one out equal to the other.
You can never know enough, never work enough, ... never leave the mind quickly enough.
Language is what eases the pain of living with other people, language is what makes the wounds come open again.
Where does unbelief begin?
Everything that is me is with me.
A wound gives off its own light...
I began to think I was someone thirsting for God.
You are a person in love with the impossible.
When we are denied a story, a light goes off.
Some conversations are not what they're about.
I lack myself.
Who knows what will happen if I'm alone with my grief.
I... forbid that you should ever lose your screams.
You are not a god. You are not that enlarged self. Indeed, you are not even a whole self, as you now see. Your new knowledge of possibilities is also a knowledge of what is lacking in the actual.
There is a loneliness that fills the plain.
The women of mythology regularly lose their form in monstrosity.
We live by waters breaking out of the heart.
Time as hunger. Time passing and gazing. Time as perseverance. Mountain time. Time as paper folded to look like a mountain. Time compared to the wild fantastic silence of stars.
What are we made of but hunger and rage?
When I look at you, even for a moment, no speaking is left in me.
Kelly Cherry Quotes
I didn't find my story; it found me.
There is blood everywhere and I am lost in it. I breathe blood, not air.
The story of [their] great-grandfather [or any ancestor]... was [their] own story, too.
Ashe Vernon Quotes
Don't you dare, for one minute, believe that my kindness makes me anything but insurmountable.
Understand that I am not your next victim in a laundry list of broken girls.
I will eat you alive before I let you make a meal of me.
What they don't tell you about standing up for what you believe in is that your feet will bruise and your legs will ache.
I'd like to take a moment to submit a formal apology to my soft parts because they kept me warm when I was trying to freeze to death, and I hated them for it.
I let myself be afraid.
When you learn you are only as good as your beauty routine, you forget how to define yourself by anything else.
I will know how to be vulnerable with you, but I won't know how to not regret it.
I know how to put my body inside someone else's but not how to make it beautiful.
I love better at a distance.
I am as much lion as I am lion tamer.
I got good at inflicting pain the same way I got good at soothing it.
Quit picking old wounds and going tor walks in the aches and pains you already made it through--you call it healing, but it sounds like a good way to take a haunting home with you.
I am a cathedral of almost-lovers
Louise Gluck Quotes
We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory.
I thought that pain meant I was not loved. It meant I loved.
The soul is silent. If it speaks at all it speaks in dreams.
Intense love always leads to mourning.
You will never let go, you will never be satiated.
It will feed you, it will ravish you, it will not keep you alive.
Why love what you will lose? There is nothing else to love.
I speak because I am shattered.
I don't need your praise to survive.
Whatever returns from oblivion returns to find a voice.
Nakedness in women is always a pose. I was not transfigured. I would never be free.
The unsaid, for me, exerts great power.
I am tired of human... I want to live on the sun
Death cannot harm me more than you have harmed me, my beloved life.
There are places like this... you enter as a young girl... you never return.
Writing is a kind of revenge against circumstance, too: bad luck, loss, pain. If you make something out of it, then you've no longer been bested by these events.
The riddle was: why couldn't we live in the mind. The answer was: the barrier of the earth intervened.
It is true that there is not enough beauty in the world. It is also true that I am not competent to restore it. Neither is there candor, and here I may be of some use.
You're not a creature in body. You exist as the stars exist, participating in their stillness, their immensity.
And then, suddenly, something is over.
You must be taught to love me. Human beings must be taught to love silence and darkness.
Sappho Quotes
Someone will remember us/I say/even in another time.
Their heart grew cold. They let their wings down.
What cannot be said will be wept.
What is beautiful is good, and who is good will soon be beautiful
Once again love drives me on, that loosener of limbs, bittersweet creature against which nothing can be done.
Love shook my heart like the wind on the mountain rushing over the oak trees
Love is a cunning weaver of fantasies and fables.
I know not what to do, my mind is divided.
The female creature is a letter.
No holy place existed without us then
She who loves roses must be patient and not cry when she is pierced by thorns.
Because I prayed this word: I want.
If you had a desire for good or beautiful things and your tongue were not concocting some evil to say, shame would not hold down your eyes but rather you would speak about what is just.
Wealth without virtue is no harmless neighbor.
I am weary of all your words and soft, strange ways.
Paisley Rekdal Quotes
Does it offend you to watch me working in it, touching my hands to the greening tips or tearing the yellow stalks back, so wild the living and dead both snap off in my hands?
I can wait longer than sadness.
It is such a small thing to be proud of.
Should I, too, not be loved?
We are even now still so young
I loved him. I loved forgiving him.
Yasmin Belkhyr Quotes
Contrary to wound, I still know nothing of defeat.
Contrary to ache, I still know nothing of guilt.
I help: a good daughter.
Someone always ends up holding something mangled.
It wasn't enough to feel... he had to see, to know.
Adrienne Rich Quotes
There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors.
Lying is done with words, and also with silence
Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brains and instincts; hence, grappling with hard work.
When a woman tells the truth she is creating the possibility for more truth around her.
My heart is moved by all I cannot save: so much has been destroyed
If you are trying to transform a brutalized society into one where people can live in dignity and hope, you begin with the empowering of the most powerless. You build from the ground up.
Until we know the assumptions in which we are drenched, we cannot know ourselves.
The truth of our bodies and our minds has been mystified to us.
It will take all your heart, it will take all your breath. It will be short, it will not be simple.
You look at me like an emergency.
The unconscious wants truth. It ceases to speak to those who want something else more than truth.
In a world where language and naming are power, silence is oppression, is violence.
There is no 'the truth', 'a truth'--truth is not one thing, or even a system. It is an increasing complexity. The pattern of the carpet is a surface. When we look closely, or when we become weavers, we learn of the tiny multiple threads unseen in the overall pattern, the knots on the underside of the carpet.
The moment of change is the only poem
There is nothing revolutionary whatsoever about the control of women's bodies by men. The woman's body is the terrain on which the patriarchy is erected.
The scars bear witness but whether to repair or to destruction I no longer know.
Not biology, but ignorance of ourselves, has been the key to our powerlessness
What kind of beast would turn its life into words?
Truthfulness, honor, is not something which springs ablaze of itself; it has been created between people.
You touched me in places so deep I wanted to ignore you
Silence can be a plan rigorously executed, the blueprint to a life, it is a presence, it has a history, a form. Do not confuse it with any kind of absence.
Most women have not even been able to touch this anger, except to drive it inward like a rusted nail.
We have lived with violence for so long.
This is my body, take it and destroy it
We have been raised to fear the yes within ourselves, our deepest cravings. And the fear of our deepest cravings keeps them suspect, keeps us docile and loyal and obedient, and leads us to settle for... many facets of our own oppression.
Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events.
A language is a map of our failures.
The more I live the more I think two people together is a miracle.
Poetry is, among other things, a criticism of language.
How do you make it, all the way from here to morning?
An honorable human relationship--that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word "love"--is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.
You grieve in loneliness, and if I understand you fuck in loneliness.
We write from the marrow of our bones.
The liar has many friends, and leads an existence of great loneliness
We must use what we have to invent what we desire.
William Styron Quotes
We're all in this game together.
In depression this faith in deliverance, in ultimate restoration, is absent. The pain is unrelenting, and what makes the condition intolerable is the foreknowledge that no remedy will come-not in a day, an hour, a month, or a minute.
It is hopelessness even more than pain that crushes the soul
We each devise our means of escape from the intolerable.
Reading--the best state yet to keep absolute loneliness at bay.
Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.
Let your love flow out on all living things.
Loss in all of its manifestations is the touchstone of depression--in the progress of the disease and, most likely, in its origin.
Kai Cheng Thom Quotes
I wanted to protect you, but I'm starting to think that the best thing you can do for people is teach them how to protect themselves. Every girl needs to be at least a little dangerous.
A sanctuary is a place where the door only locks from the inside.
Sometimes to be somebody else, you have to be nobody first.
You will be able to stop hurting people when you stop hurting yourself.
When you're a child trapped in a situation of physical or psychological depravation, you learn shame as an efficient, elegant mechanism of survival: shame simultaneously shields you from the reality that danger is out of your control (since the problem is not that you're unloved and deprived; it's that you're Bad) and prevents you from doing or saying anything challenging that might provoke a threat.
It's good for you to cry sometimes. Even if there isn't a reason.
When you live in a community of queers, anarchists, & activists, crisis is the baseline and stability an outlier.
You are mine like nothing has ever been before.
Safety is, I believe, an inherently classed, raced, and gendered experience that frequently runs the risk of being used for regressive ends--ironically, for restricting the freedoms of the vulnerable, those who are never really safe. Often, we see the call for safety actually reinforce the power of oppressive institutions, like the police and the prison system, in our lives. When we choose safety over liberation, our movements fail.
When they looked at me and my sister, even their love was hungry.
Some people will cling on to anything that makes them feel even a little bit free.
Forget, if you can, all the promises you've ever made and the lies that you've told.
Once you start hurting people, you can't stop
I feel tired. I don't want to be myself anymore.
Sometimes it's important to be alive.
Sometimes, there is nothing you can do but surrender.
You are always disappearing in the hope of being seen. You are always shrinking to fit into someone else's arms. You are collapsing ever inward, a galaxy to become smaller.
Gregory Orr Quotes
If we're not supposed to dance, why all this music?
Even hell is holy.
I was born with a knife in one hand and a wound in the other.
Maybe she loved me, maybe not--who knows? Not even the gods can see into a human heart--it's that dark.
Writing often reveals us to ourselves, lets us name what's important to us and what has been silent or silenced inside us.
And to live only once--what if that's not enough?
Maybe it was always simple: loss surrounds us. Who would deny it? We ourselves are loss, are lost.
I want to study the book of the world: every vanishing page.
Lemon Verbena - a boost of power, ending relationships
Lime - sourness, bitterness
Lobelia - discord
Mace - misery, strife
Mandrake - misery, strife
Mistletoe - isolation, confusion
Mullein - spirit work, nightmares
Mustard Seed - strife, discord
Myrrh - a boost of power
Nightshade (Belladonna) - discord, illness
Onion - strife
Patchouli - illness
Poke Root - confusion, discord
Poppy Seed - discord
Rue - misery
Safflower - destruction
Spanish Moss - bad luck
Slippery Elm - ending relationships
Stinging Nettle - jealousy, envy, discomfort
Sumac - bad luck
Tobacco - a substitute for any baneful herb
Tormentil - distress, harm, discord
Vetiver - silence
Wormwood (Absinthe) - misery, strife
Yew - spirit work
Yohimbe Bark - impotency
Planets:
Mars - power, force, energy, war, conflict, jealousy
Saturn - law, justice, chaos, revenge
Neptune - confusion, illusion, chaos
Pluto - death, mystery, crisis
Lunar Phases:
Waning - binding
Dark - destruction, banishing, justice
Black - power, manifestation
Taglocks:
DNA (saliva, nail clippings, hair, blood, etc.)
Drawings
Photos
The target’s name written on paper
The target’s signature
An item that belongs to the target
Other Ingredients:
Cigarette butts
Broken glass
Razorblades
Vinegar
Lemon/lime juice
Alcohol
Bones
Needles
Nails
Thorns
Blood
Urine
Saliva
Shark teeth
Catfish spines
Murex seashells
Flying Devil Oil
Dead insects
Black sand
Charcoal
Disclaimer: I do not condone the unethical practice of collecting or harvesting animal parts, or forcefully obtaining certain biological taglocks. These are just ideas, and I am not responsible for anything you choose to do with them.
mod Dėa update: I’ve been on and off of here for quite some time due to some health problems.
but now I’m back, hoping you all remember me and accept me again!
I’m opening some tarot, intuition or guides readings if anyone is interested, I’ve been practicing and growin during this period, and now my skills are better than ever! if you’re interested, please send a message here in the ask box including the following infos:
Initials, type of reading you wish for and your question! if you wish for a more private reading you can reach me out at @eyeliner-of-cups and if you enjoyed the reading, please feel free to reward me with a hot coffee on my ko-fi page (not required but highly appreciated!)
mod Dėa update: I’ve been on and off of here for quite some time due to some health problems.
but now I’m back, hoping you all remember me and accept me again!
I’m opening some tarot, intuition or guides readings if anyone is interested, I’ve been practicing and growin during this period, and now my skills are better than ever! if you’re interested, please send a message here in the ask box including the following infos:
Initials, type of reading you wish for and your question! if you wish for a more private reading you can reach me out at @eyeliner-of-cups and if you enjoyed the reading, please feel free to reward me with a hot coffee on my ko-fi page (not required but highly appreciated!)
Throughout history those who practice magic have had a close connection to the spirit world, from fairy doctors who were said to learn their craft from the fae, to ceremonial magicians invoking angels and demons, to witches working with familiar spirits. To practice magic is to open yourself to this connection and to become aware of a whole new world of intelligent beings.
In modern Western culture, there’s a lot of fear around working with spirits. There are countless horror stories about malevolent hauntings, seances gone wrong, and violent possessions. It’s easy to see why many new witches are reluctant to work with spirits.
Ironically, in most other times and places, the spirit world was and is accepted as a normal part of life. All over the world, since before recorded history, people have honored their ancestors, left offerings for local land spirits, and built relationships with deities. We’re actually the weirdos for not having a healthy relationship with the spirits around us.
I personally have found working with spirits to be incredibly rewarding, and being aware of the spirits around me adds a lot of depth to my spiritual practice and my witchcraft. As long as you do your research, keep your wits about you, and are polite, you have nothing to fear and everything to gain from working with spirits.
Some Philosophy Terms
Animism: defined by Merriam-Webster as “attribution of conscious life to objects in and phenomena of nature or to inanimate objects.” An animist believes that all things have a spirit, from animals and plants to rocks and even man-made objects. Animism is a big part of many magical practices, especially in folk magic. It’s also a part of several modern religions, including Shinto and Anito. I personally am an animist, and my magic includes connecting with the spirits of the plants, crystals, and objects I work with.
Pantheism: defined by Merriam-Webster as “a doctrine that equates God with the forces and laws of the universe.” A pantheist believes that the physical world is the Divine. Whereas an animist believes that all things have their own spirit, a pantheist believes that the entire world shares a single, divine spirit. Many Wiccans are pantheists, and in some cases pantheism can coexist with animism (all things are both individual spirits and part of the divine whole).
Panentheism: defined by Merriam-Webster as “the doctrine that God includes the world as a part though not the whole of his being.” A panentheist believes that the world is a part of the divine, but that there is also a part of the divine that exists beyond the physical world. Some Christian groups are panentheists. Another example of panentheism is ancient Egyptian religion, where natural objects like the sky and the sun were seen as the bodies (but not the souls) of the gods.
Which of these philosophies you resonate with will shape how you interact with spirits and the spirit world.
Types of Spirits
This is not by any means an exhaustive list, but here are some of the types of spirits witches commonly encounter or work with:
Ancestors: deceased human spirits, especially those with a familial link to you. Ancestor veneration is a huge part of some magic systems, as well as many religions. Some witches ask their ancestors for help in every single spell or ritual, while others honor their ancestors on certain days, like on Samhain or on a deceased loved one’s birthday. Honoring the ancestors is a good place to start with spirit work because they already have a connection to you and are more likely to be willing to help you. However, working with ancestors can be difficult if you don’t know your family’s history or if you don’t feel close to your family. As author Aaron Oberon says, “Sometimes ancestor work is undoing the blocks our ancestors have built.”
To begin connecting with your ancestors, start by researching your family history. Ask your living relatives about their parents and grandparents. Try your hand at genealogy research and see how far back you can trace your family. If you feel called to do so, you can create a special altar to honor your ancestors. Light candles and leave out offerings of food that your ancestors enjoyed while they were alive.
Land Spirits: spirits that embody and are connected to a natural object or landmark. There are many, many types of land spirits, from individual tree and plant spirits to the spirits of great mountains and rivers. Some land spirits are even worshiped as gods – like Hapi, the Egyptian god of the Nile. Some modern witches even choose to recognize cryptids like Mothman or the Jersey Devil as land spirits! Working with your local land spirits can help you develop a deeper connection to your environment and can make your magic feel more localized and personal.
To begin connecting with land spirits, start by learning about the biology and folklore of your local area. Offerings for land spirits are usually left outside, so be sure to offer things that won’t harm local wildlife. Wild bird seed, fresh fruit, and unsalted peanuts are a few examples of safe offerings.
Spirits of Place: spirits tied to a specific building or location. Unlike land spirits, these beings aren’t always connected to a natural feature. Houses and other buildings can have their own spirits that embody the energy of that place. In Germanic folklore, these spirits are called house wights or husvaettir, and in English folklore they’re called brownies. For people who grew up in non-animist cultures, it can feel strange to leave offerings for the spirit of a man-made building, but there’s a long history of these types of spirits being honored all over the world. I personally see house wights as being similar to land spirits.
If you want to begin connecting with the spirits of your home, start by greeting them by name and leaving out an offering for them. Establishing a relationship with the spirits of your living space can help you create a more harmonious and productive home. Traditional offerings for house wights include dishes of cream, grain-based porridge (like oatmeal or grits), and clean water.
Animal Spirits: the spirit of a specific animal, the archetypal Spirit (with a capital “S”) of an entire species of animal, or an individual spirit that appears as an animal. The concept of animal spirits that act as protectors and guides is found in many cultures, especially those with shamanic traditions. In Norse mythology, fylgjur were protector spirits who often appeared as animals. In British Traditional Witchcraft, witches work with familiar spirits that often take on animal forms. It’s worth noting that the terms “spirit animal” and “totem animal” come from Native American spiritual traditions and should not be used by people who don’t belong to those cultures. The concept of animal guides exists in other cultures, so there’s no reason to appropriate indigenous words and ideas. In my experience, animal spirits are often friendly and easy to connect with, so this is a good place to start for witches who are new to spirit work.
If you’d like to work with animal spirits, you can begin by connecting to the animals that are local to your area. You may feel called to bring a part of the animal you’re connecting with into your sacred space – for example, I keep crow feathers on my altar. Offerings depend on the type of animal spirit you’re connecting to – some require only fresh water, while some traditions state that familiars should be fed with blood (not human). Use your intuition to choose what works for you.
Fairies: fairies are a specific kind of land spirit, and most fairy lore is based on mythology and folklore from the British Isles. Fairies have a reputation in modern pop culture as being sweet, friendly creatures – some authors even compare them to angels! However, I think it’s important to remember that historically, fairies were known for being mischievous and sometimes dangerous. In folklore, fairies are less Tinkerbell and more Spiderwick Chronicles. As author Morgan Daimler says, “They can be cruel and vicious, or generous and kind. Some of them are helpful. Some are indifferent. And some of them think we make a very tasty meal indeed.” For this reason, fairies should be approached with caution.
If you want to honor the fairies in your practice, I recommend checking out Morgan Daimler’s books – they have several on this subject that are both easy to read and well-researched. There are a lot of rules for working with fairies, such as not telling them your full name and not saying “thank you” to a fairy, so this is one type of spirit that you should definitely research before beginning to work with them.
Angels: divine messengers; spirits of love and light that come from the Divine and have no physical form. Strictly speaking, “angel” refers to a messenger of the Abrahamic God, but there are other spirits from other religious traditions that fill a similar role. Angels and similar spirits embody divine love, and as such they are both incredibly powerful and incredibly supportive. Because of their loving nature, working with angels is a good place to start spirit work. Some witches who have had negative experiences with Christianity, Judaism, or Islam may feel uncomfortable working with angels. I have personally found that angels don’t really care how you identify in terms of religion, and have had good experiences with Christian angels even though I identify as pagan. However, your experiences may be different, so please don’t do anything that makes you uncomfortable!
There are a lot of bad resources floating around the Internet when it comes to angels. If you’re interested in working with them, I recommend Chantel Lysette’s books Azrael Loves Chocolate and The Angel Code. There’s also a YouTube channel called Ask Angels with Melanie Beckler – I don’t agree with 100% of her ideas, but it’s a decent free resource. Offerings to angels are typically non-physical, like the light from a candle or the smoke from incense.
Demons: spirits of mischief, strife, and/or evil with no physical form. In Western culture, we associate the word “demon” with Christianity, but demons appear in many other religions, including Hinduism and Kemetic paganism. I personally define “demon” as a spirit who: 1.) is not and never was human, and 2.) is antagonistic towards humans. Most witches only deal with demons when they’re trying to get rid of one. However, there are some magic traditions, such as Goetic Magic, that call on demons in magical rituals. Let me just say this: in my experience, there are very few reasons why someone would want to work with a demon, and doing so is as dangerous for the person doing the summoning as it is for the intended victim. I definitely recommend that new witches stay away from these spirits. (But it should be noted that demons are not the same thing as dark deities!)
If you need to get rid of a demon, sulfur is used in American traditions to banish them. (It may also banish helpful spirits, so keep that in mind.) Blessed water is used to repel demons in several cultures. You can also call on an angel or deity for protection.
Deities: powerful, divine spirits who are worshiped as gods. Deities vary a lot from culture to culture, and each deity has their own personality, moral code, and mannerisms. I have found working with deities to be very fulfilling, as deities allow us to put a human face on the Divine. It’s much easier to form a relationship with, say, Odin than it is with an abstract divine force, at least in my experience. Aside from spiritually fulfilling relationships, deities can also be powerful allies in magic. It’s worth noting that very few deities are 100% good or 100% bad – they’re more nuanced than that. Just like anyone else, deities have strengths and weaknesses. (Yes, even the Abrahamic God. Read the Old Testament sometime and tell me God doesn’t have flaws.)
If you are interested in working with deities, start by doing research into the pantheons you feel drawn to. Were you obsessed with Greek mythology as a kid? (Or Norse? Or Egyptian? Or any other culture?) Read up on it! Find out how those deities were worshiped historically, and use that as a starting point for building your own practice. Offerings for deities vary from culture to culture, but I’ve found that fresh, clean water seems to be pretty much universally accepted.
This post ended up just being a whole lot of vocab, but I wanted to get some definitions straight before I start writing about how to connect with the spirit world. In my next post, I’ll talk about how to introduce yourself to different types of spirits and etiquette for maintaining a healthy relationship!
Resources:
Southern Cunning: Folkloric Witchcraft in the American South by Aaron Oberon
A Practical Heathen’s Guide to Asatru by Patricia M. Lafayllve
Where the Hawthorn Grows by Morgan Daimler
Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham
Temple of the Cosmos by Jeremy Naydler
Azrael Loves Chocolate, Michael’s A Jock: An Insider’s Guide to What Your Angels Are Really Like by Chantel Lysette
Every single person on the planet has psychic abilities, but most people never realize that they’re using them. As Tess Whitehurst says in her book You Are Magical, “There is almost certainly something you assume that everyone can perceive that is actually a perception that is relatively unique to you.”
For example: you may be a gifted artist. Drawing and painting come naturally to you, and you have an intuitive sense of form and color. You probably know people who claim that they “don’t have an artistic bone in their body” or “can’t even draw a stick figure,” but you can’t bring yourself to believe it. Surely, those people are just psyching themselves out, because if art comes so easily to you, everyone must be able to do it to some extent, right?
Psychic abilities are similar. You’ve probably been tapping into at least one psychic sense all your life, but it feels so normal to you that you assume everyone experiences the world this way.
Once you become aware of your innate psychic abilities, you can start to harness them. For this reason, I think it’s a good idea to become familiar with (and comfortable using!) your natural psychic gifts before you try to learn any kind of divination.
Read over the following list of common psychic senses. Does one or more of them sound familiar? Once you recognize which of these you resonate with, focus on strengthening that gift over the next couple of weeks. You’ll be amazed by how easily you’re able to tap into it once you know how!
Clairvoyance: Clear Seeing
Contrary to popular opinion, the word “clairvoyance” does not describe any and all psychic abilities. Someone with clairvoyance receives psychic messages through their sense of sight. They may see these messages with their physical eyes, or see images in their mind’s eye. Seeing auras is an example of clairvoyance in action.
You may be clairvoyant if…
You often see flashes of light, blurred figures, or other visual phenomena that others do not see. [Note: This is NOT the same as visual hallucinations. Clairvoyants typically see things with their mind’s eye, not their physical eyes, and can differentiate between their visions and what is physically in front of them.]
You often experience random mental images that seem to have nothing to do with what’s going on around you.
Your meditations are primarily visual — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may see a bubbling fountain in your mind’s eye.
You are a visual learner.
Ways to Strengthen Clairvoyance
Keep a journal of the mental images you receive “out of nowhere.” Do these images mean anything to you? Do individual visions fit into a larger pattern?
Meditate on your chakras, and visualize each chakra in your mind’s eye, starting from the root and working up to the crown. What do your chakras look like? Are the colors bright and clear, or more faded and muddy? Are some spinning faster or slower than others? How does their appearance correspond to your life? For example, a muddy or faded sacral chakra may indicate issues around sexuality.
Do research into auras and what the different aura colors mean. Do you always seem to see or think of a certain color when you’re around a certain person? How does that color represent that person’s energy and personality? Write down your findings.
Clairaudience: Clear Hearing
Someone with clairaudience receives psychic messages through their sense of hearing. They may hear messages with their physical ears or “hear” them in their mind. A medium who hears spirits is an example of someone using clairaudience.
You may be clairaudient if…
You sometimes “hear” things in your mind, as if someone else was talking to you from inside your head. [Note: This is NOT the same as “hearing voices” or auditory hallucinations. Clairaudients usually “hear” messages with their mind, not their physical ears, and they can distinguish between psychic messages and physical, “real world” sounds.]
Sometimes, when you listen to music or watch a movie, a specific lyric or line of dialogue seems to jump out at you, as if it were a special message.
Your meditations are primarily auditory — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may hear a babbling brook.
You are an auditory learner.
Ways to Strengthen Clairaudience
Keep a journal of the messages you “hear” out of nowhere. Are they consistent, forming a larger pattern? Do they all seem to be “in the same voice,” or coming from the same source? (If so, this could be a deity or spirit guide reaching out to you.)
Do a meditation with the intention of holding a conversation with a helpful spirit guide. (If you are not comfortable working with spirits, you can set the intention of speaking to your inner self.) What does their voice sound like? Is it different from or similar to your own? Do they speak with an accent or have a unique inflection? Write down your thoughts.
Experiment with shufflemancy. This is a modern form of divination where you put a playlist on shuffle and receive a psychic message from the song that plays first. (You can find playlists specifically made for shufflemancy online, or make your own.) How does the song make you feel? Are there certain lyrics that jump out to you? Write down your thoughts.
Clairsentience: Clear Feeling
Someone with clairsentience feels psychic messages, either through their body or through their emotions. They may feel physical sensations, like an upset stomach, or may be very sensitive to emotional energies. Intuitively picking up on someone’s emotions without needing to ask is an example of clairsentience.
You may be clairsentient if…
You often feel physical sensations, like a hot flash or a cold chill, out of nowhere.
You are able to feel other people’s emotions — you can always tell when someone has had a bad day, even if they’re trying to hide it.
You can sense the “vibe” of a room as soon as you walk in. Do certain buildings feel “angry” or “sad” to you? Can you always tell the energy of a party even if you just arrived?
Your meditations primarily focus on tactile sensations — for example, if you meditate on the element of water, you may feel waves lapping at your feet.
Ways to Strengthen Clairsentience
Pay attention to your “gut feelings.” Do you feel a sinking sensation when thinking about something, only for it to go badly later? Do you feel a warm, fuzzy sensation thinking about something, only for it to go really well? Write down your experiences — and be honest. It’s okay if your gut feeling doesn’t always match the outcome.
Do a pathworking meditation (this is just a type of meditation that focuses on taking a mental journey) to a forest, or a beach, or some other location that appeals to you. Try to feel as many tactile sensations as possible, as if you were really there. Feel the grass or sand under your feet, feel the wind in your hair, feel the sun on your skin. Write down your experience.
Practice feeling the energy of a plant or crystal. Reach out and touch the plant/crystal, and try to feel it out. Does it have a calm, stable energy, or is it more bright and zingy? Try feeling a different plant/crystal and see how it feels different. Write down your experience.
Note: Some (but not all) clairsentients are also empaths, people who take on the emotions of others as if they were their own. All empaths are clairsentient, but not all clairsentient people are empaths. You may be an empath if you often find yourself matching the emotions of the people you’re around — you cry when they cry, laugh when they laugh, etc.
Claircognizance: Clear Knowing
Claircognizence is the gift of psychic knowing — people with this ability often “just know” things, even if they should have no way of knowing. They may know what someone is about to say before they say it, or know personal information about someone they just met.
You may be claircognizant if…
You “just know” what’s going on with your friends and family, even if they haven’t told you. For example, you may suddenly feel like you need to call your sister, only to find out after you call that she just broke up with her boyfriend.
You always know who a text is from as soon as your phone dings, or always know what song is going to play next on shuffle.
You often know things about new people as soon as you meet them, only for them to confirm it later. Did you know your friend was a vegetarian before he told you, even though you’d never shared a meal with him?
Your meditations often include “downloads” of information, where you feel like the answer to your question or some other revelation has just been dropped into your brain.
Ways to Strengthen Claircognizance
Every time your phone goes off, try to guess who the message is from. Keep a tally of how often you’re right vs. wrong.
Do a meditation with the intention of receiving the answer to a specific question. Retreat to a place of stillness and focus on your breath until the answer to the question “just comes to you.” Write down your experience.
This is a game I used to play with my sister before I knew what claircognizance was: have a friend show you a picture of someone they know, but whom you have never met before. Focus on the picture, and see if you get any info about the person — are they a jock? Do they like rock music? What’s their personality like? Get your friend to confirm or deny the info you got from the picture, and keep a tally of how often you’re right vs. wrong.
The Other Clairs
There are two other “clair” senses that are less common, so I’m not going to talk about them at length here. Clairalience, or “clear smelling,” refers to receiving psychic messages through smell. (If you smell roses out of nowhere, with no roses in sight, you may be using clairalience.) Clairgustance, or “clear tasting,” refers to receiving psychic messages through taste. (If you taste chocolate out of nowhere, you may be using claigustance.)
In my experience, these psychic senses are less common than the ones listed above. Most people I know who have clairalience or clairgustance seem to use it as a secondary sense, in addition to a primary sense like clairvoyance or clairsentience.
Conclusion
You are probably using at least one of these psychic senses every day, without even knowing it. Most people have two to three “main” psychic senses, but some may regularly and easily use all of them. For example, my primary psychic senses are clairsentience and claircognizance, but I also find myself receiving messages through clairaudience fairly often. It’s rare for me to receive clairvoyant messages, but it has happened.
Once you’ve identified the psychic senses that you naturally lean towards, you can begin to develop and strengthen them.
Resources:
You Are Magical by Tess Whitehurst [Specifically the chapter, “Reading the Signs.”]
The Fat Feminist Witch Podcast, Episode 68: “Clear Knowing”
The Angel Code by Chantel Lysette [Specifically the section on the psychic senses.]
May i ask for a Reading about my career? What should I apply for? What is the best career for me? Thanks in advance
Alright so I drew five cards for you.
5 of Swords- This tells me that you’re very ambitious within the workplace. You’re going to want a career which has opportunity to move up the totem pole, so to speak. For this reason, you may do well in management or business.
Queen of Swords- You have the ability to think rationally, instead of using your heart to charge your behavior. This may not make you the most personable, customer service or anything of the like would be a bad idea. Your analytical skills, on the other hand, are strong, meaning you may do well in a job which involves math, data, or considerable planning.
Ace of Cups Reversed- Despite the earlier stated, you do have a creative side which needs to be nourished in order for you to grow. You will need flexibility within your job.
Temperance & 8 of Wands Reversed- This card tells me that it will take you time to figure out the right path for you, and it might be difficult right now to coordinate career opportunities. However, it’s a good time to focus on yourself and honing your skills to prepare for a future job.
Based off the cards, I can see many options suitable for you:
